A Stylistic Analysis of William Wordsworth

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A Stylistic Analysis of Wants by Philip Larkin

A Stylistic Analysis of Wants by Philip Larkin Abstract:This paper analyzes the stylistic features of the poem …Wants‟ writte n by Philip Larkin. First of all, the paper states the brief accounts of the auth or and the poem. Then it focuses on its stylistic features: lexis, grammar, phon etics and so on. Last some links between stylistic features and interpretation ar e explored to illustrate the importance of stylistics to poetry appreciation.1. Brief Introduction of Philip Larkin and His Poem WantsPhilip Arthur Larkin, as an English poet, novelist and jazz critic, is a fairl y traditional poet in terms of his use of poetic forms. He is often associated with the traditional poets like Hardy, Edward Thomas and John Betjeman. He spent his working life as a university librarian and was offered the Poet Laure ateship following the death of John Betjeman, but declined the post. Larkin is commonly regarded as one of the greatest English poets of the latter half of t he twentieth century. He first came to prominence with the publication in 1955 of his second collection, The Less Deceived. The Whitsun Weddings and Hig h Windows followed in 1964 and 1974. In 2003 Larkin was chosen as "the na tion's best-loved poet" in a survey by the Poetry Book Society and in 2008 T he Times named Larkin as the greatest post-war writer.Philip Larkin is an acute observer of the social side of English life and is often concerned with death and growing old (LU, 2001). He wrote the poem “Wants” in 1950. In the poem, both of these preoccupati ons can be seen.In the first stanza, Larkin set us in the middle of mundane, middle class English social life. He notes that we involve ourselves in all sorts of socializin g; but even though we fill up our time with such social activities, Larkin sugg ests that such a life is empty and that although we disguise it from ourselves, underneath we really want to be alone. In the second stanza he extends the wish to be alone to its logical terminus, death. He suggests, then, that in spiteof our social involvement we all have a death-wish within us, and that imme rsing ourselves in the social round is harmful in that it is a mechanism we us e to prevent ourselves from coming to terms with death and our desire for it. Unlike many modern poems, this one is not a crossword puzzle; it is fairly ea sy to understand.2. Stylistic features of the poemPoetry as a kind of literature owns some unique linguistic features and it can give the readers a sense of beauty. The famous poem “Wants” will be an alyzed stylistically and the stylistic features will be given in terms of lexis, gr ammar, phonetics.2.1 Lexis2.1.1 RepetitionThe last line of each stanza is a repetition of its first line and the followi ng items wish, alone, desire, oblivion, run are repeated. It is the same with th e prepositions beyond and beneath, which are lexically fuller English prepositio ns.2.1.2 Lexical groupingsMany lexical items in this poem belong to a series of conceptual groups:a) wish, desire, wants. wish and desire are synonyms indicating a felt lac k (in this case a lack of being alone or nothingness!).wants is also a near sy nonyms of wish.b)alone, oblivion, death. These three words all have to do with loneliness. death and oblivion are a rather extreme form..c) beyond, beneath. The two prepositions express remoteness, either horizo ntally or vertically from the locus of the speaker.d) Invitation cards, printed directions of sex, photographed, calendar, life i nsurance, fertility rites. All these lexical items are capable of interpretation as having to do with printed matter. It is apparent that the words and phrases all have to do with social life on a scale from the most general (social groups) to the most personal (relations between two individuals, in this case, couples) v ia an immediate unit, the family (LI, 2005).2.1.3 Semantic-syntactic deviationsa) The sky grows dark with invitation cards(2)The notion of the sky growing dark is a dead metaphor in English, which is common. However the collocation with invitation cards is odd. Here the deviation (along with the generic plural) helps us to suppose an overwhelming number of social invitations (obligations?) (Short, 1984).b) The printed directions of sex (3)Sex cannot literally have printed directions as it is an abstract noun. The phrase could refer to books on sexual positions, instructions on conceptive pac kets or how to calculate female ovulation periods in order to avoid or ensure conception. Short (1984) pointed out that the first possibility, which seems to be the best most likely as it fits in best with the tone of the rest of the poem, help view love making as a mere matter of mechanics. The other possibilities also do this, but to a lesser extent.c) The tabled fertility rite(8)Fertility rites,which obviously have to with sex, are usually associated wi th primitive, nonliterate tribes. Here, however, they are modified by tabled, whi ch indicates that whatever is referred to is written down in a tabular fashion (hence mechanical). That fact that what is referred to here is described as a rit ual reinforces the mechanical associations for sex seen in line 3.d) desire of oblivion runs(6)Desire of oblivion is abstract and it can not literally run. Presumably desir e of oblivion is being likened to a river, and as it appears as subject and acto r to runs, it appears that the individual‟s desire is one which is not consciousl y motivated.e) the artful tensions of the calendar(7)Calendar doesn‟t literally have tensions. This oddity can be interpreted as the possible conflicts between the engagements. The artful tensions are anotheroddity. Artful usually has to do with intended actions, so maybe the events o n the calendar are designed artfully to conflict.f) The costly aversion of the eyes from death(9)Larkin has blended two expressions together. Aversion means a strong disl ike. Aversion of the eyes from death expresses neatly the idea of turning away from something distasteful, namely death. Besides,aversion is modified by co stly.Aversion cannot literally cost money. The costly means the great disadvant age to the individual concerned.2.2 Grammar2.2.1Parallelisma) The middle three lines of each stanza consist of a set of parallels:In stanza 1, line 2-4 each consist of subordinate clause beginning with the linker however. In spite of the colon at the end of line 1 and the dash at th e end of line 4, which separate the repeated lines (1&5) from the middle three lines, it appears that syntactically the three …middle line‟ clauses are all subor dinated to the elliptical repeated clause.In stanza 2 the middle three lines consist of the preposition despite plus a list of definite noun phrases which are all complements to that preposition. T he headed nouns of the Noun Phrase (NPs) involved are all abstract.b) The repeated lines in the two stanzas show similarities. They all begin with fronted three-word prepositional phrase including the word all. The prepo sitional phrases are all separated off from the rest of their lines by a comma.All four lines end with a major punctuation boundary (line1 and 6 with a semicolon and line5 and 10 with a full stop).2.2.2 Definiteness and GenericsThere are no indefinite NPs whatsoever in the poem. Every lexicalized NP s either begins with the definite articles or has a generic nouns at its head. Th is suggests a tension between specific ness (the poet is referring to the specific situation around him, his life) and generality. The generic nouns force us intoseeing Larkin‟s comments as being not just about his own situations but also about modern life in general. As a result, a number of the nouns (e.g. the wi sh) appear to be capable of both specific and general interpretations at the same time (e.g. the speaker‟s wish, the wish of people in general).2.2.3 TenseThe whole poem is in the present tense. Th is aids the …specific but at the same time general‟ interpretation, as the present tense can be used to refer to the specific present situation and also to universal, timeless matters. These tw o aspects of the English present tense are referred to as the …instantaneous‟ and …timeless‟ present.2.2.4 PronounsThere are four pronouns in the poem, which in effect two pairs of repetiti ons in the first and last line of each stanza. All this in line 1 appears to be d emonstrative, referring out exophorically to the situation around the speaker. As line 5 is a repeat of line 1, it may have the same referring function. But in fact all this in line 5 can also be seen as functioning anaphorically--- that is, i t refers back to the clauses in line2-4. As a result, this this reflects the specifi c/general tension said above. The same can be said of it all in line 6 and 10, with the added point that the first it all is also capable of anaphoric reference back to the first stanza.2.3 Phoneticsa)Beyond all this; beneath it all(line 1, 5, 6 and 10)The repeated prepositional phrases at the beginnings of line 1, 5, 6 and 1 0 are similar in that they all consist of three words with 2, 1, 1 syllable patte rn. This phonetic parallelism helps reinforce the structural parallels pointed out earlier.b) this; wish(Line 1 and 5)They embody present versus hypothetical state.c)dark; cards(line 2)Dark has connotations of threat, and sometimes death; card here has an o bvious social reference.d)directions; sex(Line 3) family; photographed; flagstaff (Line 4)Here the assonance and alliteration help bring out the ritual and mechanic al aspects of the personal relations described in the poem.4. Link between stylistic feature and interpretationThe poem “Wants” is characterized with parallelism and repetition. Line 2 -4 in stanza 1 and lines 6 and 10 in stanza 2 are paralleled and Larkin thus i nvites us to see them as being in some sense the same, in spite of the differe nt things which they refer to. All six lines describe aspect of social life, whic h is then contrasted with the wish to be alone and the wish for oblivion or de ath.Furthermore, the three parallel items in each of the three middle lines of each stanza can be related together to show three finer aspects of the social lif e: the social group, the family and the sexually related people. The line 1and 5, 6 and 10 are repeated. The repetitions as well as the deviant, mainly metap horical, expressions in line 2-4 and 7-9 indicate the unreal, mechanical nature of social reality, especially, paradoxically, at the most personal end of the scal e. A further parallelism, the assonance between this and wish point out the gre at difference between the reality and the wish. In reality, man lives as a social animal in guise. However, they all wish for loneliness and death. Thus Philip Larkin portrayed the real picture of that times (LU, 2003).5. ConclusionBased on the poem “Wants”, this essay analyzes the stylistic feature such as lexis, grammar and phonetics and points out the link between the stylistic f eature and the interpretation of the poem. The importance of stylistic analysis makes the readers to have a deeper understanding of the poem and enhance th eir appreciation of poems. When reading a poem, we can‟t just focus on their contents but on their stylistic features since they are also of great help for app reciating poems.ReferencesLI, Yanlin. (2005). The Poet Laureate Philip Larkin and His “Wants”. US-China Foreign Language, 3(12), 14-17.LU, Aijing. (2001). Seeking after the Lost Past—on the themes of Philip Larki n‟s poetry. Journal of Sichuan International Studies University, 17(1), 53-55.LU, Aijing. (2003). The New Artistic Quality of Philip Larkin‟s Poetic Langua ge. Journal of Xiangtan Normal University, 25(4), 94-96.Short, Michael. H. (1984). Who is stylistics?. Foreign Language, (6), 37-42.Appendix:WantsBeyond all this, the wish to be alone:However the sky grows dark with invitation-cardsHowever we follow the printed directions of sexHowever the family is photographed under the flagstaff—Beyond all this, the wish to be alone.Beneath it all, desire of oblivion runs:Despite the artful tensions of the calendar,The life insurance, the tabled fertility rites,The costly aversion of the eyes from death—Beneath it all, desire of oblivion runs.Philip Larkin。

