STYLISTICS
Seminar 5
Stylistic Morphology. Stylistic Phonetics.
Graphical Expressive Means
I. Morphological expressive means.
a. Speak about stylistic use of
 Noun
 Pronoun
 Adjective
 Article
 Verb
II. Phonetic Stylistic Devices
1. Speak about alliteration, assonance and consonance.
2. Speak about onomatopoeia, its types and stylistic function.
Ex.1, p.13-14 (BPS)
3. Speak about rhythm and rhyme, their types and functions in poetry and
prose.
Analyze the verse “The Cloud” by P.B. Shelley.
III.
Graphical Expressive Means
1. Speak about graphon, its types and functions.
Ex.2, p.14-15 (BPS) (ss.3,5,7,9)
2. Speak about other graphical expressive means.
Ex.6,p.17 (BPS) (ss.1,2,3,4,6,10)
Literature:
1. Kukharenko V. BPS. Pp.10-13.
2. Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка. С.209-221,
233-236.
3. Galperin I. Stylistics. Pp.123-136.
Stylistic Morphology
Exercise 1. Find cases of transposition of nouns and comment on them:
1. They would put away the card-table and empty the ash-receivers with
many “Oh, I beg your pardon’s” and “No, no – I was in your ways”. 2. “Madge,
what’s ‘necessitas’, masculine or feminine?” – “Why, feminine, of course.” –
“Why?” – “Why, she was the mother of invention.” 3. “Yes,” prattled the elderly
lady, “that is the Duke and Duchess; the couple behind them are the Mayor and the
Mayoress, and those on the right are the Vicar and the-er-Vixen.” 4. “If I speak of
a foot, and you show me your feet, and I give you a boot, would a pair be called
beet? If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, why shouldn’t the plural of booth
be called beeth?”
Exercise 2. Analyze stylistic use of the articles:
1. A ‘Drive Safe’ sign: “It’s better to be late, Mr. Motorist, than to be the
late, Mr. Motorist.” 2. I thought it was fine – especially the Chopin. 3. I don’t want
to turn into a Teddy Bolan. 4. Slowly but surely man is conquering Nature.
Exercise 3. Determine transposition of pronouns:
1. Are they going to take thee away? 2. “So your son is in college? How is
he making it?” – “To be exact, he isn’t making it. I’m making it and he’s spending
it.” 3. Chivalry is how you feel when you’re cold. 4. Sign on the wall of a research
laboratory: “Consider the turtle – He doesn’t make any progress unless he sticks
his neck out.” 5. The masculine pronouns are he, his, him, but imagine the
feminine she, shis, and shim!
Exercise 4. Point out and explain cases of transposition of adjectives:
1. “I want you to teach my son a foreign language.” – “Certainly, madam,
French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish – ? ” – “Which is the most foreign?”
2. “What are the comparative and superlative of bad, Berty?” – “Bad – worse –
dead.” 3. I don’t like Sunday evenings: I feel so Mondayish.
Exercise 5. Pick out and analyse transposition of verbs:
1. A man who is always complaining is the easiest man to satisfy because nothing
satisfies him. 2. At fifteen I’m an orphan, and Vic moves in. “From now on you’ll
do as I tell you,” he says. It impressed me. 3. “Can you tell me where this road
goes, please?” – “It don’t go anywhere; it just stops where it is.” 4. “Waiter!” –
“Yes, sir.” – “What’s this?” – “It’s bean soup, sir.” – “No matter what it’s been.
What is it now?” 5. “Does a doctor doctor a doctor according to the doctored
doctor’s doctrine or doctoring, or does the doctor doing the doctrine doctor the
other doctor according to his own doctoring doctrine?” 6. “So you’re not going to
Paris, this year?” – “No – it’s London we’re not going to this year; it was Paris we
didn’t go to last year!”
Exercise 6. Analyse stylistic value of adverbs:
1. “Her husband didn’t leave her much when he died, did he?” – “No; but he
left her very often when he was alive.”
2. “Your hair wants cutting badly, sir,” said a barber insinuatingly to a
customer. “No, it doesn’t,” replied the man in the chair “it wants cutting
nicely. You cut it badly last time.”
