FORMALIST APPROACH By Garrett Duktig, April Heideloff and Cynthia Sprague

TERMS TO KNOW….  Etymologies : study of the origin of words and how their meanings have changed throughout history.  New Criticism : emphasized form and a close analysis of the text.  Organic form : structure of a work that has grown naturally from the author’s subject and materials.  Metaphysical poets : exaggerated grotesque themes with wit, subtle, argumentations or unusual similes or metaphors.  Fallacy : a mistake in logical reasoning.  Affective fallacy : error of judging a text on the basis of its emotional effects on the reader.

TERMS TO KNOW….  Naturalistic : characterized by the most accurate depiction of life as possible. Does not show artificial distortion of emotions, idealism, or literary convention.  Catharsis : release of emotions of pity and fear by the audience at the end of a tragedy.  Intentional fallacy : the idea that one can know exactly what the author intended.

TERMS TO KNOW…  Realism : a depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life primarily middle class.  Romanticism : romantic style or movement in literature and art.  Foil : a character in a work whose behavior and values contrast sharply with those of another character, especially a protagonist.  Epistolary Novel : a novel made up of letters written by a character, without an omniscient narrative, allowing for multiple point of views.  Frame Story : narrative structure that provides a setting and exposition for the main narrative in a novel or short story.  Exponents : signs or symbols of patterns of meaning.

WHAT IS THE APPROACH?  Formalism disregards historical context of the novel and biographical details of the author. Focuses on the text as a discrete object.  Examines the work’s structure.  Looks for and analyzes many literary techniques including: Texture, image, symbol, fallacies, point of view, narrative voice, tension, irony, paradox, denotative and connotative language, ambiguity.  New Critics focused on what the text says and how it says it.

READER-RESPONSE THEORY  Readers are the central concern in finding the meaning of the work.  “A text does not even exist, in a sense, until it is read by some reader” The reader gives the text its meaning.  The reader interprets the piece of literature to fit their personality.  It also depends on how the text affected the reader emotionally.

FRANKENSTEIN  Thematic Reading  Is an epistolary novel made up of Captain Walton’s letters.  The point of views compete with one another leaving little to no difference between Walton’s and Frankenstein’s personalities. This allows the reader to ask questions. Example: Are the personalities merging?  The form is more abstract with two opposing concepts and exponents, together, making up the major theme of hoping to achieve a goal with the fear of failure throughout the quest that might end in a disaster.  The two opposing concepts are Walton’s and Frankenstein’s quests for greatness but both fail and Frankenstein was willing to sacrifice others lives while Walton was willing to endanger them.  The exponents are “hope” and “despair.” These words and their synonyms are seen throughout the novel and bring about the main idea again.

TO HIS COY MISTRESS  Presents a clear instance of how a particular set of images can open out in themes.  First line: “Had we but world enough and time” –introduces the space-time continuum motif.  The structure depends on the subjunctive concept, the condition contrary to fact, which gives the whole poem its meaning.  The motif of space-time shows this poem to be a philosophical consideration of time, of eternity, of pleasure (hedonism) and a salvation in an afterlife (traditional Christianity).  Finally, the formalist approach shows us how images and metaphors form and shape a consideration of philosophical themes which is if love and existence can extend beyond time and if they cannot, instant gratification is the best response to the question.

HUCKLEBERRY FINN  Novel structured in a pattern of returns and departures.  Huck and Jim departed from land, onto the river, back and forth.  The point-of-view allows us to see Huck’s story through his eyes. Huck is honest, but unreliable to the reader.  Huck has ironic mode of speech  Elaborates on white lies, but understates important details.

HUCKLEBERRY FINN  Aimless plot sequence  New settings and new situations. Restatement of the same thing in a different way  Huck learns of the viciousness of society and the helplessness of the individual.  Each situation results in the same realization: “The mass of humanity is hopelessly depraved, and the genuinely honest individual is constantly being victimized, betrayed, and threatened.”  The framework suggests a journey from innocence to horrifying knowledge.

HUCKLEBERRY FINN  The river is a symbol of refuge – the only place to be oneself and to escape from society.  Structure of the novel parallels the flow of the river.  Huck and Jim search for freedom but, ironically, they never achieve it.  Their adventures = variations of the quest for freedom.  Huck will continue to encounter social sins wherever he goes.