Lecture 1. Stylistics as a branch of general linguistics

II. ЛЕКЦИОННЫЕ ЗАНЯТИЯ

Методические рекомендации

Лекция представляет собой логическое изложение материала в соответствии с планом лекции, который сообщается студентам в начале каждой лекции, и имеет законченную форму, т. е. содержит пункты, позволяющие охватить весь материал, который требуется довести до студентов. Содержание каждой лекции имеет определенную направленность и учитывает уровень подготовки студентов.

Главной задачей лектора является организация процесса познания студентами материала изучаемой дисциплины на всех этапах ее освоения, предусмотренных государственным образовательным стандартом.

Перед лектором в ходе подготовки и проведения лекции стоят следующие задачи:

1. Передача знаний студентам и формирование у них умений по применению полученных знаний.

2. Формулирование дидактических вопросов, решаемых в рамках изучения материала дисциплины.

3. Выявление междисциплинарных связей, которые имеет изучаемая дисциплина с другими дисциплинами учебного плана данной специальности.

4. Оценка знаний и умений, получаемых студентами при изучении как отдельных разделов, так и дисциплины в целом, а также их роли и соотношения во всей структуре процесса обучения.

5. Предоставление студентам ссылок на информационно-справочную литературу для самостоятельного изучения ими материала дисциплины.

6. Воспитание студентов в форме непосредственного воздействия на аудиторию.

Требования к лекции:

- научность и информативность (современный научный уровень) предлагаемого в лекции материала;

- четкая структура раскрытия темы, последовательность изложения вопросов;

- доказательность и аргументированность, достигаемые логикой и теоретическим обоснованием положений лекции, а также достаточным количеством ярких и убедительных примеров;

- наличие нравственного, ценностного подхода при объективном освещении различных подходов, особенно по дискуссионным проблемам;

- активизация мышления слушателей путем постановки вопросов для размышления, формулирования по ходу лекции вопросов, обращенных к повторению фрагментов уже изученных тем;

- методическая обработка материала: выведение главных положений, подчеркивание основной мысли, формулирование выводов;

- ясный и доступный язык изложения, разъяснение вновь вводимых терминов и названий;

- использование аудиовизуальных дидактических материалов.

Для решения названных задач при подготовке лекции преподавателю, осуществляющему преподавание данной дисциплины, целесообразно:

• сформулировать цель и задачи каждой лекции;

• определить содержание лекции и план ее проведения так, чтобы это отвечало поставленным задачам лекции;

• разработать методы активизации познавательной деятельности студентов с учетом уровня знаний студентов;

• продумать возможности использования изучаемого материала в рамках других дисциплин и в практической деятельности;

• представить ссылки на источники для самостоятельного изучения материала студентами;

• по материалу лекции сформулировать задачи с целью подготовки студентов к семинарам.

Тематика и содержание лекции определяются рабочей программой изучаемой дисциплины, составленной в соответствии с Государственным образовательным стандартом направления специальности подготовки дипломированного специалиста (бакалавра).

Традиционная вузовская лекция обычно называется информационной. Она может иметь несколько разновидностей.

Виды лекций

1. Вводная лекция дает первое целостное представление об учебном предмете и ориентирует студента в системе работы по данному курсу. Лектор знакомит студентов с назначением и задачами курса, его ролью и местом в системе учебных дисциплин и в системе подготовки специалиста. Дается краткий обзор курса, вехи развития науки и практики, достижения в этой сфере, имена известных ученых, излагаются перспективные направления исследований. На этой лекции высказываются методические и организационные особенности работы в рамках курса. А также дается анализ учебно-методической литературы, рекомендуемой студентам, уточняются сроки и формы отчетности.

2. Лекция-информация.Ориентирована на изложение и объяснение студентам научной информации, подлежащей осмыслению и запоминанию. Это самый традиционный тип лекций в практике высшей школы.

3. Обзорная лекция – это систематизация научных знаний на высоком уровне, допускающая большое число ассоциативных связей в процессе осмысления информации, излагаемой при раскрытии межпредметной и внутрипредметной связи, исключая детализацию и конкретизацию. Как правило, стержень излагаемых теоретических положений составляет научно-понятийная концептуальная основа всего курса или крупных его разделов.

4. Проблемная лекция. В этой лекции новое знание вводится через проблемность вопроса, задачи или ситуации. При этом процесс познания студентов в сотрудничестве и диалоге с преподавателем приближается к исследовательской деятельности. Содержание проблемы раскрывается путем организации поиска ее решения или суммирования анализа традиционных и современных точек зрения.

5. Лекция-визуализация представляет собой визуальную форму подачи лекционного материала средствами ТСО или аудио видеотехники. Чтение такой лекции сводится к развернутому или краткому комментированию просматриваемых визуальных материалов (натуральных объектов- людей в их действиях и поступках, в общении и разговоре; препаратов, реактивов, картин, рисунков, фотографий, слайдов, таблиц, графов, графиков, моделей и т.д.)

6. Лекция вдвоем - это разновидность чтения лекции в форме диалога двух преподавателей (либо как представителей двух научных школ, либо как ученого и практика, преподавателя и студента).

7. Лекция с заранее запланированными ошибками рассчитана на стимулирование студентов к постоянному контролю предлагаемой информации (поиск ошибки: содержательной, методологической, методической, орфографической).

8. Лекция-конференция проводится как научно-практическое занятие, с заранее поставленной проблемой и системой докладов, длительностью 5-10 мин.

