This course offers an introduction to the study of literary stylistics. This involves examining
the language of literary texts in the three genres of poetry, prose and drama. The course also
has a view of helping students to arrive at a fuller understanding and appreciation of these
texts. The course does not presuppose any technical knowledge of linguistics, but provides
general explanations of principles and tools for the purpose of describing poetic, narrative
and dramatic texts. The course will reveal that the language used in a literary text differs from
everyday language in purpose and function, but not in kind.

Course Contents:

    • Stylistics as a branch of linguistics
    • Style and register
    • Linguistic description
    • Conversational style
    • Stylistic analysis of a variety of written literary texts of choice and need
    • Stylistic Writing
    • Stylistics Devices (Rhetorical Devices, Figures of Speech)
    • Language in Literature
    • Mainly POETRY
      • Levels of language: Linguistic choice, style and meaning
      • Being creative with words and phrases
      • Patterns, deviations, style and meaning
      • The grammar of simple sentences
      • Sound
    • Mainly PROSE
      • Style and style variation
      • The grammar of complex sentences
      • Discourse structure and point of view
      • Speech presentation
      • Prose analysis
    • Mainly DRAMA
      • Conversational structure and character
      • Meaning between the lines
      • Shared knowledge and absurdist drama

Recommended Readings:

        1. Leech, Geoffrey. (2002). A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry.
        2. Michael, L. (1998). Language in Literature: An Introduction to Stylistics. New York: Edward Arnold.
        3. Simpson, P. (2005). Stylistics: A resource book for students. Routledge.
        4. Jeffries, L. & Mclntyre, D. (2010). Stylistics. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics.
        5. Clark, U. (1996). An Introduction to Stylistics (Investigating English Language). Nelson Thornes.