Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ACTIVITIES
Lesson I – The concept of style and
stylistics
Reciprocal Teaching Numbered quiz
Meaning of stylistics and its approaches
Style as choice Author’s Chair Hot Seat with Rubrics
Style as the Man
Style as Deviation Group work
Style as Conformity
Style as Period or Time Pair work
Style as Situation
Story grammar
Course Content:
Study, description and analysis of various sample literary texts by
the principles of
literary criticism as well as the principles of linguistic
analysis. 45(T), C
Course Description:
The course focuses on the relationship between style and
stylistics, the goal of stylistics
and the implications of context. Literary and linguistic ‘triggers’
for the interpretation of
literary and non-literary texts to be examined include morphology,
speech sounds,
graphology, lexis, semantics, syntax, point of view, and
pragmatics.
Course Objectives:
The main aim of the course is to make students appreciate and
understand the functional interpretation and construction of texts.
At the end of the course, the students will be able
to:
· identify the principles and tools of stylistic analysis;
· describe the principles and tools of stylistic analysis;
· analyse texts beyond its formal features; and
· create various texts using the principles and tools of stylistic
analysis.
Course Requirements:
This is a compulsory course for both Language and Literature
students:
· Each student is expected to participate in all the course
activities.
· A minimum of 75% attendance is required to qualify each student
to write the final examination.
· Students will be expected to answer the study questions and
assignments.
LECTURES
Week 1: General introduction and the relationship between style and
stylistics
Objectives: *By the end of the class, students should be able to
present an overview of the field of stylistics
*By the end of the class, students should be able to explain the
relationship between style and stylistics
Description: The evolution of stylistics and its place among other
branches of Linguistics
as well as literary criticism will be explained. The relationship
between
style and stylistics will also be clarified.
Stylistic Devices
Alliteration
The initial consonant sound is usually repeated in two neighbouring words (sometimes also in words that are not next to each other).
Alliteration draws attention to the phrase and is often used for emphasis.
Examples:
for the greater good of ... (1)
Repetition of initial consonant sounds means that only the sound must be the same, not the consonants themselves.
Examples:
killer command
fantastic philosophy
A neat knot need not be re-knotted.
If neighbouring words start with the same consonant but have a different initial sound, the words are not alliterated.
Examples:
a Canadian child
honoured and humbled (the ‘h’ in honoured is silent)
Allusion
If the audience is familiar with the event or person, they will also know background and context. Thus, just a few
words are enough to create a certain picture (or scene) in the readers’ minds. The advantages are as follows:
We don’t need lengthy explanations to clarify the problem.
The reader becomes active by reflecting on the analogy.
The message will stick in the reader's mind.
Examples:
the Scrooge Syndrome (allusion on the rich, grieve and mean Ebeneezer Scrooge from Charles
Dicken’s“Christmas Carol”)
The software included a Trojan Horse. (allusion on the Trojan horse from Greek mythology)
Plan ahead. It was not raining when Noah built the Ark. (Richard Cushing) (allusion on the biblical Ark of Noah)
Many allusions on historic events, mythology or the bible have become famous idioms.
Examples:
to meet one’s Waterloo (allusion on Napoleons defeat in the Battle of Waterloo)
to wash one’s hands of it. (allusion on Pontius Pilatus, who sentenced Jesus to death, but washed his hands
afterwards to demonstrate that he was not to blame for it.)
to be as old as Methusalem (allusion on Joseph’s grandfather, who was 969 years old according to the Old
Testament)
to guard sth with Argus’s eyes (allusion on the giant Argus from Greek mythology, who watched over Zeus’lover Io.)
Anaphora
Hyperbole
deliberate exaggeration
Used sparingly, hyperbole effectively draws the attention to a message that you want to emphasise.
Example:
I was so hungry, I could eat an elephant.
I have told you a thousand times.
Note: Don't overuse hyperbole, otherwise it may not have the effect you want.
counterpart: → Understatement
Hypophora
Litotes is a form of understatement which uses the denied opposite of a word to weaken or soften a message.
Examples:
That's not bad. (instead of: That's good/great.)
Boats aren't easy to find in the dark. (4)
(instead of: Boats are hard/difficult to find in the dark.)