Структура и содержание лекции

По своей структуре лекции могут быть разнообразны – это зависит от содержания и характера излагаемого материала. Прежде всего это сообщение плана лекции студентам и строгое ему следование. В план лекции включаются наименования узловых вопросов лекции, которые могут послужить основой для составления экзаменационных билетов.

Излагая лекционный материал, преподаватель должен ориентироваться на то, что студенты пишут конспект. Конспект помогает внимательно слушать, лучше запоминать в процессе осмысленного записывания, обеспечивает наличие опорных материалов при подготовке к семинару, зачету, экзамену. Задача лектора – дать студентам возможность осмысленного конспектирования: слушать, осмысливать, перерабатывать, кратко записывать. Для этого преподаватель должен помогать студентам и следить, все ли понимают, успевают. Обычно это видно по реакции аудитории.

Таким образом, руководство работой студентов со стороны преподавателя осуществляется в следующих формах:

- требование вести конспекты, обучение конспектированию;

- контроль за выполнением: просмотр конспектов – по ходу лекции, после лекции, на семинарских занятиях;

- использование приемов управления вниманием: контрольные вопросы, риторические вопросы, варьирование интонацией, другие ораторские приемы;

- использование приемов закрепления: повторение основных положений и выводов с использованием различных формулировок, вопросы к аудитории на проверку внимания;

- разрешение задавать вопросы лектору с четкой регламентацией, когда и в какой форме они могут быть заданы.

Мастерство лектора способствует хорошей организации работы студентов на лекции. Содержание, четкость структуры лекции, применение приемов поддержания внимания – все это активизирует мышление и работоспособность, способствует установлению педагогического контакта, вызывает у студентов эмоциональный отклик, воспитывает навыки трудолюбия, формирует интерес к предмету.

На каждую лекцию преподавателем разрабатывается план и конспект, включающие название темы, формулировку цели и задач, перечень основных разделов лекции, краткое, структурированное в соответствии с планом, содержание излагаемого материала, а также перечень вопросов, которые будут заданы по ходу лекции с целью активизации и повторения. Составляя такой конспект, следует продумать пропорциональность отдельных разделов лекции и рассчитать время, которое займет изложение каждого раздела.

Как готовиться к лекциям

Подготовка к лекции заключается в следующем:

- узнайте тему лекции (по тематическому плану, по информации лектора),

- прочитайте учебный материал по учебнику и учебным пособиям,

- уясните место изучаемой темы в своей профессиональной подготовке,

- выпишите основные термины,

- ответьте на контрольные вопросы по теме лекции,

- уясните, какие учебные элементы остались для вас неясными,

- запишите вопросы, которые вы зададите лектору на лекции

III. ТЕМАТИЧЕСКИЙ ПЛАН ЛЕКЦИЙ ПО КУРСУ

«СТИЛИСТИКА»

Lecture 2. Expressive means (EM) and stylistic devices (SD)

1. The notion of expressive means

2. Morphological expressive means

3. Word-building expressive means

4. Lexical expressive means

5. Syntactical expressive means

6. The notion of a stylistic device

7. Classification of expressive means (EM) and stylistic devices (SD)

Barbarisms and Foreignisms

Barbarisms are words of foreign origin which have not entirely been assimilated into the English language. They bear the appearance of a borrowing and are felt as something alien to the native tongue. Nevertheless most of what were formerly foreign borrowings are now, from a purely stylistic position, not regarded as foreign. But still there are some words which retain their foreign appearance to a greater or lesser degree. These words, which are called barbarisms, are, like archaisms, also considered to be on the outskirts of the literary language.

Most of them have corresponding English synonyms; e. g. chic (=stylish); Weltanschauung (=world-view); en passant (= in passing); ad infinitum (= to infinity) and many other words and phrases.

It is very important for purely stylistic purposes to distinguish between barbarisms and foreign words proper. Barbarisms are words which have already become facts of the English language. They are, part and parcel of the English word-stock, though they remain on the outskirts of the literary vocabulary. Foreign words though used for certain stylistic purposes, do not belong to the EV. They are not registered in dictionaries, whereas barbarisms are.

Foreign words are often italicized , barbarisms on the contrary, are not made conspicuous in the text.

There are foreign words in the EV which fulfil a terminological function (kolkhoz, ukase, udarnik) and reflect an objective reality of some country. Terminological borrowings have no synonyms; barbarisms- have.

Their functions: to express a concept non-existant in English reality, to supply local colour as a background to the narrative, reproduce actual manner of speech and environment of the hero, to elevate the language (words which we don’t quite understand have a peculiar charm), “exactifying” function – to express some exact meaning (au revoir vs. good-bye).

Slang

There is hardly any other term that is as ambiguous and obscure as the term slang. Slang seems to mean everything that is below the standard of, usage of present-day English.

Slang [origin unknown]

- language peculiar to a particular group: as a: the special and often secret vocabulary used by a class (as thieves, beggars) and usu. felt to be vulgar or inferior: argot; b: the jargon used by or associated with a particular trade, profession, or field of activity; 2: a non-standard vocabulary composed of words and senses characterized primarily by connotations of extreme informality and usu. a currency not limited to a particular region and composed typically of coinages or arbitrarily changed words, clipped or shortened forms, extravagant, forced or facetious figures of speech, or verbal novelties usu. experiencing quick popularity and relatively rapid decline into disuse.

- words or expressions that are very informal and are not considered suitable for more formal situations. Some slang is used only by a particular group of people (Macmillan).

