SCC Research Guides: Literary Criticism: Examples of Literary Criticism

Examples of Literary Criticism

Below you can find examples of literary criticism from the SCC Library Databases. Each of these articles is analyzing an element (character, symbolism, theme, etc.) of a literary work.

Not every work of literature is going to have literary criticism written about it. Sometimes, you might need to find articles that are generally about your topic, that you will need to relate back to your specific work of literature.

You might also find articles that are about the author of your literary work and discuss multiple pieces of literature written by that author. This is common for literary criticism.

"Representations of Ophelia."
This article by Martha C. Ronk published in the journal Criticism discusses the way the character Ophelia is represented throughout Shakespeare's Hamlet.
"Environment as Psychopathological Symbolism in 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'"
This article by Loralee MacPike from the journal Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism discusses how the yellow wallpaper symbolizes the main character's mental state in the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper."
"Transcendence: The Poetry of Maya Angelou."
This article by Priscilla R. Ramsey published in the journal Poetry Criticism discusses Maya Angelou's theme of transcendence throughout her poetry. This article is about multiple poems by Maya Angelou instead of one specific poem.
"Where's All the Fiction in Science Fiction?"
This article by Jeffrey Berman published in the journal Contemporary Literary Criticism discusses science fiction literature in general and mentions several different authors in the science fiction genre.