Functional styles in modern English

REVISION

I. Think of the causes originating graphon (young age, a physical defect of speech, lack of education, the influence of dialectal norms, affectation, intoxication, carelessness in speech, etc.):

1. He began to render the famous tune "I lost my heart in an English garden. Just where the roses of England grow" with much feeling:

"Ah-ee last mah-ee hawrt een ahn Angleesh gawrden,

Jost whahr thah rawzaz ahv Angland graw." (H. Caine)

2. The b-b-b-b-bastard – he seen me c-c-c-c-coming. (R.P.Warren)

3. "Oh, well, then, you just trot over to the table and make your little mommy a gweat big dwink." (E. Albey)

4. "I allus remember me man sayin' to me when I passed me scholar­ship - 'You break one o'my winders an' I'll skin ye alive.' (St. Barstow)

5. Usually she was implacable in defence of her beloved fragment of the coast and if the summer weekenders grew brazen, – getoutofitsillyoldmoo, itsthesoddingbeach, – she would turn the garden hose remorselessly upon them. (S. Rushdie)

6. You don’t mean to thay that thith ith your firth time. (D.Cusack)

II. Discuss the following cases of morphemic foregrounding:

1. He's no public offender, bless you, now! He's medalled and ribboned, and starred, and crossed, and I don't know what all'd, like a born nobleman. (Ch. Dickens)

2. Well, a kept woman is somebody who is perfumed, and clothed, and wined, and dined, and sometimes romanced heavily. (J. Carson)

3. Militant feminists grumble that history is exactly what it says – His-story – and not Her story at all. (D. Barthelme)

4. This dree to-ing and fro-ing persisted throughout the night and the next day. (D. Barthelme)

5. "I'm going to build me the God-damnedest, biggest, chromium-platedest, formaldehyde-stinkingest free hospital and health center." (R.Warren)

6. So: I'm not just talented. I'm geniused. (Sh. Delaney)

7. I'll disown you, I'll disinherit you, I'll unget you. (R. Sheridan)

III. Identify the type and the functions of literary words.

1. If manners maketh man, then manner and grooming maketh poodle. (J. Steinbeck)

2. I saw thee weep – the big bright tear

Came o’er that eye of blue;

And then methought it did appear

A violet dropping dew (Wordsworth)

3. Anthony clapped him affectionately on the back. "You're a real knight-errant, Jimmy," he said. (A. Christie)

4. “Prithee, do me so much favour, as to inquire after my astrologer, Martinys Galeotti, and send him hither to me presently.” (W.Scott)

5. She caught herself criticizing his belief that, since his joke about trying to keep her out of the poorhouse had once been accepted as admirable humor, it should continue to be his daily bon mot. (S.Lewis)

6. "Tyree, you got half of the profits!" Dr. Bruce shouted. "You're my de facto partner."

"What that de facto mean. Doc?"

"Papa, it means you are a partner in fact and in law", Fishbelly told him. (R. Write)

7. Yates remained serious. "We have time, Herr Zippman, to try schnapps. Are there any German troups in Neustadt?"

"No, Herr Offizier, that's just what I've to tell you. This morning, four gentlemen in all, we went out of Neustadt to meet the Herren Americaner. " (St.Heim)

 

IV. Think of the types of additional information supplied by the colloquial words in the following sentences. Specify their type and functions. Suggest a literary equivalent if possible.

 

1. Going down the stairs he overheard one beanied freshman he knew talking to another. "Did you see that black cat with the black whiskers who had those binocks in front of us? That's my comp prof." (B.Malamud)

2. "Let me warn you that the doc is a frisky bacheldore, Carol. Come on, now, folks, shake a leg. Let's have some stunts or dance or something." (S.Lewis)

3. "I didn't know you knew each other," I said.

"A long time ago it was," Jean said. "We did History Final together at Coll." (J. Kilty)

4. A hyena crossed the open on his way around the hill. "That bastard crosses there every night," the man said. (E. Hemingway)

5. “Poor son of a bitch,” he said. “I feel sorry for him, and I’m sorry I was bastardly.” (J. Jones)

V. Comment on the usage of phraseology

1. Angus read it at a sitting, or a lying really. He read it in bed on Christmas night, staying awake till three to do so. (R.Rendell)

2. Paco came and went. Pablo came and went. Each complained Ann was ungenerous with him on his departure. And then there was Paul. <…> It was, for Ann Grenville, lust at first sight. (D.Dunne).