Slang words, used by most speakers in very informal communication, are highly emotive and expressive and as such, lose their originality rather fast and are replaced by newer formations. This tendency to synonymic expansion results in long chains of synonyms of various degrees of expressiveness, denoting one and the same concept. So, the idea of a "pretty girl" is worded by more than one hundred ways in slang.

In only one novel by S. Lewis there are close to a dozen synonyms used by Babbitt, the central character, in reference to a girl: "cookie", "tomato", "Jane", "sugar", "bird", "cutie", etc.

Jargonisms

Jargonism is a recognized term for a group of words that exists in almost every language and whose aim is to preserve secrecy within one or another social group. Jargonisms are generally old words with entirely new meanings imposed on them. Most of the jargonisms of any language, and of the English language too, are absolutely incomprehensible to those outside the social group which has invented them. They may be defined as a code within a code, that is special meanings of words that are imposed on the recognized code—the dictionary meaning of the words.

Thus the word grease means 'money'; loaf means 'head'; a tiger hunter is 'a gambler'; a lexer is 'a student preparing for a law course'.

Jargonisms are social in character. They are not regional. In Britain and in the US almost any social group of people has its own jargon. The following jargons are well known in the English language: the jargon of thieves and vagabonds, generally known as cant; the jargon of jazz people; the jargon of the army, known as military slang; the jargon of sportsmen, and many others.

Jargonisms, like slang and other groups of the non-literary layer, do not always remain on the outskirts of the literary language. Many words have overcome the resistance of the language lawgivers and purists and entered the standard vocabulary. Thus the words kid, fun, queer, bluff, fib, humbug, formerly slang words or jargonisms, are now considered common colloquial. They may be said to be dejargonized.

Professionalisms

Professionalisms are the words used in a definite trade, profession or calling by people connected by common interests both at work and at home. Professionalisms are correlated to terms. Terms, as has already been indicated, are coined to nominate new concepts that appear in the process of, and as a result of, technical progress and the development of science. In distinction from slang, jargonisms and professionalisms cover a narrow semantic field, for example connected with the technical side of some profession.

Professional words name anew already-existing concepts, tools or instruments, and have the typical properties of a special code. The main feature of a professionalism is its technicality. Professionalisms are special words in the non-literary layer of the English vocabulary, whereas terms are a specialized group belonging to the literary layer of words. Professionalisms are not known to simple people.

Dialectal words

Dialectal words are those which in the process of integration of the English national language remained beyond its literary boundaries, and their use is generally confined to a definite locality. We exclude here what are called social dialects or even the still looser application of the term as in expressions like poetical dialect or styles as dialects.

Dialectal words are normative and devoid of any stylistic meaning in regional dialects, but used outside of them, carry a strong flavour of the locality where they belong. DW has application limited to a certain group of people or to certain communicative situations.

Vulgar words or vulgarisms

Vulgarisms are:

1) expletives and swear words which are of an abusive character, like 'damn', 'bloody', 'to hell', 'goddam' and, as some dictionaries state, used now, as general exclamations;

2) obscene words. These are known as four-letter words the use of which is banned in any form of intercourse as being indecent.

The function of expletives is almost the same as that of interjections, that is to express strong emotions, mainly annoyance, anger, vexation and the like. They are not to be found in any functional style of language except emotive prose, and here only in the direct speech of the characters.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a combination of speech sounds which aims at imitating sounds produced in nature (wind, sea, thunder, etc. – splash, bubble, rustle, whistle) by things (machines or tools, etc. - buzz) by people (singing, laughter, yawning, roar, giggle) and animals (moo, bleat, croak - frog). Therefore the relation between onomatopoeia and the phenomenon it is supposed to represent is one of metonymy: that is it can be used in transferred meaning – tintinnabulation-the sound of bells. There are two varieties of onomatopoeia: direct and indirect.

Direct onomatopoeia is contained in words that imitate natural sounds, as thud, bowwow, ding-dong, buzz, bang, ‘cuckoo. These words have different degrees of ‘imitative quality. Some of them immediately bring to mind whatever it is that produces the sound. Others require some imagination to decipher it.

e.g. And now there came the chop-chop of wooden hammers.

Indirect onomatopoeia is a combination of sounds the aim of which is to make the sound of the utterance an echo of its sense. It is sometimes called "echo writing". Indirect onomatopoeia demands some mention of what makes the sound, as rustling of curtains in the following line. And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain. An example is: And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain" (E. A. Poe), where the repetition of the sound [s] actually produces the sound of the rustling of the curtain. Indirect onomatopoeia is sometimes effectively used by repeating words which themselves are not onomatopoetic but they contribute to the general impact of the utterance: in the poem Boots by R. Kipling soldiers’ tread is shown - We’re foot-slog-slog-slog-sloggin’ over Africa – Foot-foot-foot-foot –sloggin’ over Africa. (Boots – boots – boots – boots – moovi’ up and down again!) Onomatopoeia helps to create the vivid portrayal of the situation described, and the phonemic structure of the word is important for the creation of expressive and emotive connotations.

