### Lesson Plan: Introduction to Literary Criticism
**Grade Level:** 11
**Subject:** English
**Duration:** 1 class period (approximately 60 minutes)
**Topic:** Literary Criticism
**Objectives:**
- Students will understand what literary criticism is and its importance.
- Students will be introduced to various approaches to literary criticism.
- Students will apply one method of literary criticism to a short passage.
**Materials:**
- Whiteboard and markers.
- Handouts with definitions and examples of different literary criticism approaches.
- Copies of a selected literary excerpt (e.g., a passage from *To Kill a Mockingbird* by Harper Lee).
- Projector and screen for video clips (optional).
**Common Core Standards:**
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text.
### Procedure:
**Introduction (10 minutes):**
1. **Bell Ringer:** Write on the board: "What does it mean to 'criticize' something? How can this be different in literature?"
- Have students write a quick response in their notebooks.
- Share a few responses aloud.
2. **Hook:** Show a short video clip that introduces the concept of literary criticism (3-5 minutes).
- Discuss initial reactions and impressions of the video.
**Direct Instruction (15 minutes):**
1. **Definition:** Explain literary criticism and its role in understanding and interpreting literature.
- Literary criticism involves evaluating, analyzing, interpreting, and theorizing literary works.
2. **Approaches to Literary Criticism:** Introduce some main theoretical approaches, such as:
- **Formalism/New Criticism:** Focuses on the text itself, its structure, language, and literary devices.
- **Historical/Biographical Criticism:** Examines the historical context and the author's life.
- **Marxist Criticism:** Analyzes class conflict, economic systems, and societal structures.
- **Feminist Criticism:** Looks at how gender roles and relations affect interpretations of the text.
- **Psychoanalytic Criticism:** Uses Freudian theories to understand characters and themes.
3. **Handout:** Distribute a summary of these approaches with definitions and examples.
**Guided Practice (20 minutes):**
1. **Group Activity:** Divide students into small groups, assigning each group one literary criticism approach.
- Provide a copy of a literary excerpt to each group.
- Ask them to read the passage and analyze it using their assigned criticism approach.
- Prepare a brief presentation to share their findings with the class.
2. **Presentation:** Each group presents their analysis (3-5 minutes per group).
**Independent Practice (10 minutes):**
1. **Individual Analysis:** Have students choose a different literary approach than they worked on in their group.
- Ask them to write a brief analysis (5-7 sentences) of the same passage using this new perspective.
**Conclusion (5 minutes):**
1. **Discussion:** Facilitate a class discussion on the different interpretations presented.
- How did each approach provide a different understanding of the text?
- Discuss the value of multiple perspectives in literary criticism.
2. **Wrap-Up:** Summarize the importance of literary criticism and how it enriches our understanding of literature.
**Homework:**
- Assign a short story or poem for students to read.
- Ask students to choose one literary criticism approach and write a one-page analysis of the text.
**Assessment:**
- Participation in group activity and class discussion.
- Quality of written analysis during independent practice.
- Homework analysis on assigned reading.
**Extension:**
- Encourage interested students to explore additional criticism approaches not covered in class.
- For a deeper dive, consider a longer-term project where students choose a novel and examine it through multiple critical lenses over several weeks.
This lesson plan introduces students to the foundational concepts of literary criticism and provides practical application to develop critical thinking and analytical skills.