Author(s)

Xiaoli Huang

Corresponding Author

Xiaoli Huang

ABSTRACT

New Criticism exerts great influence on poetical criticism. It emphasizes the close reading of a text. Elements like rhyme, setting, plot are employed to identify the theme of a text. Such rhetorical devices as metaphor, simile, personification, etc. help establish the interpretation of the text. New Criticism mainly focuses on poems since poems contain all necessary information on their meanings. Edward Taylor was an early American poet. His poems were mainly about his meditation and Puritan doctrines. Employing New Criticism, this paper analyzes one of his poems whose name is Upon a Spider Catching a Fly, aiming at helping readers appreciate the natural beauty and religious themes.

KEYWORDS

Upon a Spider Catching a Fly, New Criticism, Edward Taylor, Net