Alliteration and assonance

Alliteration is a phonetic stylistic device which aims at imparting a melodic effect to the utterance. The essence of this device lies in the repetition of similar sounds, in particular consonant sounds, in close succession, particularly at the beginning of successive words: " The possessive instinct never stands still (J. Galsworthy) or, "Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before" (E. A. Poe). Alliteration is also used to name the repetition of first letters: Apt Alliteration’s artful aid.(Charles Churchill). Alliteration has a long tradition in English poetry as Germanic and Anglo-Saxon poems were organized with its help. (Beowulf) Assonance is the repetition of similar stressed vowels within the line or stanza. “… Tell this soul, with sorrow laden, if within the distant Aiden,

I shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore… (E. A. Poe)” Alliteration, like most phonetic expressive means, does not bear any lexical or other meaning. However it supplies the utterance with a certain nuance of the meaning [d]. That’s why alliteration is regarded as a musical accompaniment of the author’s idea, supporting it with some vague emotional atmosphere which each reader interprets for himself.

Alliteration heightens the general aesthetic effect of the utterance when it has connection with sense. Now it’s used only as a subsidiary device. Its role is an expressive one – alliterated words indicate the most important concepts. It’s often used in emotive prose, newspaper headlines, titles, proverbs and sayings: Sense and Sensibility; Pride and Prejudice; safe and sound; part and parcel etc.

Rhyme

Rhyme is the repetition of identical or similar terminal sound combination of words. Rhyming words are generally placed at a regular distance from each other. In verse they are usually placed at the end of the corresponding lines. Identity and similarity of sound combinations may be relative.

Thus, the first criterion is the identity of sound. From this point of view we distinguish between full rhymes and incomplete rhymes.

The full rhyme presupposes identity of the vowel sound and the following consonant sounds in a stressed syllable (heart – part, flood-blood).

Incomplete rhymes are divided into two main groups: vowel rhymes (ассонансы) and consonant rhymes (консонансы). In vowel rhymes the vowels of the syllables in corresponding words are identical, but the consonants may be different as in (advice-compromise). In consonant rhymes, on the contrary, consonants are identical and disparity in vowels, as in (wind-land, grey-grow).

The second criterion: morphological characteristics. Compound (broken) rhymes - when one word rhymes with a combination of words; or two or even three words rhyme with a corresponding two or three words, as in "better – forget her". The peculiarity of rhymes of this type is that the combination of words is made to sound like one word - this device will inevitably give a colloquial and sometimes a humorous touch to the utterance. Compound rhyme may be set against what is called eye - rhyme, where the letters and not the sounds are identical, as in love - prove, flood - brood, have - grave. It follows that compound rhyme is perceived in reading aloud, eye - rhyme can only be perceived in the written verse.

The 3^rd way the rhymes are arranged within the stanza: couplets – when the last words of 2 successive lines are rhymed – aa; cross rhymes - abab; framing or ring rhymes - abba.

The 4^th - according to their position: e.g. internal rhyme – the rhyming words are placed not at the ends of the lines but within the line: “I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers.” (Shelley)

The rhyme has 2 functions, which are realized simultaneously: disserving (it breaks the line into 2 distinct parts, making the reader to pause) and consolidating (consolidates the ideas expressed in 2 parts).

Rhythm

Rhythm is the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables, more or less regular. As a SD rhythm is a combination of the ideal metrical scheme and its variations governed by the standard. It exists in all spheres of human activity and assumes multifarious forms. It stirs up emotions whatever its nature or origin, whether it is musical, mechanical or symmetrical as in architecture.

It’s not only a regular pattern of sounds or movements; it’s also any regular pattern in nature or in life. Rhythm can be perceived only provided that there is some kind of experience in catching regularity of alternating patterns. Rhythm has a great importance not only for music and poetry, but also for prose. In prose rhythm is closely connected with the metre, i.e. different metrical patterns. The rhythm of prose is based on the succession of images, themes and other big elements of the text; repetition, parallel constructions, chiasmus- перекрестный/ реверсированный повтор, similar syntactical patterns. The unit of measure here is not a syllable but a structure, a word-combination, a sequence of phrases, sentences and supra-phrasal units.

Rhythm intensifies the emotions. It contributes to the general sense, helps to get the flow of thoughts and humour of the author. In poetry it conveys the mood, emotions and feelings, sharpens the thought of the author and his characters. Rhythm adds specific importance to some ideas and feelings, it helps to create reality in text. It has expressive, symbolic and graphic functions. It can imitate movement, behaviour and even setting. It foregrounds some particular words, thoughts, ideas, feelings, and vice versa obscures others, thus adding a per’spective to the text.

Graphical Ems

Graphical EMs serve to convey in the written form those emotions which in the oral speech are expressed by intonation and stress, in written form they are shown mostly with the help of punctuation and deliberate change of a spelling of a word. “A detective! I never ‘eard of such a thing! What d’yer come ‘ere for if yer want to be a detective. ‘Ere, yer not big enough, ‘cos yer’d ‘ave to be a pleeceman first before they’d let yer be a detective, and they’d never ‘ave yer as a pleeceman. ” (J.D. Priestley,“ Angel Pavement”) Woman, without her, man is nothing. All types of punctuation can be used to reflect the emphatic intonation of the speaker. Such ‘emphatic’ punctuation is used in many syntactical SDs: aposiopesis (break-in-the-narrative) [You’ll just come home, or I’ll …], rhetorical questions, su’spense etc.

The changed type (italics, bold type) or spelling multiplication (laaarge) are used to indicate the additional stress on the emphasis word or part of the word. There is no direct connection between the graphical SDs and the intonation they reflect, for their choice is too inadequate for the variety and quality of emotions recurrent in intonation.

We shall speak of such expressive phonetic means as means of intonation and euphony.

