22187676 the Formalist Approach to Literature (1)

7/30/2019 22187676 the Formalist Approach to Literature (1)

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and to Young Goodman Brown


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What is the Formalistic Approach?

what is formalism?


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Formalism

The term formalism describes an emphasis on form over content or meaning in thearts, literature, or philosophy.

A practitioner of formalism is called a formalist. ...


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Formalism/New Criticism

The formalist movement began in England with the publication of I.A. Richards Practical Criticism (1929).

American critics (such as John Crowe Ransom, Robert Penn Warren, and Cleanth Brooks) adapted formalism and termed their adaptation New Criticism.


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So the Formalistic Approach is

A critical approach that analyzes, interprets, or evaluates the inherent features of a text. These features include not only grammar and syntax but also literary devices such as meter and tropes.


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Formalism

Has the advantage of forcing writers to evaluate a work on its own terms ratherthan to rely on accepted notions of the writers work

Works best when applied to poetry and short fiction.


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Formalism

Attempts to discover meaning by close reading of a work of literature. Focus ison: Form, organization, and structure Word choice and language Multiple meanings

Considers the work in isolation, disregarding authors intent, authors background,context, and anything else outside of the work itself.


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The Formalistic Approach DOES NOT look at

The name of the author. The nationality or era of the composition. The speakersbackground, or biographical information.

Whether or not the author the had adapted this work from a past experience.


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A formalist does not look at the

who, what, when, where or why

They look at the how


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Formalistic Approach Summary

The object of formalistic criticism is to find the key to the structure and meaning of the literary work

We search for form which is necessary for real understanding A unifying patternis the pattern that as modern critics say, informs or shapes the work inwardly and gives its parts a relevance to the whole

We must narrow our attention to what the literary work says butwe must first consider how it is said


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Formalistic Approach Summary

Suggests that the reader see what is in the poem, novel, or the play rather thanto consider what is outside it.

First step in explaining the literary work is to discover what the words actually mean in their full denotative and connotative value.

Principle by which content and form inseparable Imagery, tone, meters, rhymes, etc


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Formalism/New Criticism

New Criticism varied from formalism in that New Criticism focuses on image, symbol, and meaning. Traditional formalists often attacked New Critics for their lack of

attention to the form of the work.

Seminal works on New Criticism include John Crowe Ransoms The New Criticism (1941) and Cleanth Brooks The Well Wrought Urn (1947).


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Impact of FormalismToday, few critics adhere only to the formalist or New Criticism theory.

However, its back-to-the-basics approach pervades many other critical theories.


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Young Goodman Brownand how to view it via the formalistic approach


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In Nathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown, there are numerous formalistic approach concepts. This method to reading, which is one of the most common, has three main points: symbolism, allegory, and allusion. Even though these main pointsare most prominent, there are other points such as, ambiguity, and organic form.


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Ambiguity in YGB

Ambiguity Allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations of a word,

phrase, action, or situation, all of whichcan be supported by the context of a work.


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Ambiguity in YGB

Deliberate ambiguity can contribute to the effectiveness and richness of a work,for example, in the open-ended conclusion to Hawthorne s "Young Goodman Brown."However, unintentional ambiguity obscures meaning and can confuse readers.


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What is the meaning behind the pink ribbons?Are they emblematic of love, of innocence, of good? Conversely, do they suggestevil or hypocrisy, or the ambiguous and puzzling blend of good and evil?


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Faith vs. faith

Does

Goodman Brown lose Faith or

faith?


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Allegory in Young Goodman Brown

The story Young Goodman is allegorical, meaning that the characters and objects

in the story represent abstract ideas.


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Allegory and Faith

In Young Goodman Brown, we have Browns wife Faith and the spiritual faith

which contribute to the ambiguity of theshort story.


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Allegory and faith

If the tale is allegorical, for example, it may be that Goodman Brown gained hisfaith three months before the action of the story, when he and Faith were married. The allegory may further suggest that Goodman Brown shortly loses his new faith, for he

shrank from the bosom of Faith


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Allegory in YGB

Allegory is difficult to maintain, often requiring a rigid one-to-one equivalence between the surface meaning and a higher meaning. Thus if Faith is faith, and Goodman Brown loses the latter, how do we explain that faith remains with him andeven outlives him?


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Allegory in YGB

Strict allegory would require that she disappear, perhaps even vanish in that dark cloud from which the pink ribbon apparently falls. On the other hand, a pattern of symbolism centering on Faith is easier to handle, and may help by offeringmore pervasive,

and more subtle interweaving ideas.