专八2003-2015年人文知识真题及答案

2003年英语专八人文知识真题31. is not a nationally observed holiday of America.[A] Christmas [B] Easter Sunday [C] Thanksgiving Day [D] Independence Day32. The university of Dublin was not founded until .[A] the 19th century [B] the 18th century [C] the 17th century [D] the 16th century33. The introduced old-age pensions in New Zealand in 1898.[A] Labor Party [B] Democratic Party [C] Liberal Party [D] Conservative Party34. Irish culture experienced a golden age from to .[A] the eighth century, the eleventh century [B] the seventh century, the ninth century[C] the sixth century, the eighth century [D] the ﬁfth century, the seventh century35. Which of the following writings is not the work by Charles Dickens?[A] A Tale of Two Cities [B] Hard Times[C] Oliver Twist [D] Sons and Lovers36. is a dramatist who holds the central position in American drama the modernistic period.[A] Sinclair Lewis [B] Eugene O'Neill [C] Arthur Miller [D] Tennessee Williams37. is often acclaimed literary spokesman of the Jazz Age.[A] Ernest Hemingway [B] F. Scott Fitzgerald [C] William Faulkner [D] Ezra Pound38. is a relationship in which a word of a certain class determines the form of others in terms of certain categories.[A] Concord [B] Immediate constituent[C] Syntagmatic relations [D] Government39. studies the sound systems in a certain language.[A] Phonetics [B] Phonology [C] Semantics [D] Pragmatics40. A linguistic situation in which two standard languages are used either by an individual or by a group of speakers is called .[A] situational dialect [B] slang [C] linguistic taboo [D] bilingualism2004年英语专八人文知识真题31. The following are products imported by Australia from China EXCEPT .[A] food [B] textiles [C] steel products [D] electronics32. Scots regard as the most important festival in a year.[A] Near Year's Day [B] Christmas Day [C] New Year's Eve [D] Easter33. The republican movement has been gathering momentum in Australia since became Prime Minister in 1992.[A] John Howard [B] Bob Hawke [C] Malcolm Fraser [D] Paul Keating34. was known for his famous speech "I have a dream".[A] John F. Kennedy [B] Martin Luther King, Jr[C] Abraham Lincoln [D] Thomas Jefferson35. Of all the 18th century novelists, ______ was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a "comic epic in prose", and the first to give the modern novel its structure and style.[A] Daniel Defoe [B] Samuel Johnson[C] Oliver Goldsmith [D] Henry Feilding36. Mark Twain, one of the greatest 19th century American writers, is well known for his .[A] international theme [B] waste-land imagery[C] local color [D] symbolism37. Hemingway's writing style, together with his theme and the hero, is greatly and permanently influenced by his experiences .[A] in his childhood [B] in the war [C] in America [D] in Africa38. English consonants can be classified into stops, fricatives, nasals, etc. in terms of .[A] manner of articulation [B] openness of mouth[C] place of articulation [D] voicing39. Which of the following words can correct two clauses in a coordinate sentence?[A] Through. [B] When. [C] But. [D] If.40. is the smallest unit of language in terms of relationship between expression and content.[A] Word [B] Morpheme [C] Allomorph [D] Root2005年英语专八人文知识真题31. is the capital of Canada.[A] Vancouver [B] Ottawa [C] Montreal [D] York32. U.S. presidents normally serve a (n) term.[A] two-year [B] four-year [C] six-year [D] eight-year33. Which of the following cities is NOT located in the Northeast, U.S.?[A] Huston. [B] Boston. [C]Baltimore. [D] Philadelphia.34. is the state church in England.[A] The Roman Catholic Church [B] The Baptist Church[C] The Protestant Church [D] The Church of England35. The novel Emma is written by .[A] Mary Shelley [B] Charlotte Brontë [C] Elizabeth C. Gaskell [D] Jane Austen36. Which of the following is NOT a romantic poet?[A] William Wordsworth. [B] George Elliot.[C] George C. Byron. [D] Percy B. Shelley.37. William Sidney Porter, known as O. Henry, is most famous for .[A] his poems [B] his plays [C] his short stories [D] his novels38. Syntax is the study of .[A] language functions [B] sentence structures [C] textual organization [D] word formation39. Which of the following is NOT a distinctive feature of human language?[A] Arbitrariness. [B] Productivity.[C] Cultural transmission. [D] Finiteness.40. The speech act theory was first put forward by .[A] John Searle [B] John Austin [C] Noam Chomsky [D] M.A.K. Halliday参考答案：BBADA BCBDB2006年英语专八人文知识真题31. The President during the American Civil War was .[A] Andrew Jackson [B] Abraham Lincoln [C] Thomas Jefferson [D] George Washington32. The capital of New Zealand is .[A] Christchurch [B] Auckland [C] Wellington [D] Hamilton33. Who were the natives of Australia before the arrival of the British settlers?[A] The Aborigines. [B] The Maori. [C] The Indians. [D] The Eskimos.34. The Prime Minister in Britain is head of .[A] the Shadow Cabinet [B] the Parliament [C] the Opposition [D] the Cabinet35. Which of the following writers is a poet of the 20th century?[A] T. S. Eliot. [B] D.H. Lawrence. [C] Theodore Dreiser. [D] James Joyce.36. The novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is written by .[A] Scott Fitzgerald [B] William Faulkner [C] Eugene O'Neill [D] Ernest Hemingway37. is defined as an expression of human emotion which is condensed into fourteen lines.[A] Free verse [B] Sonnet [C] Ode [D] Epigram38. What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is the notion of .[A] reference [B] meaning [C] antonymy [D] context39. The words "kid, child, offspring" are examples of .[A] dialectal synonyms [B] stylistic synonyms[C] emotive synonyms [D] collocational synonyms40. The distinction between parole and langue was made by .[A] Halliday [B] Chomsky [C] Bloomfield [D] Saussure参考答案BCADA DBDBD2007年英语专八人文知识真题31. The majority of the current population in the UK are decedents of all the following tribes respectively EXCEPT .[A] the Anglos [B] the Celts [C] the Jutes [D] the Saxons32. The Head of State of Canada is represented by .[A] the Monarch [B] the President [C] the Prime Minister [D] the Governor-general33. The Declaration of Independence was written by .[A] Thomas Jefferson [B] George Washington[C] Alexander Hamilton [D] James Madison34. The original inhabitants of Australia were .[A] the Red Indians [B] the Eskimos [C] the Aborigines [D] the Maoris35. Which of the following novels was written by Emily Brontë?[A] Oliver Twist. [B] Middlemarch. [C] Jane Eyre. [D] Wuthering Heights.36. William Butler Yeats was a(n) poet and playwright.[A] American [B] Canadian [C] Irish [D] Australian37. Death of a Salesman was written by .[A] Arthur Miller [B] Ernest Hemingway[C] Ralph Ellis on [D] James Baldwin38. refers to the study of the internal structure of words and the rules of word formation.[A] Phonology[B] Morphology[C] Semantics[D] Sociolinguistics39. The distinctive features of a speech variety may be all the following EXCEPT .[A] lexical[B] syntactic[C] phonological [D] psycholinguistic40. The word "tail" once referred to "the tail of a horse", but now it is used to mean "the tail of any animal." This is an example of .[A] widening of meaning [B] narrowing of meaning[C] meaning shift [D] loss of meaning参考答案CDACD CABDA2008年英语专八人文知识真题31. The largest city in Canada is .A. VancouverB. MontrealC. TorontoD. Ottawa32. According to the United States Constitution, the legislative power is invested in .A. the Federal GovernmentB. the Supreme CourtC. the CabinetD. the Conress33. Which of the following is the oldest sport in the United States?A. Baseball.B. Tennis.C. Basketball.D. American football.34. The head of the executive branch in New Zealand is .A. the PresidentB. the Governor-GeneralC. the British monarchD. the Prime Minister35. The Caterbury Tales, a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, is an important poetic work by .A. Willian LanglandB. GeoffreyC. William ShakespeareD. Alfred Tennyson36. Who wrote The American?A. Herman Melville.B. Nathaniel Hawthorne.C. Henry James.D. Theodore Dreiser.37. All of the following are well-know female writers in 20th-century Britain EXCEPT .A. George EliotB. Iris Jean MurdochC. Doris LessingD. Muriel Spark38. Which of the following is NOT a design feature of human language?A. Arbitrariness.B. Displacement.C. Duality.D.Diachronicity.39. What type of sentence is "Mark likes fiction, but Tim is interested in poetry"?A simple sentence. B. A coordinate sentence. C. A complex sentence. D. None of the above.40. The phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form is called .A. hyponymyB. synonymyC. PolysemyD.homonymy参考答案BCADBBDACD2009年英语专八人文知识真题31. The Head of State of New Zealand is .[A] the governor-general [B] the Prime Minister[C] the high commissioner [D] the monarch of the United Kingdom.32. The capital of Scotland is .[A] Glasgow [B] Edinburgh [C] Manchester [D] London33. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence and later became the U.S. President?[A] Thomas Jefferson. [B] George Washington. [C] Thomas Paine. [D] John Adams.34. Which of the following cities is located on the eastern coast of Australia?[A] Perth. [B] Adelaide. [C] Sydney. [D] Melbourne.35. Ode to the West Wind was written by .[A] William Blake [B] William Wordsworth[C] Samuel Taylor Coleridge [D] Percy B. Shelley36. Who among the following is a poet of free verse?[A] Ralph Waldo Emerson. [B] Walt Whitman.[C] Herman Melville. [D] Theodore Dreiser.37. The novel Sons and Lovers was written by .[A] Thomas Hardy [B] John Galsworthy [C] D.H. Lawrence [D] James Joyce38. The study of the mental processes of language comprehension and production is .[A] corpus linguistics [B] sociolinguistics[C] theoretical linguistics [D] psycholinguistics39. A special language variety that mixes languages and is used by speakers of different languages for purposes of trading is called .[A] dialect [B] idiolect [C] pidgin [D] register40. When a speaker expresses his intention of speaking, such as asking someone to open the window, he is performing .[A] an illocutionary act [B] a perlocutionary act [C] a locutionary act [D] none of the above答案31、D the monarch of the United Kingdom 32、B Edinburgh. 33、AThomas Jefferson. 34、C Sydney 35、D Percy B. Shelley36、B Walt Whitman. 37、C D.H. Lawrence. 38、D psycholinguistics.39、C pidgin. 40、A an illocutionary act.2010年英语专八人文知识真题31. Which of the following is INCORRECT?A. the British Constitution includes the Magna Carta of 1215B. the British Constitution includes Parliamentary actsC. the British Constitution includes decisions made by courts of law答案D：The British Constitution includes one single written constitution32. The first city ever founded in Canada isA. QuebecB. VancouverC. TorontoD. Montreal答案A：Quebec33. When did the Australian Federation officially come into being?A. B. 1788C. 1900D. 1901答案D：190134. The Emancipation Proclamation to end the plantation slavery in the south of US was issued byA. Abraham LincolnB. Thomas PaineC. George WashingtonD. Thomas Jefferson答案A：Abraham Lincoln35.Who was best known for the technique of dramatic monologue in his poems?A. Will BlakeB. W.B.YeatsC. Robert BrowningD. William Wordsworth答案C：Robert Browning36. The Financier was written byA. Mark TwainB. Henry JamesC.答案D：Theodore Dreiser37. In literature a story in verse or prose with a double meaning is defined asA. allegoryB. sonnetC. blank verseD. rhyme答案A：Allegory38.____ refers to the learning and development of a languageA. language acquisitionB. language comprehensionC. language productionD. language introduction答案A：language acquisition39. The word “motel”comes from “motor –hotel”. This is an example of “…”in morphology.A. backformationB. conversionC. blendingD. acronym答案C：blendingnguage is tool of communication, the symbol “highway closed”servesA. B.C. a performative function D. a persuasive function答案B：informative function2011年英语专八人文知识真题31. The northernmost part of Great Britain is _______.A. Northern IrelandB. WalesC. EnglandD. ScotlandTIP：选D。