Intonation is one of the most effective means of emotionally influencing the reader. It colours the whole statement and is an important means of creating emphasis of words and phrases. The influence of intonation is so far-reaching that it may bring about a change of the main logical meaning of the word.

Euphony may be explained as a combination of pleasant sounds that do not jar the ear. But in its wide meaning euphony is understood as a combination of sounds the expressive effect of which corresponds to the general mood or emotional tone of the extract. This last clause requires some explanation. The different effect produced by different sounds of the person is not sufficiently proved by scientific method as yet. That is why some authors such as professor Galperin for instance denounce it as something idealistic based on the conception that separate sounds have a meaning of their own. Other authors – Кузнец, Скребнев speak of the emotional effect of sounds, and sound combinations. Probably there is something to be said in favour of this latter conception. Some authors speak of sound symbolism. Why not sound symbolism, we speak of colour symbolism – black-gloomy; red-gay, etc. As to sounds, [s] usually produces an unpleasant effect, [d] – a gloomy, dismal effect, [l] – warm, tender feelings, etc.

There are some rules of euphony which must not be violated and the most important one is that there must be no rhyme in prose. It produces a ludicrous effect.

e.g. The speaker discussed the source of the force of international law.

THEME 5

Polysemy

Derivative logical meanings always retain semantic ties with the primary meaning. In actual speech polysemy vanishes. A context that does not seek to produce any particular stylistic effect generally materializes one definite meaning. But sometimes words are intentionally made to reveal 2 or more meanings.

e.g.:«Massachusetts was hostile to the American flag, and she would not allow it to be hoisted (raise) on her State House». The word flag is used in its primary meaning when it appears in combination with the verb 'to hoist' and in its derivative (or contextual) meaning in the combination 'was hostile to'.

Zeugma is a strong and effective device to maintain the purity of the primary meaning when two meanings clash. The pun is another S.D. based on the interaction of two well-known meanings of a word or a phrase. It is difficult to draw a hard and fast distinction between zeugma and pun. The only reliable distinguishing feature is a structural one: zeugma is the realization of two meanings with the help of a verb which is made to refer to different subjects or objects ( direct and indirect). The pun is more independent. Like any S.D. it must depend on a context. But the context may be of a more expanded character, sometimes even as large as a whole work of emotive prose.

e.g.- Did you miss my lecture ?

- Not at all.

Pun seems to be more varied and resembles zeugma in its humorous effect only.

3. Interaction of Logical and Emotive Meaning

Interjections and Exclamatory Words Interjections are words we use when we express our feelings strongly and which may be said to exist in language as conventional symbols of human emotions. In traditional grammars the interjection is regarded as a part of speech. But there is another view which regards the interjection as a sentence.

However a close investigation proves that interjection is a word with strong emotive meaning.

e. g. Oh, where are you going to, all you Big Steamers?

The interjection oh, by itself may express various feelings such as regret, despair, disappointment, sorrow, surprise and many others. Interjections can be divided into primary and derivative. Primary interjections are generally devoid of any logical meaning. Interjections such as: Heavens! Good gracious! God knows! Bless me! are exclamatory words generally used as interjections. It must be noted that some adjectives and adverbs can also take on the function of interjections - such as terrible! awfully! great! wonderful! splendid! These adjectives acquire strong emotional colouring and are equal in force to interjections.

The epithet is based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase or even sentence, used to characterize an object and pointing out to the reader some of the properties or features of the object with the aim of giving an individual perception and evaluation of these features or properties.

Classification of Epithets

From the point of view of their compositional structure epithets may be divided into:

1) simple (adjectives, nouns, participles): e.g. He looked at them in animal panic.

2) compound: e.g. apple - faced man;

3) sentence and phrase epithets: e.g. It is his do - it - yourself attitude.

4) reversed epithets - composed of 2 nouns linked by an of phrase:

e.g. "a shadow of a smile";

Semantically according to I. Galperin.

1) associated with the noun following it, pointing to a feature which is essential to the objects they describe: dark forest; careful attention.

2) unassociated with the noun, epithets that add a feature which is unexpected and which strikes the reader: smiling sun, voiceless sounds.

Oxymoron is a combination of two words in which the meaning is opposite in sense.

e. g. speaking silence, cold fire, living death.

Close to oxymoron is paradox - a statement that is absurd on the surface.

e.g. War is peace. The worse - the better.

Trite oxymoron. e.g. Awfully beautiful.

If the primary meaning of qualifying word changes the stylistic effect of oxymoron is lost. In oxymoron the logical meaning holds fast because there is no true word combination.

Stylistic Inversion

The usual Word-order in English is Subject — Verb (Predicate) — Object (S—P—O). Any other order will change the impact on the reader. Stylistic Inversion is an intended violation of the usual order of the members of the sentence for stylistic purpose. It aims at attaching logical stressor additional emotional colouring to the surface meaning of the sentence.

e.g. grammar inversion: No sooner had I looked at him, when he began to cry. SI can be classified according to the following patterns:

1. the object is placed at the beginning of the sentence. Time he has, desire to study he hasn’t.

2. the predicative is placed before the subject or the link-verb. A good student he was. Rude am I in my speech… (Shakespeare). The former is mostly characteristic for colloquial speech, the latter – bookish.

3. the attribute is placed after the word it modifies (postposition of the attribute). With fingers weary and worn… (Thomas Hood) it usually adds solemnity, elevation and melodiousness in prose.