3. Blackie’s expression altered radically. “She was just being catty, Emma. Edwina’s got a chip on her shoulder the size of that old oak tree out younder in my garden. She’ll never change” (B.T. Bradford)

VI. Analyse the following sentences and classify syntactical EM and SDs:

1. Obviously – this is a streptococcal infection. Obviously. (W. Deeping)

2. Now he understood. He understood many things. One can be a per­son first. A man first and then a black man or a white man. (P. Abrahams)

3. She watched the butler whisper in her husband’s ear, and she kept on talking. She saw her husband nod his head, and she kept on talking. She met her husband’s eye as he glanced furtively at her and looked away again, and she kept on talking. She followed with her eyes as her husband left Edith Bleeker’s drawing room, and she kept on talking. (D.Dunne)

4. The expression of his face, the movement of his shoulders, the turn of his spine, the gesture of his hands, probably even the twiddle of his toes, all indicated a half-humorous apology. (S. Maugham)

5. They all stood, high and dry, safe and sound, hale and hearty, upon the steps of the Blue Lion. (Ch. Dickens)

6. What is it? Who is it? When was it? Where was it? (Ch. Dickens)

7. Gentleness in passion! What could have been more seductive to the scared, starved heart of that girl? (J. Conrad)

8. In manner, close and dry. In voice, husky and low. In face, watchful behind a blind. (Ch. Dickens)

9. She merely looked at him weakly. The wonder of him! The beauty of love! Her desire toward him! (Th. Dreiser)

10. "People liked to be with her. And -" She paused again, " - and she was crazy about you." (R. Warren)

11. What I had seen of Patti didn't really contradict Kitty's view of her: a girl who means well, but. (D. Uhnak)

12. I like big parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy. (Sc.Fitzgerald)

SEMINAR 8

FUNCTIONAL STYLES IN MODERN ENGLISH

Points for Discussion

1. The Belles-Lettres Style

2. Publicistic Style

3. Newspaper Style

4. Scientific Prose Style

5. The Style of Official Documents

 

The guidelines for preparation:

1. Form the team (1-3 students);

2. Choose the topic and appoint the responsible students for the main points;

3. Prepare the hand-outs containing the basic notions, the definitions, the schemes and examples.

 

The points to cover in every report:

1. Different approaches to the definition of each style (various authors);

2. Lexical, syntactical and stylistic peculiarities of each style;

3. Examples, samples of analysis (if any);

4. Mini-quiz to check the general comprehension of the topic (up to 10 questions).

5. Mind your time-limit (15 min maximum).

 

Recommended Literature

1. Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка. – Л.: Просвещение, 1981. – С. 248-289.

2. Скребнев Ю.М. Основы стилистики английского языка. – М.: ООО «Издательство Астрель»: ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2002. – С. 167-213.

3. Стилистика английского языка / А.Н. Мороховский, О.П.Воробьева, Н.И. Лихошерст, З.В.Тимошенко. – К.: Вища шк., 1991. – С. 245-266.

4. Galperin I.R. - M.: Higher School Publ. House, 1981. – P. 253-332.

5. Znamenskaya T.A. Stylistics of the English Language. Fundamentals of the Course. – M.: Editorial, URSS, 2005. – P.128-158

6. Maltzev V.A. Essays on English Stylistics. – Minsk: Vysheishaya Shkola, 1984. – P.89-109

SEMINAR 9

STYLISTIC SEMASIOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Discussion Points

Figures of substitution as semasiological EM. General characteristics and classification.

Figures of quantity. General characteristics.

a) hyperbole;

b) meiosis, litotes.

Figures of quality (qualification). General characteristics.

4. Metonymy group. General characteristics.

a) synecdoche;

b) periphrasis, euphemism, dysphemism.

5.Metaphor group. General characteristics. Syntactical and semantic differences between metaphor and metonymy.

a) types of metaphor according to various criteria;

b) antonomasia;

c) personification;

d) allegory;

e) allusion;

f) epithet; semantic and structural types of epithets.

6. Irony. Types of irony.

Recommended Literature

1. Стилистика английского языка / А.Н.Мороховский, О.П.Воробьёва, Н.И.Лихошерст, З.В.Тимошенко. – К.: Вища школа, 1991. – С. 163-186.

2. Galperin I.R. Stylistics. – M.: Higher School Publ. House, 1981. – P. 136-153, 157-177.

Optional Literature

Кухаренко В.А. Практикум з стилістики англійської мови. – Вінниця: “Нова книга”, 2000. – С. 42-68.

BASIC NOTIONS

Semasiology is a branch of linguistics which studies semantics (meaning) of linguistic units belonging to different language levels.

Lexical semasiology is concerned with the meaning of different linguistic units, correlation between these meanings and the changes the meanings undergo.

Stylistic semasiology is interested in the stylistic meaning only, i.e. the additional meaning of linguistic units, which may appear due to:

1) the unusual denotative reference of linguistic units as bearers of meaning – semasiological EM;

 

2) the unusual combination of meanings expressed by the linguistic units – semasiological SDs.

 

Thus, stylistic semasiology deals with those semantic relations and changes which form the basis of EM and SDs.

