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Файл:Стилистика английского языка. English Stylistics. Учебное пособие
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41
Chapter 2. Syntactical stylistics
It was Spider who made it, within a year, the most successful luxury
specialty place in Beverly Hills, in the United States – in the world.
In emotional climax consecutive words or utterances are more
powerful from the emotional point of view:
Oh how convenient, how very well formed how marvelously well
timed!
Quantitative climax is based on the intensification of quantity in each
consecutive word, word group or utterance:
He had been sleeping for hours, exhausted by the activities and emo-
tions of the past few days, or weeks, or months.
The stylistic function of this device is to show the relative importance
of things as seen by the author (especially in emotional climax).
In one deals with the repetition of the
syntactical structure of several successive sentences or clauses. Parallel
constructions may be complete or partial.
Complete parallelismis based on identical syntactical structures:
If you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery, if you want to be
happy for life, love what you do.
Some were in love, some were jealous and some were indifferent.
Partial parallelism is the repetition of some parts of successive
sentences:
Out near Alcatraz the water was choppy, the wind high, the sun lost in
a bank of fog.
Reversed parallelism is called chiasmus:
From the offers of marriage that fell on her, Dona Clara deliberately
chose the one that required her removal to Spain. So to Spain she went.
In the belles-lettres style parallel constructions carry an emotive
function, but in scientific prose a parallel construction carries the idea of
semantic equality of its parts.
Antithesis may be regarded as a specific kind of parallel constructions.
In it the antagonistic objects or ideas occurring in identical positions are
presented by dictionary or contextual antonyms:
United we stand, divided we fall.
In public he pretended to be very knowing and cynical about
advertisements, but in private he was still their willing victim.
42
Part I. EXPRESSIVE STYLISTICS
The main functions of antithesis are comparative and rhythm-
forming.
Suspense / is a stylistic device based on the author’s
desire to delay giving the reader or listener the most important information.
In trying to do so he puts the less important, subordinate facts and details
first withholding the main idea till the end of the sentence:
The tiled floor was a pale icy version of the same color, and the
walls – such of them as could be seen between endless framed antique
architectural drawings, and a floor-to-ceiling set of shelves, stacked with
what looked like open books rainbow-colored pages – were stark white.
The suspense in this sentence is organised by introducing a parenthetic
remark between the subject (the walls) and the predicative (were white).
The device of suspense is especially favoured by orators. Its function is
to keep the reader / listener in a state of uncertainty and expectation.
Self-control questions
1. What types of inversion do you know?
2. What is detachment? What sentence members are most often de-
tached?
3. What types of repetition do you know?
4. What is the structure of the stylistic device of climax?
5. What constructions are called parallel?
6. What is the difference between parallelism and antithesis?
7. How are sentence members arranged in suspense?
GROUP II. PECULIAR LINKAGE
Devices belonging to this group are: asyndeton, polysyndeton and
gap-sentence link.
is a deliberate avoidance of conjunctions in the constructions in which they would normally be used:
They pounded across new grass, circled tombstones, galloped along
cinder-paths, slid down grassy inclines, broke through hedges, trampled
flower beds, tore past countless tombs.
As is seen from the example, the omission of the conjunction and
indicates tense, energetic activities.
43
Chapter 2. Syntactical stylistics
is an intentional repetition of conjunctions in close
succession for various stylistic purposes: to emphasise simultaneousness
of actions described, the idea of equal importance of facts and details, to
create rhythmical effect:
Each evening waiting at Madison, she’d look at the sky, and then at
the buildings, and then at the busses and taxis and people… .
is a peculiar way of connection which is mainly
found in dialogues and represented speech. Its essence lies in the formal
separation of the two parts of the utterance by a full stop. Thus the second
seemingly independent part is brought into focus of the reader’s
attention:
But there were no distractions now, only love and hope. And an
avalanche of feelings, as she stood in the living room with her father.
Unlike logical segmentation of an utterance the gap-sentence-link
represents the author’s subjective interpretation of the links between parts
of an utterance thus giving it additional connotations. The two parts are
usually formally connected by and, but, or.
Self-control questions
1. What is the difference between the asyndetic and polysyndetic
types of connecting sentence members?
