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| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| Main Entry: | affective fallacy |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | in literary criticism, the theory that poetry's internal structure should be analyzed and described as opposed to its emotional effect on the reader; also, the misconception that a poem's emotional effect on the reader determines its value |
affective fallacy
according to the followers of New Criticism, the misconception that arises from judging a poem by the emotional effect that it produces in the reader. The concept of affective fallacy is a direct attack on impressionistic criticism, which argues that the reader's response to a poem is the ultimate indication of its value
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