Stylistic Exam Preparation (Part 1)

Stylistics

Studies the principles and effects of choice and usage of different language elements to convey a thought or emotions in a particular situation

Foregrounding

Establishes the hierarchy of meaning in the text by making certain elements more prominent while shifting other to the background (it is usually created by the means of coupling, convergence, strong position, contrast, irony, intertextual connection, defeated expectancy effect etc.)

Coupling

It is the recurrence of the similar elements of the text in similar positions which provides a unity of a poetic structure, for example, in verses that is rhyme, rhythm & parallel constructions

Convergence

That is concentration in one place of a text a cluster of stylistic devices & expressive means performing one and the same function. This redundancy encores the delivery of the authors idea (e.g. When he blinks a parrot-like look appears, the look of some heavily blinking tropical bird)

Iambus

x/ (unstressed - stressed)

Trochee

/x (stressed - unstessed)

Dactyl

/xx (stressed - unstressed - unstressed)

Anapaest

xx/ (unstressed - unstressed - stressed)

Amphibrach

x/x (unstressed - stressed - unstressed)

Couplet

(aa)

Because you are to me a song

I must not sing you over-long

Triple rhyme

(aaa)

Silver bark of beech,

and sallow Bark of yellow birch and yellow

Twig of willow.

Cross/Alternative rhyme

(abab)

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp

Framing/Ring rhyme

(abba)

An omnibus across the bridge

Crawls like a yellow butterfly,

And, here and there, a passer-by

Shows like a little restless midge.

Instrumentation

Aliteration, Asonance, and Onomatopoeia

Alliteration

Is the repetition of the same or similar sounds or sound clusters, usually consonants of stressed syllables in neighbouring words

Asonance

Is the repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together, to achieve a particular effect of euphony

Graphons

Unusual, non-standard spelling of words, it shows deviations from Standard English, peculiarities of pronunciation that give characteristics to a character (background, speech peculiarities, emotional state etc.)

Graphic stylistic facilities

Hyphenation, multiplication, italics, bold, capitalisation, absence of capital letters, unusual punctuation

Denotation

Conceptual, main meaning

Connotation

Additional meaning that can add emotions, expressiveness, evaluation (show speaker’s attitude) or have another stylistic function

English vocabulary can be:

literary (bookish), conversational, neutral (slang)

Literary words:

terms (nomenclatures), poetic (archaic words), foreign words, bookish (learned) words

Poetic words

archaic words (to deem – to think), archaic forms (maketh – makes), historical words (those things don’t exist anymore), poetic words proper (create literary tonality, ex. quoth – said)

Archaic words:

obsolescent, obsolete, archaic words proper

Obsolescent words

Morphological forms that belong to the earlier stages of the language development that are gradually are becoming less and less used (thou, thee, thy, etc.)

Obsolete words

Archaic words that are still recognised by natives but are considered old-fashioned (nay – no, naught – nothing)

Archaic words proper

Are no longer used, only exist in historical texts, poetry, and official documents (troth – faith, aforesaid, hereby, etc.)

Slang

Words and phrases are, as a rule, emotionally colored, often figurative units, are predominantly used by particular social groups to show that the speaker belongs to this group, as different from other people

Jargonisms

These are frequently used standard words but with different and more colourful meanings. Such use of words begins as an insider language

Figures of quantity are:

hyperbole, meiosis, and litotes

Trite stylistics devises

Are embedded into language and don’t feel like stylistic devices anymore

Litotes

Form of meiosis, negation, often “not” paired up with a word with a negative prefix

Figures of quality are:

metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet, and irony

Periphrasis

A roundabout way of speaking or writing (our noble country, the mistress of arts and arms, the scourge of France...)

Antonomasia

A variety of metaphor, a proper name used as a common one (ex. a Napoleon of peace), a common noun is used as proper on (ex. Mr. Backbite)

Allegory

A variety of metaphor, abstract ideas become concrete (ex. “Kindness” is a character in a poem)

Types of epithets:

simple (raven hair), compound (care-free eyes), phrase (going-to-bed sounds), sentence (never-know-where-you-will-be-tomorrow world), inverted (a faded rabbit of a woman)

Figure of identity

Simile

Figures of inequality

Climax, anticlimax, pun, zeugma

Zeugma

Is a simultaneous realization within the same short context of two meanings of a polysemantic unit (Monsieur Ratignolle brought himself and his wife’s excuses)

Figures of contrast

Antithesis, oxymoron

Antithesis

Is the expression of opposing or contrasting ideas laid out in a parallel structure (a terrible joy)

Oxymoron

Is a combination of opposite meanings which exclude each other (deafening silence)