You’ll need a critical eye as you scan through literary history. You’ll analyze literature from a provided reading list as well as literary passages not on the list. A short essay serves as the tiebreaker that could put you over the top.
Elements of the contest: The Lit Crit Contest is a ninety-minute contest in which the competitor's familiarity with the concepts associated with literary analysis and the authors and works that represent English-language literary history is assessed. This contest requires knowledge of literary history and of critical terms, and ability in literary criticism.
Three sets of items comprise the scored part of the test: Knowledge of Literary Terms and Literary History, The UIL Reading List (differs from year to year), and Ability in Literary Criticism. Students are required to select the best answers involving judgment in literary criticism and to analyze literary passages from both the reading list and other sources. A tiebreaker is required in which the student must write a short essay dealing with a specified topic about a selected literary passage.