Intensification of a certain feature of phenomenon (simile, hyperbole, understatement).

The feature of the object which is picked out seems unimportant and frequently transitory. But for a special reason it’s elevated to the greatest importance and made into a telling feature. Simile: imaginative comparison of two unlike objects which belong to different classes. It excludes all the properties of the compared objects except one which is made common to them. ▲ The girl is like a bird. Trite simile points out the analogy between the human being and the animals which have stereotyped traits of character, states. ▲ As wet as a fish. Hyperbole: is a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration of a feature of a thing or phenomenon. If it is used frequently it may become trite hyperbole. ▲ I’ve told you thousand times! Understatement: when the quality or quantity is underrated. It is deliberate underrating of a feature or property of an object. ▲ Мальчик-с-пальчик. It’s used in Britain in every-day speech as it symbolizes politeness.

Epithets (semantic and structural classification).

Epithet is a stylistic device based on the interplay of emotive and logical meanings in an attributive word, emotionally colored attitude of the speaker to the object he describes. Semantic class: 1) associated with the noun it refers and 2) unassociated with it. 1 – refer the mind to the concept due to some quality of the object it is attached to. ▲ careful attention. 2 – attributes used to characterize the object by adding a feature unexpected in it. ▲ heart-burning smile. Structurally:

Composition

1) Simple 2) compound 3) phrase 4) sentence

ordinary adj. are built like is shown is shown by

▲rosy dreams. comp. adj. by phrase. sentence.

▲blue eyed girl ▲ The cat had don’t-

-you-touch-me-or-I’ll-kill

-you expression of his face.

Another structural variety of epithet is called reversed – two nouns liked in an of-phrase. The evaluating, emotional element is in the noun described. ▲ A doll of the baby.

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Transferred use of structural meaning (rhetorical question, litotes).

Every syntactical structure has a definite function, which is also called its structural meaning. Sometimes syntactical structures are used in meanings which differ from their usual ones. In this case a structure assumes a new meaning which is very much alike a lexical transferred meaning. Rhetorical question may be defined as an utterance in the form of a the question which pronounces judgments and also expresses different kinds of modal shades of meaning (irony, doubt). ▲ And yet, where was the Jane Eyre yesterday? Where was her life? Where were her prospects? Litotes is a stylistic device which consists of a peculiar use of negative construction. It’s negation which includes affirmation. ▲ It is not bad; she is not unkind. The function of it: weaken the effect of the utterance. There is double negative…

Ellipsis, break-in-the narrative.

Ellipsis is deliberate omission of at least one member of the sentence. It is typical in conversation, but in direct intercourse it’s not a stylistic device, but a norm of the spoken language. Ellipsis is the basis of the telegraphic style, which presupposes omission of connectives and redundant words. A kind of ellipsis, a construction in which the subject of one sentence is at the same time the subject of the second, is called apokoinu construction. ▲ Everyone found him attractive. It was his temper let him down. The noun “temper”, being the subject of the first sentence, is also the subject of second one. Break-in-the narrative is a stylistic device based on a sudden breaking off in the midst of a sentence as if from inability for private communication. ▲ – Martin didn’t shoot himself. – Martin didn’t - . – Of course, he didn’t. I shoot him. Expresses the surprise of the character.

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Stylistic inversion, detachment.

Inversion is certain changes in the word order of an utterance. It can by grammatical and stylistic. The first one involves the structure of the utterance. It’s a norm in interrogative constructions. ▲ He is leaving for London tomorrow morning. – Is he leaving for London tomorrow? In this example no emphases is added, so it’s a grammatical inversion. Stylistic inversion doesn’t change the structural meaning of an utterance it aims at attaching logical stress or additional emotional coloring to the meaning of the utterance. ▲ In shabby shubra lived another people: to them, and them only he felt related. Detachment is a variety of stylistic inversion. It takes place when some secondary parts of the utterance are placed. So that they seem formally independent of words they logically refer to. ▲ You weren’t-ever-going to get out of this… not ever. Detachment of ever wit…

Enumeration, suspense.

Enumeration is a stylistic device by which separate things are named one by one. So that they produce a chain, the links of which, being syntactically in the same position, are forced to display some kinds of semantic homogeneity. It’s frequently used to depict the scenery through a tourist’s eyes. It units both homogeneous and heterogeneous objects. If the united objects are homogeneous, enumeration is not a stylistic device. Example of simple enumeration: ▲ Kings, emperors, conquerors, pontiffs and all the other idols are swept away sooner or later. Suspense is a compositional stylistic device which consists in arranging the matter of communication in such a way that the less important, descriptive, subordinate parts are amassed at the beginning, and the main idea is withheld till the end of the sentence. ▲ Swinging his cane (which he found to short) in his left hand (which he should have cut off long ago since it was constantly offending him), he began walking slowly down the avenue. Suspense aim at helping the reader in uncertainty and expectation, at creating constant emotional tension.

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Parallel constructions, chiasmus.

A parallel construction is the stylistic device which represents identical or similar syntactical structures in two or more sentences or parts of a sentence. Pure parallelism depends on the repetition of syntactical arrangement of the sentence. ▲ He was not comfortable. He was not happy. These 2 sentences have identical structure. Parallel construction may be complete (maintains the principle of identical structures in the corresponding sentence) and partial (based on the repetition of some parts of successive sentences). ▲ I was growing up, he was growing old. Parallelism may carry the role of semantic equality of the parts, emotive, uniting functions. Chiasmus (reversed parallel construction) is a stylistic device based on the repetition of a syntactical pattern but with a cross order of word or phrases. ▲ Better a witty fool than I foolish wit. In this saying chiasmus is realized through different parts of speech with the same roots. It’s a syntactical not lexical stylistic device as…

Repetition (all cases).

Repetition aims at logical emphasis in order to fix the reader’s attention on the key-words of the utterance. There are: 1) Anaphora – when the repeated unit comes at the beginning. ▲ Your cheek, your gluttony, your obstinacy impose respect on me. 2) Epiphora – the repeated units is at the end of a sentence. ▲ To get into the best society one has either to feed people, amuse people. 3) Framing repetition – the initial word is repeated at the end of the unit. ▲ Please don’t tie me down, please. 4) Linking repetition – the last word of one part is repeated at the beginning of the following one. ▲ If you have nothing to say, say it. 5) Chain repetition – a group of linking repetition used in the same utterance. ▲ Now he understood. He understood many things. 6) Synonymic repetition – repetition of the same idea with the help of synonyms. 7) Pleonasm – the use of more words than are necessary. Usually the fault of style. 8) Tautology – repetition of the same statement. Usually in other words the fault of style.

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Climax, anticlimax, antithesis.

Climax (gradation) is a stylistic device representing a gradual increase in significance, importance or emotional tension in the utterance. Logical climax – is based on the relative importance of the component parts looked at from the point of view of the concepts embodied in them. ▲ You’re a pig and a beast and a Bolshevik. Logical climax here implies political view of the character. Emotional climax is based on the relative emotional tension produced by words with emotive meaning. Quantitative climax is an evident increase in the volume of the corresponding concepts or simple numerical increase. Anticlimax: is a sudden drop from the different or important in thought or expression to the commonplace or trivial, sometimes for humorous effect. Anticlimax is represented by an unexpected turn of the thought which ends in complete semantic reversal of the emphasized idea. It results in defeated expectancy of the reader. Antithesis: is based on relative opposition which arises out of the context trough the expansion of contrasting pairs. ▲ Every white has its black, and every sweet its …

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