4.

BASIC COMPONENTS OF A NARRATIVE TEXT

d) Style

 In its broadest definition, style is the way in which language is used.

 When examining the style of a text, one scrutinises mainly two aspects:
 diction (the choice and use of words)
 syntax (the sentence structure).
 the use of rhetorical devices (literary devices/imagery).
 The question at the centre of such examinations, is HOW the use of diction,
syntax and rhetorical devices produce certain effects.

i. Diction

An author’s diction is his/her choice of words.

We only mention aspects dealing with diction that we think that are used for a
particular purpose, looking for an effect or objective.

When we analyse an author’s diction, we may ask the following questions:

 Are the words mostly long or short?

 Are they formal, colloquial, or even slangy?
 Are there words from a particular semantic field?
 Are they concerned with abstract ideas, states of mind, or feelings?
 Are they concerned with physical appearances or sensations (colours, smells,
tastes, sounds…?
 Does he repeat certain words?
 Does he use many adjectives?
 Does he use many adverbs?
 Is his diction elevated (he sounds serious or old fashioned), or down to earth?

Most important of all remains the question: What EFFECT does the use of diction
have in this particular text?

ii. Syntax

The analysis of syntax involves answering a series of questions relating to the use of
sentence structure with the intention of finding an objective/effect/purpose in that
particular use; questions such as:

What kind of sentences are used?

Simple or complex? Long or short?

Statements, exclamations, questions, or commands?

What rhetorical devices are used on the sentence level?

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Once again, the most important question is: What effect does the use of syntax
achieve?

iii. Rhetorical devices

For the analysis of literature, knowledge of rhetorical devices is indispensable.

Figures of speech in classical rhetoric were defined as “a form of speech artfully varied
from common usage”.

Phoneme-level (individual sounds)

alliteration the same sound is repeated at the beginning of several words or in

stressed syllables of words that are in close proximity:
 An old sailor in a jersey standing by gave her his dry, hard
hand.

 She crept on tiptoe to the window.

onomatopoeia the sound of the word imitates the sound of the thing which that
word denotes

 The slow clang, clang, clang of iron.

 Beside him her grandma bustled along in her crackling
black ulster
 she had heard the creak of the gate

Word-level

anaphora a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses

or lines
 Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress?

 She was powerless. She couldn’t get away – she couldn’t do

anything.

 He didn’t care. He just didn’t care. He had no initiative at all. He

had no vices […]
epistrophe a word or expression is repeated at the end of successive phrases, clauses
or lines
 Of course he must think her behavior too extraordinary. It was
extraordinary.
 He didn’t care. He just didn’t care.

framing a syntactic unit or verse line is framed by the same element at the

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 beginning and at the end
 A doom, a vulgar doom
 Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure;
 Like doth quit like, and Measure still for Measure.
(Shakespeare, Measure for Measure)

climax arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power

 But if it had been cold in the cabin, on deck it was like ice.

 He didn’t care. He just didn’t care. He had no initiative at all.

geminatio the repetition of the same words immediately next to each other
 She had come back, she had come back for good (also climax)
 She felt dragged down, dragged down to earth

polyptoton one word is repeated in different grammatical forms.

 His dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be
looked upon as akin to bad taste.

 Three times since her marriage she had dreamed the same dream.

Sentence-Level

aposiopesis the speaker fails to complete his sentence, (seemingly) overpowered

by his emotions
 "No – please, Gerald. I’m – nervy, headachy – I’d rather go
alone"
asyndeton the omission of conjunctions to coordinate phrases, clauses, or
words (opposite of polysyndeton) where normally conjunctions
would be used
 the wool sheds, the cattle trucks, the cranes standing up so
high, the little squat railway engine, all seemed carved out of
solid darkness.

 The sunshine, the scent of the flowers, the faint hum of

hurrying bees, all conspired to make the day a perfect thing”
polysyndeton the unusual repetition of the same conjunction (opposite of
asyndeton)
 And again the little old chapel was a bower, with its famous
sheaves of corn and corn-plaited pillars,[…] its marrows
and potatoes and pears and apples and damsons, its purple
asters and yellow Japanese sunflowers.

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ellipsis a word or phrase in a sentence is omitted though implied by the
context
 Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?

 … she seems indeed to be on a very different level to your

Majesty.
inversion the usual word order is rearranged, often for the effect of emphasis
or to maintain the meter (a type of hyperbaton)
 Flame-lurid his face as he turned among the throng of flame-
lit and dark faces upon the platform.
 Above her stood Harry.

 Brilliant she looked, and brilliant she felt.

parallelism the repetition of identical or similar syntactic elements (word,
phrase, clause)

 Men, their caps pulled down, their collars turned up, swung
by.
 A bell rang; a whistle shrilled.
 He didn’t care. He just didn’t care. He had no initiative at
all. He had no vices […]

 Brilliant she looked, and brilliant she felt.

TROPES (Literary devices dealing with meanings)

synonym use of words with the same or similar meanings

 He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a
sneer.
tautology one idea is repeatedly expressed through additional words, phrases, or
sentences
 small dwarf, black darkness, burning fire
hyperbole obvious exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect
 She was dying for a cup of tea.
 Her heart nearly stopped beating as she trudged up that
hideous and interminable hill, beside the laden figure.
 An object almost made the terrified girl's heart stop beating

simile two things are openly compared with each other, introduced by ‘like’
or ‘as’
 He looked like a baby fly that had fallen into the cream
 She felt dragged down to earth, as a bird which some dog has

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 got down in the dust.

 He can’t wait. He is like a madman.

metaphor a figure of similarity, a word or phrase is replaced by an expression
denoting an analogous circumstance in a different semantic field.
Unlike in simile, the comparison is not made explicit ( ‘like’ or ‘as’
are not used, see the longer discussion in Analysing a Metaphor)
 She had put the two sausages of luggage one on top of the
other.

 There was not even a feather of smoke.

oxymoron a self-contradictory combination of words or smaller verbal units;
usually noun-noun, adjective-adjective, adjective-noun, adverb-
adverb, or adverb-verb – a paradoxical utterance that conjoins two
terms that in ordinary usage are contraries
 bittersweet, pleasing pains, loving hate, etc.
paradox a daring statement which unites seemingly contradictory words but
which on closer examination proves to have unexpected meaning
and truth
 Snail-paced in a hurry (Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market)

 Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear. (Milton,

Paradise Lost)
periphrasis a descriptive word or phrase is used instead of a proper name

 But for the trained reasoner (instead of Holmes) to admit such

intrusions…

 …I knew little of my former friend and companion (Holmes).

personification animals, ideas, abstractions or inanimate objects are endowed with

human characteristics
 There hung a lantern, but it seemed afraid to unfurl its
timid, quivering light in all that blackness; it burned softly,
as if for itself”.
 He was […] the most perfect reasoning and observing
machine that the world has seen".

 The dark wharf began to slip, to slide, to edge away from

them.
understatement an idea is deliberately expressed as less important than it actually is
 "…but as a lover, he would have placed himself in a false
position".

 “I am a little tired” (when you are actually exhausted).

euphemism Substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for

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 one whose plainer meaning might be harsh, unpleasant or taboo.

 "…the face of a woman no longer in her youth." (Rather

old).
 We have to let you go. (Fire).
 She’s a curvy woman. (Overweight).
irony Expression of something which is contrary to the intended meaning;
the words say one thing but mean another:

 Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?”

From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a
very different level to your majesty,” said Holmes coldly.