A-stylistic-analysis-of-walt-whitman

湖南科技大学外国语学院课程学期论文课程名称：英语修辞学论文题目：A stylistic analysis of Walt Whitman’spoem“O Captain! my Captain!”姓名：吴飞班级：教育二班学号：0912010401学年学期：2012-2013-1A stylistic analysis of Walt Whitman’s poem“O Captain! my Captain!”O Captain my Captain! Our fearful trip is done,The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;Rise up--for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills,For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths for you the shores a-crowding, For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;Here Captain! dear father!This arm beneath your head!It is some dream that on the deck,You've fallen cold and dead.My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;Exult O shores, and ring O bells!But I, with mournful tread,Walk the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.IntroductionWalt Whitman was the first major poet to create a truly American vision and style. His extraordinary example gave American verse much of its subsequent character and diction. Rejecting traditional constraints of form and subject matter, Whitman considered democracy itself appropriate grist for his own poetic mill, inventing a radically different sort of free verse to express what he had to say.Whitman had a strong belief that nature was the root of all beautiful things, whether it was the smell of a flower, or the light of the moon anything that was natural had internal beauty and thereby had the possibility to make humanity beautiful. In many of his poems Whitman depicts that nature is what depicts the true soul of a man and has the power to both display it and control it. These aspects of nature were large parts of the American Romantic movement, which shows Whitman’s relationship to the American Romantics.AnalysisO Captain! My Captain! three-stanza poem by Walt Whitman, first published in Sequel to Drum-Taps in 1865. From 1867 the poem was included in the 1867 and subsequent editions of Leaves of Grass. O Captain! My Captain! is an elegy on the death of Pres. Abraham Lincoln. It is noted for its regular form, meter, and rhyme, though it is also known for its sentimentality verging on the maudlin. The poem, which was highly popular, portrays Lincoln as the captain of a sea-worn ship-the Union triumphant after the American Civil War. While “The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,” the Captain lies on the deck, “Fallen cold and dead.”Ⅰ. At the Phonological LevelMeterThis poem was thought of as the most traditional works of Whitman because of its strict meter, which reflects on the application of iambic throughout the whole poem. “the port is near, the bells i hear”, the meter just act as the waving waves. In this poem, Walt Whitman also adopted a complex pattern, which consisted of mixed lines of heptameter, trimeter and tetrameter. The poem contains three stanzas, and each of that consists of 8 lines. The first for lines is heptameter, while the next four lines are tetrameter or trimeter. Having adopted this kind of meter, the author expressed his deep sorrow completely.RhymeWhitman’s choice of rhymes went along with her strict application of meter. He employed the rhymes of “aabbcded”through this poem.The first four lines are two couplets and their rhyme is done/won and exulting/daring; bells/trills and a-crowding; still/will and done/won. The next four lines used the forms of “cded”, which reflects on heart/red/lies/dead, captain/head/deck/dead and bell/tread/lies/dead.Besides, many words also used rhyme. For example, “cold and dead”,”pale and still”, which had contributed to make the poem full of musicality.ApostropheApostrophe is a figure of speech which a thing, place, idea or person (dead or absent) is addressed as if present, listening and understanding what is being said. In the poem, Whitman used apostrophe in many places. “O captain! My captain!””But O heart! heart! heart!””Here Captain! dear father!”, which had expressed author’s deep sorrow and could easily cause the resonance of readers.Apostrophe is also one of the most important stylistics in this poem. The poet use second person together with first and third person to develop the poem. Sometimes he just like whisper to himself, sometimes he seems to cry to others, while sometimes it looks like he was crying to Lincoln.AlliterationIt has to do with the sound rather than the sense of words for effect. It is a device that repeats the same sound at frequent intervals and since the sound repeated is usually the initial consonant sound, it is also called "front rhyme". For instan ce, “the ship is anchor’d safe and sound.”rhetorical repetitionRhetorical repetition is an instance of using a word, phrase, or clause more than once in a short passage--dwelling on a point. In this poem, Whitman adopted this kind of stylistic in both stanzas. For example, in the first stanza, the author cried:”The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting”. In the second stanza, he cried that “ Rise up--for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills”. In the last stanza,the line “Exult O shores, and ring O bells” is rhetorical repetition as well. Which had given much power to this poem.The most appreciated thing is that Whitman always combine many stylistic together. For instance, he combined apostrophe and rhyme with rhetorical repetition in some lines, such as “Here captain! Dear captain!”.Ⅱ. At the Graphological LevelconfigurationThe shape of the poem had arranged carefully by the poet. The first four lines of each stanzas are aligning left with no space at the beginning of each line., while in the followed four lines, each stich get two characters more than the before stich. What’smore, the second to the forth lines are the longestones, while the first lines are shorter than them butlonger than the rest of stichs.This kind of arrangement makes the shape ofthe poem seems just like a ship. And at the beginning of each ship/stanza, there lies the word “O/My Captain”. It can conclude that Whitman had used the shape of the poem to implicate his respect to Lincoln. capitalizationThe tendency that Whitman had to capitalize nouns aimed at giving additional emphasis to the capitalized words at times, while being idiosyncratic. In this poem, all the “Captain”s as well as “O”s were capitalized, from which Whitman had expressed his special respect and deep sorrow to Abraham Lincoln.Ⅲ. At the Semantic LevelMetaphorMetaphor makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but different from a simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated. In this poem, Whitman had compared America which had experienced the Civil War only just to a ship which had succeeded suffered a storm recently, and compared president Abraham Lincoln who was assassinated when the victory was coming to the captain who had sacrificed before achieving at the coast. This stylistic won a great shocking for the poem and made it being one of the most classical imagery in the history of literature. AntithesisIn rhetoric, an antithesis is two sharply contrasting ideas balanced across a sentence. On the one hand, beside the coast there were vast of people with “bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths” to celebrate the return of the ship, but on the other hand, the narrator on the deck was in deep sorrow about the death of the captain. This sharp contrast had brought a dramatically effect. For example, in the first stanza, when the ship has weathered every rack, the people were all exulting, but the narrator was nearly break dow, ”O heart! heart! Heart!”conclusionWhitman had used variety of rhetorics in this poem, especially he used to combine different rhetorics together to make a classical but depressing poet. Which had brought great success to his work and made a great influence for America as well as the world. In this poem, Whitman had expressed his great respect to the great captain of America and at the seem time, he also expressed his deep sorrow to the death of him.ReferencesDongqiming. 2009. English Stylistics: A New Coursebook [G]. Bejing: Foreing language teaching and research press.Hallengren, Anders. The Code of Concord. Emerson's Search for Universal Laws. Stockholm: almqvist & Wiksell International, 1994. 287-301.Trent Lorcher, & S. Forsyth. 2012. Analysis of "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitma [M].Stanford: Stanford University Press.Voices Visions: Walt Whitman. <n.html>Wilson, Leslie Perrin. Thoreau, Emerson and Transcendentalism. NY: IDG Books worldwide Inc., 2000.任军，2009，《音韵偏离——惠特曼诗歌<哦,船长! 我的船长!>的文学文体学分析》[J].青年文学家（9）:111—120.。

【良心出品】AStylisticAnalysisofTheEagle

AStylisticAnalysisofTheEagle【Abstract】This paper aims to make a general analysis of the famous poem The Eagle from stylistic perspective.By analyzing its phonological，lexical and grammatical feature，the poet’s intention and emotional effect can be thoroughly understood.【Key Word】stylistic；lexical；phonological；grammaticalThe eagle is a short poem to praise a brave and proud eagle，and to memorize his friend，who possessed the same qualities.This is a profound theme the poet intends to express，and in the short poem，all the technique and aesthetic effect contribute to the understanding of the poet’s affection.He clasps the crag with crooked hands，Close to the sun in lonely lands，Ringed with the azure world，he stands.The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls；He watches from his mountain walls，And like a thunderbolt he falls.The poem boasts of a typical iambic foot，that is，a stressedsound appears after each weak sound.Alliteration lies in “clasps”，“crag”and“crooked”，and the powerful plosive /k/ shows the vitality and masculinity of the eagle，as well as the tough environment the eagle lives in.All these three words include the short but loud vowel /?/，making the poem full of musical effect by way of assonance.The poem is beautified by alliteration，assonance，consonance，greatly strengthening the melody.The word “thunderbolt”is phonetically deviated because it is the only three syllable word in the poem.And when reading the poem，the word is outstanding to break the static scene，making the most shocking sound when the eagle leaves.Besides，onomatopoeia is widely used，for the plosive sound make the tough impression of the eagle more vivid，contrasting with the description of the waves of ocean to imply that the sea is not as tempestuous and lively as the eagle.The words are carefully chosen，especially those describing the eagle and his environment.For example，“clasp”and “thunderbolt”are employed to strengthen the brave and strong image of the eagle.And “lonely”，“wrinkled”and “crawl”are used to describe the environment.In this way，the vast sky and boundless ocean make a contrast comparison with the eagle as his life is far richer and broad.So it serves as a foil to thepowerful and mysterious eagle.To use the pronoun “he”instead of“it”to describe the eagle is evidently lexically deviated，and its repetition in personification inevitably highlight the masculinity and other spirit associated with man.The word “lonely”is used to imply the solitude the eagle suffers from though he is so close to the sun.And“world” makes the loneliness stronger.The“wrinkled sea”becomes not so grand in the eyes of the eagle to indicate that the brave eagle has experienced many difficulties with a broad and proud mind.The last word“fall”instead of“fly”shows a n abnormal action leading to a variety of imaginary.Maybe he is getting down rapidly hunting animals as agile as“thunderbolt”，maybe he is so lonely that he chooses to die by falling down，maybe he is too old to fly，or it hints to his dead friend who could never come back to life again.Different thinking can cause different understanding to the poem，which leave readers more space to digest.The word “falls”not only contributes to esthetic effect，but also severs as the distillation of the content. As for sentence pattern，the second sentence of the first stanza is not a complete sentence as others in order to get the coherence in the whole poem，because the poet eclipses the subject“he”and the predictive link verb“is”to imply the loneliness of the eagle in a static way bygrammatically deviation.Besides，syntactical repetition is used by“He stands”and“he falls”at the end of each stanza，which give more emphasis the hero“he”，producing a great momentum with its emotional appeals to the full.After the whole analysis of the poem in stylistic way，we may find there are so many perfect points in this little poem.The poet has praised the eagle`s characters，such as aggressiveness，powerfulness and unyieldingness，by way of vivid personification for“he”and its surroundings.To analysis this poem deeper，we also could find the deep sorrow in Tennyson`s heart for his lost friend and his vivid expression of his own spirit of braveness，aggressiveness and violence.References：[1]赵?h萍.彭小强.英文诗The Eagle的功能语言学分析[J].南昌：南昌航空大学学报.2010.[2]SHORT，Mick.Exploring the Language of Poems，Plays and Prose，（Longman）[M].1996.[3]LEECH，G.N.& SHORT，M.H.Style in Fiction，（Longman）[M].1981.。

