21st 2

• Geographic dimension


  The place where a piece of literature came from
• Linguistic dimension


  Somewhat related to the geographic origin of a piece of literature
• A particular region may have more than one dialect
• Ethnic dimension


  The racial or cultural beginning of a literary piece
• Formalist approach


  • Focuses on the formal elements of a work - its language, structure, and tone
  • Offers intense examinations of the relationship between form and meaning within a work
• Formalist criticism


  Reads literature as an independent work of art rather than as a reflection of the author's state of mind or as a representation of a moment in history
• Applying formalism in analyzing a literary text


  1. Read with an active and critical mind, paying attention to the details of the text

  2. Examine how it is written in narrative form, or in stanzas

  3. Note the words that appeal to the senses; look for images, similes, metaphors, and symbols

  4. Study who is narrating or telling what happens, and who the characters are and how they are revealed

  5. Determine how the parts work together to tell the theme and message