New Criticism is well-known for its emphasis on close reading and detailed textual analysis, focusing on the text itself rather than external factors.
Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, and R.P. Blackmur are indeed associated with New Criticism. However, Kenneth Burke is more known for his work in rhetoric and literary theory, not specifically as a New Critic.
While New Criticism can be applied to novels and plays, it is more traditionally associated with poetry.
New Criticism deliberately avoids external contexts such as historical, social, and political backgrounds, focusing solely on the text itself.
J.C. Ransom did write "The New Criticism," but the book does not specifically involve appreciations of I.A. Richards, William Empson, and T.S. Eliot. The book rather establishes the principles of New Criticism without this focus on those particular critics.
Year-wise PYQs