文体学答案

English StylisticsAnswers to Questions and TasksI. Introduction1. What is stylistics? Why is it considered to be a sub-branch of linguistics?Stylistics is a science dealing with styles. It is relegated to linguistics because it studies styles using the theories and methods of modern linguistics. It is concerned with the characteristic use of language by an individual or a group.2. What is style?Style refers to the habitual use of language typical of an individual or a group, including the effectiveness of language use in a particular context.3. Can we call the compositions written by a class of middle school students different styles?Explain.It is not appropriate to call the compositions of students of a class ‘different styles’ because students are still learning the language and they have not formed a linguistic habit yet. As they progress in language learning with time, they will improve their ability of using the language. As a result, the language they produce will be different. Only when they have a relatively fixed ways of using the language can we refer to their writings different styles.4. Name a few types of language habitually used by a group.The language that a group of people habitually use is usually known as a variety—the characteristic use of language in a particular context for a specific purpose, such as news report, business letter, advertisement, poetry, play, short story and so on.5. In what way can stylistics help us in our comprehension of the text?A very important part of comprehension is to get the meaning of a text. A grammarknowledge can only help us to understand the text in terms of its surface meaning. The study of style, however, can deepen our understanding and lead us to go beyond the surface and dig out the hidden meaning or the writer’s intended meaning such as class background, social status, region, occupation, education, political attitude, etc.6. How can stylistics help us in our study of a foreign language?Language is the most important means of communication. We learn a foreign language because we need it in communication. The most difficult problem in language learning is the appropriate use. Making correct sentences does not guarantee our effective use. Without a sense of style, it is impossible to achieve effective communication. As a foreign language learner, we can not acquire this sense of style as a native speaker does. We have to learn it formally and consciously. Once we internalize this conscious knowledge, we can improve our sense of style, which in turn leads to a better use of language.7. Explain how stylistics can help improve our study of literature.Each piece of literature is a piece of art. The understanding and appreciation of a literary work should be based on the study of the work itself. Since stylistics focuses on the study of literary language and explain how language contributes to the literary achievement of the text, it is scientific and convincing. Stylistics will introduce us to the theories and techniques of such intrinsic study, and this will no doubt raise our literary awareness and develop our ability of literary study and appreciation.8. What is the coverage of this course of stylistics?In simple terms, stylistics studies the language in use. It studies both spoken and written varieties, both literary and non-literary varieties, and both long and short texts. It covers a variety of genres. Because of the restraint of the time, we shall choose a few very practical varieties and make a detailed analysis.II. Procedures of Analysis1. What is text?A text is a passage, long or short, spoken or written, which is logically arranged and naturallyconnected.2. What makes a text a text?A text should be coherent. That is the whole text should center around one main idea.Meanwhile, a text should be cohesive. That is all the language units should be naturally connected.3. Comment on the following dialogue. Can we call it a text? What is missing?A. You come back for dinner, Darling?B. It’s Monday, Mum.C. OK.On the surface, the utterances seem not to come together as a text because they are not naturally connected. What is missing is cohesive devices. But put in the context that B is on night shift every Monday, and this knowledge is shared by Mother, the text can be said to be coherent and make sense. The coherence of the text is achieved by pragmatic implications. 4. What is wrong with the following passage consisting of three sentences in terms of text? (Thethree sentences are numbered (1),(2),(3)for the sake of discussion.)(1) I bought a new car yesterday. (2) His father got hurt in a car accident the daybefore. (3) Accidents are frequent nowadays.Although the three sentences are linguistically related, for example, in (1) a new car is mentioned, in (2) the same word car appears and in (3) accident used seems to refer back to car accident. But in terms of idea, the three sentences do not form a whole as a text because the three sentences are semantically unrelated.5. What is linguistic context?Linguistic context refers to the language environment in which a linguistic item is used and its meaning is defined. Such a language environment can consist of a phrase, a clause, a sentence, a paragraph, a passage, and even the whole book.6. What is non-linguistic context?Non-linguistic context refers to the physical situation, in which an utterance or a piece of discourse is produced. The meaning of the utterance or discourse is defined by the contextual factors.7. What are the components of the context of situation?The context of situation is non-linguistic context. It is composed of such factors relating to the user as: age, sex, family background, ethnic group, social status, education, economic status, etc. and factors relating to the use such as: setting, role-relationship, medium, etc.8. Comment on the following linguistic choices and classify them according to contextualfactors.1) What’s the time now?2) How is the enemy?3) Excuse me, but could you tell me the time me?4) Time?5) Would you mind telling me the time?6) My watch has stopped.7)Who’s got time?9. Find an example from any source to illustrate the mutual influence of linguistic choices andcontext.Professor: Good morning, good morning…You are…er…I suppose you really are … the new pupil?Pupil: Yes, Sir. Good morning, sir. You see I came at the right time. I didn’t want to be late.Professor: Good. Yes, that’s very good. Thank you. But you shouldn’t have hurried too much, you know. I don’t know quite how to apologise to you for having kept youwaiting…I was just finishing…you understand, I was just…er…I do beg your pardon…I hope you will forgiveme…Pupil: Oh, but you mustn’t, Sir. It’s perfectly all right, Sir.Professor: My apologies(Eugene Lonesco, The Lesson, pp.183-4)The role-relationship between the professor and the pupil requires more polite language on the part of the pupil. But through the conversation we can see the professor is polite and nervous and too polite for his status. It indicates the unusualness of the pupil. Although the language used by the pupil is polite, it implies dignity and sort of superiority of the pupil.10. In what way do we usually describe a text?A text can be described by its phonological level and graphological level. A text has itsphonological features such pronunciation, intonation, stress, rhethm and so on. The intonation and stress can often change the meaning of the utterance. Graphological forms of the utterance consist in spelling, capitalization, punctuation and so on. The former is to be heard and the latter is to be read. In terms of lexis and grammar, an utterance is the result of connecting a number of words by grammatical rules to convey meaning. The re-arrangement of words may lead to the change of meaning.11. What is the use of frequency in stylistic analysis?The style of a text is usually related to the high frequency of certain features. When the writer or speaker makes linguistic choices, s/he normally has the meaning in mind. The high frequency indicates their preference or intention. For example, if the writer wants to be friendly and intimate, s/he frequently uses informal features. If s/he wants to be cold and distant, s/he makes frequent choices of formal features.12. What is the effective way of making out the sense of a text?The effective way of making the sense of a text is to place the text in a context. Only when the contextual factors are determined, can we interpret the text validly.13. What is norm? How is norm formulated?Norm is the normal practice in speech or writing. That is language use according to conventional rules. These rules are usually based on the language practice by comparison. If in the same context, most people use language in a certain way, that usage can be said to be the norm. Unusual or peculiar ways of using the language is considered abnormal—against the norm. This norm results from comparison of large quantities of linguistic data.14. Look at the following passage. In what way is the high frequency of passive voice related tothe style of the text and its effect?We are now looking at another process. The heated plastics material is extrudedthrough a die in the form of threads. The threads are now drawn through a bath, tocool them. Then they are chopped into granules.This is a piece of scientific