3. Stylistic analysis of a literary text

3.1. Scheme of Stylistic Analysis

1. The extract (passage, paragraph) under consideration (analysis) comes from a novel (story, short story, essay) written by…(name the writer) The author is famous (well-known, distinguished) English (American etc.) writer (poet, publicist etc.). (Characterize in 2-3 sentences the literary tradition the given author belongs to, peculiarities of the author’s individual style etc.).

2. The extract describes (concerns, is devoted to, deals with)… (In 3-4 sentences present the summary of the extract you have analyzed).

3. The idea of the story is…

4. There are several conflicts in the story. The main conflict is…

5. The types of speech employed by the author of the analyzed extract are… (narration, description, meditation, monologue, dialogue, represented speech etc.) The given passage is rather a description than a narration / a mixture of narration with some foreshadowing / flashbacks to the past.

6. In order to portray the characters (to describe the setting, to reveal the idea, to render the general mood) vividly and convincingly the author of the analyzed passage resorts to the following devices (lexical, syntactical, phonetic, and graphic).

7. Summing up the analysis of the given extract one should say that the writer brilliantly uses… (indicate the most prominent stylistic features of the analyzed extract) which help to reveal the main character’s nature / to create a true-to-life atmosphere of the events depicted / bring home to the reader the main idea of the text.

3.2. Suggested Phrases for Analysis

Here is the list of suggested phrases which may be used to analyse the stylistic properties of:

The characters’ speech

• The characters are splendidly characterized through their speech which reflects many peculiarities of the oral type of communication.

• The character’s speech is emotional and abounds in / is rich in SDs such as…

• Through the use of … the character reveals / expresses his positive / negative / contemptuous / good attitude to…

• The character’s speech is that of an uneducated man: it abounds in colloquialisms and vulgarisms such as …

• The character’s pronunciation is also typical of uneducated speech. Such cases of graphon … highlight his social / cultural / educational status.

• Features of oral speech can be well illustrated by their syntactical peculiarities in the character’s speech, such as the use of elliptical sentences, incomplete sentences, detached constructions, parenthetical clauses, asyndetic type of connection etc.

• Represented uttered speech reveals what the character thinks. It also creates the effect of his immediate presence and participation.

The vocabulary of a text

A rigorous analysis of the vocabulary of the story clearly shows that the author employs

• Common words to create a true-to-life realistic atmosphere of the event;

• Foreign words / barbarisms / exotic words to create a local colouring / depict local conditions of life, concrete facts and events / to indicate the character’s social and speech peculiarities / help to create local colouring and add to the concreteness of the description of the events;

• Colloquial words / slang / jargon to create the atmosphere of sincerity and confidence / to add the informality and emotiveness of the character’s speech / to indicate his social and speech peculiarities;

• Poetic words to create an elevated, high-flown tonality of the story;

• Archaic / historical words to provide a historical background of the event depicted / to remind the reader of past / local habits, customs, traditions, clothes;

• Terms / nomenclature words to create a true-to-life atmosphere / to indicate the character’s social and speech peculiarities.

Cases of metaphor, simile, irony, epithets

• The metaphor suggests the narrator’s / character’s evaluation of … by the implied comparison of (a character, character’s behaviour, appearance, events etc.)

• The metaphor is used to emphasize the main image of the extract under analysis. It helps to create positive / negative image of …

• The metaphor exposes … as a false / hypocritical / sensitive / loving / caring person.

• The narrator’s ironic treatment of the subject (character, character’s behaviour) is seen from the use of such epithets as …

• Snobbery, coldness, ignorance, hypocrisy etc. are the objects of the author’s ridicule and biting irony. The ironical effect is achieved by the use of …

• Narrator’s / character’s appreciation of … is stressed by the highly emotive epithet.

Cases of hyperbole, meiosis, litotes

• The hyperbole is used to intensify the size / colour / quantity / age of … / shows the overflow of emotions of the main character / to intensify the statement / to create a humorous effect.

• The case of meiosis emphasizes the insignificance of …

• The case of litotes conveys the character’s / narrator’s doubts as to the exact significance or value of …

Cases of antithesis

• The case of antithesis emphasizes the striking difference between …

• The case of antithesis stresses the contrast between …

Repetitions, parallel constructions

• The use of repetitions attracts the reader’s attention and brings home to him the idea of / emphasizes / reveals / shows the state of mind of the character / his agitation / nervousness / emotiveness etc.

• The parallel constructions make the thought of … clearer, besides such an arrangement lends an unmistakable eloquence and rhythm / expressiveness to his utterance.

Any SD

• The idea expressed through this SD is to show …

• The positive / negative features / qualities / attitude of the character is / are enhanced through the use of …

• The SD is aimed at revealing the feelings and relations between …

• The SD explains and clarifies the main idea of the text.