2. What are the functions of asyndeton? Polysyndeton?
3. Why is the stylistic device of gap-sentence link mainly found in
dialogues and represented speech?
GROUP III. PARTICULAR USE OF COLLOQUIAL
CONSTRUCTIONS
Among the devices based on certain principles of colloquial speech
production are the following: ellipsis, aposiopesis, question-in-thenarrative and represented speech.
Ellipsisis the omission of a word or words necessary for the complete
syntactical construction of a sentence, but not necessary for understanding it. In colloquial speech such constructions are frequent and arise
from speed of delivery and economy of effort. Here elliptical sentences
are normative and are not stylistic devices:
44
Part I. EXPRESSIVE STYLISTICS
“When will you come?” “Tom orrow.”
Ellipsis as a stylistic device is a deliberate omission of at least one
member of the sentence in the author’s narration, where it bears definite
stylistic functions:
He said nothing. She bit her lip, looked down again, waited. More
silence.
In written speech ellipsis is used to save the most important information, leaving out insignificant details.
Aposiopesis is a sudden and dramatic breaking off of a thought in the
middle of a sentence as though the speaker were unwilling or unable to
continue. Both elliptical points (...) and a dash ( – ) may mark it in print:
“Men don’t scream, seemingly, but I must say a scream in time
saves – ”
A sudden break in the narrative may convey doubt, indecision
sometimes – anger, threat, thus carrying an emotive function. When used
in the personages’ dialogues or inner monologues aposiopesis promotes
the creation of emotional tension:
You are not obliged to make a statement. However, if you do … .
is a question asked solely to produce an
emotional effect. The answer is either self evident or immediately
provided by the questioner:
“Scrooge knew he was dead?” “Of course he did.”
Such questions help maintain closer contact with the reader or the
listener. They are very often used in speeches.
. English writers use three ways of reproducing
authentic speech:
direct speech•• , representing somebody’s speech as it is: “I’m sure
she’ll think we’re very rude”, said Aisling.
indirect speech•• , representing personages’ words through the
author’s speech: Mrs. Moriarty told Elizabeth that she was going home to
live with her son.
represented speech•• , reproducing the spoken words or thoughts of a
character almost directly, but still within the author’s speech: And
Elizabeth was in the elevator, the door was closing. She took a deep
breath and shuddered. Why couldn’t they leave her alone?
45
Chapter 2. Syntactical stylistics
As it is seen from the above mentioned example the represented speech
there conveys the thoughts of the character that were never pronounced.
It is a peculiar blend of the viewpoints and language spheres of both – the
author and the character. The author’s sphere is formally presented by the
Past Tense form of the verb can and the third person pronoun her. The
character’s sphere is formally rendered in the syntactical structure of the
question, typical of colloquial speech (inverted word order).
The use of represented speech is a powerful stylistic device: it presents
the words and thoughts of personages more vividly and emotionally than
indirect speech.
There are two major types of represented speech: uttered represented
speech and unuttered represented speech (or inner monologue).
Uttered represented speech (URS) is the representation of the
character’s utterance through the author’s language:
Then Barley himself was distracted while he tried in his passable
French to explain to a tall Palestinian that no, he was afraid he was NOT
a member of the Peace Group old boy, and alas NOT the manager of the
hotel either.
In this example the URS proper begins with the word no. Like the
author’s narration it lacks inverted commas and is marked by preservation
of the third person instead of the first person and the Past Tense instead
of the Present Tense. The peculiarities of the character’s speech are:
colloquial address old boy, the use of the word no, which is indicative of
the dialogue in progress, the repetition of the particle NOT and the
interjection alas to show the emotional state of the speaker.
Unuttered represented speech / inner monologue, reflects the
feelings and thoughts of a character. Just as uttered represented speech
inner monologue resembles indirect speech in shifting tenses (from
present to past) and the pronouns (from the first person to the third
person). The character’s sphere may be reflected in quite a number of
lexical and syntactical peculiarities typical of a fragmentary and emotional
colloquial speech, such as: direct questions, elliptical constructions, breaks,
repetition, exclamatory words and interjections, colloquialisms, etc:
The very thought of Mr. Golspie crushed the last grains of self-respect
in him. What had he, Harold Turis been fancying himself for? What was
he? What could he do? What had he got? Nothing, nothing, nothing.
