ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND

PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

approaches in
literary criticism
formalist criticism

GROUP 1
 Learning Objectives

01 02 03
To determine To know the
To know what
the definition advantages and
is literary
and importance disadvantages of
criticism.
of formalist formalist
criticism. criticism.
literary criticism
Literary criticism is the practice of
studying, evaluating, and interpreting
works of literature The purpose of
literary criticism is to broaden a
reader’s understanding of an author’s
work by summarizing, interpreting, and
exploring its value.
 what is

formalist
criticism?
formalist criticism
-Holds that the true meaning of a
text can be determined only by
analyzing the literary elements of a
text and by understanding how
these elements work together to
form up a cohesive whole.

-All elements necessary to

understand the work are contained
within the text itself.
In this approach what are being
analyzed are the following:

Literary Elements

Literary Devices

Structure

Language
 the road not taken
by robert frost:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry

I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood And looked
down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took
the other, as just as fair,
 the road not taken
by robert frost:

And having perhaps the better claim, Because it

was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for
that the passing there Had worn them really
about the same, And both that morning equally
lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I
kept the first for another day!
 the road not taken
by robert frost:

Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted

if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this
with a sigh;Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the
one less traveled by, And that has made all the
difference.
ADVANTAGES OF FORMALIST CRITICISM
Gives a better understanding of the writer’s
01 techniques in writing, e. g. literary devices,
figures of speech, etc.

Works best when applied to poetry and

02
short story fiction.
ADVANTAGES OF FORMALIST CRITICISM
Emphasizes the value of the text instead of
03
its context.

Can be done without much research

Works best when applied to poetry and as the
04
02 structure is the only
short story fiction focus.
ADVANTAGES OF FORMALIST CRITICISM

05 Well-known approach.

Develops close-reading skills because

Works best when applied to poetry and you
06
02 need to look to literary
short story fiction devices.
disADVANTAGES OF FORMALIST CRITICISM

Time consuming based on the text size and

01
writing style of the author.

Context is ignored and text is analyzed in a

Works best when applied to poetry and
02 very technical way because it is more of
short story fiction
structure.
disADVANTAGES OF FORMALIST CRITICISM

03 Not compatible with all types of text

Ignores other aspects such as historical,

Works best when applied to poetry and
04
02 psychological and
short story fiction gender aspects.
disADVANTAGES OF FORMALIST CRITICISM

Similarity of conclusions because it is only

05
after the form of the text.
reflection
How are these phrases related to our topic?

The form is Best when

Focused on
the key not applied to
text only
the content poetry

Literary Literary Well-known

devices elements approach
thank you for
listening!!