Maggie Maddox<br>
                                                       eng 215<br>
                                                       9-4-97<p>
<hr>
    The essence of poetry and literature as defined by Eagleton is a mystical,
out of body experience.  With his marxist point-of-view, we are supposed to
evaluate the context of a given historical moment.  He also thinks that
literature is an ideological way of thinking that can take you to a mystical
place.<p>
    The new way of looking at literature in the 1950's was called New
criticism.  New criticism was brought about because English society was
transforming.  It was the first assert of importance of critical reading of
literature and a pseudo-scientific interpretation of literature.  New
criticism showed us that the importance of literary study was not memorizing
but that theyt should teach students to read poems critically and
appreciatively.  It was supposed to teach us to know when one poem was better
than another.<p>
    New criticism is known as radically ahistorical.  Meaning that the
literature should be great when it was written and should stay great for every
person and time period thereafter.  The greatness should also be universal.
New criticism is also aesthetic.  It emphasizes the aesthetic value of
literature and it is important for moral reasons and it is a window into
history in its purest form.<p>
is a model of literary study.  It is the ideal framework for students no raised
tool throughout all of history.<p>