4. the adverbial modifier is placed at the beginning of the sentence. At your feet I fall. Down dropped the breeze (Coleridge). The AM is accented itself here, but it also foregrounds the subject at the last position, which is very emphatic.

5. Both modifier and predicate stand before the subject. Down dropped the breeze (Coleridge).

Detached constructions. Detachment is a stylistic device based on singling out a secondary member of the sentence with the help of punctuation (intonation), so that it seems formally inderpendent of the word it refers to. Being formally inderpendent this secondary member acquires a greater degree of significance and is given prominence by intonation. e.g. She was gone. For good. They are detached with the help of commas, dashes or even a full stop: I have to beg you for money. Daily. DC as an SD is a typification of the syntactical peculiarities of colloquial language. Function: to focus the reader’s attention.

A variant of DC is parenthesis (вводное слово или предложение) – is a qualifying, explanatory or appositive word, phrase, clause, sentence, or other sequence which interrupts a syntactic construction without otherwise affecting it, having often a characteristic intonation and indicated in writing by commas, brackets or dashes. It gives the utterance an additional nuance of meaning or a tinge of emotional colouring.

Parallel construction is a device which may be encountered not so much in the sentence as in the macro-structures dealt with the syntactical whole and the paragraph. Parallelism is more or less complete identity of syntactical structure in two or more sentences or parts of sentence in close succession.

e.g. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see… (Shakespeare)

P.c-s are often backed up by the lexical repetition. In this case P acquires additional semantic stylistic value. P.c-s are most frequently used in enumerations, antithesis and in climax, thus consolidating the general effect achieved by these SDs. It carries the idea of semantic equality of the parts, does the emotive function, generates rhythm.

Chiasmus (Reversed Parallel Construction) from Greek [cross arrangement] – перекрестный\ реверсированный параллелизм - is based on repetition of syntactical patterns, but it has a reversed order in one of the utterances. I.e.one of the sentences is inverted as compared to that of the second sentence: SPO-OPS.

Down dropped the breeze,

The sails dropped down. (Coleridge) e.g. The public wants a thing, therefore it is supplied with it, or if it is supplied with a thing, it wants it. (Thackeray).

Chiasmus is sometimes achieved by a sudden change from active voice to passive or vice versa. It brings in some new shade of meaning or additional emphasis on the second part.

Repetition is reiteration of the same word or phrase with the view of expressiveness. As an SD it fixes the reader’s attention on the key-word of the utterance. It can be of various types: at the beginning - anaphora; at the end – epiphora; the last word of one is repeated at the beginning of the next part – anadiplosis (linking/ reduplication) – Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all ye know on earth… (Keats); at the beginning and at the end of a sentence/paragraph – framing – кольцевой повтор, рамка. It helps to promote the text categories: prospection, retrospection, presupposition, predictability, wholeness, intensifies the utterance, produces the monotony of action, makes the rhythm.

The special type of R is called distant rep-n – when the repeated word /phrase occurs not in a close succession, but in some distance from one another. The distance may be a chapter, several chapters and so on.

Suspense затягивание, задержка главной мысли - is a compositional device that consists in arranging the utterance in such a way, that the less important, descriptive parts are placed at the beginning, while the main idea is presented in the end of the utterance. The sentences of this type are called periodic. Thus the reader's interest is held up, he is kept in a state of uncertainty and expectation. This device is typical of oratorical style. Suspense and climax sometimes go together.

Climax (gradation) кульминация – is an arrangement of sentences or phrases which secures a gradual increase in significance, importance, or emotional tension in the utterance. It’s ascending series of words or utterances in which intensity or significance increases step by step.

e. g. Every racing car, every racer, every mechanic, every ice - cream van was also plastered with advertising.

C. can be logical, emotional or quantitative. Logical c. is based on the relative importance (objective or subjective) of the component parts looked at from the point of view of the concepts put in them. Emotive C –based on the relative emotional tension produced by words with emotive meaning. Quantitative C is an evident increase in the volume of the corresponding concepts: Little by little, bit by bit, and day by day, and year by year the baron got the worst of some disputed question. (Dickens)

It helps to show the relative importance of things as seen by the author, or to impress upon the reader the significance of the things described by suggested comparison, or to depict phenomena dynamically. Anticlimax – the decrease of tension.

Antithesis (stylistic opposition) антитеза is a SD based on the author's desire to stress certain qualities of the thing by appointing it to another thing possessing antagonistic features. e. g. They speak like saints and act like devils. The aim is to make ‘contrast.

Enumeration is a SD by which separate things, properties or actions are brought together and form a chain of grammatically and semantically homogeneous parts of the utterance. Sometimes absolutely heterogeneous notions are made homogeneous from the semantic point of view.

e. g. She wasn't sure of anything and more, of him, herself, their friends, her work, her future.

3. Particular ways of combining parts of the utterance: Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Peculiar Linkage

Asyndeton is a deliberate avoidance of conjunctions in constructions in which they would normally use. e.g. He couldn't go abroad alone, the sea upset his liver, he hated hotels.

Polysyndeton - is a deliberate usage (overuse) of connectives between the parts of the sentence. It’s mostly identical repetition of conjunctions: used to emphasize simultaneousness of described actions, to disclose the authors subjective attitude towards the characters, to create the rhythmical effect.

e. g. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. The difference between the Enumeration and P: the first shows things united, the second – isolated.

The Gap - sentence - link is a peculiar type of connection, which is not immediately apparent and it requires some effort to grasp the interrelation between the parts of the utterance, i.e. to bridge the semantic gap. It presents two utterances, the second is brought into the focus of the reader's attention.

e. g. She and that fellow ought to be the sufferers, and they were in I tally (Galsworthy).