Semasiological EMs are different means of secondary nomination, i.e. figures of substitution, either existing in the language in a ready-made form or coined in speech on the basis of regular (recurrent) patterns.

Figures of Substitution

Figures of Quantity

Figures of Quality

Hyperbole

sis

Meiosis Litotes

Metonymy Synecdoche Periphrasis Euphemism (dysphemism)

Metaphor Personification Antonomasia Allegory Allusion Epithet

Irony

 

Hyperbole is a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration aimed at intensifying one of the features of the object in question.

Meiosis is a deliberate understatement, i.e. lessening, weakening or reducing the real characteristics of the object of speech.

Litotes is expressing an idea by means of negating the opposite idea or the statement in the form of negation.

Metonymy is a figure of secondary nomination based upon contiguity, i.e. upon a real connection between two objects: that which is named and that the name of which is taken.Types of metonymy forming relations are manifold.

The simplest type of Metonymy is Synecdoche – using the name of a part to denote the whole and vice versa.

Periphrasis (from Greek: peri – around; phraseo – speak) is a stylistic figure which lies in naming the characteristic features of the object instead of naming the object itself. It can be based on the logical connection of the descriptive phrase with a definite feature of the object described (logical periphrasis) or on metaphor or metonymy (figurative periphrasis).

 

Euphemism (Greek euphēmismos < eu “well” + phēme “speaking”) is a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one.

Euphemisms may be divided into several groups: religious, connected with death, medical, political, moral etc.

Dysphemisms are deliberately rough and unpleasant expressions replacing neutral/ positive units in order to express contempt, irritation, hatred and other negative attitudes on the part of the speaker.

Metaphor – expressive renaming on the basis of similarity, likeness, or affinity (real or imaginary) of two objects: the real object of speech and the one whose name is actually used.

Structurally metaphors are simple (elementary) or prolonged (sustained).

Personification – is attributing human properties to lifeless objects, mostly to abstract notions, such as thoughts, actions, intentions, emotions, seasons of the year etc.

Allegory isa means of expressing abstract ideas through concrete pictures.

Allusion is a brief reference to some literary or historical event commonly known.

Antonomasia (Greek: antonomasia – “renaming”) is a peculiar variety of metaphor in which a proper name is used instead of a common noun or vice versa.

Epithet expresses characteristics of an object, both existing and imaginary. Its basic feature is its subjectivity and emotiveness: it gives an individual perception and evaluation of some properties.

Semantically epithets may be divided into two groups: associated and unassociated (I.R.Galperin); or affective and figurative (V.A.Kukharenko).

As to their structur e and the number of components, epithets may be used singly, in pairs, in chains/ strings, in two-step structures, also as phrase epithets, sentence epithets. A specific variety of epithet is an inverted/ reversed epithet (the devil of a man).

Irony (Greek: eironea – “concealed mockery”) is a trope, a renaming based on the opposition of two notions: the notion named and the notion meant. Irony is commonly used with the aim of critical evaluation of the thing spoken about. The general scheme is: “praise stands for blame”.

PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENT

In the excerpts that follow find figures of substitution used. Explain their stylistic functions in the given excerpts:

1. I remember a friend of mine buying a couple of cheeses at Liverpool. Splendid cheeses they were, ripe and mellow, and with a two-hundred horse-power scent about them that might have been warranted to carry three miles, and knock a man over at two hundred yards. (J.K.Jerome).

2. The car which picked me up on that particular guilty evening was a Cadillac limousine about seventy-three blocks long (J.Baldwin).

3. The little woman, for she was of pocket size, crossed her hands solemnly on her middle. (J.Galsworthy).

4. We all think that time is endless when we’re younger. The years ahead seem to stretch out forever and indefinitely. But they don’t … they disappear in a flash, in the wink of an eye. (B.T.Bradford)

5. Was it possible that she could have gone to have an abortion?

In the Dublin of 1958 such things were not unknown. (M. Binchy)

6. Maybe one of those old men in the commercial room had been Nellie’s heart’s desire.

It wasn’t so impossible. (M.Binchy)

7. I was a young man then – Good Heavens, it’s a quarter of a century ago – and I wanted to enjoy all the loveliness of the world in the short time allotted to me before I passed into the darkness. (W.S.Maugham).

8. Charity as she knew it was complex and reciprocal, and almost every roof she saw signified charity. Mrs. Balcolm worked for the brain. Mrs. Ten Eyke did mental health. Mrs. Trenchard worked for the blind. Mrs. Horowitz was in charge of diseases of the nose and throat. Mrs. Trempler was tuberculosis, Mrs. Surcliffe was Mothers’ March of Dimes, Mrs. Craven was cancer, and Mrs. Gilkson did the kidney. (J.Cheever)

9. She missed Qwen. She would miss him until the day she shed this mortal coil and went to join him. (B.T. Bradford)

10. Across country we went like wind followed by a couple of black cars full of moustaches. They were gaining on us. (L.Durrell).

