7th psychological approach to literature

CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE

Described below are nine common critical approaches to the literature.
You will have essay assignments that use several of these. See your Short Guide textbook for additional information.
   
Formalist Criticism: This form of criticism emphasizes the form of the work, with "form" meaning the genre or type of work. This approach regards literature as "a unique form of human knowledge that needs to be examined on its own terms."1 All the elements necessary for understanding the work are contained within the work itself. From the stance of the formalist critic you will look at such elements of a work as form-style, structure, tone, imagery, etc.-that are found within the text. Your primary goal as a formalist critic is to determine how such elements work together with the text's content to shape its effects upon readers.