The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by Vincent Leitch
Published 2001 · 2,624 pages · 800,000 words · about 67 hours at an average pace · Essays & Criticism
How hard is The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism to read?
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism scores 83 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it very challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 75 out of 100
- Ranges from classical rhetoric to contemporary theory; vocabulary varies enormously by selection.
- Sentence structure: 70 out of 100
- Abstraction: 82 out of 100
- The anthology as a whole is highly abstract; individual selections range widely.
- Information density: 80 out of 100
- Extremely high density of primary theoretical material across the full history of the discipline.
- Narrative indirection: 14 out of 100
- Editorial apparatus is direct; the primary texts vary in indirection.
- Symbolic density: 14 out of 100
- Analytical and historical throughout at the level of the anthology; individual texts vary.
- Ironic distance: 12 out of 100
- The editorial framing is measured; primary texts vary in ironic register.
- Resolution withholding: 12 out of 100
- Editorial introductions resolve the context; primary texts often resist resolution.
- Structural complexity: 45 out of 100
- Chronological organization with headnotes; the implicit argument of the anthology's construction is its own form of complexity.
How The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism is regarded
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism holds a literary regard score of 87 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.