11. I knew them all, or knew what they did for a living: timber, flour, textiles, insurance. Timber and flour were standing at the counter discussing the cost of labour. Textiles at a table in the opposite side of the room was complaining about his garage bills. Insurance was listening waiting his turn. (J.Braine).

12. Old age is golden, so I’ve heard said

But sometimes I wonder as I crawl into bed

With my ears in a drawer and my teeth in a cup

My eyes on the table until I wake up (P.Seeger).

13. Nessa felt a blanket of guilt almost suffocate her (M.Binchy)

14. In fact she was an inspired gardener. Flowers, plants, trees, and shrubs were woven into a tapestry of living color and design by her, one that stunned the eye with its compelling beauty. (B.T. Bradford)

15. Huddled in her grey fur against the sofa-cushions, she had a strange resemblance to a captive owl, bunched in its soft feathers against the wires of a cage. The supple erectness of her figure was gone, as though she had been broken by cruel exercise, as if there were no longer any reason for being beautiful, and supple, and erect (J.Galsworthy).

16. Well, that’s the way I was. A dusty little thinker thinking stony little thoughts and casting them at oblivious shadows, when my meditations were interrupted. I thought I heard a voice. Then I thought perhaps it was the noise of the machinery. Stresses and strains make conveyers talk. They scream curses, they grumble and complain. When they can take the load they whistle like butcher boys used to whistle when there was meat for the butcher to deliver. (S.Chaplin).

17. Remember Brake as he was and for what he was, and remember him true, capricious, passionate, infuriating, wild, tender, drunk, sober, loving, petulant, dark and brilliant. He was a bottle of champagne about to be open, a piano about to be played, a canvas about to be painted, he was life with the top off <…>. (Ch. Bingham)

18. “You cheat, you no-good cheat – you tricked our son. Took our son with a scheming trick, Miss Tomboy, Miss Sarcastic, Miss Sneerface”. (Ph.Roth).

19. Kate kept him because she knew he would do anything in the world if he were paid to do it or was afraid not to do it. She had no illusions about him. In her business Joes were necessary..(J.Steinbeck).

20. “Thief!” Pillon shouted. “Dirty pig of an untrue friend!” (J.Steinbeck).

SEMINAR 10

STYLISTIC SEMASIOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (continued)

Discussion Points

1. Figures of combination as SDs of semasiology. General characteristics and classification.

2. Figures of identity (equivalence). General characteristics.

– simile

– synonyms-substitutes

– synonyms-specifiers.

3. Figures of opposition. General characteristics.

– antithesis,

– oxymoron.

4. Figures of inequality (non-equivalence). General characteristics.

– climax

– anticlimax,

– pun

– zeugma.

Recommended Literature

1. Стилистика английского языка / А.Н.Мороховский, О.П.Воробьёва, Н.И.Лихошерст, З.В.Тимошенко. – К.: Вища школа, 1991. – С. 186-199.

2. Galperin I.R. Stylistics. – M.: Higher School Publ. House, 1981. – P. 136-153, 157-177.

Optional Literature

Кухаренко В.А. Практикум з стилістики англійської мови. – Вінниця: “Нова книга”, 2000. – С. 42-68.

 

BASIC NOTIONS

Figures of combination are SDs of semasiology. They are stylistically relevant semantic means of combining lexical, syntactical and other units (including EM) belonging to the same or different language levels. The realisation of the figures of combination is possible only in context. The most general types of semantic relations between words, phrases and utterances forming the basis of semasiological SDs can be reduced to three: meanings can be 1) identical, or 2) different or else 3) opposite.

 

Figures of Combination

Figures of Identity

Figures of Opposition

Figures of Inequality

Figures of Inequality

Simile Synonyms-substitutes Synonyms-specifiers

Antithesis Oxymoron

Climax Anticlimax Pun Zeugma

 

Simile is an imaginative comparison, embodied in an explicit statement of partial identity (affinity, likeness, similarity) of two objects belonging to different classes.

Simile is characterized by a definite formula or structure: it includes 1) the object named (the tenor); 2) the object being used to name (the vehicle) and 3) the link word as a formal signal of comparison. The links between the tenor and the vehicle are expressed mainly by the conjunctions like, as, as if, as though, as…as, than.

Simile should not be confused with simple (logical, ordinary) comparison.

Cf: She sings like a professional singer. She sings like a nightingale.

He talks French like a Frenchman. He talks French like a machine-gun.

Substituting synonyms are used for the sake of diversity, to avoid monotony.

Specifying synonyms contribute to precision in characterizing the object of speech. They mostly follow one another (in opposition to substitutes), although not necessarily immediately. There are two ways of using specifying synonyms:

1) as paired synonyms (safe and sound);

2) as synonymic variations.

