Formalistic Approach:

New Criticism

This approach focuses on form literature in great detail to try and understand what it’s about -
down to the punctuation, sentence structure, word choice, etc. The reader do not bring in any
outside knowledge to try and analyze the text. The analysis stresses items like symbols, images,
and structure and how one part of the work relates to other parts and to the whole.

Questions for analysis

Relationship of the title to the rest of the poem.

What words, if any, need to be defined?
What words etymological roots need to be explored?
What relationships or patterns (repeated or related words, images, etc.) do you see among
any words in the text? What is the effect?
How is the work’s structure unified?
What allusions, if any, are in the text?
What symbols, images, and figures of speech are used?
What figures of speech are used? (Metaphors, similes, etc.). What is their relation between
the symbols or images?
What elements of prosody (metric) can you note and discuss?
How do various elements of the work reinforce its meaning
How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)?
How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?
What´s the effect of the plot, and what parts specifically produce that effect?
Note the writer’s use of paradox, irony, symbol, plot, characterization, and style of
narration. What effects are produced? Do any of these relate to one another or to the
theme?
Is there are relationship between the beginning and the end of the story?
What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?
How does the author create tone and mood? What relationship is there between tone and
mood and the effect of the story?
How do the various elements interact to create a unified whole?