Which of the following is applicable to ‘new criticism’?
[A] It draws considerably from the works of I.A. Richards and the critical essays of T.S Eliot
[B] Some of its concepts are pre-empted by F.R. Leavis.
[C] It distinguishes between literary and scientific usage of language.
[D] It encourages an extensive exploration of the contextual and autobiographical background.
[E] It vouches for a historical analysis of a text.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

The correct option is A, B and C only.

To understand why this option is correct, let us analyze the core tenets and historical development of New Criticism step-by-step:

1. Influence of I.A. Richards and T.S. Eliot (Statement A):
New Criticism, which emerged in the mid-20th century, was deeply influenced by the British critical tradition. I.A. Richards's experiments in close reading (detailed in his works like Principles of Literary Criticism and Practical Criticism) and T.S. Eliot's emphasis on the aesthetic autonomy of art and the impersonality of poetry (in essays like "Tradition and the Individual Talent") laid the theoretical foundation for New Critics to focus on the text itself rather than external factors.

2. Pre-emption by F.R. Leavis (Statement B):
In the United Kingdom, F.R. Leavis and the group associated with the journal Scrutiny practiced a rigorous close reading of texts and insisted on evaluating literature based on its concrete verbal structure and moral seriousness. Their methods and concepts pre-empted and ran parallel to the developments of New Criticism in America.

3. Scientific vs. Literary Language (Statement C):
New Critics drew a sharp distinction between the scientific usage of language (which is purely referential, denotative, and aimed at conveying factual information) and the literary or poetic usage of language (which relies on connotation, paradox, irony, ambiguity, and internal tension to create complex meanings).

4. Exclusion of Contextual, Biographical, and Historical Analysis (Statements D and E):
New Criticism is defined by its rejection of extrinsic approaches. It explicitly warns against analyzing a text through its historical context, biographical background, or the author's intended meaning (known as the "Intentional Fallacy"). Because New Criticism advocates for treating the text as an autonomous, self-contained aesthetic object, Statements D and E are entirely inapplicable to it.