and technological English. Of the four sentences, three are in the passive voice. The high frequency of passive voice makes the writing impersonal, objective and formal. The one sentence in the active is concerned with people. In all the rest, focus is put on the material.15. Put the following text in three different contexts and give an interpretation for each.It will be raining tomorrow.In general cases, this is a statement, informing people there will be rain tomorrow. Suppose a class of students have planned to have a picnic in the open-air, this means “We must change our plan and postpone or cancel it.” If one is going to travel, i t asks the traveler to take an umbrella or rain coat along. If a place suffers from draught, this statement may mean get ready for the crop, and so on.III. Style Markers in Phonology1. What is usually dealt with in phonology?In phonology, we usually discuss speech sounds, stress, pitch, tempo, loudness, intonation patterns and so on.2. Identify and classify patterns of sound repetition in the following examples.1) Words and phrasesshilly-shally super-duper high and mightyfair and square k ith and kin toil and moilpart and parcel b y hook or by crookshilly-shally = pararhymesuper-duper = rhymehigh and mighty = assonancefair and square = rhymekith and kin = reverse rhymetoil and moil = rhymepart and parcel = reverse rhymeby hook or by crook = rhyme2) Titles and headlinesPride and PrejudiceThe Love’s labour LostOf Mice and ManBill Rogers, Marvelous Marathon ManFather in a FixWitch WatchThe Wonder of WaterfallPride and Prejudice = alliterationThe Love’s labour Lost = alliterationOf Mice and Man = alliterationBill Rogers, Marvelous Marathon Man = alliterationFather in a Fix = alliterationWitch Watch = alliterationThe Wonder of Waterfall = alliteration3) Advertisements--Drinka Pinta Milka Day--Extra Pintas Warma Winta--Be different daily. Be dreamy or dramatic. Ex-periment, but still economise.Be bold and be beautiful—but don’t break the bank.--Drinka Pinta Milka Day = sound elision--Extra Pintas Warma Winta = sound elision--Be different daily. Be dreamy or dramatic. Experiment,but still economise. Be bold and be beautiful—but don’t break the bank. = (in order)alliteration; alliteration; reverse rhyme; alliteration3. The underlined word(s) in each of the following examples is (are) understood as patterned insound on a word (or words) not present in the sentence. Can you explain the function of the implicit sound patterning?1) A chimp (chimpanzee) is named as Nim Chimpsky.2) A man called his tommy cat Romeow.3)Moby Disc—A Whale of a Record shop. (Advert)1) Nim Chimpsky sounds like Noam Chompsky, who believes that man has a languagelearning device in the mind, which enables the child to learn the language howeverbadly it is taught. This makes man different from animal, which does not have such adevice. That is why chimpanzee (who is considered to be the most intelligent animal)can never learn the language however hard it is taught.2)Romeow is a word imitating the sound made by a cat and shares the same pronunciationwith the main character in Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Romeo has deep love for Juliet. It indicates that Romeow the cat has affection for the master.3) Record shop named Moby Disc, which implies it is a huge shop of its kind, for it remindsone of the Moby Dick, a book which depicts people hunt a huge whole called Moby Dick.4. Point out phonological devices in the following extract.A creak of hinges and a booming thud at the back of the church indicates the arrival of alatecomer. As the priest turns back to the altar to read the offertory prayer, and the rest flutter the pages of their missals to find the English translation in its proper places, all hear the hurried tiptap of high-heeled shoes on the tiled surface of the central aisle.(David Lodge, How Far Can You Go)In this passage the authors uses alliteration high-heeled, assonance tiled surface of the central aisle. What is more conspicuous is the use of onomatopoeic words such as creak, booming thud, flutter, tiptap, which present the different kinds of noises heard in the church. The use of such words help the reader share the same experience of the writer and make the description vivid and believable.IV. Style Markers in Graphology1. What is graphology concerned with?Graphology deals with types of letters, spelling, capitalization, italicization, punctuation, hyphenation, paragraphing and all other forms.2. Explain the functions of punctuation.The written language is considered to be the graphological form of the spoken language.Punctuations take the place of pause, intonation, stress, tempo, loudness and so on in spoken form. A good writer can always manipulate punctuations to express different kinds of mood, tone, emotions such as anger, happiness, excitement, urgency, warning, surprise and so on. 3. How would you account for the role of paragraphing?As we know, each genre such as poem, pose, letter, and advertisement has its conventional graphological forms and requires different ways of paragraphing. The proper way of arranging paragraphs can contribute to the meaning of the text as well as attract attention and arouse the reader’s interest. For example, journalists favour short paragraphs, re gulations and rules are usually arranged in blocks numbered, business letter and a letter to a friend certainly require different paragraphing, and so on. In a novel, the conversations between characters and the language of the narrator are clear because of the paragraphing. Often just by paragraphing, reader can understand the intention of the writer.4. Read the following extract from the novel Adventures of Tom Sawyer and comment on thegraphological forms.“TOM!”No answer.“Tom!”No answer.“What’s gone with that boy, I wonder? You, TOM!”No answer.The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked overthem about the room, then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy; they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for “style”, not service—she could have seen through a pair of stove lids just as well. She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear:“Well, I lay if I get hold of you I’ll—”She did not finish, for by this time she was bending downand punching under the ed with the broom, and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with. She resurrected nothing but the cat.“I never did see the beat of that boy!”She went to the open door and stood in it and looked outamong the tomato vines and “jimpson” weeds that constituted the garden. No Tom. So she lifted up her voice at an angle calculated for distance, and shouted:“Y-o-u-u, Tom!”There was a slight noise behind her and she turned just intime to seize a small boy by the slack of his roundabout and arrest his flight.“There! I might ‘a’ thought of that closet. What you beendoing in there?”“Nothing.”“Nothing! Look at your hands. And look at your mouth.What is that truck?”“I don’t know, aunt.”--Mark TwainThis is one episode of the novel Adventures of Tom Sawyer, depicting how Granny is looking for Tom, who is naughty and hiding under the bed. The different form of letters with punctuation marks indicates how Granny speaks. When we read it, we have the feeling of watching Granny on a stage play. For example, “TOM!” is said louder than “Tom!”. “Y-o-u-u, Tom!” indicates Granny drawls her voice and with unusual loudness so as to be heard far away. The exclamation marks “!” show her emotion, and the dash “—“ implies her sudden stop. The italicized through emphasizes the contrast with “over” and “under”, humorously implying her glasses are intended for ornament rather than practical use. In the whole passage, we see the only character Granny, who is speaking to herself. It is very much like a stage monologue. After reading, we have a vivid image of Granny in our mind. And there is a touch of humour all through.V. Style Markers in Syntax1. What are the major elements of basic clause structure?The major elements of basic clause structure is SV(O)(C)(A).S stands for subject which can be a noun phrase, a pronoun and a noun clause. V is the short form for verb, which can be a single verb or a verb phrase. (O) (C) (A) mean the elements are optional; (O) stand s for ‘object’, (C) for ‘complement’ and (A) for ‘adverbial’. For example,SentenceS V O C AJohn found his dog dead in the yard.2. What are the criteria for clause classification?There are usually three ways of classifying clauses, i.e. classification according to constituents, verb phrase and functions. By constituents clauses can be grouped into SV(A), SVO(A), SVC, SVOO, SVOC. By verb phrase we have finite clause, non-finite clause and verbless clause. By functions clauses can be categorized either as independent clause or dependent clause.3. Differentiate a finite clause from a non-finite clause.A finite clause is one in which the verb is affected by the subject in number or person and bythe context in terms of time. For example,The earth moves around the sun.Zhang set out for the train station at 8:00 in the morning.A non-finite clause, however, is one in which the verb does not change. Such a cause can bean infinitive clause, participial clause or gerundial clause. For example,I heard Mary singing in the next room half an hour ago.He suggested going to the lecture.To be honest, I don’t like the movie.4. Explain the difference between an independent clause and a dependent clause.An independent clause is one which can stand alone such as:The Great Wall is really a wonder!She bought a notebook computer yesterday.Whereas a dependent clause can not stand alone but is always a subordinate element in a sentence. For example,I know that she bought a notebook computer yesterday.That the Great Wall is one of the seven wonders is known to many people across the world. *5. What is situation type?Clauses can be viewed as means of representing patterns of one’s objective and subjective experience in the world. Each of these clauses is called a situation type. All the clauses can be categorized into a number of situation types*6. How do we distinguish situation types?Situation types can be distinguished according to verb meaning, i.e. whether the meaning is dynamic or stative. Dynamic meaning refers to a happening or occurrence, which has a beginning and an end. It may be momentary or durative, e.g.He left for Beijing two hours ago.The students have been play basket ball for more than an hour.Stative meaning refers to a situation thought of as existing, continuous and unchanging, e.g.Who owns the house?I understand what you mean.