Formalism quiz

If the traditional metaphor for the mimetic view of art is a mirror, and for the expressivist view a lamp, what is a useful metaphor for the Russian Formalist view?

• A horse

• A machine

• A little drama

• A web

Aestheticist views (like Oscar Wilde's) share which characteristic with formalist views?

• Both celebrate on the creative genius of the individual

• Both strive to create lasting canons

• Both are intrinsic forms of criticism

• Both come out of Plato's view of art

With which of the following statement would the Russian Formalists agree?

• Literary language obeys the principle of economy: most meaning in the best and fewest words

• Practical/everyday language obeys the principle of economy: most meaning in the best and fewest words

• Literary language is deliberately difficult. Its aim is to make the reading more strenuous

• Good poetry should be written in everyday language about everyday topics

According to the Russian Formalists, the defining mark of literary language is that it …

• Introduces novelty

• Generates defamiliarization

• Produces beauty

• Makes the world more interesting

The reason that the Russian Formalists were interested in Futurist or so-called nonsense poetry is that…?

• Such poetry elides the dimension of meaning (almost) altogether, thus providing the reader with an experience of the materiality of language

• Such poetry is an extreme example of linguistic creativity, creating new meanings

• Such poetry is an extreme example of how difficult it is to interpret poetry

• Such poetry generates patterns of sound that are quite machine-like

The New Critics hold that literary works are unparaphrasable because…?

• Literary artworks have a core meaning

• We do not have access to the writer's mind

• Paraphrasing is a form of plagiarism

• Literary meaning is a fusion of form and content

If the Russian Formalists want to view literary artwork in machine-like terms, the New Critics recommend we think of it…

• As an envelope containing a message

• As a pre-industrial form of technology

• As a web

• As an eco-system or a drama

According to the New Critics, a well-wrought literary artwork displays a unity, but of which kind?

• A logical unity

• A working out of the tensions that make it up

• A paraphrasable bottom line

• A tying up of all the loose threads of the plot