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Biographical Approach

The biographical approach to literary analysis emphasizes how an author's life experiences influence their work. Knowing details about an author's life can help readers better understand the literary work by providing context for the author's struggles or preoccupations. However, biographical information should be used judiciously and keep the focus on the literary work, using the author's life to clarify interpretation but not distort it. For example, examining Ernest Hemingway's stories in relation to his experiences in Africa or World War I can reveal connections between his life and works.

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6K views1 page

Biographical Approach

The biographical approach to literary analysis emphasizes how an author's life experiences influence their work. Knowing details about an author's life can help readers better understand the literary work by providing context for the author's struggles or preoccupations. However, biographical information should be used judiciously and keep the focus on the literary work, using the author's life to clarify interpretation but not distort it. For example, examining Ernest Hemingway's stories in relation to his experiences in Africa or World War I can reveal connections between his life and works.

Uploaded by

Jessa Mae de Guzman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Biographical Approach

Emphasizes how the life of the author affects his works and this should be
considered in analyzing his work.
Values information readers gain from knowing about writers lives.
3 benefits readers gain for using the biographical evidences in literary
interpretation:
Readers understand literary work better since facts about the authors life
help the readers to better understand the literary work.
Readers can better appreciate a literary work for knowing the writers
struggle or difficulties in creating it.
Readers can better assess writers preoccupation by studying the ways they
modify and adjust their actual experiences in their literary work.
Considering the biographical information and using it to analyze the finished
literary work can be illuminating rather than distracting or distorting.
Early childhood events, psychological illnesses, relational conflicts, desires
(fulfilled or unfulfilled), among other things, may all arise in an authors work.
Applications
Focus on a writers works not only to enhance understanding of them
individually but also to enrich a readers understanding of the artist.
Should be used judiciously, keeping the focus on the literary work and using the
biographical information to clarify understanding and develop interpretation.
Observing Ernest Hemingways stories derived from his experiences in Africa or
in World War I may lead readers to see how the life and works are related.
Key Terms

Definitions

Author

the composer, or writer, of a literary text

Biography

an account of someones life written by someone other


than the subject of the biography

Persona

a character or role adopted by an author

Biographical Critical Questions


1. What influences persons, ideas, movements, events- evident of the writers life does
the work reflect?
2. To what extent are the events described in the work described in the work a direct
transfer of what happened in the writers actual life?
3. What modification of the actual events has the writer made in the literary work?
4. Why might the writer have altered his or her actual experiences in the literary work?
5. What are the effects of the differences between actual events and their literary
transformation in the poem, story, play or essay?
Sources: Part 2: Literary Criticism: An Introduction
Angela Eward-Mangione, The University of South Florida

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