Structuralist and Formalist

Approach in Literature

ENGLISH 10/QUARTER 3 WEEK4

ACTIVITY 1: GUESS TO WIN IT!
Directions: Arrange the scrambled
letters to form a word. One point
will be given for every correct
answer.
1. HACRACTER
2. TESNGIT
3. TLPO
4. EPOXTISONI
5. SIRNGI TINOCA
6. ILCXAM
7. OPITN FO EWIV
8. MIAGEYR
9. NOCLIFTC
10. METEH
ACTIVITY 2: MATCH MORE
Directions: Identify the
words from activity 1 that
match with the given
definitions.
1. It is central topic, subject
or message of the text/story.
2. It refers to a person or
even animals who take part
in the action.
3. It is the element of the story
that refers to place and time
the story the story happened.
4. This is the struggle of the
protagonist that he needs to
face.
5. It is a literary device that
uses words that appeal to the
senses to create vivid pictures
for readers.
6. It tells the events in the story
leading to climax.
7. It refers to the introduction of
the story .

8. It is the sequence of events in

a story or play.
9. This element is the most
intense and exciting part of s
story

10. It refers to the angle from

which the story is told.
ACTIVITY 3. LET’S GET READ!
Read and discuss the selection
with your groupmates.

A Day in the Country (excerpt)

By Anton Chekhov
 A dark leaden-colored mass is creeping over
the sky towards the sun. Red zigzags of lightning
gleam here and there across it. There is a sound
of stirs up the dust. In a minute there will be a
spurt of May rain and a real storm will begin.
Fyokla, a little beggar-girl of six, is running
through the village, looking for Terenty, the
cobbler. The white-haired barefooted child is
pale. Her eyes are wide-open, her lips are
trembling.
 “Uncle, where is Terenty?” she asked
everyone she meets. No one answers. They
are all preoccupied with the approaching
storm and take refuge in their huts. At last,
she meets Silanty Silitch, the sacristan,
Terenty’s bosom friend.
“Uncle, where is Terenty?”.
“At the kitchen-gardens,” answers
Silanty.
 The beggar-girl runs behind the
huts to the kitchen-gardens and there
finds Terenty, the tall old man with a
thin, pock-marked face, very long legs
and bare feet.
“Uncle Terenty!” the white-headed
beggar girl addresses him.
“Ah! servant of God Fyokla,” he
says, “where have you come from?”
 “Uncle Terenty, come along, brother
Danika has had an accident. “What sort
of accident?”, the old man asks.
“In the count’s copse Danika stuck
his hand into a hole in a tree and he
can’t get it out. He wanted to get a
cuckoo’s egg out of the hole for me”.
 Terenty comes out of the kitchen-garden and
begins striding down the village street.
As soon as rain begins, the wind drops. The
only sound is the patter of rain dropping like the
fine shot on the young rye and the parched
road. A flash of lightning, some fourteen feet
long, gleams above their heads. There is loud
peal of thunder and it seems to Fyokla that
something big, heavy and round is rolling over
the sky and tearing it open, exactly over her
head.
 Terenty’s and Fyokla’s feet are covered with
lamps and clay and it is difficult to walk, but
Terenty strides on more rapidly.
At last they go into the count’s copse. The
washed trees, stirred by a gust of wind, drop a
perfect waterfall upon them.
Fyokla leads the old man into a thicket and
after going a quarter of mile, points to Danika.
Her brother, little fellow of eight with pale sickly
face, stands leaning against the tree.
 Terenty’s and Fyokla’s feet are covered with
lamps and clay and it is difficult to walk, but
Terenty strides on more rapidly.
At last they go into the count’s copse. The
washed trees, stirred by a gust of wind, drop a
perfect waterfall upon them.
Fyokla leads the old man into a thicket and
after going a quarter of mile, points to Danika.
Her brother, little fellow of eight with pale sickly
face, stands leaning against the tree.
 Towards midday, all three sit
down on the river bank. Danika takes
out of his bag a piece of bread, soaked
and reduced to a mash and they began
to eat. Terenty says a prayer when he
has eaten the bread and falls asleep.
Danika gazes at the water, pondering.
He has many different things to think.
 Towards the evening, the return to
the village. The children go for the night
to a deserted barn while Terenty, leaving
them, goes to the tavern. The children
lie huddled together on the straw,
dozing. Danika does not sleep. He gazes
into the darkness and it seems to him
that he is seeing all that he has seen in
the day.
 The children fall asleep thinking
of the homeless cobbler and in the
night Trenty comes to them, makes the
sign of the cross over them and puts
bread under their heads. No one sees
his love. It is seen only by the moon
which floats in the sky and peeps
caressingly through the holes in the
wall of the deserted barn.
ACTIVITY 4 TELL ME MORE
Directions: Answer the question assigned to
your group.
1.Who are the characters mentioned in the
story? (Group I)
2.Where do you think the story happened?
(Group 2)
3.What literary device is evident in the
introduction of the story? (Group 3)
4. What is the problem presented in
the story? (Group 4)

