1. 1. STYLISTICS Key Concepts and Terms Main Sources: Arp,T., & Johnson, G.(2009).

Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound & Sense.Tenth Edition.Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Barry, P. (2002). BeginningTheory, 2nd ed. Manchester Univ. Press.
2. 2. 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
3. 3. 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.
4. 4. 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.
5. 5. 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
6. 6. 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
7. 7. WHAT ARE THE BRANCHES OF STYLISTICS? 5. Individual style study  studies the
style of the author  looks for correlations between the creative concepts of the author and
the language of his work
8. 8. 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.
9. 9. The Notion of STYLE
10. 10. 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.
11. 11. 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 theTeaching of Literature)  The very notion of style includes an aesthetic purpose. We
may not always admit or immediately notice the aesthetic purpose.
12. 12. I.R.Galperin’s 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)
SYNONYMOUSWAYS 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.
13. 13. Galperin’s 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).
14. 14. Galperin’s 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.
15. 15. Five Styles in Present-day English (Galperin) I. Belles Lettres -Poetry -Emotive prose -
The Drama II. Publicistic Style -Oratory and Speeches -The Essay -Articles
16. 16. Five Styles in Present-day English (Galperin) III. Newspapers -brief news items -
headlines -advertisements and announcements -The Editorial IV. Scientific Prose V. Official
Documents
17. 17. STYLISTIC DEVICES Figurative Language, SoundTechniques, Structural Devices, Irony,
Register
18. 18. 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...
19. 19. 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”
20. 20. 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
21. 21. Stylistic Device No. 1: Figurative Language  In Thomas Hardy’s novel, Jude the
Obscure, the protagonist, Jude Fawley, suffers from his own folly over the two women in his
life. In Charles Dicken’s “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
22. 22. 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.
23. 23. 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.
24. 24. Forms of Understatement (Figures of Quantity) LITOTES MEIOSIS  a figure of speech
consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its
opposite, as in This is no small problem. (American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Ed.)  “not
unusual”  “no mean feat”  “not the kindest person”  understatement used for effect such
 as sarcasm or sardony. e.g. "Charlie is not the sharpest knife in the drawer" means that
Charlie does not even come close to the sharpest because he's a blathering idiot.  can also
be used to describe mannerism and tone (e.g., a brooding, quiet, Byronic hero will often be
understated in action and tone)
25. 25. 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
26. 26. Figurative Language  That’s 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 MeTangere 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
27. 27. 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
28. 28. Stylistic Device No. 3: Structural Devices  He’s 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
son’s 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
29. 29. Stylistic Device No. 4: Irony  So, the world will end on the 21st 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 Hugo’s Les Miserables, one wouldn’t 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
30. 30. Stylistic Device No. 4: Irony  In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the drama of ActV
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
31. 31. 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
32. 32. 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
33. 33. 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. Santa’s helper’s are
subordinate Clauses. A horse is a very stable animal. “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like
a banana.” –Groucho Marx
34. 34. REVIEW EXERCISES ON STYLISTIC DEVICES Study the given excerpts and tell what
stylistic device is at work.
35. 35. “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
36. 36. “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
37. 37. “Fair daffodils1, we weep to see You haste away so soon; As yet the early-rising Sun
Has not attain’d his noon. Stay, stay, Until the hasting day Has run2.” (from To Daffodils by
Robert Herrick) ANSWERS: 1. APOSTROPHE; 2. PERSONIFICATION
38. 38. “Parting is such a sweet sorrow…” (from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet) ANSWER:
OXYMORON
39. 39. “With your merc’ry mouth in the missionary1 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
40. 40. “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
41. 41. “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
42. 42. “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
43. 43. “And then the clock collected in the tower Its strength, and struck.” (from Eight O’clock by
A.E. Housman) ANSWER: PERSONIFICATION
44. 44. “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
45. 45. “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
46. 46. “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
47. 47. “A blind man looks back Into the future with the Ear-splitting whispers of Unconcealed
ghosts Thundering silently.” (Author unknown) ANSWERS: OXYMORON
48. 48. “He said I was average But was just being mean. Invisible cows are herd But not seen…”
(by Paul Waddington) ANSWER: PUN/DOUBLE ENTENDRE