Main Sources: Arp, T., & Johnson, G.(2009).

Perrine's Literature: Structure,

Sound & Sense.Tenth Edition. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Barry, P. (2002). Beginning Theory, 2nd ed. Manchester Univ. Press.

STYLISTICS
Key Concepts and Terms
WHAT IS STYLISTICS?
the study of literary discourse from a
linguistic orientation

explicates the message to interpret and

evaluate literary writings as works of art

deals with expressive means which

secure the desirable effect of the
utterance
 WHAT ARE THE BRANCHES OF
STYLISTICS?
1. Lexical stylistics
studies functions of direct and figurative
meanings

also the way contextual meaning of a word is

realized in the text

deals with various types of connotations

expressive, evaluative, emotive; neologisms,
dialectal words and their behavior in the text.
WHAT ARE THE BRANCHES OF STYLISTICS?

2. Grammatical stylistics
subdivided into morphological and syntactical:

A. Morphological s. views stylistic potential of

grammatical categories of different parts of
speech. Potential of the number, pronouns

B. Syntactical s. studies syntactic, expressive means,

word order and word combinations, different types
of sentences and types of syntactic connections.
Also deals with origin of the text, its division on the
paragraphs, dialogs, direct and indirect speech, the
connection of the sentences, types of sentences.
WHAT ARE THE BRANCHES OF STYLISTICS?

3. Phonostylistics

phonetical organization of prose and poetic

texts

here are included rhythm, rhythmical

structure, rhyme, alliteration, assonance and
correlation of the sound form and meaning

also studies deviation in normative

pronunciation
WHAT ARE THE BRANCHES OF STYLISTICS?

4. Functional S (stylistics of
decoding)

deals
with all subdivisions of the
language and its possible use
(newspaper, colloquial style)

Its
object - correlation of the message
and communicative situation
WHAT ARE THE BRANCHES OF STYLISTICS?

5. Individual style study

studies the style of the author

looksfor correlations between

the creative concepts of the
author and the language of his
work
WHAT ARE THE BRANCHES OF STYLISTICS?

6. Stylistics of Encoding

The shape of the information (message) is

coded and the addressee plays the part of
decoder of the information which is contained
in message.

The problems which are connected with

adequate reception of the message without
any loses (deformation) are the problems of
stylistics of encoding.
The Notion of STYLE
What is STYLE in the context of
Stylistics?

Style is primarily a quality of

writing

Today the word style has a very broad

meaning. We speak of style not only in
literature but also in architecture, painting,
clothes, behaviour, music, work, and so on. In
fact, the concept of style can be applied to
any kind of human activity that may be
performed in more than one way, and also to
the result of such an activity.
In literary discourse, STYLE is
the creation of language patterns over and
above those required by the linguistic
code. These patterns then bestow certain
additional meanings on the linguistic items
within them over and above the code

(H. G. Widdowson, Linguistics and the Teaching of Literature)

The very notion of style includes an

aesthetic purpose. We may not always
admit or immediately notice the aesthetic
purpose.
 I.R.Galperins Notion of Style
According to Ilya Romanovich Galperin (notable Russian
linguist), the term style refers to the following spheres:

1) THE AESTHETIC FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE

It may be seen in works of art- poetry, imaginative prose,

fiction, but works of science, technical instruction or business
correspondence have no aesthetic value.

2) SYNONYMOUS WAYS OF RENDERING ONE AND THE

SAME IDEA

The possibility of choice of using different words in similar

situations is connected with the question of style as if the form
changes, the contents changes too and the style may be
different.
Galperins Notion of Style
3) EXPRESSIVE MEANS IN LANGUAGE

- are employed mainly in the following spheres

poetry, fiction, colloquial speech, speeches but not
in scientific articles, business letters and others.

4) EMOTIONAL COLORING IN LANGUAGE

Very many types of texts are highly emotional

declaration of love, funeral oration, poems(verses),
but a great number of texts is unemotional or non-
emphatic (rules in textbooks).
Galperins Notion of Style

5) A SYSTEM OF SPECIAL DEVICES CALLED

STYLISTIC DEVICES

The style is formed with the help of characteristic

features peculiar to it. Many texts demonstrate
various stylistic features:

She wears fashion = what she wears is

fashionable or is just the fashion metonymy.
Five Styles in Present-day English
(Galperin)
I. Belles Lettres

-Poetry
-Emotive prose
-The Drama

II. Publicistic Style

-Oratory and Speeches

-The Essay
-Articles
Five Styles in Present-day English
(Galperin)
III. Newspapers

-brief news items

-headlines
-advertisements and announcements
-The Editorial

IV. Scientific Prose

V. Official Documents
 STYLISTIC DEVICES
Figurative Language, Sound
Techniques, Structural Devices, Irony,
Register
Tropes and Figures of Speech

Tropes are based on the transfer of meaning,

when a word (or combination of words) is used to
denote an object which is not normally correlated with
this word. Examples: Metaphor (Love is a caged
bird.)/ Metonymy (The pen is mightier than the
sword.)