Antithesis (from Greek anti “against”; thesis “statement”) is a stylistic device which presents contrasting ideas in close proximity in order to stress the contrast.

Oxymoron (from Greek: “ sharp(ly) dull ”) is based on the logical collision of notional words, which express mutually exclusive (incompatible) notions: loving hate.

The most typical oxymoron is a combination of:

– an adjective and a noun;

– an adverb with an adjective;

– structures with verbs.

Climax (gradation) – such an arrangement of correlative ideas in which every successive word, phrase or sentence is emotionally stronger, logically more important or more qualitative than the preceding one. This arrangement secures a gradual increase in importance (logical climax), emotional tension (emotional/ emotive climax) or in the volume of the corresponding conceptsin the utterance (quantitative climax).

A phenomenon opposite to climax is called anticlimax (back gradation). There are two types of anticlimax: gradual drop in intensity and sudden break in intensity/ emotive power.

Pun (also called paronomasia or calembour). The term is synonymous with the current expression ‘ play upon words ’. The semantic essence of this device is based on polysemy, homonymy or phonetic similarity and is meant to achieve a humorous effect.

Zeugma (Greek: zeuguana “to join, to combine”) is sometimes defined as the usage of parallel constructions with unparalleled meanings.As with pun, this device consists in combining unequal, semantically heterogeneous, or even incompatible, words or phrases.

Zeugma combines syntactical and semantic characteristics: syntactically it is based on similar structures, semantically it comprises different meanings, which leads to logical and semantic incompatibility.

E.g.: She possessed two false teeth and a sympathetic heart (O.Henry).

She dropped a tear and her pocket handkerchief (Dickens);

Cf.: Она потеряла честь и кошелёк.

PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENT

In the excerpts that follow find figures of combination used. Explain their stylistic functions in the given excerpts:

1. A fog rose over the valley, she saw it marching like an army of ghosts (K.A.Porter).

2. She had beautiful long white hands with skin as smooth as the breast of a dove (G.Atherton).

3. “Mr. Witte’s method of paying off debts would be a form of feeding a dog with bits of its own tail” (Nesfield).

4. His strangely taut, full-width grin made his large teeth resemble a dazzling miniature piano keyboard in the green light (J.Jones).

5. There is Mr. Guppy, who was at first as open as the sun at noon, but who suddenly shut up as close midnight (Ch.Dickens).

6. It was dawn. The mist had rolled down from the moors and the higher fells to spread across the meadows like a mantle of gray lace, partially obscuring the trees and the dry stone walls and the cottages nestling in the folds of the fields (B.T.Bradford).

7. Sometimes Mrs. Ryan was terrific, like when she got them all dancing lessons <…> Sometimes Mother was horrible – when she had asked Father to leave the bar the night he won eighty-five pounds on a greyhound. (M.Binchy).

8. According to Maggie, Lena was not in love. She was suffering from an obsession, an infatuation. It wasn’t healthy for someone who was twenty-six to develop this kind of crush on a man who didn’t return it and wasn’t even aware of it. And however unwise it might have been to have allowed a temporary fascination to take over, it was positively dangerous to let it continue the way Lena had (M.Binchy).

9. Finally I wrote my grandmother about it. Her answer came quick and sharp (M.Twain).

10. He’s a proud, haughty, consequential, turned-nosed peacock (Ch.Dickens).

11. He was an actor and a clever one, but he was difficult to suit and so was often out of work. He was about thirty, a man with pleasantly ugly face and a clipped way of speaking that made what he said sound funny (W.S.Maugham).

12. Sprinting towards the elevator he felt amazed at his own cowardly courage (G.Markey).

13. He caught a ride home to the crowded loneliness of the barracks (J.Jones).

14. He was sure the whites could not detect his adoring hatred of them (R.Write).

15. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going the other way (Ch.Dickens).

16. At a sign from him, Nelson knew, that, notwithstanding his love, his tenderness, his sympathy, his generosity, she would leave him without a moment’s hesitation (W.S.Maugham).

17. I am sorry, I am so very sorry, I am so extremely sorry (G.K.Chesterton).

18. She stopped being twenty-six and became twenty-seven, and twenty-eight and twenty-nine. Soon she would be thirty years of age, and what had she to show for it? (M.Binchy)

19. She disapproved of many things; some people went as far as to say that she disapproved of most things (Saki).

20. That’s a nice girl; that’s a very nice girl; a promising girl (Ch.Dickens).

21. I was well inclined to him before I saw him. I liked him when I did see him; I admire him now (Ch. Bronte).

22. She felt better, immensely better, standing beside this big old man (W.Deeping).

23. Jupiter was an anomaly. His retrieving instincts and his high spirits were out of place in Shady Hill. He was as black as coal, with a long, alert, intelligent, rakehell face. His eyes gleamed with mischief, and he held his head high. It was the fierce, heavily collared dog’s head that appears in heraldry, in tapestry, and that used to appear on umbrella handles and walking sticks (J. Cheever).