*7. Name the participant roles in action types?The participant roles in action types are: agentive role (doer of the action), external force (causer of the action), intrumental role (tool to do the action with), recipient role (receiver of the action) and objective role (the affected or the result of the action).*8. What are the participant roles in stative types?Stative types involve such participant roles as (1) relational: identifier and the identified, and carrier and the attribute, e.g.a. Cathy is diligent.b. Tom is our class president.In a Cathy is the carrier and diligent the attribute, and in b Tom is the identified and our class president is the identifier.(2) mental: sensor and the phenomenon, e.g.The dog smelled the handbag and started barking.In this example, the dog is the sensor and the handbag is the phenomenon.*9. Why do we need to analyse situation types of clauses in a text?In language agency, animacy, dynamic action, mental states and so on seem to be the basic categories to show how hunman beings present the world and their experiences through language. Consistent choice and avoidance of certain types suggests the mind-style of a writer or speaker. For instance, the emphasis of objective or instrumental role manifests the writer’s intention to disclaim the agent’s responsibility as in “Penalty is enforced when books are taken out of the library” rather than “We shall penalize those who take books out of the library.”10. What is sentence?A sentence is the largest language unit, which expresses a complete thought and is able tostand alone; it begins with a capital letter and ends with full stop, question mark or exclamation mark when it is written on paper. But it ends with a long pause or in rising tone or falling tone.11. What is a simple sentence?A simple sentence conforms to the basic clause structure SV(O) (C) (A).12. What is a multiple sentence?A multiple sentence consists of more than one clause. It may be either a compound sentence,a complex sentence, or a mixed sentence. A compound sentence contains two or morecoordinating clauses. A Complex sentence is composed two or more clauses, among which one must be the main clause and the rest is or are subordinate clauses. A mixed clause comprises both compound and complex sentence, and sometimes called compound-complex sentence.13. What is the difference between a minor sentence and an incomplete sentence?Neither type conforms to the basic clause structure. But a minor sentence is supposed to be “complete” in the sense that it is finished. An incomplete sentence never comes to its end because of sudden interruption or other reasons. For example,(1) Attention, please.(2) Help!(3) Going to the lecture?(4) Why are you late?Because I—Of the four sentences, (1) (2) (3) are minor sentences whereas (4) is an incomplete.14. Analyse the text below, considering such aspects as:(Day Survey written by Phyllis Walden, a housewife, married to a farm labourer.)9 o/c I get up, wash, make tea, cook breakfast and feed everyday. He says he’ll help withthe housework, as Jay has contracted a skin complaint and I have to dress her badplaces’. This takes half an hour. Clear away wash up. We both tidy dining room. Hehelps me upstairs too. Then at 10:30 I start to prepare dinner. This consists of roastbeef, potatoes, beans and marrow all from own garden. Apple pie and custard tofollow.2:15 Dinner on the table at last. I am surprised I’ve not had a ‘wigging’ from himself at it being so long after one o/c our usual time. But I just couldn’t hurry today. We allenjoy meal.3:30 Clear away we wash up together. Children out in garden. I make scones for tea.4:45 Sit down. Look at the wireless programme—Decide to tune in at 5 o/c.6 o/c Rouse to the tune of crockery being put on the table. Himself getting tea ready.Good gracious! I’ve been asleep an hour. Rush to wash and change.Looks verydull going to rain I think.7:30 Put children to bed. Himself sits nursing cat. I curl up in a low armchair. Listening to wireless. Going to get dark early tonight. Raining. We sit in the twilight….1) the average length of the sentences;The passage has 230 words and 32 sentences. The average sentence length is 7.2 words.This shows the style is colloquial, casual.2) the ratio of simple to multiple sentences;The ratio of simple to multiple sentences is 32: 4.3) the ratio of minor to major sentences.The ratio of minor to major sentences is 59(19 minor S):41(13 major S).15. What is noun phrase?A noun phrase is a phrase with a noun as the key word and functions as a noun in a sentence16. What are the major components of a noun phrase?A complete noun phrase consists of four constituents: determiner, pre-modifier, head andpost-modifier. The determiner can be an article, numerals, numeral pronouns; all the words between the determinative and the head are pre-modifier, whatever part of speech they belong to; the head can be a noun or a pronoun; the post-modifier is usually a prepositional phrase, a noun phrase, a non-finite clause, a relative clause, etc.17. What is the use of pre-modification?Frequent use of pre-modification in newspaper headlines can economize space, and arouse the reader’s interest as well because pre-modification is usually short, thus cannot spell out details. This keeps the reader in suspense and kicks up their eagerness to find out.Pre-modification tends to be informal and appears in less formal style.18. What is the function of post-modification?Post-modification can be very long and complicated. Using post-modification can give enough room for details and for further information. Therefore, it is frequently used in moreformal contexts, for instance, written language. Written legal English prefers post-modification in noun phrases, because the composer of a legal document must ensure that it conveys meaning exactly and explicitly, guarding against any possible misinterpretation.19. The following is a text from From Russia with Love written by Ian Fleming, follwed by a listof noun phrases. Please mark the constituents in number (1, 2, 3, 4).Breakfast was bond’s favourite meal of the day. When he was stationed in London it was always the same. It consisted of very strong coffee, from De Dry in New Oxford Street, brewed in an American Chemex, of which he drank two large cups, black and without sugar. The single egg, in the dark blue egg cup with a gold ring round the top, was boiled for three and a third minutes.It was a very fresh, speckled brown egg from French Marans hens owned by somefriend of May in the country. (Bond disliked white eggs and, faddish as he was inmany small things, it amused him to maintain that there was such a thing as theperfect boiled egg.) Then there were two thick slices of whole wheat toast, a large patof deep yellow Jersey butter and three squat glass jars containing Tiptree ‘LittleScarlet’ strawberry jam; Cooper’s Vintage Oxford marmalade and Norwegian HeatherHoney from Fortnum’s. The coffee pot and the silver on the tray were Queen Anne,and the china was Minton, of the same dark blue and gold and white as the egg cup.very strong coffee from De Bry…sugaran American Chemextwo large cups, black and without sugardark blue egg cup with a gold ring round the topa very fresh speckled brown egg from French…countryFrench Marcans hens owned by …countrytwo thick slices of wholewheat toastwholewheat toasta large pat of deep yellow jersey butlerdeep yellow jersey butlerthree squat glass jars containing…Fortnum’stiptree ‘Little Scarlet’ strawberry jamcooper’s Vintage Oxford marmaladeNorwegian Heather Honey from Fortnum’sVery (1) strong (2) coffee (3) from De Bry…sugar (4)An (1) American (2) Chemex (3)Two (1) large (2) cups (3), black and without sugar (4)dark blue egg (2) cup (3) with a gold ring round the top (4)a (1) very fresh speckled brown (2) egg (3) from French…country (4)Fre nch Marcans (2) hens (3) owned by …country (4)two (1) thick slices of wholewheat (2) toast (3)wholewheat (2) toast (3)a (1) large pat of deep yellow jersey (2) butler (3)deep yellow jersey (2) butler (3)。