3. Jane was terrifically beautiful.
4. He seemed prosperous, extremely married and unromantic.
Exercise 7. Define stylistic value of morphological transposition in the
following sentences:
1. Roll on, thou dark and deep blue Ocean – roll!
2. The real war was not between the Bill Davidsons and the Jean Duvals and
the Hans Müllers.
3. The blonde I had been dancing with’s name was Bernice – Crabs or Krebs.
4. Waters on a starry night are beautiful and fair.
5. He was engaged to be married to a Miss Hubbard.
6. You are not the Andrew Manson I married.
7. It was a dead leaf, deader than the deadest tree leaf.
8. A great pity! Surely something could be done! One must not take such
situations lying down. She walks on, and reached a station, hot and cross.
9. “And what are we going to do now, escape?” the warder asked the prisoner.
10.She is terribly pretty.
Stylistic Phonetics
Exercise 8. Indicate the causes and effects of the following cases of alliteration,
assonance and onomatopoeia:
1. Streaked by a quarter moon, the Mediterranean shushed gently into the
beach. (I. Sh.)
2. He swallowed the hint within a gulp and a gasp and a grin. (R.K.)
3. His wife was shrill, languid, handsome and horrible. (Sc.F.)
4. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free. (S.C.)
5. The Italian trio tut-tutted their tongues at me. (T.C.)
6. (7) To sit in solemn silence in a dull dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block. (W.C.)
7. (10) Then, with an enormous, shattering rumble, sludge-puff, sludge-puff,
the train came into the station. (A.S.)
8. (11) “Sh-sh.”
“But I am whispering.” This continual shushing annoyed him. (A.H.)
9. (12) Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky. (Ch. R.)
10. (14) The quick crackli8ng of dry wood aflame cut through the night. (St.H.)
11.(15) Here the rain did not fall. It was stopped high above by that roof of
green shingles. From there it dripped down slowly, leaf to leaf, or ran down
the stems and branches. Despite the heaviness of the downpour which now
purred loudly in their ears from just outside, here there was only a low rustle
of slow occasional dripping. (J.)
Exercise 9. Find graphons and explain their stylistic functions:
1. (3) “And remember, Mon-sewer O’Hayer says you got to straighten up this
mess sometime today.”(J.)
2. (5) “Ye’ve a duty to the public don’tcher know that, a duty to the great
English public?” said George reproachfully.
“Here, lemme handle this, kidder,” said Tiger.
“Gorra maintain strength, you,” said George.
“Ah’m fingtin’ fit,” said Tiger. (S.Ch.)
3. (7) “Well, I dunno. I’ll show you summat.”(St.B.)
4. (9) “I had a coach with a little seat in fwont with an iwon wail for the
dwiver.” (D.)
1.
“If
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
\Exercise 10. Indicate cases of graphical expressive means. Explain
their stylistic potential:
Piglet, sitting in the running Kanga’s pocket, substituting the kidnapped
Roo, thinks:
this
shall
take
is
I
never
to
flying
really
it.” (M.)
Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo
We haven’t enough to do-oo-oo. (R.K.)
“Hey,” he said “is it a goddamn cardroom? Or a latrine? Attensh—HUT!
Da-ress right! DHRESS! (J.)
“When Will’s ma was down here keeping house for him – she used to run in
to see me, real often.” (S.L.)
He missed our father very much. He was s-l-a-i-n in North Africa. (S.)
His voice began on a medium key, and climbed steadily up till it reached a
certain point, where it bore with strong emphasis upon the topmost word,
and then plunged down as if from a spring board:
Beds
Flowery
On
Skies
The
To
Carried
Be
I
Of ease,
Shall
Blood
Throu’
Sailed
and
prize
the
toe
fought
others
Whilst
7. (10) “ALL our troubles are over, old girl,” he said fondly. “We can put a bit
by now for a rainy day.” (S.M.)
Analyze the Poem
The Cloud
By Percy Bysshe Shelley
I bring fresh flowers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noon-day dreams.
From my wings and shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother’s breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the flashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in thunder.