and to Young Goodman Brown

What is the Formalistic Approach? what is formalism?

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

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

Formalism/New Criticism The formalist movement began in England with the publication of I.A. Richards Pra ctical Criticism (1929).

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

So the Formalistic Approach is A critical approach that analyzes, interprets, or evaluates the inherent feature s of a text. These features include not only grammar and syntax but also literar y devices such as meter and tropes.

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

Works best when applied to poetry and short fiction.

Formalism Attempts to discover meaning by close reading of a work of literature. Focus is on: 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.

The Formalistic Approach DOES NOT look at The name of the author. The nationality or era of the composition. The speakers background, or biographical information.

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

A formalist does not look at the who, what, when, where or why They look at the how

Formalistic Approach Summary The object of formalistic criticism is to find the key to the structure and mean ing of the literary work

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

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

Formalistic Approach Summary Suggests that the reader see what is in the poem, novel, or the play rather than to consider what is outside it.

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

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

Formalism/New Criticism New Criticism varied from formalism in that New Criticism focuses on image, symb ol, and meaning. Traditional formalists often attacked New Critics for their lac k 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).

Impact of Formalism Today, few critics adhere only to the formalist or New Criticism theory. However, its back-to-the-basics approach pervades many other critical theories.

Young Goodman Brown and how to view it via the formalistic approach

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

Ambiguity in YGB Ambiguity Allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations of a word, phrase, action, or situation, all of which can be supported by the context of a work.

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

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

Faith vs. faith Does Goodman Brown lose Faith or faith?

Allegory in Young Goodman Brown The story Young Goodman is allegorical, meaning that the characters and objects in the story represent abstract ideas.

Allegory and Faith In Young Goodman Brown, we have Browns wife Faith and the spiritual faith which contribute to the ambiguity of the short story.

Allegory and faith If the tale is allegorical, for example, it may be that Goodman Brown gained his faith three months before the action of the story, when he and Faith were marri ed. The allegory may further suggest that Goodman Brown shortly loses his new fa ith, for he shrank from the bosom of Faith

Allegory in YGB Allegory is difficult to maintain, often requiring a rigid one-to-one equivalenc e between the surface meaning and a higher meaning. Thus if Faith is faith, and Go odman Brown loses the latter, how do we explain that faith remains with him and even outlives him?

Allegory in YGB Strict allegory would require that she disappear, perhaps even vanish in that da rk cloud from which the pink ribbon apparently falls. On the other hand, a patte rn of symbolism centering on Faith is easier to handle, and may help by offering more pervasive, and more subtle interweaving ideas.

Symbolism - Faith Goodman Browns wife, Faith, symbolizes Browns spiritual faith. When he sees he r in the forest at the witches sabbath, he realizes he is in danger of losing not only his wife but also his spiritual fait h.

Symbolism and The Forest as Eden

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 curiosi ty about the happenings there and perhaps even to take part in them.

Symbolism The Forest as Eden The man who meets Brown in the forest appears to represent the devil; his staff is a symbol of the devil as a serpent. Thus, we have Adam (Brown, curious to lea rn forbidden knowledge) facing the serpent in the Garden of Eden. It was, of cou rse, a treethe Tree of Knowledgethat enticed Adam. Goodman Brown is enticed by an entire forest. Like Adam, he suffers a great fall from innocence.

Symbolism The Forest as Eden Faith appears to represent Browns religious faith and his faith in others; her pi nk ribbons stand for innocence. But when she also appears at the witches sabbat h apparently, like Eve, desiring forbidden knowledgeshe too loses her innocence. A t the last moment before his and his wifes baptism into the evil society gather ed in the forest, Brown urges his wife: "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicke d 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 damage is done, and he becomes "a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man."

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 (Paragraph 13): William III, king of England from 1689 to 1702. Wotst: (Paragraph 15): Know. King Philip (Paragraph 18): Nickname of the Wampan oag Indian chief Metacom (or Metacomet). Maltreatment of Indians by whites provo ked him into waging what came to be known as King Philips War against New Engla nders in 1675-1676. His defiance instilled fear in the white inhabitants of New England.

Allusions within Young Goodman Brown Lecture-Day (Paragraph 21): Weekday on which a sermon was given.

Een Go Thy Ways (Paragraph 25): Just (righteous) be thy ways. Cinquefoil (Paragraph 32): Flowering plant of the rose family that has white, re d, or yellow petals. Wolfs Bane (Paragraph 32): Wolfsbane, a poisonous plant. D evils Staff (Paragraph 36): The narrator says, "So saying, he threw it [the sta ff] down at her feet, where, perhaps, it assumed life, being one of the rods whi ch its owner had formerly lent to the Egyptian magi." This passage alludes to ve rses 8-12 in Chapter 7 of the Bibles Book of Exodus. According to these verses, God directs Moses to tell Aaron, his brother, to cast down his staff before the throne of the pharaoh of Egypt. When he does so, it transforms itself into a se rpent. The pharaohs magicians (magi) then cast down their staffs, which in like manner turned into serpents. However, Aarons staff consumes the staffs of the magicians.

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

Young Goodman Brown - Form A short story like YGB, as opposed to a long novel, is structured in such a way that 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 qui ckly comes to an end.

Young Goodman Brown - Form A short story is restricted in scope, like a news story, but unlike the news sto ry, the short story possess the balance and design-the polish and finish, the co mpleteness which we associate with the work of art. In brief, like any other imaginative literary work, the short story possesses fo rm.

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

Local Texture The local texture is the comparison that is made between things. A comparison in this story would be the description of red fire and a man who is mean and controlling. A comparison can be made to the devil and hell.

Logical Structure The logical structure of this story is a young man that has a wife, who ironical ly is named Faith, goes out one night on a journey. His wife begs him not to go but he does anyway. On his journey he encounters the devil, and because of this devil he loses his wife Faith, and his own faith. When he comes back from his jo urney he is a changed man for the worst, in a sense that he treats everyone as a sinner, and forever treats people with disgust.

Virtues and Vices If you use your prior knowledge of Puritans you would or should have come to the conclusion that this would be a stereotypical story where the protagonist (Good man) would be tempted by the devil or some evil creature that somehow makes the faithful protagonist lose their faith and then somehow regain it. However as this story progresses it is shown that this was not the case.