Chapter 9 Language and Literature.doc

Chapter 9 Language and Literature9.1 Theoretical background1. Style: Style refers to variation in a person’s speech or writing or a particular person’s use of speech or writing at all times or to a way of speaking or writing at a particular period of time.2. Stylistics: According to H. G. Widdowson, stylistics is the study of literary discourse from a linguistic orientation. He treated literature as discourse, thus adopting a linguistic approach. This brings literature and linguistics closer.9.2 Some general features of the literary language 9.2.1 Foregrounding and grammatical form1. Foregrounding: Foreground refers to the part of a scene nearest to the viewer, or figuratively the most noticeable position. Foregrounding means to put something or someone in the most essential part of the description or narration, other than in a background position.2. In literary texts, the grammatical system of the language is often exploited, experimented with, or in Mukarovsky’s words, made to “deviate from other, more everyday, forms of language, and as a result creates interesting new patterns in form and in meaning. 9.2.2 Literal language and figurative language1. Literal language: The first meaning for a word that a dictionary definition gives is usually called literal meaning.2. Figurative language: A. k. a. trope, which refers to language used in a figurative way for a rhetorical purpose. We can use some figures of speech such as simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, etc. 9.2.3 The analysis of literary language (Omit. Refer to p288-290 of the textbook.)9.3 The language in poetry 9.3.1 Sound patterning 9.3.2 Different forms of sound patterning1. Rhyme (end rhyme): The last word of a line has the same final sounds as the last word of another line, sometimes immediately above or below, sometimes one or more lines away (cVC).2. Alliteration: The initial consonants are identical in alliteration (Cvc).3. Assonance: Assonance describes syllables with a common vowel (cVc).4. Consonance: Syllables ending with the same consonants are described as having consonance (cvC).5. Reverse rhyme: Reverse rhyme describes syllables sharing the vowel and initial consonant (CVc).6. Pararhyme: Where two syllables have the same initial and final consonants, but different vowels, they pararhyme (CvC).7. Repetition: A complete match of the syllable (CVC).9.3.3 Stress and metrical patterning1. Iamb: An iambic foot contains two syllables, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.2. Trochee: A trochaic foot contains two syllables as well, but in this case, the stressed syllable comes first, followed by an unstressed syllable.3. Anapest: An anapestic foot consists of three syllables; two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed one.4. Dactyl: A dactylic foot is similar to anapest, except reversed – a stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed ones.5. Spondee: A spondaic foot consists of two stressed syllables; lines of poetry rarely consist only of spondees.6. Pyrrhic: A pyrrhic foot consists of two unstressed syllables.7. Metrical patterning (1) Dimeter (2) Trimeter (3) Tetrameter (4) Pentameter (5) Hexameter (6) Heptameter (7) Octameter9.3.4 Conventional forms of meter and sound 1. Couplets: Couplets are two lines of verse, usually connected by a rhyme.2. Quatrains: Stanzas of four lines, known as quatrains, are very common in English poetry.3. Blank verse: Blank verse consists of lines in iambic pentameter which do not rhyme.9.3.5 The poetic functions of sound and meter 1. For aesthetic pleasure 2. To conform to a convention / style / form 3. To express or innovate with a form 4. To demonstrate technical skill, and for intellectual pleasure 5. For emphasis or contrast 6. Onomatopoeia9.3.6 How to analyze poetry? 1. Read a poem more than once.2. Keep a dictionary and use it. Other reference books will also be invaluable. A good book on mythology and a Bible.3. Read so as to hear the sounds of the words in your mind. Poetry is written to be heard: its meanings are conveyed through sound as well as through print. One should read a poem as slowly as he can. Lip reading is a good habit.4. Always pay careful attention to what the poem is saying. One should make an effort to follow the thought continuously and to grasp the full implications and suggestions. 5. As aids to the understanding of a poem, we may ask some questions about.(1) Who is the speaker and what kind of person is he?(2) To whom is he speaking? What kind of person is he?(3) What is the occasion?(4) What is the setting in time (time of day, season, century)?(5) What is the setting in place (in doors or out, city or country, nation)?(6) What is the central purpose of the poem?(7) State the central idea or theme of the poem in a sentence.(8) Discuss the tone of the poem. How is it achieved?(9) Outline the poem so as to show its structure 。