Welcome!
Teachers,
Thank you for visiting our website! Here we will explain to you what the Formalistic approach is and how it applies to Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. This theory can apply greatly to any novel and richly enhances the understanding of students by looking closely at the text and analyzing the relationships between different aspects. Below, you will find brief background describing the Formalistic approach. It is necessary to explain to the students what the approach is and will allow them to apply it more easily. Next, there are a variety of pages with different literary devices from the novel and how they are applied. Finally, we offer a lesson plan that gives two activities that can be used in class and a writing prompt for an essay in order to assess the understanding of your students. To follow this website, simply click the links in the bottom right corner of each page or use the list of pages at the top of the screen to jump directly to a page. We hope this website provides a useful tool to better understand the Formalistic approach!
Thank you for visiting our website! Here we will explain to you what the Formalistic approach is and how it applies to Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. This theory can apply greatly to any novel and richly enhances the understanding of students by looking closely at the text and analyzing the relationships between different aspects. Below, you will find brief background describing the Formalistic approach. It is necessary to explain to the students what the approach is and will allow them to apply it more easily. Next, there are a variety of pages with different literary devices from the novel and how they are applied. Finally, we offer a lesson plan that gives two activities that can be used in class and a writing prompt for an essay in order to assess the understanding of your students. To follow this website, simply click the links in the bottom right corner of each page or use the list of pages at the top of the screen to jump directly to a page. We hope this website provides a useful tool to better understand the Formalistic approach!
The Formalistic Approach
The Formalistic approach for literary analysis is the understanding of the novel based on only meanings derived directly from the text. The focus when using the Formalistic approach is on symbolism, structure, word choice, setting, imagery, characters and plot. This view of the Formalistic approach corresponds with the views of the New Critics, who reject the old idea that understanding the book requires special knowledge. The New Critics believe that all of the meaning and depth of the novel comes from within the novel and no personal experiences from beyond the text should be applied. This technique will give the reader only and exactly what the author wants the reader to receive.