Figures of speech whose stylistic effect is

achieved due to the unusual arrangement of linguistic
units, unusual construction or extension of utterance.
Examples: Simile, litotes, oxymoron, antithesis...
Levels of Tropes and Figures of Speech
1. Phonetic devices
alliteration, assonance f. repetition of the same
sound (Ex: A university should be a place of light,
of liberty, and of learning they produce effect of
euphony )

2. Graphical (icons and graphic symbolisms)

3. Lexical interrelation of different meaning of one

word and of connotative meanings of different words
Metaphor t. use of words (word combinations) in
transferred meanings by way of similarity or analogy
Ex: Art is a jealous mistress
Levels of Tropes and Figures of Speech

4. Syntactical is based on the

arrangement of elements of the sentence
(Ex: Inversion, ellipsis, rhetorical question )

5. Lexico-syntactic f. simile, litotes

Stylistic Device No. 1: Figurative
Language
In Thomas Hardys novel, Jude the Obscure,
the protagonist, Jude Fawley, suffers from his
own folly over the two women in his life. In
Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol,
Ebenezzer Scrooge is a miserly old man.

Fawley sounds like folly, which means

foolishness.
Scrooge means miserly.

CHARACTONYM when the name of a

character has a symbolic meaning
Figurative Language

The pen is mightier than the sword.

The Pentagon denies knowledge of the cover-up.

METONYMY is similar to synecdoche, but instead of a

part representing the whole, a related object or part of a
related object is used to represent the whole

She was greeted by the sound of silence as she entered.

O hateful love, O loving hate! I burn and freeze like ice!

OXYMORON is a combination of openly contradictory

words and meanings (cold war, silent scream, hateful
love). It is more compact than paradox.
 Figurative Language

Einstein is not a bad mathematician.

Our opinions differ slightly (instead of, Our opinions are very
different.)

UNDERSTATEMENT an expression that is deliberately less

forceful or dramatic than the subject would seem to justify or
require (litotes & meiosis)

If you love someone, set him free.

True living is dying unto oneself.

PARADOX is a statement that seems to be self-

contradictory or opposed to common sense, but on
close examination, it mostly reveals some truth.
Forms of Understatement (Figures of Quantity)

LITOTES MEIOSIS
a figure of speech understatement used for
effect such as sarcasm or
consisting of an
sardony. e.g. "Charlie is not
understatement in the sharpest knife in the
which an affirmative is drawer" means that Charlie
expressed by negating does not even come close to
the sharpest because he's a
its opposite, as in This
blathering idiot.
is no small problem.
(American Heritage Dictionary, 4th
can also be used to describe
Ed.) mannerism and tone (e.g., a
brooding, quiet, Byronic hero
not unusual will often be understated in
no mean feat action and tone)

not the kindest

 Figurative Language

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice
And the lovers walked towards the rising sun, fearing no
storm that may be brewing in the horizon.

SYMBOL may be an object, a person, a situation, an

action, a word, or an idea that has literal meaning in the
story as well as an alternative identity that represents
something else

Love is a star to every wandering bark.

The eyes are the windows to the soul.

METAPHOR is a direct comparison used to add descriptive

meaning to a phrase
Figurative Language
Thats one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.
To err is human; to forgive, divine.

ANTITHESIS emphasizes the contrast between two ideas.

The structure of the phrases / clauses is usually similar in
order to draw the reader's / listener's attention directly to
the contrast

Noli Me Tangere contains characters, events and realities

that existed during Spanish colonization. The story may be
seen as symbolic.

ALLEGORY is a story that has a second meaning, usually by

endowing characters, objects or events with symbolic
significance; expanded metaphor
Stylistic Device No. 2: Sound
Techniques
Full fathom five thy father lies
Death bed beckons
Odds and ends, short and sweet

ALLITERATION is the repetition of consonant

sounds at the beginning of words
occurring in succession
ASSONANCE is the repetition of vowel
sounds in the words occurring in
succession
CONSONANCE the repetition of consonants
at the ends of words occurring in
succession
Stylistic Device No. 3: Structural
Devices
Hes such a Romeo, that guy.
If a face could launch a thousand ships, then where am I
to go?

ALLUSION a reference, direct or indirect, to something

or someone from history or literature

Before Hector came out to face Achilles, he bid a long,

sad farewell to his wife and expressed his dear wishes
for his only sons future.