24. No tree, no shrub, no blade of grass that was not owned (J. Galsworthy).

25. This was appalling – and soon forgotten (J.Galsworthy).

26. “Be careful,” said Mr.Jingle. “Not a look.” “Not a wink,” said Mr. Tupman. “Not a syllable. Not a whisper’ (Dickens).

27. Women have a wonderful instinct about things. They can discover everything except the obvious (O.Wilde).

28. He took his hat and his leave (Ch.Dickens).

29. At noon Mrs. Turpin would get out of bed and humor, put on kimono, airs and the water to boil for coffee(O.Henry).

30. – I wonder if I can see your mother, little boy. Is she engaged?

– Engaged?! She's married.

31. Professor – What kept you out of class yesterday – acute indigestion?

Student – No, a cute engineer.

32. A cynic was standing in front of an exhibition of modern picture labelled “Art objects”.

“Well“, he announced to the attendant in charge, “I should think Art would object, and I can’t say that I blame it.”

33. – Did you hit a woman with a child?

– No, sir, I hit her with a brick (Th.Smith).

34. After a while and a cake he crept nervously to the door of the parlour (A.Tolkien).

35. When I am dead, I hope it may be said:

“His sins were scarlet, but his books were read” (H.Belloc).

36. – I’ve spent last summer in a very pretty city of Switzerland.

– Berne?

– No, I almost froze.

37. There is only one brand of tobacco allowed here – “Three nuns”. None today, none tomorrow, and none the day after (Br.Behan).

38. On a raw Wednesday morning, in a few ill-chosen words, she told the cook that she drank. She remembered the scene afterwards as vividly as though it had been painted in her mind by Abbey. The cook was a good cook, as cooks go; and as cooks go she went (Saki).

39. – Is life worth living?

– It depends on the liver.

Additional Activities

I. Here is a list of 10 oxymorons. See how many you can match to make the correct phrases:

 

old opposition

pretty unseen

civil news

small war

deafening secret

industrial vacation

sight fortune

working park

open ugly

loyal silence

II. Some riddles are funny because they are puns. Puns are made with words that have double meaning. A pun doesn’t make sense until you know both meanings of the word.

SEMINAR 11

BASIC NOTIONS OF THE TEXT

Discussion Points

1.Text as a subject-matter of various disciplines: hermeneutics, history and theory of literature, stylistics, text linguistics, text interpretation.

2. Different approaches to text definition. Types of texts according to the structural patterns. Literary text as opposed to other types of texts.

3. Basic categories of a literary text.

– personality/ impersonality;

– integrity (cohesion; coherence);

– text discreteness (partitioning and composition);

– informativity; kinds of information in the text;

– implicitness;

– modality.

4. Textual reference and the artistic model of the world.

Fictional time and space. The notions of prospection and retrospection. Main spatial dimensions.

 

5. Types of artistic (poetic) details:

– depicting details;

– characterological details;

– authenticity details;

– implicit details; degrees of implicates.

 

Recommended Literature

1. Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка. – М.: Просвещение, 1990. – С.34-41.

2. Гальперин И.Р. Текст как объект лингвистического исследования. – М.: Наука, 1981.

3. Долинин К.А. Интерпретация текста. – М.: Просвещение, 1985. – C. 4-34, 63-180.

4. Домашнев А.К., Шишкина И.П., Гончарова Е.А. Интерпретация художественного текста. – М.: Просвещение, 1989. – C. 15-68, 76-96.

5. Кухаренко В.А. Інтерпретація тексту. – Вінниця: Нова книга, 2004. – С. 6-15; 72- 138.

6. Стилистика английского языка / А.Н.Мороховский, О.П.Воробьёва, Н.И.Лихошерст, З.В.Тимошенко. – К.: Вища школа, 1991. – C. 200-211.

 

PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENT

Activity I.

Task 1. Read the text, explain what categories are actualized in the title.

Task 2. Analyse the cohesive elements, in particularly lexical and syntactical repetitions, their role in the text organization.

Task 3. Explain the author's attitude to the world he lived in and to his profession - is it positive or negative? Write out the examples.

S. Maugham.

Activity II.

Task 1. Read the poem, explain by what lexical and syntactical means the category of cohesion is actualized.

Task 2. Read the text again, determine the means of realization of modality.

H.W. Longfellow

THE RAINY DAY

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall;

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

 

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.

 

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

SEMINAR 12

Discussion Points

1. The notion of the author of the narrative text. Internal and external aspects of the author’s textual presence. Image of the author (implied author).

