ASSIGNMENT # 01

SUBMITTED TO: MAM SONIA BOKHARI

SUBMITTED BY: SANIA KANWAL
ROLL NO: 17541502-041
SUBJECT: LITERARY THEORIES
DEPARTMENT: BS (ENGLISH STUDIES)
SEMESTER: VI
UOG (SUB-CAMPUS) RAWALPINDI
FORMALISM:
The word “Formalism” has been derived from the word “Form”. The “ism” is a belief or an
approach of looking at things. So,

“Formalism is an approach of looking at things strictly adhering to their forms.”

In literary criticism, formalism refers to a critical approach or a style of inquiry that focuses,
almost exclusively, on features of literary text particularly its language and ignores its
biographical, historical and intellectual contexts.
The Russian formalists were an eclectic constellation of figures from a variety of fields
including literary criticism, linguistics, philosophy and anthology who from 1915 to 1930
produced a diverse corpus of scholarship on aesthetic form and cultural value. Although their
principle objects of study were literary texts, the formalists also wrote on other modes of
cultural expression such as film, oratory and journalism.

Formalism asserts that formal properties are the only things that matter about literature.
It holds that true meaning can be determined only by analyzing the literary elements of the text
and by understanding how these elements work together to form up a cohesive whole. It
emphasizes close readings of the text to analyze the deeper meanings of the words individually
and collectively. Formalist critics analyze: how the work is structured, organized or formed,
how it begins, how it is advancing or transiting to the next lines, how it ends, how the plot is
built, how the plot relates to its structure, how each part of the work relates to the work as a
whole, how all parts relates to one another and also analyze the style of writing.

Formalist theory was initially motivated by the desire to specify literature by scientific
means. Reacting against contemporary methods of literary analysis, an unsystematic admixture
of psycho-biographical narrative, sociological determinism and philosophical speculation, the
formalists investigated the autonomous laws and components of literary systems. In Roman
Jackobson’s famous words,

“The object of study in literary science is not literature but ‘literariness’ that is what
makes a given work a literary work.”
Thus, the first move of any formalist analysis is to establish the inherent structural qualities of
the medium of under consideration.

The formalists contribution enlarge the ambit of semantic analysis by addressing of poetic text,
(e.g rhythmic, intonational and phonic elements) that are otherwise neglected by traditional
methods of literary hermeneutics.

According to formalists, while ordinary languages serves the purpose of communication,

literary language is self-reflexive in that it offers readers a special experiences by drawing
attention to its ‘formal devices’, which Roman Jackobson calls “literariness” that which
makes a given work a literary work.
Formalists believed that the source of literariness is its language. They refuted the
importance of context. According to them, it is not the context theme, reader, writer or
subject but only words on the page are important. They believed that art-object can be
isolated from social, cultural and historical influences and examined as an autonomous whole.
They believe that structure of language follows certain rules and laws. They also believed
that the form, structure or shape of text, as well as stylistic or technical features are more
important than the content and co-text. They prioritize medium over content.

They consider the literary text as existing independently as a separate and distinct imagined
world where its principles and values are deduced through an almost empirical analysis. The
formalist analysis or approach to a literary text involves the analysis of stylistic features
such as technical vocabulary, tone, figures of speech, point of view, sound, imagery, syntax of
poetic language, repetition, assonance, symbols and alliteration etc. By focusing their attention
on the analysis of such features, they centered their goal to show that it is language which
makes a work of literature. This language is different from ordinary language because its
structure is different.
According to Roman Jackobson:-

“Poetic language functions when we transport the words related along the metaphoric
axis or analogous axis to the contiguous or metonymic axis.”

“FIRE AND ICE” BY ROBERT FROST

Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice,
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice
Brief introduction:
The poem ‘Fire and Ice’ is structured around the theme of human Passion love and hatred
like fire and ice. This poem also refers to two modes of ending the world. Fire (metaphor for
war, apocalypse being swallowed up by a gigantic explosion of the sun into a super-nova)
and Ice (metaphor for age, cooling, dying of sun and the consequent extinction of all life).

The poem investigates the destructive power of human passion (metaphors of desire and
hate) through the symbolism of cosmic destruction by fire or ice. Fire is linked with desire, ice
with hatred. The speaker knows both, and knows that both are strong enough to end the world
(e.g human race). One has to admire that final suffice, a magnificent understatement, it further
shows the power of a rhyme to close a poem.

“Fire and Ice” bears many of the characteristics that represent the body of work for Robert
Frost. It is written in a simple manner, using a language set and vernacular that is
designed to be easily understood. As is also a trend with Frost in his poetry, the subject matter
of the poem deals deeply with human nature, exploring the implicit human emotions of desire
and hatred. This subject matter, too, has a large capacity to relatable to the audience, as it shares
in collective human experience, in feelings that are experienced by all. Also in concurrence to
the habits of Frost, these darker, deeper themes are presented in contrast to the simplicity and
openness of the actual language of the poem, done intentionally to highlight the underlying
theme. As a poem, this work also represents a significant break from the larger body of work
of Robert Frost. While many of his poems are regionalist in nature, dealing with common
aspects of New England, this poem does not exhibit the heavily regionalist nature, instead
exhibiting a complete lack of it.

