Abrams splits literary criticism into four co-ordinates (Mimetic, Pragmatic, Expressive, and Objective). In the later 20th century and early 21st century, literary criticism has evolved again. Looking at criticism from 1950 through 2025, propose new co-ordinates that more closely align with current criticism.

Abrams largely avoids directly engaging with or analyzing literature. Explain why this choice is effective or ineffective for his larger goals, incorporating clear textual evidence.

In all of Abrams’s discussions of literary criticism, he only touches on Objective Theory. Find several examples of Objective Theory scholars (several are mentioned in Abrams’s book) and expand Abrams’s definition from the last section of the first chapter.

Abrams’s book serves in part as a defense of the study of poetry in academia and general scholarship. Explain whether or not poetry should be studied in higher academia with specific references to philosophy, critical theory, or Abrams’s work itself.

A major point of disagreement in historical literary criticism is about the usefulness of poetry. Referencing Abrams’s last chapter in particular, explain how poetry does or does not benefit humanity in a broad sense.

Although Abrams’s central discussion is focused on Romantic poets, he gives most of his attention to Wordsworth and Coleridge. Choose another of the primary Romantic poets (Blake, Shelley, Byron, or Keats) and use their poetry and letters to expand on one of Abrams’s chapters.

Abrams uses Shakespeare and Homer as foundational poets for many of the discussions he references from literary criticism. Explain why Shakespeare and Homer recur so frequently in the criticism, using specific textual and historical references.

Abrams focuses his whole book on a survey of literary criticism culminating in the shift in thought at the start of the 19th century in England. Choose another time period either before or after the Romantic period and explain why that period signals a significant change in aesthetic or literary thought.