Metaphor
figurative expression
Metaphor compares two different things in a figurative sense. Unlike in a simile (A is like B.), “like” is not used in
metaphor (A is B.).
Example:
Truths are first clouds, then rain, then harvest and food. (Henry Ward Beecher)
Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a
seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.
Metonymy
Parallelism
Successive clauses or sentences are similarly structured. This similarity makes it easier for the reader / listener to concentrate on the
message.
Example:
We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interest, and teach us what it means to be citizens. (2)
The mediocre teacher tells, The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. (William A.
Ward)
The mistakes of the fool are known to the world, but not to himself. The mistakes of the wise man are known to himself, but not to
the world. (Charles Caleb Colton)
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn. (Benjamin Franklin)
Note: When writing, parallelism is a useful device for instructions. Due to the parallel structure, the reader can concentrate on the
message and will immediately know what to do (see examples below).
You surely agree that the second instruction is easier to follow (and to remember) than the first one. The change of structure in the
first example is confusing and distracts the reader from the actual message. It might be okay with simple messages like the ones we
used here. But following more complex instructions is really hard if they are not in parallel structure.
Parenthesis
additional information
The normal progression of a sentence is interrupted by extra information or explanations enclosed in commas,
brackets or dashes. The extra information can be a single word, a phrase or even a sentence.
Examples:
We (myself, wife Lorraine and daughters Caroline and Joanna) boarded our boat 'Lynn', a Duchess class vessel
barely a year old, at Black Prince Holidays' Chirk boatyard. (4)
The boats have remarkably few controls and we were given a thorough briefing about 'driving' ours–along with
advice on mooring, lock operation and safety considerations–by Pauline, who even set off with us for a few minutes to
ensure we were confident. (4)
Note:
Depending on the importance attached to it, additional information can be enclosed in brackets, commas or
dashes.
Brackets - not important
Connor (Amy's boyfriend) bought the tickets.
Commas - neutral
Connor, Amy's boyfriend, bought the tickets.
Dashes - emphasized
Connor–Amy's boyfriend–bought the tickets.
Personification
Points of view
First-person narrator
The narrator tells the story from his / her point of view (I). It is a limited point of view as the reader will only know
what the narrator knows. The advantage of the first person narration is that the narrator shares his / her personal
experiences and secrets with the reader so that the reader feels part of the story.
Example:
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
Third-person narrator
The narrator is not part of the plot and tells the story in the third person (he, she). Usually the narrator is all-knowing
(omniscient narrator): he / she can switch from one scene to another, but also focus on a single character from time
to time.
Example:
Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist
The third-person narrator can also be a personal narrator (point of view of one character) who tells the story in the
third person (he, she), but only from the central character's point of view. This point of view is rarely used.
Example:
James Joyce: Ulysses
Repetition
Words or phrases are repeated throughout the text to emphasise certain facts or ideas.
Examples:
Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! »I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?« she
said aloud. […]
Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. […] (5)
America, at its best, matches a commitment to principle with a concern for civility. A civil society demands from
each of us good will and respect, fair dealing and forgiveness. […]
America, at its best, is also courageous. Our national courage […]
America, at its best, is compassionate. In the quiet of American conscience, we know that deep, persistent poverty is
unworthy of our nation's promise. […] (2)
Rhetorical Question
But was the best way to win them over to threaten to ignore them altogether? Like so many things this week, the
adminitstration's diplomacy needs a smoother touch. (6) (Note that the sentence following the question is not an answer to
it.)
Simile
Synecdoche
Example:
Turning our long boat round […] on the last morning required all hands on deck … (hands = people) (4)
Example:
Example:
Kashmir is their Maui, Aspen, and Palm Springs all rolled into one. (3) (siehe Anmerkung)
Note: For people from the US, every place represents a certain kind of holiday destination: Maui is a typical island in
the sun, Aspen a typical ski resort, Palm Springs an attractive city with museums, theatres, shopping malls and
festivals. Using the places instead of what they stand for is shorter, and the reader knows exactly that Kashmir
combines everything you would expect to find in Maui, Aspen and Palm Springs.
General term used instead of a specific one:
Example:
The animal came closer. (animal = a certain animal, e.g. a dog, dolphin, snake)
Example:
Understatement