CONTENTS

Lesson I The concept of style and

stylistics

STRATEGIES/
ACTIVITIES
Reciprocal Teaching

ASSESSMENTS

Numbered quiz

Meaning of stylistics and its approaches

Style as choice
Style as the Man
Style as Deviation
Style as Conformity
Style as Period or Time
Style as Situation

Authors Chair

Lesson 2 The Nature and Goals of

Stylistics

PPT Slideshow
Authors Chair

What is stylistics?
The Nature of Stylistics
The Goals of Stylistics

Group work

Hot Seat with Rubrics

Group work
Pair work
Story grammar

Pair work

quiz on slides
Hot seat with Rubrics
Numbered quiz

Lesson 3 Types of Stylistics I

Features of Linguistic Stylistics
Lexical Repetition
Semantic-Syntactic Level
Semantic/Grammatical Level
Phonological Level
Graphological Level

PPT slideshow

Numbered Quiz

Concept Mapping

Chapter Quiz

Grammar Games

Hot seat with Rubrics

Dyad / Think-pairShare

Lesson 5 Types of Stylistics II

Reader-Response Stylistics
Affective Stylistics
Pragmatic Stylistics
Pedagogical Stylistics
Forensic Stylistics
Lesson 6 Levels of Linguistic
Analysis
The Lexico-Semantic Level
Semantics
Lexico-semantics
Lexical Relations
Types of Words
Denotative/Connotative Meanings
Idiomatic Meaning
Lesson 7 Levels of Linguistic
Analysis
(The Syntactic Level)
Units of Grammar
The Group
The Clause
The Sentence
The notion of Rankshifting
Voice

PPT slideshow
Concept Mapping
Grammar Games

Hot seat with rubrics

Numbered Chapter quiz

Dyad / Think-pairShare
PPT slideshow

Numbered Chapter quiz

Graphic organizers
Hot seat with rubrics
Group work
Concept Mapping

PPT slideshow
Group Discussions

Charting Quiz

Graphic Organizers

Numbered Quiz

Group work

Hot seat with rubrics

Concept Mapping

Lesson 8 Foregrounding

Group Discussions

Charting Quiz

Meaning of Foregrounding
Types of Foregrounding

Graphic Organizers

Numbered Quiz

Concept Mapping
Lesson 9 Stylistic Analysis Samples
and Activities and possible answers
The Beatles
The Spice Girls
Nouns can be verbed
Functional conversion
Make new words
Tasks on word-classes
Playing with phrases, titles of poems,
novels
Creating your own titles
Structure of sentences
Being creative with noun phrases
Foregrounding tasks
Deviation for foregrounding purpose

Hot seat with rubrics

Group Discussions

Charting Quiz

Graphic Organizers

Numbered Quiz

Concept Mapping

Hot seat with rubrics

Course: STYLISTICS (LANGUAGE & LITERATURE)

Course Credit: 3 Units
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.
Week 2: Some definitions and goal of stylistics; types of
stylistics.
Objective: *By the end of the lesson, students should be able to
explain the definitions of stylistics, its goal and some of the
various types of stylistics.
Description: Some of the definitions of stylistics, especially from
its root, its goal, to demonstrate functional interpretation, and
some stylistic models will be highlighted.
Week 3: Implications of context (i) Dialect, Register and Time
(ii)Domain, Tenor and Mode
Objective: * By the end of the lesson, students should be able to
identify language variation according to user, use and time period
as well as register varieties i.e. domain, tenor and mode.
Description: The way in which language varies from one speaker to
another, from one situation to another and from one period to
another will be taught via extracts from poetry, pose and drama
passages.
Week 4: Morphology, speech sounds and graphology in stylistic
analysis

Objectives: * By the end of the class, students should be able to

discuss the rudiments
of morphology, speech sounds and graphology to the students
* By the end of the class, students should be able to identify
these tools in discourses and be able to work out their functions
Description: Elements of morphology (e.g. coinages, compounding,
blending), sound patterns (e.g. alliteration consonance, assonance,
onomatopoeia, rhyme, rhythm), Graphology (e.g. punctuation,
paragraphing, spacing, size of print, etc.) will be explained and
exemplified via extracts from passages.
Week 5: Lexis and Semantics in stylistic analysis
Objectives: * By the end of the class, students should be able to
explain the rudiments of lexis and semantics,
* Identify lexical and semantic activators in texts and be able to
show their functions.
Description: Lexico-semantic elements i.e. words and their meanings
e.g. oxymoron, reference, lexical ellipses and substitution,
conjunction, collocates, synonym, antonym, holonym, hyponym, parts
of speech, etc. will be explained and exemplified via extracts from
passages.
Week 6: Lexico-Syntactic Patterns in stylistic analysis

