https://youtu.be/thvUTVQ1QW0 Please watch this 2 min video.
Summarize why formalist criticism rejects more traditional approaches and how it works to interpret a literary text. As you do so, use quorations from my handout on traditional and formalist criticism and / or from Tyson that help you clarify and explain formalist theory. Include any questions you have.
What does the speaker in Rankine’s prose poem seem to express about her life? How would you describe her attitude or point of view: Angry? Hurt? Bitter? What about the subway scene–does the incident lift her spirits? What sort of tensions or ambiguities or ironies help convey Rankine’s point of view? What does her theme, her overall meaning or message, seem to be?
