Stylistics Course Syllabus

Course: STYLISTICS  (LANGUAGE & LITERATURE)

Course Credit: 3 Units 

Course Content:

Study, description and analysis of various sample literary texts by the principles of

literary criticism as well as the principles of linguistic analysis. 45(T), C

Course Description:

The course focuses on the relationship between style and stylistics, the goal of stylistics

and the implications of context. Literary and linguistic ‘triggers’ for the interpretation of

literary and non-literary texts to be examined include morphology, speech sounds,

graphology, lexis, semantics, syntax, point of view, and pragmatics.

Course Objectives:

The main aim of the course is to make students appreciate and understand the functional

interpretation and construction of texts. At the end of the course, the students will be able

to:

· identify the principles and tools of stylistic analysis;

· describe the principles and tools of stylistic analysis;

· analyse texts beyond its formal features; and

· create various texts using the principles and tools of stylistic analysis.

Course Requirements:

This is a compulsory course for both Language and Literature students:

· Each student is expected to participate in all the course activities.

· A minimum of 75% attendance is required to qualify each student to write the

final examination.

· Students will be expected to answer the study questions and assignments.

LECTURES

Week 1: General introduction and the relationship between style and

stylistics

Objectives: *By the end of the class, students should be able to present an overview of

the field of stylistics

*By the end of the class, students should be able to explain the

relationship between style and stylistics

Description: The evolution of stylistics and its place among other branches of Linguistics

as well as literary criticism will be explained. The relationship between

style and stylistics will also be clarified.

Week 2: Some definitions and goal of stylistics; types of stylistics.

Objective: *By the end of the lesson, students should be able to explain the definitions of

stylistics, its goal and some of the various types of stylistics.

Description: Some of the definitions of stylistics, especially from its root, its goal, to

demonstrate functional interpretation, and some stylistic models will be

highlighted.

Week 3: Implications of context — (i) Dialect, Register and Time

(ii)Domain, Tenor and Mode

Objective: * By the end of the lesson, students should be able to identify language

variation according to user, use and time period as well as register

varieties i.e. domain, tenor and mode.

Description: The way in which language varies from one speaker to another, from one

situation to another and from one period to another will be taught via

extracts from poetry, pose and drama passages.

Week 4: Morphology, speech sounds and graphology in stylistic analysis

Objectives: * By the end of the class, students should be able to discuss the rudiments

of morphology, speech sounds and graphology to the students

* By the end of the class, students should be able to identify these tools in

discourses and be able to work out their functions

Description: Elements of morphology (e.g. coinages, compounding, blending), sound

patterns (e.g. alliteration consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme,

rhythm), Graphology (e.g. punctuation, paragraphing, spacing, size of

print, etc.) will be explained and exemplified via extracts from passages.

Week 5: Lexis and Semantics in stylistic analysis

Objectives: * By the end of the class, students should be able to explain the rudiments

of lexis and semantics,

* Identify lexical and semantic activators in texts and be able to show

their functions.

Description: Lexico-semantic elements i.e. words and their meanings e.g. oxymoron,

reference, lexical ellipses and substitution, conjunction, collocates, synonym, antonym, holonym, hyponym, parts of speech, etc. will be

explained and exemplified via extracts from passages.

Week 6: Lexico-Syntactic Patterns in stylistic analysis

Objectives: * By the end of the class, students should be able to describe words,

phrases, clauses and sentences are used as prompters in stylistic analysis.

* Identify various types of lexico-syntactic

constructions and their functions in stylistic analysis.

Description: Lexico-syntactic constructions to be studied in sample texts

include anaphora, epiphora, symploce, personification, hyperbole, litotes,

irony, paradox, euphemism, asyndeton, polysyndeton.

Week 7: Foregrounding: Deviation and Repetition

Objectives: * By the end of the class, students should be able to explain the

foregrounding i.e. the psychological effect of deviation and repetition

* Emphasise ‘highlighting’ or ‘making prominent’ for specific effects

Description: The two main types of foregrounding i.e. deviation and repetition (e.g.

parallelism, anaphora, alliteration, rhyme, polyptoton) which strike the

reader’s attention as unusual will be studied through textual examples at

the morphological phonological, graphological, lexical, semantic and

syntactic levels.

Week 8: Point of view in discourse

Objective: * By the end of the class, students should be able to explain the concepts

and distinctions of point of view in discourse

Description: Using textual examples, the following will be examined: (i) addresses,

narrator, distance, etc. (ii) some linguistic indicators of point of view:

schema-oriented language, value-laden expressions, Given vs. New

information, deictic expressions, social deixis, indicators of characters’

thoughts or perceptions, event coding (Short, M. 1996)

Week 9: Dialogue and pragmatics

Objective: * By the end of the lesson, students should be able to identify pragmatics

in stylistic analysis

Description: Textual examples of the following elements will be identified and explained

along with their functions: participants and role relation, context, turn-taking, locution,

illocution, perlocutionary effects and non-verbal communication.

Week 10: A detailed look at poems

Objective: *By the end of the class, students should be able to recite, examine and

study some poems in detail

Description: Poems will be studied in relation to their meanings and effects.

Week 11: A detailed look at prose fiction and non-literary texts

Objective: * By the end of the class, students should be able to explain prose fiction

and non-literary texts in detail

Description: Prose fiction and non-literary texts will be studied in relation to their

meanings and effects.

Week 12: A detailed look at prose drama texts

Objective: * By the end of the class, students should be able to demonstrate drama

texts in detail

Description: Drama texts will be studied in relation to their meanings and effects.

Week 13: (a) Class test (b) class presentation (1)

Objective: By the end of the lesson, students should be able to explain the basic concepts

and techniques of stylistics and how to apply then to texts accurately.

Description: The students will be assessed on the topics taught and will

further be expected in groups to look for a poem to which they will apply

methods of stylistic analysis and be able to bring out the functional significance.

Week 14: Class presentation (2)

Objective: * By the end of the class, students should be able to demonstrate the

mastery of the basic concepts and techniques of stylistics and how to apply

then to texts accurately.

Description: The students will be expected in groups to look for a prose

passage or drama text to which they would apply methods of stylistic

analysis and be able to bring out the functional significance.

Adapted from:

Ms. Victoria A. Alabi

PhD, M.A., B.A.

www.unilorin.edu.ng/courseware/english/Courseware%20Dr...