2.The narrator in a literary text. Types of narrators:

a) with regard to the author (opposed to the author – not opposed to the author);

b) with regard to the textual world (outside the TW – within the TW):

– omniscient narrator;

– authorial narrator;

– narrator-personage; narrator-observer/ witness;

– false author

3. Narrative voice.

a). Degree of perceptibility of the narrator in a literary text: (maximally overt/ medium/ maximally covert). The problem of “authorial silence”.

b). Stream of consciousness as a narrative technique.

c). Polyphony of the narrative.

4. The notion of the narrative perspective (focalization). Types of NP:

a) external (omniscient/unlimited) NP vs internal (concentrated/limited) NP;

b) constant NP vs variable/ multiple NP.

5. Facets of focalization:

c) perceptual (space, time);

d) psychological (cognitive and emotive orientation of the focalizer);

e) ideological.

6. Forms and types of speech in a literary text

Recommended Literature

1. Долинин К.А. Интерпретация текста (французский язык). – М.: Просвещение, 1985. – С. 181-220.

2. Домашнев А.К., Шишкина И.П., Гончарова Е.А. Интерпретация художественного текста. – М.: Просвещение, 1989. – C. 69-76.

3. Кухаренко В.А. Інтерпретація тексту. – Вінниця: Нова книга, 2004. – С. 139-197.

4. Стилистика английского языка / А.Н.Мороховский, О.П.Воробьёва, Н.И.Лихошерст, З.В.Тимошенко. – К.: Вища школа, 1991. – C. 211-234.

5. Брандес М.П. Стилистика немецкого языка. – М.: Высшая школа, 1983. – С. 223-236.

PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENT.

In the excerpts that follow, define:

a) the narrative perspective (focalization)

b) the type of narrator.

SEMINAR 13

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR

REVISION

I. Think of the causes originating graphon (young age, a physical defect of speech, lack of education, the influence of dialectal norms, affectation, intoxication, carelessness in speech, etc.):

1. He began to render the famous tune "I lost my heart in an English garden. Just where the roses of England grow" with much feeling:

"Ah-ee last mah-ee hawrt een ahn Angleesh gawrden,

Jost whahr thah rawzaz ahv Angland graw." (H. Caine)

2. The b-b-b-b-bastard – he seen me c-c-c-c-coming. (R.P.Warren)

3. "Oh, well, then, you just trot over to the table and make your little mommy a gweat big dwink." (E. Albey)

4. "I allus remember me man sayin' to me when I passed me scholar­ship - 'You break one o'my winders an' I'll skin ye alive.' (St. Barstow)

5. Usually she was implacable in defence of her beloved fragment of the coast and if the summer weekenders grew brazen, – getoutofitsillyoldmoo, itsthesoddingbeach, – she would turn the garden hose remorselessly upon them. (S. Rushdie)

6. You don’t mean to thay that thith ith your firth time. (D.Cusack)

II. Discuss the following cases of morphemic foregrounding:

1. He's no public offender, bless you, now! He's medalled and ribboned, and starred, and crossed, and I don't know what all'd, like a born nobleman. (Ch. Dickens)

2. Well, a kept woman is somebody who is perfumed, and clothed, and wined, and dined, and sometimes romanced heavily. (J. Carson)

3. Militant feminists grumble that history is exactly what it says – His-story – and not Her story at all. (D. Barthelme)

4. This dree to-ing and fro-ing persisted throughout the night and the next day. (D. Barthelme)

5. "I'm going to build me the God-damnedest, biggest, chromium-platedest, formaldehyde-stinkingest free hospital and health center." (R.Warren)

6. So: I'm not just talented. I'm geniused. (Sh. Delaney)

7. I'll disown you, I'll disinherit you, I'll unget you. (R. Sheridan)

III. Identify the type and the functions of literary words.

1. If manners maketh man, then manner and grooming maketh poodle. (J. Steinbeck)

2. I saw thee weep – the big bright tear

Came o’er that eye of blue;

And then methought it did appear

A violet dropping dew (Wordsworth)

3. Anthony clapped him affectionately on the back. "You're a real knight-errant, Jimmy," he said. (A. Christie)

4. “Prithee, do me so much favour, as to inquire after my astrologer, Martinys Galeotti, and send him hither to me presently.” (W.Scott)

5. She caught herself criticizing his belief that, since his joke about trying to keep her out of the poorhouse had once been accepted as admirable humor, it should continue to be his daily bon mot. (S.Lewis)

6. "Tyree, you got half of the profits!" Dr. Bruce shouted. "You're my de facto partner."

"What that de facto mean. Doc?"

