1. Analytical Approaches
“Young Goodman Brown”
Honors English 11

2. Favorite Color Favorite Animal Favorite Body of Water The White Room

3. Yourself
Potential Mates
Friendship
Death

4. Formalistic Approach
Requires a close reading with attention to a work’s structure, context, literary devices, etc. These elements establish a pattern for interpretation (i.e. a theme). Example: Allegory- an extended metaphor in which details of a literary work relate directly to a specific larger idea of moral, social, religious, or political significance. “Young Goodman Brown” as an allegory: Faith, village, journey, forest, devil…

5. Formalistic Approach
Faith- Someone who is able to accept man’s fallen nature. She’s “troubled with such thoughts that she is afraid of herself” (Hawthorne 43).
YGB - Everyman. He plans to “follow [Faith] to heaven” when he should make his own way. Dependency on her is the cause of his undoing.
Village - Community
Journey - Rite of passage that all must go through.
Forest - Moral wilderness. Where man must face his and all people’s nature.
Devil - Sin.
Ribbons - Sexuality; Innocence; Love; Faith
Staff - Snake followed by YGB leaning against tree for support.

6. Formalistic Approach Motifs and Themes:
Alienation: Every person is alone “in that saddest of all prisons, his own heart” (Hawthorne 298).
Dream vs. Reality: Figments of the imagination, fabrications are most often misleading; realistic interpretations of the factual are far more constructive.
Good vs. Evil: When people refuse to accept that flaws are part of the human condition, that refusal can lead to disillusionment, isolation, and projection.
No explanation for YGB’s appointment with the devil because it is “a spiritual quest…all humans must undergo at some point in their lives” (“Young” 298). Faith welcomes YGB back with open arms.

7. Historical Approach
Focuses on the historical context of the action of a particular work as well as the historical influences that led to the work’s creation.
Influences of the time period; “YGB” is written about…
Set during the Salem Witch Trials at the height of the Puritan theocracy
Austerity was expected, even as predestination was embraced- provided security in the form of a “plan” for all players
Goody Cloyse, Martha Carrier and Goody Cory all real people accused during Salem Witch Trials
John Hawthorne was appointed a judge but became a prosecutor during the SWT

8. Historical Approach
Focuses on the historical context of the action of a particular work as well as the historical influences that led to the work’s creation.
Influences of the time period; “YGB” is written in…
1835
Enlightenment helped to shed “light” on the flaws of the Puritan doctrine/law
Flowering of America’s first literature
Focus on nature, symbolism, and human psychology
Hawthorne’s dealing with his great grandfather’s role in the persecution of “witches” (Biographical Approach)

9. Other Approaches Feminist – roles or absence of female characters
Feminist – roles or absence of female characters
Marxist – power struggle, class hierarchy
Archetypal – symbolic interpretation of common archetypes
Eco-Critical – influence of nature
Post Colonial – influence of the conqueror and the conquered

10. PSYCHOLOGICAL
LITERARY CRITICISM
An introduction

11. Pyschological Literary Criticism
A broad term for the various types of literary theory that focus on the inner workings of the human psyche and the ways in which they manifest themselves in literature, with special attention paid to the unstated motives and unconscious states of mind in characters, authors, and readers (Gardner et al 1448).

12. Where id is, there shall ego be.
The Anatomy of the Mental Personality
Sigmund Freud
( )
Carl Jung
( )
Where love rules, there is no will to power...
The one is the shadow of the other.
The Psychology of the Unconscious

13. Sigmund Freud: Psychodynamics
Concerned with psychic attachments, conflicts, and motivations
Unconscious thoughts and feelings
Displacing; denial; repression; regression
Unconscious reveals itself in art, dreams, jokes, apparent accidents, and verbal slips
Theory of Personality:
Id, Ego, Superego

14. Freudian Approach Our dreams represent suppressed desires;
they are symbolic forms of wish fulfillment
Parts of the psyche
ID= a person’s primary source of psychological energy, its function is to fulfill a person’s desires, has no morality, seeks immediate gratification
EGO= a person’s conscious mind, acts as the intermediary between our inner world and outer world, regulates the ID and SUPEREGO, mediates between the two
SUPEREGO= a person’s parental/social influence, represses or inhibits the drive of the ID, creates guilt complexes, “puts the lid on the ID”

16. “I didn’t save the money to buy this shirt, so I shouldn’t be able to get it; further, the cost of shoplifting is passed on to the consumer. That’s not right. Is anyone
else impressed that I use semicolons
correctly in my
subconscious?”
“I’m want to snag this cool t-shirt while the cashier is looking the other way.”
“If I get caught, I could go to jail; plus, my parents would be very disappointed in me.

17. Freudian Analytical ModelID
EGO
SUPEREGO
I want to cheat, steal, run from the law
Don’t want to hurt spouse, society, myself, police, etc.
You will go to hell; You will go to jail
I want to eat, eat, eat
I’ll get heavy; increase health risks
Magazine covers and movie stars clearly show that if you are heavy, people will not like you
I want to punch that jerk
Altercation has the potential for a negative outcome
I could get arrested; Violent people go to hell; You will go to jail

18. Jungian Approach
Individuation is the process of maturation and establishing sense of self and uniqueness. Parts of the psyche Persona= a person’s outer self, presented to others in hope that society will accept him or her Anima/Animus= a person’s soul image, the balancing inward self that maintains the opposite gender qualities of the persona Shadow= darker side of self, negative qualities of the personality that we like to hide; the less a person acknowledges his shadow, the stronger it is Projection= a person’s placement of the qualities of his or her shadow onto others. The unacknowledged shadow has the potential for disastrous results

19. Jungian Analytical Model
PERSONA
ANIMA/ANIMUS
SHADOW
I’m a confident manly man
I cry at sappy movies
(stereotypically feminine activity - anima)
Gay people threaten me
I’m a girly girl
I focus on the logic of a situation rather than the emotion
(stereotypically masculine p.o.v. - animus)
I resent society’s expectations of beauty and femininity.
I am a peaceful, problem-solving type of person
I enjoy watching UFC
I want to kill that guy

20. The Collective Unconscious
Common to all cultures; necessary for species survival; passed on like genes.
Archetypes: Universal memories, symbols, images, and themes through which humans channel experiences and emotions, resulting in recognizable and typical patterns.

22. How can all this be applied to literature?
Buried significance.
Subconscious (unstated) motivation for action.
Overt vs. covert (or manifest vs. latent) desires.
Internal lives of characters.
Special attention paid to symbols as manifestations of deeper hidden meaning.
The influence of archetypes on plot and character.

23. Freudian and Jungian Approach
Reconsider your analysis of “Young Goodman Brown,” making connections to the Freudian and Jungian analytical approaches. Finally, discuss your conclusions with your peers.

24. Works Cited
Frued, Sigmund. Dream Psychology Psychoanalysis for Beginners .
Philadelphia: Basic Books Inc., Print.
Gardner, Janet E. and others. Literature: A Portable Anthology.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.
Tavris, Carol and Carole Wade, eds. Invitation to Psychology.
Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2008