It serves to signal the introduction of the inner represented speech; indicates a subjective evaluation of the facts; introduces an effect resulting from a cause which has already had verbal expression, in other words it displays an unexpected coupling of ideas, stirs up in the reader’s mind the suppositions and associations.

4. Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Peculiar Use of Colloquial Constructions: ellipsis, break in the narrative, represented speech.

Ellipsis - is a deliberate omission of some parts of the sentence for the purpose of shorter and more emphatic presentation of an emotionally coloured speech. It is the omission of a word necessary for the complete syntactical construction of a sentence, but not necessary for understanding The stylistic function of ellipsis is to speed up the tempo, to imitate the colloquial language, to connect its structure.

e. g. You feel all right? Anything wrong or what? Oh, finally! Go! Stop it! Nor more!

Aposiopesis (Break - in - the narrative). Sudden break in the narration has the function to convey the strong emotions, to reveal agitated state of the speaker, - he can’t proceed his speech.

e. g. You just come home or I’ll...

The difference between ellipsis and break is that in ellipsis the speaker deliberately stops to let the listener guess, and in the break- he really or feigningly can’t speak.

Question in the narrative. Changes the real nature of a question and turns it into a stylistic device. A question in the narrative is asked and answered by one and the same person, usually the author. It becomes akin to a parenthetical statement with strong emotional implications. e. g. For what is left the poet here? For Greeks a blush - for Greece a tear. (Byron “Don Juan”)

Unlike rhetorical questions it does not contain statements. Question in the narrative is very often used in oratory. This is explained by one of the leading features of oratorical style - to induce the desired reaction to the content of the speech.

There are 3 ways of reproducing character's speech.1) direct speech; 2) indirect speech (reported speech); 3) represented speech – introduction of the voice of the heroes in author’s speech..

Represented speech (non-personal direct speech). There is also a device which coveys to the reader the unuttered or inner speech of the character, his thoughts and feelings. This device is also termed represented speech. To distinguish between the two varieties of represented speech we call the representation of the actual utterance through the author's language "uttered represented speech", and the representation of the thoughts and feelings of the character “unuttered or inner represented speech”.

Peculiarities:

1) the absence of quotation marks

2) the usage of the 3rd person sg- mostly

3) the specific choice of vocabulary

4) question and exclamatory marks in narrative

5) the great degree of emotional tension

6) the usage of interjections

5. Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Stylistic Use of Structural Meaning

Rhetorical question is a statement in a form of a question, that expects no answer. It is asked in order to make a statement rather than to get a reply. They are frequently used in dramatic situation and in publicistic style.

e. g. What was the good of discontented people who fitted in nowhere?

Litotes - is a use of two negative notions for creating a positive one. Its function is to convey doubts of the speaker concerning the exact characteristics of the object or a feeling, irony, restraint.

e.g. It's not a bad thing - It's a good thing.

e.g. He is no coward. He is a brave man.

e.g. He was not without taste.

e.g. He is no fool.

Different syntactical phenomena may serve as an expressive stylistic means. Its expressive effect may be based on the absence of logically required components of speech - parts of the sentence, formal words or on the other hand on a superabundance of components of speech; they may be founded on an unusual order of components of speech, the change of meaning of syntactical constructions and other phenomena.

Ellipsis. Elliptical sentences are sentences in which one or more words are omitted, leaving the full form to be understood by the reader or hearer.

e.g. I beg your pardon, sir. Didn’t know. Sorry to have bothered you.”

Aposiopesis is found in sentences unfinished logically or structurally due to which the expression of the thought conveyed is limited to a hint.

e.g. “If you don’t give me your signature when I come back tomorrow …”

(implies threat).

One member sentences are those which have no separate subject and predicate but only one main part. This main part may be expressed by a noun (so-called nominal sentences) or an infinitive (infinitive sentences).

e.g. An astonishing experience, another blow to his preconception of a stiff and formal race! (Galsworthy).

e.g. To be alive! To have youth and the world before one!

Zeugma is a figure of speech in which a verb or adjective does duty with two or sometimes more than two nouns and to only one of which it is strictly applicable. Zeugma is based on polysemy, often on the literal and figurative meanings of a word. It may be based on the meaning of a set expression as a whole and the literal meaning of the separate words – its components. It may also be based on the different meanings of homonyms. Zeugma usually, though not necessarily, produces a satiric or humorous effect.

e.g. then came fish and silence.

Superabundance of Components of Speech may be found in different types of repetition and in the emphatic construction.

1. Simple reiteration is limited to the repetition of the same word, phrase or sentence though not necessarily in one sentence or even paragraph, it may be found in much larger syntactical units. It plays an important role in creating a definite emotional colouring. This colouring may be different depending on the lexical meaning of the word or words repeated.

2. The repetition of the root is a special type of reiteration in which only the root of the word and not the full word is repeated. Depending on the context it may have different stylistic colouring.

e.g. To live again in the youth of the young (a tinge of regret for fast passing youth).

3. Framing is a type of repetition, when the same word or words, standing at the beginning of the sentence or syntactical unit are repeated at the end of it. They occupy the emphatic syntactic positions in the sentence.

e.g. Those kids were getting it all right, with busted heads and bleeding faces – those kids were getting it.

