Dialogical and formalist approach to the elegy (eulogy) written in a country cemeteryThe elegy in a country courtyard, by Thomas Gray, can be examined through two different methods. Firstly, the dialogic approach, which covers the ability of the language of the text to address someone without being aware that the exchange of language between the speaker and the addressee is taking place. (HCAL, 349) The second method is the formalist approach, which allows the reader to examine a literary work and criticize it based on its form, point of view, style, images, atmosphere, its theme and choice of words. Formalist views of form allow us to examine the essential structure of the poem. Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” shows aspects of both dialogical and formalist approaches. Gray's uses dialogical opposition, the way the author chooses to form his work so that the reader can interpret the characters' actions and words without direct intervention from the author. (HCAL, 354) Gray lists the lifestyles of many different people in lines 32 through 60. These stanzas cover all the different types of people buried in the cemetery. We can interpret the lifestyle and actions of other characters because we have the ability to associate and relate what the narrator is telling us. By using dialogic opposition, this allows the reader to identify the multiple types of characters in the poem, even if they do not all engage in dialogue. Bakhtin's definition points to a parallel between questions of knowledge and power between characters and those between characters. the author and the reader. In both cases, it is preferable to conceive of knowledge as dialogical rather than monological, open to the other rather than closed, as address...... middle of paper ... defining words. The symbolism is to show the reader and audience that life only has a limited duration. Once you reach this age, your youth is over. Try to accomplish everything you can when you have the time and energy, because we're all going to be in the same place as every character in the graveyard before we know it. Gray uses imagery and symbols very well and gently draws his readers' attention to the poem. Gray's use of language and other literary devices allows readers to look at the poem from two different perspectives. Dialogue and Formalism, two completely different types of criticism. However, both allow the reader to look at the poem in completely different ways and see the many different aspects of the writing. “Elegy in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray is a fine example of the dialogic and formalist approach to a poem..