In order to begin my presentation one much understand what literary criticism is. Literary criticism is the description and/or evaluation of a text. The meaning of a text derives from thinking critically, analysing different aspects of the text, essentially thinking in more than one perspective. In this presentation I will be discussing the perspectives of reader response and sociological criticism, in the film Slumdog Millionaire. Reader-response criticism considers the role of the reader as essential to interpret the meaning of the text. In Slumdog Millionaire, the reader’s response is based on the themes in the film. Such themes as economic injustice, corruption, romance and destiny. The experiences and expectations of the reader …show more content…
I am able to relate through the perspectives and attitudes of the characters. Personally relating to Jamal and his ignorance to the world, desiring to see the good in everyone, especially towards his brother, Salim. The text has increased my interest in the subject matter in what the Government can do to change the current position in India and how Australia can support said change. My personal relation to the film has changed my perspective in my attitude towards certain aspects of Indian life. I am more compassionate towards the situation in which most Indians in Mumbai live in as not all circumstances are in their control, regarding to the social structure of Indian society. My response to the film through reader response, forms a sense of vulnerability to my beliefs and morals. Disturbed by the themes in the film generated awareness of my attitude and understanding of certain scenarios portrayed in the film. Such as, in the scene the Bombay riot in which people are murdered cold blooded and police are shown to not care dismissing young Jamal calling for help as his lifeless mother floats in the water nearby. Sociological criticism explores the cultural, economic and political context of the scenes within a text. Slumdog millionaire explores these themes in a confronting and realistic element. The Bombay riot one of many examples. In terms of physical power the police and gangsters have an upper hand, whereas, Jamal has power in the sense
Marxist literary criticism flourishes from Karl Marx and Engel’s theories on revolutionary change. Through the implicit and explicit detail of a novel, Marxist criticism unravels a text’s underlying economic purpose. A Marxist will read a text and expose “social contexts in ways which the author themselves would not admit” (158). A professor from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) teaches authors inevitably impose their social class ideology on their work, consequently inserting an ideology within the lines of the novel reflecting the struggles of
In the story, it is clear that the Strain sociological theory clearly presents itself. This theory argues that depending on person’s situation in the society, one reacts differently to the difficulties that face them in the achievement of their objectives. The theory categorizes people in the society to tow broad categories. These are the poor and the rich, with the poor being the ones who strain the most in an attempt to accomplish their
My initial reaction to the film was of utter shock at the brutally raw reality of the film. Upon reflection and commentary from other sources, the film’s simple yet vastly effective filmmaking techniques of developing the explicit and implicit meaning of the film. The explicit meaning, as
They conclude with the huge difference that is being live between the two generations. But what they reflect is the importance that the Indian culture gives to the family, they say that the family is very important and whether they young folks are entering to a new world they still keep their roots with them.
Throughout the book I felt connected to one character, that character was George. George and I share similar qualities and our lifestyles can relate. One major characteristic I found in George is his ability
As stated by Tim Gillespie in his text Doing Literary Criticism, the concept of literary criticism is the field of “interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating” literary works. Thus, literary criticism is not objective; rather, it varies subjectively depending on the critic and the lens, or school, they choose to view the work of literature through. Though the actual content of literature is of extreme importance, the way it is approached is of nearly equal magnitude, as varying approaches open new and insightful views texts previously regarded as static. The feminist lens is one major school of literary criticism.
Within the following essay I will illustrate how my sociological imagination has developed over the course of the academic year, drawing upon a number of pieces of work to demonstrate this. I will use these pieces of work to demonstrate how the sociological imagination has played a role in understanding the pieces of work themselves and finally, I will bring each piece of work together in order to substantiate the development of my sociological imagination.
The assigned reading of “Good Readers and Good Writers” by Vladimir Nabokov probes the subject that is the necessary attributes an individual must have in order for them to be successful readers and writers of literature. A list of ten rules is then stated in the essay and sets them as the baseline commandments that an individual must follow in order to be some kind of a devoted “good reader”. While the criteria sets the standard for a “good reader” it aligns with that of a good analyzer and can be applied to that sense. For example one of the first pieces of advice states “If one begins with a readymade generalization, one begins at the wrong end and travels away from the book before one has started to understand it” (Nabokov 1). If a
Slumdog Millionaire is a British Drama Film, set in India. India is the second largest country by area in Asia, and with over 1.2 billion people it is the second most populous country in the world, after China. The film was released in 2008 and portrays the different aspects of India as a country. Throughout the film different themes are addressed especially the issue of poverty. The word Slumdog refers to someone who lives in a slum, as does Jamal Malik the protagonist in the film.
The Marxist criticism is based on the socialist theories of Karl Marx and how the readers must closely examine the dynamics of class as they attempt to understand the works they read. In a world where there is no pain, no prejudice, no emotion, and no detestation. Lois Lowry gives a vivid description of a community where everything is equal, everyone is just as important as another, and life choices are made by only one individual. In the book The giver by Lois Lowry, it expresses the exact opposite of Marx’s most important ideas which is a prime example of what people will do if they were forced to live a certain way.
The criticism that I will be using is a rhetorical analysis which simply means analyzing texts on how they make the audience feel using symbols, the type of genre, aesthetics and more while also looking at why that happens. I decided to use a rhetorical
Cultural criticism is a broad technique that puts emphasis on the culture that contributed to the production of a work. This approach is an eclectic, interdisciplinary study that utilizes a wide range of topics to analyze literature. Cultural criticism considers a variety of perspectives and branches of knowledge to discover the compilation of beliefs and customs that characterize a group of people. For a cultural reading of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, a cultural critic would consider the historical background paired with theories such as Marxism and feminism to make assumptions about what culture engendered the creation of this novel. (104 words)
This approach is concerned about the social content of the literary work, consequently, the idea is to analyze literature from the implications and the consequences that a capitalist system has on a specific society. As cliffsnotes.com, (n.d) indicates: “this theoretical approach asks us to consider how a literary work reflects the socioeconomic conditions of the time in which it was written”.
Issues of racism, women discrimination and the corruption of power used to be subtly touched upon or ignored. However they were also viewed differently depending on the era it was brought up in. Yet as time passed by, it seems these issues have become common discussion. This change of significance in how the audience responds and view texts that carry the notions of marginalization can be seen by Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ and Arundhati Roy’s
This socio-historical commentary is valid however; it disregards the fact that the novels are not accurate portrayals of society. Important facts: first the philanthropic attitude in the novels is simply not a reflection of the literal changes in society, the novels cannot be classified an expression of