"Papa, it means you are a partner in fact and in law", Fishbelly told him. (R. Write)

7. Yates remained serious. "We have time, Herr Zippman, to try schnapps. Are there any German troups in Neustadt?"

"No, Herr Offizier, that's just what I've to tell you. This morning, four gentlemen in all, we went out of Neustadt to meet the Herren Americaner. " (St.Heim)

 

IV. Think of the types of additional information supplied by the colloquial words in the following sentences. Specify their type and functions. Suggest a literary equivalent if possible.

 

1. Going down the stairs he overheard one beanied freshman he knew talking to another. "Did you see that black cat with the black whiskers who had those binocks in front of us? That's my comp prof." (B.Malamud)

2. "Let me warn you that the doc is a frisky bacheldore, Carol. Come on, now, folks, shake a leg. Let's have some stunts or dance or something." (S.Lewis)

3. "I didn't know you knew each other," I said.

"A long time ago it was," Jean said. "We did History Final together at Coll." (J. Kilty)

4. A hyena crossed the open on his way around the hill. "That bastard crosses there every night," the man said. (E. Hemingway)

5. “Poor son of a bitch,” he said. “I feel sorry for him, and I’m sorry I was bastardly.” (J. Jones)

V. Comment on the usage of phraseology

1. Angus read it at a sitting, or a lying really. He read it in bed on Christmas night, staying awake till three to do so. (R.Rendell)

2. Paco came and went. Pablo came and went. Each complained Ann was ungenerous with him on his departure. And then there was Paul. <…> It was, for Ann Grenville, lust at first sight. (D.Dunne).

3. Blackie’s expression altered radically. “She was just being catty, Emma. Edwina’s got a chip on her shoulder the size of that old oak tree out younder in my garden. She’ll never change” (B.T. Bradford)

VI. Analyse the following sentences and classify syntactical EM and SDs:

1. Obviously – this is a streptococcal infection. Obviously. (W. Deeping)

2. Now he understood. He understood many things. One can be a per­son first. A man first and then a black man or a white man. (P. Abrahams)

3. She watched the butler whisper in her husband’s ear, and she kept on talking. She saw her husband nod his head, and she kept on talking. She met her husband’s eye as he glanced furtively at her and looked away again, and she kept on talking. She followed with her eyes as her husband left Edith Bleeker’s drawing room, and she kept on talking. (D.Dunne)

4. The expression of his face, the movement of his shoulders, the turn of his spine, the gesture of his hands, probably even the twiddle of his toes, all indicated a half-humorous apology. (S. Maugham)

5. They all stood, high and dry, safe and sound, hale and hearty, upon the steps of the Blue Lion. (Ch. Dickens)

6. What is it? Who is it? When was it? Where was it? (Ch. Dickens)

7. Gentleness in passion! What could have been more seductive to the scared, starved heart of that girl? (J. Conrad)

8. In manner, close and dry. In voice, husky and low. In face, watchful behind a blind. (Ch. Dickens)

9. She merely looked at him weakly. The wonder of him! The beauty of love! Her desire toward him! (Th. Dreiser)

10. "People liked to be with her. And -" She paused again, " - and she was crazy about you." (R. Warren)

11. What I had seen of Patti didn't really contradict Kitty's view of her: a girl who means well, but. (D. Uhnak)

12. I like big parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy. (Sc.Fitzgerald)

SEMINAR 8

FUNCTIONAL STYLES IN MODERN ENGLISH

Points for Discussion

1. The Belles-Lettres Style

2. Publicistic Style

3. Newspaper Style

4. Scientific Prose Style

5. The Style of Official Documents

 

The guidelines for preparation:

1. Form the team (1-3 students);

2. Choose the topic and appoint the responsible students for the main points;

3. Prepare the hand-outs containing the basic notions, the definitions, the schemes and examples.

 

The points to cover in every report:

1. Different approaches to the definition of each style (various authors);

2. Lexical, syntactical and stylistic peculiarities of each style;

3. Examples, samples of analysis (if any);

4. Mini-quiz to check the general comprehension of the topic (up to 10 questions).

5. Mind your time-limit (15 min maximum).

 

Recommended Literature

1. Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка. – Л.: Просвещение, 1981. – С. 248-289.

2. Скребнев Ю.М. Основы стилистики английского языка. – М.: ООО «Издательство Астрель»: ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2002. – С. 167-213.

3. Стилистика английского языка / А.Н. Мороховский, О.П.Воробьева, Н.И. Лихошерст, З.В.Тимошенко. – К.: Вища шк., 1991. – С. 245-266.

4. Galperin I.R. - M.: Higher School Publ. House, 1981. – P. 253-332.

5. Znamenskaya T.A. Stylistics of the English Language. Fundamentals of the Course. – M.: Editorial, URSS, 2005. – P.128-158

6. Maltzev V.A. Essays on English Stylistics. – Minsk: Vysheishaya Shkola, 1984. – P.89-109

SEMINAR 9