Feminist Lens
What does Mary depend on in order to achieve her success in getting away with murder?
She gains power by manipulating gender stereotypes, but her success still depends on those stereotypes existing.
A character desperately wants to cheat on a test but knows it is wrong. What would the id, ego, and superego each tell the character to do?
In colonial literature, why does it matter who gets to tell the story?
The narrator controls whose perspective is represented, whose experiences are believed, and whose voices may be excluded or silenced.
In a Marxist reading, why is a character's social class important?
Class can influence their power, opportunities, relationships, education, treatment, and access to resources.
You use an author's idea in your essay but completely rewrite it in your own words. Do you still need to cite it? Explain.
Yes. Paraphrasing changes the wording, not the ownership of the idea. Information or ideas taken from a source still require citation.
This term describes the way gender is socially shaped and performed, rather than simply reflecting fixed, natural roles.
Gender as a social construct
A character insists they are not jealous, but constantly criticizes the person they are jealous of. What psychological concept might explain this behaviour?
Denial or projection — the character may be refusing to acknowledge or redirecting an uncomfortable feeling.
What does the term “alienation” mean in a post-colonial analysis?
Presenting another culture or group as different, inferior, strange, uncivilized, or outside the dominant group.
Two characters commit the same crime, but the wealthy character avoids punishment while the poor character is severely punished. What would a Marxist critic focus on?
How wealth and class privilege influence power and access to justice.
A claim about a text becomes stronger when supported by _____ and _____ .....
textual evidence and proper citation
The feminist lens is concerned with “… the ways
in which literature (and other media) reinforce
or undermine the _____, _____, _____,
and ____ oppression of women.”
A character repeatedly makes destructive choices even though they know the consequences. What might a psychoanalytic critic investigate instead of simply calling the character “stupid”?
Their unconscious desires, fears, trauma, repression, or unresolved conflicts that could be motivating the behaviour.
A novel describes the colonizer's language as “educated” but the Indigenous/local language as “primitive.” What would a post-colonial critic question?
Why one culture's language is treated as superior, and how language can reinforce colonial power and cultural hierarchy.
A poor character believes becoming wealthy will automatically make them respected and happy. What might a Marxist critic question about this belief?
Whether society has taught the character to associate money and material success with personal worth or happiness.
A protagonist believes that wealth will finally make them happy. By the end, they are wealthy but more isolated and miserable than before. Identify the literary concept being developed and explain what the author may be suggesting.
Theme. The author may be criticizing materialism or suggesting that wealth does not necessarily produce fulfillment.
A women wants to leave her marriage, but the story treats her husband's wishes as more important than hers -- what does she lack?
Agency - the ability to make meaningful choices in her life.
A character dreams that they are trapped inside a house while everyone outside ignores them. Why would a psychoanalytic critic pay particular attention to the dream?
Dreams may symbolically reveal unconscious fears or desires that the character cannot or will not express consciously.
A colonized character begins rejecting their own language, clothing, and traditions to imitate the colonizer. What larger issue could this represent?
Internalized colonialism / cultural assimilation — colonial values can influence how colonized people perceive their own culture.
A factory owner becomes wealthy while employees work long hours for low wages. What Marxist concept does this most clearly illustrate?
Class exploitation — those who own/control production profit from the labour of workers.
What three things should a strong thesis statement establish for the reader?
The topic/text being discussed, the writer's central argument/interpretation, and the main reasoning or direction through which that argument will be proven.
The ______ is a concept from feminist film theory, coined by Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema."
It describes how visual media (film, art, literature, advertising) often presents women from a heterosexual male perspective, positioning women as objects of male pleasure rather than as subjects with their own agency.
The male gaze
What is the mediation of conflict among the id, ego, and superego?
In Freud’s structural model, this process describes the ego’s effort to manage conflict among instinctual demands, internalized prohibitions, and external reality.
A country becomes politically independent, but its schools, language, beauty standards, and institutions continue to favour the former colonizer's culture. Why is this significant to a post-colonial critic?
It shows that colonial influence can continue after political independence through culture, institutions, identity, and social values.
A novel's hero becomes successful by escaping poverty individually, while the conditions keeping everyone else poor remain unchanged. How might a Marxist critic challenge the novel's “happy ending”?
The ending solves one individual's problem without challenging the unequal economic/class system that created the problem.
What's wrong with this thesis: “In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses symbolism, imagery, and characterization to show many important themes throughout the novel.” Give two problems.
it doesn't make a specific argument; “important themes” is vague; it lists techniques without explaining their significance; it doesn't establish what Atwood is saying about the topic; it gives the essay little direction.