Objectives: * By the end of the class, students should be able to

describe words, phrases, clauses and sentences are used as
prompters in stylistic analysis.
* Identify various types of lexico-syntactic constructions and
their functions in stylistic analysis.
Description: Lexico-syntactic constructions to be studied in sample
texts include anaphora, epiphora, symploce, personification,
hyperbole, litotes, irony, paradox, euphemism, asyndeton,
polysyndeton.
Week 7: Foregrounding: Deviation and Repetition
Objectives: * By the end of the class, students should be able to
explain the foregrounding i.e. the psychological effect of
deviation and repetition
* Emphasise highlighting or making prominent for specific
effects
Description: The two main types of foregrounding i.e. deviation and
repetition (e.g. parallelism, anaphora, alliteration, rhyme,
polyptoton) which strike the readers attention as unusual will be
studied through textual examples at the morphological phonological,
graphological, lexical, semantic and syntactic levels.
Week 8: Point of view in discourse
Objective: * By the end of the class, students should be able to
explain the concepts and distinctions of point of view in discourse

Description: Using textual examples, the following will be

examined: (i) addresses, narrator, distance, etc. (ii) some
linguistic indicators of point of view: schema-oriented language,
value-laden expressions, Given vs. New information, deictic
expressions, social deixis, indicators of characters thoughts or
perceptions, event coding (Short, M. 1996)
Week 9: Dialogue and pragmatics
Objective: * By the end of the lesson, students should be able to
identify pragmatics in stylistic analysis
Description: Textual examples of the following elements will be
identified and explained along with their functions: participants
and role relation, context, turn-taking, locution, illocution,
perlocutionary effects and non-verbal communication.
Week 10: A detailed look at poems
Objective: *By the end of the class, students should be able to
recite, examine and study some poems in detail
Description: Poems will be studied in relation to their meanings
and effects.
Week 11: A detailed look at prose fiction and non-literary texts
Objective: * By the end of the class, students should be able to
explain prose fiction
and non-literary texts in detail

Description: Prose fiction and non-literary texts will be studied

in relation to their
meanings and effects.
Week 12: A detailed look at prose drama texts
Objective: * By the end of the class, students should be able to
demonstrate drama
texts in detail
Description: Drama texts will be studied in relation to their
meanings and effects.
Week 13: (a) Class test (b) class presentation (1)
Objective: By the end of the lesson, students should be able to
explain the basic concepts
and techniques of stylistics and how to apply then to texts
accurately.
Description: The students will be assessed on the topics taught and
will
further be expected in groups to look for a poem to which they will
apply
methods of stylistic analysis and be able to bring out the
functional significance.
Week 14: Class presentation (2)

Objective: * By the end of the class, students should be able to

demonstrate the
mastery of the basic concepts and techniques of stylistics and how
to apply
then to texts accurately.
Description: The students will be expected in groups to look for a
prose
passage or drama text to which they would apply methods of
stylistic
analysis and be able to bring out the functional significance.

On the following pages, we will explain some of the most important stylistic devices (also called rhetorical devices or
figures of speech) they are not only useful for analysing texts, but also for creating your own texts.
Stylistic devices make your speeches, essays etc. more interesting and lively and help you to get and keep your
readers / listeners attention.
Stylistic Devices
Alliteration
repetition of initial consonant sound
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 ...

safety and security

share a continent but not a country

(1)

(1)

(2)

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

indirect reference to a person, event or piece of literature

Allusion is used to explain or clarify a complex problem. Note that allusion works best if you keep it short and refer to
something the reader / audience is familiar with, e.g.:

famous people

history

(Greek) mythology

literature

the bible

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 dont 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
DickensChristmas 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 ones Waterloo (allusion on Napoleons defeat in the Battle of Waterloo)

to wash ones 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 Josephs grandfather, who was 969 years old according to the Old
Testament)

to guard sth with Arguss eyes (allusion on the giant Argus from Greek mythology, who watched over Zeuslover Io.)