THE FORMALIST ANALYSIS OF THE POEM

OR
A FORMALIST APPROACH TO THE POEM
This poem was written by Robert Frost and was first published in 1920. It is a popular
literary piece on account of its contradictory subject matter of earth’s destruction and the
ending. The poem expresses the profound idea that the world would end in one of two
ways, either by ice or by fire.

 “Fire and Ice” as a representative of Hatred:

As this poem is about to apocalypse, the poet expresses how the world will end. Some people
believe that the world will be destroyed by fire, while other argues that it will be frozen.
Initially, the speaker also supports those who are in favor of fire. But, as the poem progresses,
he remains undecided and mentions that if the world ends twice the ice can bring equal
destruction as fire. The poet, very artistically, underpins, the deep philosophy that we let our
emotions rule us and if we do not control them, they will surely destroy everything around us.

 Literary and Poetic Devices:

Poet use literary devices and poetic devices to bring uniqueness and depth in the simple texts.
They also allow multiple interpretations of the texts. Robert Frost has also used some literary
devices in this poem. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem is given
below:-

 RHYMING SCHEME:

The rhyming scheme of “fire” and “ice” is an ABAABCBCB style, with the words “fire”
and “ice” being rhymed with themselves with in the poem. This scheme means the poem falls
soundly with in the category of open form, in which Frost did not follow any typical poem
formation in regards to his structuring of “fire and ice”. The rhyme scheme works to effective
create the necessary connections between words in the poem. For instance, with “desire” being
rhymed with “fire”, the two words are then related on a level that is deeper than what is
explicitly stated by Frost, a necessary level that works to enhance the symbolism of poem.

 SOUND DEVICES:
 ALLITERATION:
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. Such as the sound of /f/
is used in
‘I hold with those who favor fire’

 ASSONANCE:
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in same line. Such as the long sound of /o/ is
repeated in the line 4 and short sound /I/ is repeated in line 5.
‘I hold with those who favor fire’
‘But if it had to perish twice,’

 METER:
The poem varies between two meter lengths (either eight syllables or four syllables) and uses
three sets of interwoven rhymes, based on “-ice”, “-ire” and “-ate”.

Iambic tetrameter:
It is a type of meter having four iambs per line. The poem follows the iambic tetrameter such
as,

‘Some say the world will end in fire’

 PARALLELISM:
The poem starts off with parallel line 1 and 2 both have same beginning, “some say….”

‘Some say the world will end in fire’

‘Some say in ice’ (parallelism)
 SYMBOLISM:
Symbolism is the key of this poem. Symbols create a multi-dimensional complexity to the
poem. Because of the deeper meaning that fire and ice take on, the application and
understanding of the poem is altered. While the poem still is interpreted as a warning against
these behaviors in the broad scheme of the world, in concordance with the war that was
occurring, it also begins to take on a more personal level. Namely, this is due to the personal
connection that is shared by the creation of these symbols, with the fire and desire, ice and hate.
 Some say the world will end in fire
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
 ALLUSION:
When Frost is writing about fire, he is alluding to global warming. When he writes about ice,
he is talking about ice age.

‘Some say the world will end in fire’

‘Some say in ice’
 IMAGERY:
Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The concept
of fire and ice carry with deep connotations that, in and of themselves, prompt the recollection
of the sensations they embody.

For example, fire elicits the feeling of heat and light, but also burning and pain. This particular
image is well used by Frost to create a duality with both fire and ice then draws attention to the
nature of the warning he creates. Frost utilizes Imagery by appealing to his reader’s senses.

‘From what I’ve tasted of desire’

 WORD CHOICE:
The selection of individual words to create specific effects. This poem has very easy and simple
language.

 UNDERSTATEMENT:
One of the most effective tools used by Frost to give this poem its essential meaning.

‘Some say the world will end in fire’

‘Some say in ice’
Frost says, “Some say” twice in the first two lines. On the surface, this represents a group of
people who are of the opinion of the manner in which the world ends. However, by saying
“some” he is minimizing the size of this group, making it seem insignificant, which stands in
direct contrast to what Frost, is creating on the surface, namely the downfall of humanity.

‘And would suffice’

It gives a poem very abrupt ending leaving the reader with the sense that the poem has not
entirely concluded.
  PERSONIFICATION:
Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects. In this poem, ‘fire’ and ‘ice’
are capable of destruction. Therefore, the poet personifies fire and ice by giving them a mind
which is capable of destroying almost anything.

 ANAPHORA:
It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. For example:-

‘Some say the world will end in fire,’

‘Some say in ice’
 ENJAMBMENT:
It is defined as a thought or clause that does not come to an end at a line break, rather, it moves
over the next line.
For example, in this poem we have:-

‘From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire’
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