Stylistic Analysis of William Butler Yeats' s Poem When You Are Old

校园英语 / 文艺鉴赏Stylistic Analysis of William ButlerYeats’s Poem When You Are Old武汉大学/秦泽昊【Abstract】As one of the foremost figures of the 20th century literature, William Butler Yeats has created lots of famous poems, including the poem When You Are Old, which expresses his love to Maud Gonne and his understanding of love. Stylistics provides us a new perspective to analyze and understand poems. This thesis just applies the theory of stylistics and analyzes the poem from phonological, lexical, syntactic/grammatical and semantic features. After analyzing it word by word and line by line, readers can feel the poet’s strong emotions more easily and profoundly.【Key words】stylistic analysis; William Butler Yeats; poemI. IntroductionWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of the twentieth century literature. He was staunch in affirming his Irish nationality and maintained his cultural roots. In 1923, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature as the first Irishman so honored for what the Nobel Committee described as “inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation”. Fellow poet Wystan Hugh Auden assigned Yeats the high praise of having written “some of the most beautiful poetry” of modern times. Yeats is a Symbolist poet and uses allusive imagery and symbolic structures throughout his career. He chooses words and assembles them so that they suggest other abstract thoughts that may seem more significant. The poem When You Are Old was written in 1893, four years after he met Maud Gonne. He fell in love with her at the first sight and proposed to her four times in his life, but she refused each proposal, even when she was frustrated in the marriage. The poem just expresses Yeats’intense love to Maud Gonne through the elaborated design. As a branch of linguistics, stylistics studies style in a scientific and systematic way concerning the linguistic features of different varieties of language at different levels. It links literary criticism to linguistics and provides a new way to appreciate literary works. Using the theory of stylistic analysis can help us understand the poem more profoundly.II. Stylistic Analysis1. Phonological FeaturesUnlike other modernists preferring free verse, Yeats is a master of the traditional forms. The poem shares the pattern of iambic pentameter (V—V—V—V—V—). And the rhyme scheme of the poem is a (sleep) b (book) b (look) a (deep), c (grace) d (true) d (you) c (face), e (bars) f (fled) f (overhead) e (stars). In the fifth, ninth and twelfth lines, glad and grace, bending and beside, hid and his are alliteration. In the third, seventh and eighth lines, read and dream, one and loved, changing and face are assonance. In the fourth line, once and shadows is consonance. The application of alliteration, assonance and consonance make the poem sound beautiful. Also, Yeats like using words with diphthong, triphthong or long vowel to express strong emotions. For example, soul, glowing ([əʊ]), grace, face ([eɪ]) and eyes, beside ([aɪ]) are diphthongs, ﬁre ([aɪə]) is triphong and read, dream ([i:]), bars, stars ([ɑ:]) are long vowels.2. Lexical FeaturesIn this poem, Yeats uses lots of words to describe the appearance and behaviors of the man and his beloved one. The poet just draws a picture to convey the artistic conception rather than gives his own comments. That is to say, the diction is descriptive rather than evaluative. Also, the poet tends to use simple words. The poem has one hundred words in total. Among them, eighty words are monosyllabic, and twenty words are polysyllabic. In this way, the poem becomes catchier. And there are thirteen verbs or verbal words in this poem. Nine of them (nodding, take, read, dream, bending, murmur, fled, paced and hid) are dynamic verbs and express activities, while four of them (all of them are loved) are static verbs and express a kind of emotion.3. Syntactic/Grammatical FeaturesIn this poem, Yeats tends to use simple sentences. He uses a series of verbs to describe the man’s beloved one. And adverbial modifiers are frequently used, such as the use of gerund (e.g. nodding by the ﬁre) and prepositional phrase (e.g. with love false and true). Also, different tenses are used in this poem. When describing the beloved one’s behavior, the poet uses present tense to make the imaginary scene more vivid and authentic. When talking about love and the love towards the beloved one, the poet uses past tense and talks about the stories. As for the voice, all of the lines are active voice. In this way, descriptions are more lifelike and acceptable, and readers are easier to imagine the scene described in the poem. What is more, sentences in the poem are not as grammatical as those in academic writings. The poet can adapt the word order, omit some sentence elements or only use some sentence fragments to express meanings. The tolerance of non-grammatical phenomena provides the chance of creating masterpieces for the poet.- 253 -- 254-校园英语 / 文艺鉴赏4. Semantic FeaturesThis poem applies lots of rhetorical devices, e.g. antithesis, metaphor, personification, imagery and symbolism. The fifth to eighth lines make a comparison between the man ’s and other people ’s love towards the beloved one and show the differences more clearly. The man loves all of the things about his beloved one, even her grey hair and wrinkle. His love is eternal and selfless. In the eighth line, the poet uses pilgrim to modify Soul. On the one hand, the sanctity and purity of the lady is just like the pilgrims that pay their respects to the god sincerely. On the other hand, her sacriﬁce for the national independent movement is great and holy. The use of metaphor intensifies the perfectness of the lady. In the last three lines of the poem, love is described as a human. Love can flee, pace and hide, but the man never changes his love. This reﬂects the toughness of the man ’s love skillfully. Also, there are many images in the poem, e.g. the fire and the glowing bars. They are coordinated with each other. The fire is warm and easy to make people recall the things happened before. Love can be dissolved by time. The man wants his beloved one to understand him and cherish his love. At the end of the poem, the poet uses symbols to express his firmness of love. Mountains mean toughness and tenacity, and stars mean eternity and immortality. Whenever and wherever he is, the man loves the lady so much. He gives her best wishes and wishes her to be happy forever.III. ConclusionThe poem When You Are Old expresses Yeats ’s intenselove to Maud Gonne profoundly and impresses readers a lot. Yeats deserves Thomas Stearns Eliot ’s high praise, the greatest poet in contemporary era. This thesis applies the theory of stylistics and analyzes the poem from phonological, lexical, syntactic/grammatical and semantic features. After analyzing it in detail, readers can feel the poet ’s strong emotions more easily. The poet hires several ways to rhyme, e.g. alliteration, assonance and consonance. Rhyme dramatically adds a sense of musical beauty to the poem. Also, by using words with diphthong, triphthong or long vowel, the poet conveys his strong emotions successfully. His using Anglo-Saxon words, monosyllabic words and simple sentences make the poem sound brief and delicate. In addition, the poet expresses his feelings and emotions more completely and intensely by using a series of rhetorical devices and techniques of expression accurately and properly. By reading the poem, readers can easily feel Yeats ’ love to Maud Gonne and the sorrow that he is refused by his beloved one. References:[1]董启明.新编英语文体学教程[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2009.[2]王冬菊.英语文学概论[M].西安:西安交通大学出版社,2012.[3]李正栓,吴晓梅.英美诗歌教程[M].北京:清华大学出版社,2004.作者简介：秦泽昊(1994.12-)，女，汉族，河南郑州人，武汉大学外国语言文学学院，本科，主要研究方向：英美文学，外国语言学。

