FORMALISM

WHAT IS FORMALISM?

Formalism is a critical
approach that analyze,
interpret, or evaluate
mainly the structure of the
text.
 WHAT IS FORMALISM?

Focus Ignore
Form Authorship

Organization Context

Structure Social Influence

Word Choice Cultural Impact

I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazedand gazedbut little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

Lyrical
Poem
4 stanzas with 6 lines
Structure
each
Rhyme ABABCC
Scheme

Cheerful, pleasant,
Tone
pensive
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

I wandered lonely as a
Simile cloud/ That floats on high
o'er vales and hills
The waves beside them
Personific danced; but they/ Out-did
ation the sparkling waves in glee
I gazedand gazedbut
Alliteratio little thought/ What wealth
n the show to me had brought
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

Hyper They stretched in

bole never-ending line

Metap They flash upon

hor that inward eye
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

Theme
Spirituality

Man and Nature

 STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS

Strength
Develops "Close-
Reading" skills
Great for analyzing
poetry

 STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS

Weakness
Ignores:
Historical Aspects
Production
Gender Aspects
Not applied easily to long
forms of literature
Thank You!
 WORK CITED

Strengths and Weaknesses of New Criticism. (n.d.). Retrieved

March 10, 2017, from http://burton.byu.edu/Formalism/pro-
con.htm
Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). I wandered
lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils) Analysis. Retrieved March 10,
2017, from
http://www.shmoop.com/wandered-lonely-cloud-daffodils/
analysis.html
Writing a Formalist Literary Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10,
2017, from
https://www.bellevuecollege.edu/Artshum/materials/engl/Silano
/Fall2005/101LSB/
FormalistLitAnalyAssgn.htm
Welcome to the Purdue OWL. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2017,
from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/03/