4. Anadiplosis is a repetition of a word or a group of words, which come at the end of a phrase or clause and at the beginning of a new phrase or clause. It serves to emphasize the most important part of the statement.

e.g. Especially as Mr. Spears, Mrs. Spears of all people, whose two boys were so exemplary, was waiting for her in the drawing-room.

5. Syntactic tautology is the repletion of a part of the sentence, usually the subject, expressed by a noun by a pronoun, sometimes vice versa. Syntactic tautology may be used for the sake of emphasis or to render low colloquial of which it is typical. It is often found in nursery rhymes, and poetry imitating the style of popular ballads.

e.g. The Widow Douglass, she took me for her son, and allowed she would civilize me.

6. Polysyndeton is the repetition of the conjunction or some other formal word before each following homogeneous part of the sentence. It serves as a means of distinguishing each part by isolating them from each other and at the same time connecting them into one sense unit. The repetition of conjunctions lends a definite rhythmical quality to the statement. Polysyndeton stresses the simultaneousness of actions, or the close connection of the qualities or phenomena enumerated. When rendering colloquial speech it may serve as a means of characterizing a personage’s speech underlining its primitive construction.

e.g. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect.

7. Anaphora is the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of clauses, sentences, periods, or in poetry at the beginning of lines, stanzas.

e.g. “Why didn’t you dare it before?” he asked harshly. “when I hadn’t a job ? When I was starving? When I was just as I am now as a man, as an artist, the same Martin Eden?”

8. Epiphora is the repetition of the same word or words at the end of two or more succeeding clauses, sentences, verses etc. Epiphora even in a greater degree than anaphora creates a rhythmic pattern of the narration. Besides that, epiphora underlines the logical connection and emotional identity of adjoining units of speech.

e.g. It’s their wealth and security that makes everything possible makes your art possible, makes literature, science, even religion possible (Galsworthy).

Synonymic Repetitionis a peculiar type of repetition consisting in the use of synonymous means to express the same idea. The words repeated are not necessarily synonyms, but become such in the context.

Emphatic Constructions are sentences with the anticipatory “it” which serves to stress any part of the sentence.

e.g. It was Winifred who went up to him.

e.g. It was while passing through Moulsey lock that Harris told me about his maze experience.

An insertion (inserted clause) appears within another clause and interrupts its structure. Their stylistic functions are rather versatile. They usually contain some information serving to make clearer what is said in the main body of the sentence, or are a casual interruption due to the speaker suddenly thinking of something vaguely connected with what he is speaking about and thus serve as a characterization of a personage’s speech manner or his state. They may serve to create two parallel speech planes, for instance, when we have reported speech.

Parallel Constructions – Parallelism is the repetition of the same syntactical structure in two or more succeeding sentences. Parallel arrangement serves to bring forth either the similarity or the difference between the objects in question. Parallelism lends a definite rhythm to the narration and due to its sameness it creates a certain background to emphasize the necessary word or phrase. This word or phrase is usually repeated in the parallel constructions. Parallelism is found in literary works where it serves as an expressive means. It is also found in scientific prose and official documents.

e.g. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I was whistling as I walked past the studio gates.

Chiasmus is a type of parallelism with cross arrangement of the elements.

Detached (loose) parts of the sentence are such parts which are less closely, less intimately connected with the rest of the sentence. They have a certain independence which finds expression in the intonation and, in writing, in punctuation. Detachment is a stylistic expressive means for it serves to emphasize the loose part of the sentence. Practically any secondary part of the sentence, direct, indirect objects, and especially often adverbial modifiers, attributes and appositions may be detached

Rhetoric questions is a widely used expressive means. It is an affirmative or negative statement in the form of the question. It is emotionally coloured, is distinct from an ordinary question which is asked to draw forth some information, the rhetoric question does not require any answer; it serves the purpose of calling the reader’s (or hearer’s) attention to a particular point in the discourse, writing, speech, etc. The appeal to the reader or hearer which the rhetoric question contains serves as a means of enhancing the expressiveness of monologue speech making it more lively, more versatile (varied).

e.g. What will not necessity do?

As you know the English sentence is characterized by a rather strict and rigid word order. The putting of a part of the sentence in an abnormal place, in a place unusual for it, i.e. inversion, brings this word into prominence, emphasizes it. In this way inversion becomes a significant expressive means. The main stylistic effect of inversion is emphasis. But it may acquire other connotations depending on the context.

Inversion always brings about either change in the logical content of the sentence, or lends an additional emotional colouring to the narration. Inversion is usually found in written speech, its use in colloquial speech is rather a rare occurrence.

Enumeration is another expressive means which consists in naming over various qualities or recounting different objects or actions with the purpose of giving a many-sided artistic characterization to the phenomenon described. The words enumerated are homogeneous parts of a sentence.

Represented speech is a form of utterance which renders the actual words of the speaker through the mouth of the writer retaining the peculiarities of the speaker’s manner of expression.

Represented speech loses the remoteness of indirect speech and approximates direct speech, as it in a great measure retains the latter’s phrasing, syntactical structure and inner colloquial intonation. The peculiarities of represented speech are that the past tense is used instead of the present, the pronoun of the third person is used instead of the pronouns of the first and second persons.

There are two varieties of represented speech: a) uttered represented speech and b) unuttered or inner represented speech. Morphologically there is no difference between them. The syntactical pattern is somewhat different.

Uttered represented speech is employed in belles-letter style and newspaper style.

Unuttered (inner) represented speech renders the thoughts and feelings of the character he does not express aloud.

THEME 7