46
Part I. EXPRESSIVE STYLISTICS
Here the markers of the inner monologue are: a series of questions
(syntactically structured as in direct speech) and the emphatic repetition
of nothing.
In the following case the personage’s inner monologue is rendered by
elliptical sentences and a break-in-the narrative.
Here he was, on his way to France for a four-week vacation combined
with a job of writing. A play? Not on your life. Two articles for the
Chronicle’s Sunday edition…
Self-control questions
1. What is there in common between ellipsis and aposiopesis?
2. What are the functions of elliptical sentences in the author’s
narration?
3. What additional information can be conveyed by a sudden break in
the narrative?
4. What types of represented speech do you know, what are their
functions?
GROUP IV. STYLISTIC USE OF STRUCTURAL MEANING
Among syntactical stylistic devices there are two – rhetorical question
and litotes – which are based on the meaning (and function) which is not
typical of them.
is a syntactical structure which formally is
a question but semantically – a statement, which requires no answer:
Have politicians ever helped the unemployed?
Rhetorical questions serve to express the emotions of the speaker and
to draw the attention of the listeners, that is why they are often used in
speeches.
The effect is the strongest with negative-interrogative sentences which
imply various shades of emotional state:
Are you not much better than they?
is yet another case of discrepancy between the form (which is
negative) and the meaning – that of positive evaluation. Usually litotes
presupposes double negation: one – through a negative particle (no, not),
the other – through a negatively affixed word or a word / word group with
47
Chapter 2. Syntactical stylistics
a negative meaning:not unkind; not hopeless; not a coward; not without
love:
A few weeks later the Dean received a check for ten thousand pounds
from a not unknown Japanese electronic company.
The stylistic function of litotes is to convey the doubts of the speaker,
to weaken the positive effect of his statement.
Self-control questions
What is the difference between a question, a question-in-the-1.
narrative, and a rhetorical question?
Why are rhetorical questions most often used in speeches?2.
What is litotes?3.
What types of litotes do you know?4.
PRACTICE
ASSIGNMENTS FOR CLASS WORK
Assignment 1. Find and analyze cases of inversion, detachment, repetition
and enumeration. Comment on the structure and functions of each.
She begged Angie to be patient with her, that it was going too 1.
tough. It was very tough.
But betray too eager curiosity she would not.2.
Never had she hated London so much3.
A good marina – and rare they are indeed – is a comfort and joy.4.
In front was a ruin of a lawn.5.
Of that I’m convinced. That we do know.6.
She made all her own clothes, and very artful they were.7.
Rude am I in my speech.8.
We were talking how bad we were. Bad from the medical point 9.
of view.
He pushed your brother out of the way, and your brother didn’t 10.
seem to mind. He seemed relieved, almost.
They use every connection, every contact, every device, to stay 11.
within reach of public money.
He’s quite a fellow in his way – I’ve always liked him perso-12.
nally – but he simply didn’t subscribe to the code of teaching profession.
48
Part I. EXPRESSIVE STYLISTICS
Life was a hard school; the sooner you accepted that, the sooner 13.
you learned.
Tonight he helped them. Considerably.14.
These were the night people of Newark Airport: ticket agents, 15.
stewardesses, ground controllers, pilots, cargo clerks, ramp agents, passenger service representatives, porters.
Dusty Winchester came across his black and white office. He 16.
was tall, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. He was dressed entirely
in white, white linen suit, white silk shirt, white leather shoes. Even his
watch, diamond-studded by Cartier, had a white strap.
There was singing, dancing, crying, backslapping, hugging, 17.
thanks-giving, congratulating, cheering and soul brother shakes.
Small indeed was my appetite.18.
Lennon stared at the wood’s shadows around him. He stared at the 19.
door of the silent chalet. He stared at the faintly glowing numbers on his
wrist watch.
But as soon as action starts and some real fun begins, then out 20.
comes the poor infantry and in comes the professional officer.
There was something wrong. That, he could sense.21.
Assignment 2. Discuss the structural types of parallel constructions and
climax. State the functions of parallelism, climax, antithesis and suspense.
It sounds bad enough to be true or true enough to be bad.1.
I broke the eggs into the small skillet, sliced some sharp cheddar 2.
and dripped it in; chopped some mild onion and dropped it in; folded that
stuff in with a fork… and in a couple of minutes it was done.
