Miriam-Webster Online defines theory as a set of general principles that characterize a body of fact or art. Criticism is the art of analyzing a work, including writings expressing those analyses.
Literary theory then, is the lens or framework through which a critic views a work, coloring how they perceive it and what literary features they focus on. Literary criticism is the act of analysis--and the evaluations critics produce--critiquing a work according to favored theories.
World Book Online divides literary criticism into four basic categories---all backed by their guiding theories:
1) Formal Criticism: analyzes the form and structure of works.
2) Rhetorical: examines the techniques that affect an audience.
3) Expressive: scrutinizes the ways authors express their ideas and motives.
4) Mimetic: studies how writers portray reality.
Various schools of thought concerning literary theory and critique have distinguished themselves from the throng. Refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) and your reluctantly purchased Literary Theory text for detailed explanations.
• Moral Criticism
• Dramatic-
• Formalism
• New-
• Neo-Aristotelian-
• Psychoanalytic-
• Jungian-
• Marxist-
• Reader-Response-
• Structuralism
• Semiotics
• Post-Structuralism
• Deconstruction
• New Historicism
• Cultural Studies
• Post-Colonial-
• Feminist-
• Gender/Queer Studies
Literary theorist Michel Foucault compared schools and other public institutions to "Panopticons"---normalizing prisons. Brainchild of Jeremy Bentham, a Panopticon prison had no bars---only windows---and an omni-present central guard tower. Unceasing observation produced self-policing, normalizing behavior. Even curiouser, Mr. Bentham's body is kept on display at the University College of London per his request.