Literary theory and criticism: Bernard Malamud - The Magic Barrel E.A. Poe - The Purloined Letter Task is in the attachment.
Read the short story The Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud 1. Apply the formalist close reading on the first paragraph (as formalists claimed you can find out most of the important facts about the story from there, go through every word and search for hints, multiple meaning, irony , foreshadowing ). Who is Leo Finkel and what is known about him (ethnicity, age, character, place where he lives) 2. Describe the atmosphere and setting, how does Malamud reach such e ffect? 3. Write a short paragraph summarizing the story and the plot. Are the characters flat or round? Are there any symbols? Personifications? Metaphors? 4. Describe the structure of the story (use Vladimir Propp), which structural elements the story uses, if any? 5. What genre is it? How does Malamud change the expectations of the reader? 6. Apply the Post -structuralist reading on Poe’s story “The Purloined Letter”. (With the use of the concept of Derrida’s difference and the arbitrariness of the sign, answer the following questions): 1. what are the motivations of Dupin to solve the case? 2. In what sense is Dupin not the traditional detective? 3. What is the difference between the police investigation and Dupin’s methods? Why do the police fail? 4. Why does everyone in the story seem so uninterested in what the letter actually contains? 5. What kind of practical advice does the story seem to offer about reason, logic, and emotion?Does it really seem to be recommending the approach of a combined poet and mathematician? 6. How truthful is the narrator? At what moments in the story might he seem less than truthful?
From what motivations does he appear to be operating? 7. What is the relationship between Dupin and minister?