5. What is the point of view of the

narrator based on the first and
second paragraph?( each Group)
Structuralist and Formalist
Approach in Literature

ENGLISH 10/QUARTER 3 WEEK4

OBJECTIVES:
• Differentiate formalism from
structuralism approach
• Appreciate the over-all artistic value
of the structure and elements of the
selection (structuralist and formalist)
• Analyze the story/text using
structuralist/formalist approach
Structuralism and Formalism
are both approaches to
understanding and analyzing
works of literature, art, or
culture.
STRUCTURALIST
- focuses on the underlying
structures or systems within a text or
artifact. It seeks to uncover the
fundamental rules, patterns, or
relationships that shape meaning.
Think of it like dissecting a story to
understand its basic components and
how they interact.
STRUCTURALIST (Example)
Imagine you're analyzing a fairy tale like "Little Red
Riding Hood" from a structuralist perspective. You
might focus on recurring themes, character
archetypes (like the innocent maiden or the
cunning wolf), and the narrative patterns (the
journey through the woods, the encounter with
the predator, the rescue by a hero).
Structuralism seeks to identify these underlying
structures that make the story recognizable and
meaningful across different cultures and
contexts.
FORMALISM
- Formalism, on the other hand,
emphasizes the form or structure of a
work itself. It looks at elements such
as language, style, and form to
interpret meaning. Formalists often
prioritize the text itself over external
factors like historical context or
authorial intention.
FORMALISM (Example)
- Now, let's consider "The Road Not Taken" by
Robert Frost from a formalist viewpoint. Instead of
delving into the author's intentions or historical
background, formalism would examine the
poem's structure and language. You might analyze
Frost's use of rhyme, meter, and symbolism to
convey themes of choice and individualism.
Formalists would focus on the specific
techniques and artistic devices employed within
the poem itself, rather than looking at its
broader cultural or historical context.
 Structuralist Formalist
• It analyses universal, • A literary work can
underlying structures in be understood only
a text ((setting, by reference to its
characters, etc) intrinsic features
which are the
elements
 Structuralist Formalist
• It analyses a text’s • It only analyses one
connection to other particular literary
literary works since it work at a time; it is
examines common not compared or
underlying structures contrasted with
another work
 Structuralist
• It is a method of
interpret-
ting and analyzing a literary
piece that focuses on the
contrasting ideas and show
how they relate to the
whole structure.
Formalist
• It deals with the form
of the text. An
interpretive approach
that emphasizes literary
form and the study of
literary devices within
the text
 Structuralist
• A literary piece is open to
interpretation. It depends on
how the readers view the
text based on their
understanding which may
involve personal belief,
environment, behaviour or
moral perception.
Formalist
• This approach studies text
as a text. It views literature
as a unique form of human
knowledge that needs to be
examined on its own terms.
Structuralist and Formalist
Approach in Literature

ENGLISH 10/QUARTER 3 WEEK4

OBJECTIVE:

