Traditional Literary Theory

• This is the method that examines whether or not the aspects (e.g. history, allusions, influence) of the piece are such that they can be established as a text that belongs in the literary canon.
  
  

Formalism

• Also known as New Criticism, this type of theory inspects the parts (e.g. chapters, setting, characters, tone, point of view) of a piece of literature and how they work together to create a story.
  
  

Structuralism

• This method of literary criticism, a branch of Formalism, examines the words as subjective methods of symbolism that can differ depending on the language itself.
  
  

Deconstructionism

• Also know as Poststructuralism, Deconstructionism questions how effective language is in telling the story and disregards any participation of meaning on the part of the author.
  
  

New Historicism

• This method, also referred to as Cultural Materialism, focuses on the history of the text while taking into account culture and society in relation to the piece and how these factors impact the way the text is interpreted.