Ways of Analysis:Reading, thinking,

seeing, and interpreting through a critical lens

Hank Williams

Summer 2012SEEK Department, The City College of New York

Summerseek.wordpress.com

Habits of Mind2. What is the subject/ point?

3. Who says so? (What perspective?)

4. What evidence?

5. What’s the relevance/ connection?

6. So what? (Significance?)

7. What if? (Alternatives?)

Adapted from CCNY SEEK coursepack, 2011

Form Content

Context

Form?Genre

S ty le

type

format

What do we mean by

Form1.The style, type, or genre of a particular work. Genre refers to a recognizable

sub category.

2.The structure or design of a particular work

Adapted from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (1990)

ContentThe subject matter of a

particular work

Adapted from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (1990)

ContextThe biographical, cultural,

social, historical, or political circumstances a particular work is created or set in

Adapted from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (1990)

ConnotationThe further associations a

word, image, sound, or sight makes us think of beyond

the primary meaning.

Adapted from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (1990)

DenotationThe primary meaning or dictionary definition of a word, image, sound, or

sight.

Adapted from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (1990)

What are you looking at?

Q: How did you know what

those ads were for?

A: Context!

In other words:

Political

Some examples of context …

Temporal

Social

Cultural

BiographicalEconomic

Artistic/Aesthetic

Biographical QuestionsWho is /are the author, designer, artist, musician/composer, actor(s), director? (and what do we know about his/her/their work)?

How does it relate to other work they’ve done? Does it represent a shift in artistic direction?

Does the artist have a personal view of creative work? Does this conform to that view or challenge it?

Temporal QuestionsWhere is/are the setting(s)?

How do they relate to the storyline, design, or style of the work?

Is the work consistent with the time period or are there anachronisms (things that don’t fit the time)? Are the anachronisms deliberate or do they represent a lack of attention to detail?

Political QuestionsIs there obvious commentary on political/ social issues ?

What issues are they?

Does the commentary or does it seem too harsh?

Does it avoid or ignore obvious political issues?

Artistic/Aesthetic Questions

What style(s)/ genres are represented? Is it a sub-genre?

How does the work compare to other works of a similar style/ genre/ movement? Does it conform to the “type” or look/ sound/ feel different? (And is this a deliberate choice?)

How well are specific artistic aspects done? (Example: do critics think the writing, directing, design, etc. is good? Why or why not--and do you agree?)

Social QuestionsWhat is going on in society at the time and what effect might it have on the work?

Who does the work show/ talk about and in how are they presented? Does it reinforce or challenge stereotypes?

Are the representations of people/ places valid?

How does it present differences in race, gender, sexuality, or class status?

Whose point of view does the work come from?

Economic QuestionsWhat are the book/ CD sales like or what are the film earnings??

Is the work seen as commercially successful?

Are artistic compromises made for the sake of sales?

Is the work an important creative statement even if it doesn’t have great commercial success?

Cultural QuestionsAre there wider cultural connections?

How does it show/ critique/ comment on the wider cultural picture or use cultural elements?

Does the artist have a personal view of creative work? Does this conform to that view or challenge it?

Research ideasA few thoughts to get you started…

Find interviews/ profiles of author/ director/ actors/ musicians/ designers, etc.

Find articles or books on the time period

Find articles or books on the social or societal issues

Find articles or books on the styles/genres or artistic methods used

Find articles or statistics on the sales or box office

Find articles or books examining cultural issues raised

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

Revised June, 2012Some rights reserved

Questions? Compliments? hewilliams [at] ccny [dot] cuny [dot] edu