Cramer had come like a lion with a squad and a warrant, and had 3.
departed like a lamb, with a flock of statements.
If you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery, if you want to 4.
be happy for life, love what you do.
She was hopefully, sadly, vaguely, madly longing for something 5.
better.
Call it a hunch. Call it grasping at straws. Call it anything. But 6.
help me.
I had dared, where she had cowered; I had charged, where she had 7.
retreated; I had won where she had lost.
49
Chapter 2. Syntactical stylistics
Soames, the pioneer leader of the great Forsyte army advancing the 8.
civilization of this wilderness, felt his spirit daunted by the loneliness.
She thought of the party. She looked at the courtyard. She listened 9.
to the silence.
It was done – past – finished!10.
If I had extra money, I’d buy a stock in the airlines, I decided. If 11.
I had really big money, I’d buy a helicopter that would land me directly
at any flights whenever I traveled. And if I had really big money, I’d have
everyone come to me so that I’d never have to set foot inside an airport
again.
He bullied them, he screamed at them, he mocked them. He 12.
underpaid them.
The captain, who had once served in the Russian Imperial Navy 13.
and had only resigned from it by escaping in his shirt and trousers over
the side one night, was apt to turn fantastic in his drink.
Moreover, he seemed to Mr. Smeeth quite obviously a silly boaster, 14.
a liar and a man not to be trusted a yard.
She has a will of her own, has Mrs. Pomfiet.15.
When you laugh, the whole world laughs with you, when you cry, 16.
you cry alone.
Then the smile became a chuckle, the chuckle became a laugh, and 17.
the laugh became a helpless, deafening, maniacal roar.
Proud as a rooster, and mean as a snake, Sonny was.18.
Individualism the new men didn’t want. Maximum profit, they did.19.
At eleven o’clock Dana Holtzer, as carefully posed as an unfriendly 20.
diplomat delivering an ultimatum, arrived with the money.
The juice was cold, coffee fragrant, bacon crisp, eggs medium.21.
It is the duty of the host to make his guests feel at home. It is the 22.
duty of the guests to remember that they are not.
Assignment 3. Specify the type of connection in the following sentences
and speak about its functions.
It isn’t fair. The world is cruel. You work and hope and plan, then 1.
everything goes to pieces.
Eleanor nodded, not having the slightest idea what she was 2.
agreeing with. And not caring.
50
Part I. EXPRESSIVE STYLISTICS
I finished my drink, put the glass down, walked up and down the 3.
room, smoked a third cigarette, looked at my watch, shrugged and left
disgusted.
I don’t think of them at all. Much or little.4.
I felt marvelous. I felt tall. I felt beautiful and elegant and chic and 5.
witty and wealthy and pampered and privileged and royal and blonde.
Her legs were long and thin and endless.6.
With these hurried words he pushed the postboy on one side, 7.
jerked his friend into the vehicle, slammed the door, put up the steps,
locked it, put the key into his pocket, jumped into the dickey, gave the
word for starting.
And the home had been happy with him, too, evidently, and was 8.
missing him so, through his nose, sorrowfully, reproachfully, but with no
bitterness or anger.
Why upset them? It’s none of my business. I waited. And waited. 9.
And waited.
Life is unfair. And unpleasantly abrupt sometimes.10.
He was at the gas station. And terribly cheerful and agreeable. 11.
And just a little bit fresh.
Wendy has a fine brain, for a dog.12.
But what I remember now is being constantly cross and irritable 13.
and impatient. And sleepy.
And she could drift through the old house, and nurse her tragedy in 14.
her walled garden, and be deliciously miserable all the days in her life.
Assignment 4. Define the type of syntactical stylistic devices based on
specific use of colloquial constructions and state their functions.
She felt terrible. She couldn’t stand it. Terror gripped her. She 1.
looked at the watch. Three. Three A.M. They had said insomnia would
probably trouble her. Trouble her! This wasn’t trouble, it was a screaming
agony. Terror. Physical pain.
“Guesses they may have been,” Keppler said grimly, “or suppo2. sitions,
or interferences, or deductions. But there’s enough truth to –”
A bitter disappointment, no disguising it! One n3. ever gets all one
wants in this life.
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