Question 2: Formalism
Rainbow Series Part Three:
An Absolutely Ordinary Formalist Analysis
The Text: An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow – Les A. Murray
The Formalist theory requires readers to adopt a formalist mindset, understanding that the meaning of a text is derivative from its form; the two unable to be separated from each other. In the poem, An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow the form is constructed in stanzas and is analysed through its literary features which include style, rhyme, repetition, metaphor, and syntax. The poem is about a man weeping in the streets of Sydney, a meaning readers can only grasp through applying the features mentioned accordingly.
An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow is a poem constructed of ten stanzas. The first stanza is six lines long, the longest stanza in the entire poem. The following eight stanzas’ after that are each five lines long. The final stanza is just one line long, indicating that the poem is now finished while also evading the conclusion of the man’s story. The poem does not rhyme in any definitive measure but instead finds its rhythm through the repeated …show more content…
A rainbow is an explosion of colour that occurs after rain has occurred. It is a symbol of a dark and potentially dangerous environment event ceasing. They’re beautiful natural occurrences and a wonder that nearly everyone stops to admire. An “ordinary rainbow” suggests something that isn’t as special, that isn’t as breathtaking. That it is plain, dull and uneventful. This isn’t just an ordinary rainbow either, it is an “absolutely ordinary rainbow” which is an undisputable statement about this natural phenomenon. This reference alludes that maybe, this scene of the man publicly weeping isn’t an event that requires dozens upon dozens of people’s attention – attention that a rainbow receives – and that this is perhaps an absolutely ordinary occurrence and should be treated as
Rainbow Series Part Three:
An Absolutely Ordinary Formalist Analysis
The Text: An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow – Les A. Murray
The Formalist theory requires readers to adopt a formalist mindset, understanding that the meaning of a text is derivative from its form; the two unable to be separated from each other. In the poem, An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow the form is constructed in stanzas and is analysed through its literary features which include style, rhyme, repetition, metaphor, and syntax. The poem is about a man weeping in the streets of Sydney, a meaning readers can only grasp through applying the features mentioned accordingly.
An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow is a poem constructed of ten stanzas. The first stanza is six lines long, the longest stanza in the entire poem. The following eight stanzas’ after that are each five lines long. The final stanza is just one line long, indicating that the poem is now finished while also evading the conclusion of the man’s story. The poem does not rhyme in any definitive measure but instead finds its rhythm through the repeated …show more content…
A rainbow is an explosion of colour that occurs after rain has occurred. It is a symbol of a dark and potentially dangerous environment event ceasing. They’re beautiful natural occurrences and a wonder that nearly everyone stops to admire. An “ordinary rainbow” suggests something that isn’t as special, that isn’t as breathtaking. That it is plain, dull and uneventful. This isn’t just an ordinary rainbow either, it is an “absolutely ordinary rainbow” which is an undisputable statement about this natural phenomenon. This reference alludes that maybe, this scene of the man publicly weeping isn’t an event that requires dozens upon dozens of people’s attention – attention that a rainbow receives – and that this is perhaps an absolutely ordinary occurrence and should be treated as