An Analysis of Major Formalist Approach Terms in Short Story Everyday Use by Alice Walker

Abstract

Literary work is a place for art to display beauty through language that is interesting, varied, and full of imagination. One of the literary works is a short story. A short story has major formalist approach terms, such as characters, plot, point of view, and setting. A short story also contains psychological aspects. This study discussed one of the literary works. It is Everyday Use, a short story by Alice Walker. The purpose of this study was to describe the formalist approach terms and the sociological aspects contained in the short story Everyday Use by Alice Walker. In describing them, the writer used the descriptive qualitative method. In collecting the data, the writer as well as read the short story, after that, the writer interpreted them by using the note-taking technique. This study used two sources, the primary and the secondary sources. The primary source was the literary text itself, and then the secondary source was some articles from the internet and books to evidence this study. The results of this study indicated that there are three main characters in the short story, they are Mama (Mrs. Johnson), Dee, and Maggie. This short story uses the first point of view. There are conflicts between the characters. From the psychological aspect, this short story had three components of the mind, the id, ego, and superego, which are symbolized by the characters' behaviors.