Anaphora

successive clauses or sentences start with the same word(s)

The same word or phrase is used to begin successive clauses or sentences. Thus, the reader's / listener's attention
is drawn directly to the message of the sentence.
Example:

Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing
these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American. (2)

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity
would not be so welcome. (Anne Bradstreet)

The beginning of wisdom is silence. The second step is listening. (unknown)

A man without ambition is dead. A man with ambition but no love is dead. A man with ambition and love for his
blessings here on earth is ever so alive. (Pearl Bailey)

Anaphora is often used in conjunction with parallelism or climax.

Antithesis

contrasting relationship between two ideas

Antithesis emphasises 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.
Examples:

That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. (Neil Armstrong)

To err is human; to forgive, divine. (Pope)

It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father. (Pope)

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

question raised and answered by the author / speaker

The author / speaker raises a question and also gives an answer to the question. Hypophora is used to get the
audience's attention and make them curious. Often the question is raised at the beginning of a paragraph and
answered in the course of that paragraph. Hypophora can also be used, however, to introduce a new area of
discussion.
Example:

Why is it better to love than be loved? It is surer. (Sarah Guitry)

How many countries have actually hit [] the targets set at Rio, or in Kyoto in 1998, for cutting greenhouse-gas
emissions? Precious few. (6)
Litotes

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

figurative expression, closely associated with the subject

Metonomy (unlike metaphor) uses figurative expressions that are closely associated with the subject in terms of
place, time or background. The figurative expression is not a physical part of the subject, however (see
synecdoche).
Examples:

The White House declared (White House = US government / President)

The land belongs to the crown. (crown = king / queen / royal family / monarchy)

Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that. (Norman Vincent Peale)

(empty pockets = poverty; empty heads = ignorance / dullness / density; empty hearts = unkindness / coldness)

the spit-and-polish command post (meaning: shiny clean

Narration Technique see: Points of view

Onomatopoeia

word imitating a sound

The pronounciation of the word imitates a sound. Onomatopoeia is used because it's often difficult to describe
sounds. Furthermore, a story becomes more lively and interesting by the use of onomatopoeia.
Examples:

The lion roared.

The steaks sizzled in the pan.

The bomb went off with a bang.

Parallelism
parallel sentence structure
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.

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).
Example 1 (no parallelism):

Open the book first.

You must read the text now.

There are pictures in the bookLook at them.

The questions must be answered.

(2)

Example 2 (parallelism):

Open the book.

Read the text.

Look at the pictures.

Answer the questions.

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' oursalong with
advice on mooring, lock operation and safety considerationsby 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
ConnorAmy's boyfriendbought the tickets.

Personification

attribution of human characteristics to animals, inanimate objects or abstractions

Animals, inanimate objects or abstractions are represented as having human characteristics (behaviour, feelings,
character etc.). Personification can make a narration more interesting and lively.
Examples:

Why these two countries would remain at each other's throat for so long. (3)

I closed the door, and my stubborn car refused to open it again.

The flowers nodded their heads as if to greet us.

The frogs began their concert.

Points of view

first or third person narration

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

question without a direct answer

The author / speaker raises a question, but doesn't answer it directly as he/she sees the answer (usually Yes or No)
as obvious.
Rhetorical questions are used to provoke, emphasise or argue.
Examples:

When public money brings windfalls to a few, why should the state not take a share?

(6)

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

using a part instead of the whole or vice versa

Synechdoche is some kind of generalization or specification that uses a part, a member or a characteristic of what is
meant. The following possibilities are common:
Part used instead of the whole

Example:

Turning our long boat round [] on the last morning required all hands on deck (hands = people) (4)

Whole used instead of a part

Example:

Troops halt the drivers (troops = soldiers) (3)

Specific term used instead of a general one:

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)

Material used instead of the product:

Example:

She wore gold around her neck. (gold = chain)

Understatement

weaken or soften a statement

A statement is deliberately weakened to sound ironical or softened to sound more polite.
Note that understatement is a common feature of the English language (especially British English) used in everydaylife situations.
Examples:

I know a little about running a company. (a successful businessman might modestly say.)

I think we have slightly different opinions on this topic. (instead of: I don't agree with you at all.)