New Criticism

New Criticism is a style of literary criticism, alongside Formalism, New Historicism, Reader-Response criticism, Biographical criticism, and Psychological criticism. As a style, New Criticism emerged in the 1920s, with the name of the style deriving from John Crowe Ransom's The New Criticism (1941). Prior to Ransom's book, this literary theory did not have a name; however, it was in use, with I.A. Richards being credited as the foundational figure who developed New Criticism in the 1920s with his books Principles of Literary Criticism (1924) and Practical Criticism (1929). 

Under New Criticism, as explained in works like the book Principles of Literary Criticism (1924), the reader does not need outside information. As explained within the Poetry Foundations article "New Criticism,"  this includes information like the historical context, as it has little effect on the work's values. Instead, literary devices, by variety and degree, are the focus of literary criticism- including devices like symbolism and metaphor. Additionally, this style is supposed to push for a more intimate reading of the texts, with attention to both form and the meaning of the work (as well as the device's meaning within the work). 

In addition to New Criticism's focus on close reading, literary devices, and form, New Criticism has three fallacies: 

• Intentional Fallacy- OED Definition: "...in literary criticism, the fallacy that the meaning or value of a work may be judged or defined in terms of the writer's intention."
• Affective Fallacy- OED Definition: "(In literary criticism) the fallacy that the meaning or value of a work (esp. a poem) may be judged or defined in terms of its emotional effect on the reader or hearer."
• Fallacy of Paraphrase- also known as Heresy of Paraphrase: the fallacy that poetry (in particular) or any work can be separated from its original form.

How these fallacies apply to critical reading and writing: 

• Intentional Fallacy- A writer's intentions, whether achieved or not, within the work, should not be considered when critically analyzing a work. 
• Affective Fallacy- A work's meaning or value cannot be judged by the emotional effect on the audience. 
• Fallacy of Paraphrase- Poetry, or other works, cannot be separated from its form entirely, and it should be considered because form does affect the meaning of a work.