What is Literary Theory and how do I integrate it into my essays?

Literary Theory is a great way of generating new and interesting interpretations of a text, and will definitely impress your examiner and gain extra marks if used correctly! There are many 'Schools of Theory' which can be used as tools to analyse a text, and each one will have a specific focus. To start off with, these are the three I would recommend looking into for your A-Level:• Feminist Theory (https://www.shmoop.com/feminist-theory/)• Marxist Theory (https://www.shmoop.com/marxism/)• Psychoanalytical Theory (https://www.shmoop.com/psychoanalysis/)After you understand these theories, find critical essays which relate to your texts, read them and summarise the most interesting/useful points. Then, when you are revising, you'll have a whole heap of critical theories in your tool box.When integrating Literary Theory into your essay, there are a few ways you could do this:1. Your whole essay could be centred around a particular 'school', and this will guide all of your analysis - this was something I did a lot as an A-level student. For example, if I had a question specifically about women, I would usually set out in my introduction that my essay would be engaging with Feminist Literary Theory.2. You can link in relevant Literary Theory to your close analysis of the text - if you are less comfortable with theory, or your question doesn't lend itself to any particular school, you can always use theory to further analyse a character or literary device. I found that theory lends itself well to symbolism and setting in particular - the difference between houses on West Egg and East Egg in 'The Great Gatsby', when analysed through a Marxist lens, links well with themes of wealth and power in the novel.3. To provide strong counter-arguments - To really demonstrate your understanding of different interpretations of a text, something which an examiner will be looking for, Literary Theory can be used to provide strong and interesting counter-arguments to traditional or surface-level analysis. For example, Psychoanalytical Theory can be used to dispute whether the dagger in 'Macbeth' is an apparition conjured up by the Witches (which would have been a contemporary belief in Shakespeare's time).The key thing to remember when using Literary Theory is it's all about practice! The more you use critical theory, the more you'll be able to read any text and apply any theory.