28. Syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices (ellipsis, aposiopesis, question-in-the narrative, represented speech).

Ellipsis (эллипсис) consists in omission of some parts of the sentence that are easily understood from the context. In colloquial speech such omissions make the speech more compact. In literary descriptions it gives the construction an additional emotional coloring. In fiction elliptical sentences are also used to reproduce the characters` direct speech and to show their social status. Sometimes they can impart brevity, immediacy and a quick tempo to the author's narrative.

E.g. I went to Oxford as one goes to exile; she to London [H. Wells].

Aposiopesis (break-in-the-narrative) (умолчание) is a stylistic device, which can be defined as a stopping short for rhetorical effect. Without finishing the utterance the speaker (or writer) either begins a new one or stops altogether unwilling or unable (being overwhelmed with emotions) to continue.

In colloquial speech aposiopesis is usually caused by unwillingness to proceed or by the supposition that what remains to be said is understood by the implication contained in what has been said, or by uncertainty as to what should be said. In written texts aposiopesis as a stylistic device is used to convey to the reader a very strong upsurge of emotions. The idea is that the speaker cannot continue, because his feelings deprived him of the ability to express himself. It offers a number of variants in decodng the implication.

  E.g. “It is new'', I said. But it`s very serious. I didn`t foresee it or will it, it happened. And then when it turned out that she felt the same –“(…) [I. Murdoch].

E.g. Oh, dear, I sometimes think … whatever should I do if anything were to … But there thinking’s no good to anyone – is it, madam? [C. Mansfield].

Question-in-the narrative (вопрос в повествовании, риторический вопрос) as a stylistic device changes the real nature of a question. It is a question asked and answered by the same person, usually the author. It has a half exclamatory nature and often gives the impression of an intimate talk between the writer and the reader.

E.g. Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did [Ch. Dickens].

E.g. Today I felt crazy with doubt and fear. She was only a young girl after all. Could she, against such fierce parental opposition, hold to her faith and keep her vision clear? And if they had lied to me about her was it not likely that they had lied to her about me? They would tell her that I had said I would give her up [I. Murdoch].

Sometimes a question can also remain unanswered to stimulate the reader’s reflections over the problem, in this case it can perform a dialogue-or contact-establishing function. In this case it can contain generalizing one, we and you.

E.g. So what can one say about human fate?

This device is also used as a means of verbal trickery, with the help of which speakers or writers take over the initiative and make people believe that the thoughts are their own, while in reality they are being imposed.

Questions-in-the narrative should not be confused with Rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions are not questions but statements expressed in the form of an interrogative sentence. Here there is an interplay of two structural meanings, the meaning of the question and of the statement. They are mostly used in public speeches.

E.g. What makes a speech ethical?

Actual speech can be reproduced in three following ways: direct speech, indirect speech, and represented speech.

Direct speech represents actual speech as it is, in the form of direct quotation. Indirect speech is an indirect quotation which represents actual speech through the author's words. Grammatically it is wholly dependent on the author’s speech.

Represented speech (free indirect speech) (несобственно прямая речь) is a combination of the two above mentioned types as it combines the plane of the author and that of the character. It is that form of utterance which almost directly conveys the actual words of the character through the mouth of the author. It retains the peculiarities of the speaker`s mode of expression. It usually renders the character's thoughts which were not uttered aloud. It is an expressive stylistic device which helps to reveal the character`s psychology or mental state. It is the strongest means of indirect characterization of the character.

 Though represented speech is neither direct or indirect speech, it has some features in common with both of them.

Represented speech is characterized by:

a) the use of the third person pronouns instead of the first person:

b) the observance of the rules of sequence of tenses in independent sentences;

c) the use of exclamatory and interrogative sentences, interjections and the words «yes» or «no»;

d) the use of words typical for the character`s speech.

Represented speech can be uttered and unuttered (inner).

Uttered represented speech demands that the tense should be changed from present to past and the personal pronouns should be changed from 1^st and 2^nd to 3^rd  person as in indirect speech, but the syntactic structure of the utterance does not change.

E.g. He told the hotel man he had come to Elmore to go into business. How was the shoe business? Was there already a good shoe-shop? [O. Henry].

E.g. She had known him for a full year when, in London for a while and as usual alone, she received a note from him to say that he had come up to town for a night and couldn't they dine together and go to some place to dance [W.S. Maugham].

Inner (unuttered) represented speech expresses feelings and thoughts of the character. It abounds in exclamatory words, elliptical constructions etc.

E.g. The strange thing was that when she looked into her heart it was not Julia Lambert the woman who resented the affront, she didn`t care for herself, it was the affront to Julia Lambert the actress that stung her. [W.S. Maugham].

E.g.  But there was worse. What had Tom meant by saying that she ate out of his hand? That deeply affronted her. Silly little fool. How dare he? [W.S. Maugham].