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Symbolism - Faith

Goodman Brown s wife, Faith, symbolizes Brown s spiritual faith. When he sees her in

the forest at the witches sabbath, herealizes he is in danger of losing not only his wife but also his spiritual faith.


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Symbolism and The Forest as Eden


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Symbolism The Forest as Eden

Goodman Brown appears to represent human beings confronted with temptationthat is, he wishes to enter the dark forest of sin, so to speak, to satisfy his curiosity about the happenings there and perhaps even to take part in them.


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The man who meets Brown in the forest appears to represent the devil; his staffis a symbol of the devil as a serpent. Thus, we have Adam (Brown, curious to learn forbidden knowledge) facing the serpent in the Garden of Eden. It was, of course, a treethe Tree of Knowledgethat enticed Adam. Goodman Brown is enticed by anentire forest. Like Adam, he suffers a

great fall from innocence.


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Faith appears to represent Browns religious faith and his faith in others; her pink ribbons stand for innocence. But when she also appears at the witches sabbath apparently, like Eve, desiring forbidden knowledgeshe too loses her innocence. At the last moment before his and his wife s baptism into the evil society gathered in the forest, Brown urges his wife: "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One." He then finds himself alone in the forest, wondering whether he has

awakened from a dream or really did attend the witches sabbath. But the damageis done, and he becomes "a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, ifnot a desperate man."


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Allusions within Young Goodman Brown

Goodman: Husband or master of a household.

Goody: (1) Housewife, especially an elderly one, of a lower class; (2) any lower-class woman; (3) housewife or mistress of a household. King William (Paragraph13): William III, king of England from 1689 to 1702.

Wot st: (Paragraph 15): Know. King Philip (Paragraph 18): Nickname of the Wampanoag Indian chief Metacom (or Metacomet). Maltreatment of Indians by whites provoked him into waging what came to be known as King Philip s War against New Englanders in 1675-1676. His defiance instilled fear in the white inhabitants of NewEngland.


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Allusions within Young Goodman Brown

Lecture-Day (Paragraph 21): Weekday on which a sermon was given.

E en Go Thy Ways (Paragraph 25): Just (righteous) be thy ways.Cinquefoil (Paragraph 32): Flowering plant of the rose family that has white, red, or yellow petals. Wolf s Bane (Paragraph 32): Wolfsbane, a poisonous plant. Devil

s Staff (Paragraph 36): The narrator says, "So saying, he threw it [the staff] down at her feet, where, perhaps, it assumed life, being one of the rods which its owner had formerly lent to the Egyptian magi." This passage alludes to verses 8-12 in Chapter 7 of the Bible s Book of Exodus. According to these verses,God directs Moses to tell Aaron, his brother, to cast down his staff before thethrone of the pharaoh of Egypt. When he does so, it transforms itself into a serpent. The pharaoh

s magicians (magi) then cast down their staffs, which in likemanner turned into serpents. However, Aaron s staff consumes the staffs of themagicians.


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One characteristic we must look at when analyzing Young Goodman Brown is form; the structure or style of a text.


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Young Goodman Brown - Form

A short story like YGB, as opposed to a long novel, is structured in such a waythat there are a few notable characters and only one major situation.

As a result, a short story like YGB reaches its climax and solution and thus quickly comes to an end.


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Young Goodman Brown - Form

A short story is restricted in scope, like a news story, but unlike the news story, the short story possess the balance and design-the polish and finish, the completeness which

we associate with the work of art.

In brief, like any other imaginative literary work, the short story possesses form.


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Organic Form

The organic form has two parts: The local texture The logical structure.


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Local Texture

The local texture is the comparison that is made between things. A comparison inthis

story would be the description of red fire and aman who is mean and controlling. A comparison can be made to the devil and hell.


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Logical Structure

The logical structure of this story is a young man that has a wife, who ironically is named Faith, goes out one night on a journey. His wife begs him not to gobut he does anyway. On his journey he encounters the devil, and because of thisdevil he loses his wife Faith, and his own faith. When he comes back from his journey he is a changed man for the worst, in a sense that he treats everyone as asinner, and forever

treats people with disgust.


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Virtues and Vices

If you use your prior knowledge of Puritans you would or should have come to theconclusion that this would be a stereotypical story where the protagonist (Goodman)

would be tempted by the devil or some evil creature thatsomehow makes the faithful protagonist lose their faith

and then somehow regain it. However as this storyprogresses it is shown that this was not the case.


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22187676 the Formalist Approach to Literature (1)