The text alone determines its meaning

In order to interpret a text correctly, readers must pay close attention to the text alone. They must look at the text itself, not at the things happening around it, like historical context, the author's interpretation of their work, or their own feelings about it. These things distract from the text. Ignoring outside influences leads to a purely objective, and therefore correct, interpretation of the work. New Criticism takes a somewhat scientific approach to literary criticism. It gives readers a methodical way of arriving at the text's meaning. If readers give the text a close reading, analyze the work's form, and note any instances of paradox, irony, patterns, symbols, or allusions, they can interpret the text correctly. Famous advocates of this method include Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks, and John Crowe Ransom, the founder of this school of criticism.