Are practical criticism and new criticism the same? If not, then what is the difference between the two ?

Practical Criticism was devised by a professor named I. A.
Richards at Cambridge University in the 1920s. The term “New Criticism” was used in the
United States to refer to essentially the same thing.

In
this type of criticism, literary works, especially poetry, are read an analyzed without
any information about the author, the date of the writing, the circumstances under which
the work was written, etc. The work is supposed to be a considered as a standalone piece
of literature. Students are suppossed to appreciate it for its art – its use of literary
devices, its beauty, its impact, etc.

In the United States,
Practical Criticism became New Criticism due to the use of this term by poet, professor
and literary scholar and critic John Crowe Ransom. He wrote a book entitled
New Criticism in which he adopted the ideas of the Practical
Critics in England. This type of criticism was in vogue throughout the 1960s and even
into the 1970s in the United States. As with the Practical Critics, the New Critics
believed that works should be read closely but in
isolation.

Today, these methods are not adhered to
religiously, but are incorporated into other methods of
criticism.