Which of the following is NOT a concern of literary criticism?

• A. Close reading
• B. Critical thinking
• C. Contextual analysis
• D. Thematic interpretation

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is how literary criticism works in practice. Close reading digs into the actual text—its word choices, imagery, syntax, and how these elements work together to create meaning. Contextual analysis, on the other hand, situates the work within its historical moment, culture, and the author’s background, helping explain why certain ideas appear and how they resonate with readers of a particular time. Thematic interpretation looks for recurring ideas or motifs across the text to understand what broader questions the work is raising about life, society, or human experience. Critical thinking is a broad intellectual skill that underpins all scholarly work, including literary study, but it isn’t a specific analytic method used to interpret a text in the way close reading, contextual analysis, and thematic interpretation are. It’s about evaluating arguments and evidence in general, whereas the other three are concrete practices critics apply directly to a text.