FORESHADOWING when the author drops clues about

what is to come in a story, which builds tension and the
reader's suspense throughout the narrative
Stylistic Device No. 4: Irony
So, the world will end on the 21 st of December? Great!
Thanks for revealing our secret plan, Einstein!

VERBAL IRONY also known as sarcasm, this is the

simplest form of irony, in which the speaker says the
opposite of what he or she intends

In Hugos Les Miserables, one wouldnt expect Javert to

kill himself towards the end of the story, especially when
Valjean is well within his reach. (also, Twist Ending)

SITUATIONAL IRONY when the author creates a

surprise that is the perfect opposite of what one would
expect
Stylistic Device No. 4: Irony
In Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, the
drama of Act V comes from the fact that the
audience knows Juliet is alive, but Romeo
thinks she's dead. If the audience had
thought, like Romeo, that she was dead, the
scene would not have had the same power.

DRAMATIC IRONY when the reader knows

something important about the story
that one or more characters in the story
do not know
Stylistic Device No. 5: Register
DICTION is the choice of specific words to
communicate not only meaning, but emotion as
well (establishes tone)

TONE expresses the writer's or speaker's attitude

toward the subject, the reader, or herself or
himself

DECORUM the appropriateness of a work to its

subject, its genre, and its audience

MOOD the emotional color of or the prevalent

emotion in a poem or work of fiction
Other Stylistic Devices
LOCAL COLOR depiction of the unusual or
traditional features of a particular place that
make it interesting

MOTIF a word, phrase, image, or idea is

repeated throughout a work or several
works of literature

ANALOGY a comparison between two things

that are similar in some way, often used to
help explain something or make it easier to
understand
Other Stylistic Devices
PUN/ DOUBLE ENTENDRE also known as
word play, this refers to the use of words
with double meanings, sometimes relying on
how the word is pronounced (homophonic
pun).

Examples: Everybody kneads flour.

Santas helpers are subordinate Clauses.
A horse is a very stable animal.
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a
banana. Groucho Marx
REVIEW EXERCISES ON STYLISTIC DEVICES

Study the given excerpts and

tell what stylistic device is at
work.
And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale.
(from A Whiter Shade of Pale by Reid & Brooker)

ANSWER: ALLUSION
That twenty centuries of stony sleep1
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at
last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem2 to be born? (from The
Second Coming by William Butler Yeats)

ANSWERS: 1. HYPERBOLE; 2. ALLUSION

Fair daffodils1, we weep to see
You haste away so soon;
As yet the early-rising Sun
Has not attaind his noon.
Stay, stay,
Until the hasting day
Has run2. (from To Daffodils by Robert Herrick)

ANSWERS: 1. APOSTROPHE;
2. PERSONIFICATION
Parting is such a sweet
sorrow (from Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet)

ANSWER: OXYMORON
With your mercry mouth in the missionary 1
times,
And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like
rhymes,
And your silver cross, and2 your voice like
chimes,
Oh, who do they think could bury you?
(from Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands by Bob Dylan)

ANSWER: 1. ALLITERATION; 2. POLYSYNDETON

And sweet it was to dream of fatherland,
Of child, and wife1, and slave; but evermore
Most weary seemed the sea2, weary the oar,
Weary the wandering fields of barren
foam. (from The Lotos-Eaters by Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

ANSWERS: 1. ASSONANCE;
2. PERSONIFICATION
He clasps the crag with
crooked1,2 hands;
Close to the sun in lonely
lands3
(from The Eagle by Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

ANSWERS: 1. ALLITERATION,
2. PERSONIFICATION;
3. RHYME
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows
how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past
change: Praise Him. (from Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley
Hopkins)

ANSWER: ALLITERATION
And then the clock collected
in the tower
Its strength, and struck. (from Eight
Oclock by A.E. Housman)

ANSWER: PERSONIFICATION
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs (from Ars Poetica by Archibald
MacLeish)

ANSWER: SIMILE
Night is a curious child1, wandering
Between earth and sky, creeping
In windows and doors, daubing2,3
The entire neighbourhood
With purple paint. (from Four Glimpses of Night by Frank
Marshall Davis)

ANSWER: 1. METAPHOR;
2-3. PERSONIFICATION
Mary had a little lamb,
You've heard this tale before
But did you know she passed her
plate
and had a little more? (Author unknown)

ANSWER: PUN/DOUBLE ENTENDRE

A blind man looks back
Into the future with the
Ear-splitting whispers of
Unconcealed ghosts
Thundering silently. (Author unknown)

ANSWERS: OXYMORON
He said I was average
But was just being mean.
Invisible cows are herd
But not seen (by Paul Waddington)

ANSWER: PUN/DOUBLE ENTENDRE