The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson - Essay ExampleIt rose to significance in the early 20th light speed as a sort of reaction towards the romanticist theories related to literature. The romanticist theories focused on the author and his or her creative genius, previous works, personal history, and so forth However, Meyer and Gardner point out that formalism is aimed at analyzing, interpreting, or evaluating the very inherent characteristics of a text. Technical issues related to grammar and syntax and literary tools like tropes and meter ar important from the perspective of formalism. Formalism reduces the significance of a texts cultural, historical, and biographical backgrounds (1541).Formalism has played an influential role in the field of literary study in USA approximately from the end of World War II through the 1970s. Of late, this approach of literary criticism is resurging once again. In such(prenominal) a state of affair, the concepts related to this approach must be reflecte d on.There are two major concepts in formalismThe first one is the wise to(p) fallacy that puts forward that an authors purpose or plan (i.e., intension) in creating a literary work is not relevant in evaluating or analyzing that work since the value and heart and soul of a work of literature should lie in the text only. In this regard, the formalist critic does not pay much worry to the intent of the author (Meyer and Gardner, 1539). The second important concept entailed in this critical approach is that of the affective fallacy, which holds that the very evaluation of a literary work cannot be based on its psychosomatic effects on the reader or the audience. Instead, constructive criticism should be concentrated towards the very qualities of the text itself, which might provoke such sort of effects. (Meyer and Gardner, 1540) Consequently, formalist approach of criticism must entail close reading and analysis of the text. Further, it requires that all the opinions about the lit erary work should be decently referenced to the text. In the present paper, the formalist approach of criticism has been adopted to evaluate and analyze The Lottery. This firearm of literary work can be reason under short story. The work involves fiction, which has been empowered by a structured approach that involves visualization of certain situations by the direction of vivid expressions. This sort of linguistic communication skills is displayed at the very beginning of the story as Jackson writes, The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was high up green. (5) The concept of the affective fallacy entailed in formalism can readily be applied to the text as extracted above. The phrases like richly green (5), fresh warmth (5), and blossoming profusely (5) are the certain quality pieces of text, which are capable of producing profound emotional effects by the means of detailed d escription. Since the short story is based on fiction and formal approach does not give much importance to any historical context, this piece of writing qualifies as an effective literary text with distinguished taste. The concept of intentional fallacy can be applied to evaluate the value and meaning of the text throughout. The authors intensions are rightly not of prime importance, since the creation of mystery and horror has been accomplished in a skillful way. The witchery of Salem Village came out in 1956, offering a simple history of witchcraft and a chronicle of the early puritans idolatry of the evil spirits. (Jackson, 30). The carefully repeated use of the word