• Analyze the story/text using

structuralist/formalist approach
ACTIVITY 5.CONNECT AND KINECT
Directions: Read and understand the
selection “The Tale of the Malign Wolf.”
Analyze it using
Formalist/Structuralist Approach. Be
guided by the given questions found in
the table.
Tale of the Maligned Wolf
by Tammy Lenski
 The forest was my home. I
lived there, and I cared about it. I
tried to keep it neat and clean.
Then one sunny day, while I was
cleaning up some garbage a
camper had left behind, I heard
footsteps.
I leaped behind a tree and saw a
little girl coming down the trail
carrying a basket. I was suspicious
of this little girl right away because
she was dressed funny- all in red,
and her head covered she did not
want people to know who she was.
 Naturally, I stopped to check her
out. I asked who she was, where she
was going, where she had come from,
and all that. She gave me a song and
dance about going to her
grandmother’s house with a basket of
lunch. through the forest
unannounced and dressed funny.
She appeared to be a basically
honest person, but she was in my
forest, and she certainly looked
suspicious with that strange getup of
hers. So I decided to teach her just
how serious it is to prance through
the forest unannounced and dressed
funny.
 I let her go on her way, but I ran
ahead of her to grandmother’s house.
When I saw that nice old woman, I
explained my problem and she agreed
that her granddaughter needed to
learn a lesson. The old woman agreed
to stay out of sight until I called her.
Actually, she hid under the bed.
 When the girl arrived, I invited her into
the bedroom where I was in bed, dressed
like the grandmother. The girl came in all
rosy-cheeked and said something nasty
about my big ears. I’ve been insulted before
so I made the best of it by suggesting that
my big ears would help me to hear better.
Now, what I meant was that I liked her and
wanted to pay close attention to what she
was saying.
But she made another insulting crack
about my bulging eyes. Now you can
see how I was beginning to feel about
this girl who put on such a nice front,
but was apparently a very nasty
person. Still, I’ve made it a policy to
turn the other cheek, so I told her that
my big eyes helped me to see her
better.
 Her next insult really got to me.
I’ve got this problem with having big
teeth, and that little girl made an
insulting crack about them. I know
that I should have had better
control, but I leaped up from that
bed and growled that my teeth
would help me to eat her better.
Now let’s face it -no wolf could ever
eat a little girl-everyone knows that
but that crazy girl started running
around the house screaming-me
chasing her to calm her down. I’d
taken off the grandmother’s
clothes, but that only seemed to
make it worse.
 All of a sudden the door came
crashing open and a big lumberjack
is standing there with his axe. I
looked at him, and all of sudden it
came clear that I was in trouble.
There was an open window behind
me and out I went out.
I’d like to say that was the end of it. But
that Grandmother character never did
tell my side of the story. Before long
the word got around that I was a mean,
nasty guy. Everybody started avoiding
me. I don’t know about that little girl
with the funny red outfit, but I didn’t
live happily ever after.
 Elements Descriptions
1. Characters: Who are the
characters in the story? How
are they related to one
another? What are their
actions?
2. Setting: Where did the story
happen? Describe the
environment/ atmosphere.
 Elements Descriptions
3. Conflict: What is the main
problem in the story?
4. Plot: How did the story
begin? What happened in
the story? How did it end?
 Elements Descriptions

5. Tone: What was the

author’s attitude
towards the subject?
What kind of emotion
or feeling did you get
after reading?
 Elements Descriptions
6. Point of view: Who is
telling or narrating the
story? Is one character
acting as a narrator (First
Person), or someone
telling what is going on
(Third Person)?
 Elements Descriptions
7. Theme: What lesson
does the author want
me to learn from the
story? What lesson
does the author want
me to learn about life?
Why is it important to analyze
the text/story that you read?
ACTIVITY 6. THINK AND INK
Direction: Determine which literary approach is
used in each statement below. Write your
answer in your activity sheet.
1. The wolf went out through an open
window out of fear.
2. One sunny day, the wolf fixes the
garbage in the forest.
3. The story tells about injustice.
4. Justice is about harmony,
revenge is making oneself feel
better. But for some people they are
just the same.
5. The world was unfair to wolf,
nobody listened to his sad story.
ACTIVITY 5.CONNECT AND KINECT
Directions: Read and understand the
selection “The Tale of the Malign Wolf.”
Analyze it using Formalist/Structuralist
Approach. Be guided by the given
questions found in the table.
(Teacher provides copy of the text and activity sheet)
ACTIVITY 5. THINK AND INK
Direction: Determine which literary approach is
used in each statement below. Write your
answer in your activity sheet.
1. The wolf went out through an open
window out of fear.
2. One sunny day, the wolf fixes the
garbage in the forest.
3. The story tells about injustice.
4. Justice is about harmony,
revenge is making oneself fee better.
But for some people they are just
the same.
5. The world was unfair to wolf,
nobody listened to his sad story.
Quiz: It’s Your Turn!
Direction: Identify the
statement if it is
Structuralism or
Formalism
1. Identifying recurring themes and narrative
patterns
2. Examining the rhyme scheme, meter, and imagery
3. Exploring how character archetypes and narrative
frameworks shape the story
4. Examining how their visual or linguistic
representation enhances the aesthetic impact
5. Identifying the sequence of events and underlying
patterns
6. Analyzing the author’s stylistic choices and use of
language in shaping the plot
7. How they contribute to the poem’s overall
meaning
8. Their formal properties, such as rhyme, meter, and
imagery, and their impact on the reader’s
experience
9. By exploring how dialogue contributes to the
development of themes and relationships within the
play
10. Analyzing the language and dialogue used by
Essay
• Differentiate formalism from structuralism
approach
• Why is it important for you as a student to
analyze the story/text using
structuralism/formalism approach?
Answer:
1. Structuralism
2. Formalism
3. Structuralism
4. Formalism
5. Structuralism
6. Formalism
7. Structuralism
8. Formalism
9. Structuralism