文体学 3(9-22)

Examples
• Round the rock runs the river. • Sharper/garter, plain/ plate • Feat/beat/sweet
Supra-segmental features
Super-segmentals (prosodic features) are stylistically significant in the following aspects: Stress rhythm intonation Pitch height and pitch range Pause Tempo
Chapter 3 Linguistic Description
3.1 Levels of language 3.2 Stylistics features 3.3 Procedure of linguistic description
The relation between three aspects in a speech event and the levels of language • Substance the level of phonology/graphology • Form the level of lexis and grammar • Situation the level of semantics, the contextual relations between situation and form
Onomatopoeia
eg: The clock ticked away the minutes. She clapped the book shut. The actress was hissed off the stage. AVSEQ02.DAT

专八人文知识真题05-11年(附答案)

1。

______ is the capital city of Canada。

A。

VancouverB。

OttawaC. MontrealD。

York2。

U.S。

presidents normally serves a （an）_________term。

A。

two-yearB. four-yearC. six-yearD。

eight-year3。

Which of the following cities is NOT located in the Northeast, U。

S。

？A。

Huston。

B. Boston。

C。

Baltimore。

D。

Philadelphia。

4。

________ is the state church in England.A. The Roman Catholic Church.B。

The Baptist ChurchC. The Protestant ChurchD. The Church of England5. The novel Emma is written byA。

Mary Shelley。

B. Charlotte BronteC。

Elizabeth C。

Gaskell.D. Jane Austen。

6. Which of following is NOT a romantic poet？A。

William Wordsworth.B。

George Elliot.C。

George G。

Byron。

D。

Percy B. Shelley.7。

William Sidney Porter, known as O. Henry，is most famous forA。

his poems.B。

his plays。

C. his short stories.D。

his novels8。

Syntax is the study ofA. language functions.B. sentence structures。

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A Stylistic Analysis of William Wordsworth’s Poem“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”I wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o’er vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host of golden daffodils;Beside the lake,beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.Continuous as the stars that shineAnd twinkle on the Milky Way,They stretched in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bay:Ten thousand saw I at a glance,Tossing their hesds in sprightly dance.The waves beside them danced;but theyOutdid the sparkling waves in glee:A poet could not but be gay,In such a jocund company:I gazed-and gazed-but little thoughtWhat wealth the show to me had brought:For oft,When on my couch I lieIn vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eyeWhich is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dance with the daffodils.IntroductionWilliam Wordsworth is a significant figure in English literature.The publication of “Lyrical Ballads” by him and Coleridge declares the break with classicism and thebeginning of the Romantic revival in England.The poetry of the Romantic Age in England has its own characteristic features-spontaneity,worship of nature,simplicity and so on,which is contrary to the poetry in the period of classicism.Wordsworth is most celebrated for his poetry of nature.To him nature means more than rivers,trees,lakes...It has a moral value and has its philosophical significance. Nature is the greatest of all teachers,and those who are not corrupted by urban society,especially those simple rustic people,can communicate with nature which gives them power,peace and happiness.Analysis“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is no exception to his remarkable work about nature.It is inspired by an event on April,1802,in which Wordsworth and his sister come across a “long belt” of daffodils.This poem shows the typical writing style of the poet--six lines in each stanza ending with a rhyming couplet,iambic tetrameter, various figures of speech and the connection between man and nature.The poem develops in the perspective of first person.The speaker is a lonely poet who makes a heaven out of a windy day and a bunch of daffodils,in which he gets happiness and peace.1.At the Phonological LevelMeterIn this poem,Wordsworth adopts his formal pattern:iambic tetrameter.This means each line has four iambs.An iamb is a short,unaccented syllable followed by a longer,accented syllable.Take the third stanza for example:..........1..............2..................3. (4)The WA VES.|.be SIDE.|.them DANCED;.|.but THEY......1................2..................3. (4)Out-DID.|.the SPARK.|.ling WA VES.|.in GLEE:....1.............2.............3. (4)A PO.|.et COULD.|.not BUT.|.be GAY......1.............2...........3 (4)In SUCH.|.a JOC.|.und COM.|.pa NY:.......1................2..................3.. (4)I GAZED—.|.and GAZED—.|.but LIT.|.tle THOUGHT...........1....................2............3 (4)What WEALTH.|.the SHOW.|.to ME.|.had BROUGHT:Special pronunciationIn the first stanza, line 6 appears to veer from the metrical format. However, Wordsworth likely intends fluttering to be read as two syllables (flut' 'RING) instead of three so that the line maintains iambic tetrameter.OmissionThe two words ”o’er”and”oft”respectively belongs to syncope and apocope. Wordsworth adopts the way of omission to make the meter accordant.RhymeIn each stanza, the first line rhymes with the third and the second with the fourth. The stanza then ends with a rhyming couplet.Obviously,the rhyme schemeis:ABABCC.The use of rhyming couplet makes each stanza independent andself-sufficient,which does not destroy the integrity of the poem.Because Wordsworth unifies the content of the poem by focusing the first three stanzas on the experience at the lake and the last stanza on the memory of that experience.2.At the Lexical LevelRepetitionThe word”dance”is repeated in the poem.It appears in all stanzas.Daffodils can not actually dance,so Wordsworth is ascribing to them an action that is associated with people.In this poem,the daffodils are having a party of dance just like people.The poet is surrounded by this atmosphere and joins it in the end.He gets rid of his loneliness. ”Dance”lays the emotional tone of the poem.Archaic wordIn the last line of the second stanza,”hesds”means heads.3.At the Syntactical and Grammatical LevelThe frequent use of inversion“Ten thousand saw I at a glance”,”What wealth the show to me had brought”,”when on my couch I lie”,”And then my heart with pleasure fills”,all of these sentences are not written in normal word order.Wordsworth adopts inversion to meet his need in the use of rhyme and strange syntax.At the same time,this kind of change avoids the pale description that can bring by normal order.Under this arrangement,the whole poem gets rid of ordinariness and is full of energy.4.At the Semantic LevelPersonificationIn this poem,the daffodils are personified as a crowd of people who are just like having a party of dance.The personification of the daffodils becomes more specific in the line 12.The”hesds”of the daffodils are the part of the flower with the petals.It is larger and heavier than the stem,and so it bobs in a breeze.When you think about it,it is kind of amazing how flowers support themselves.HyperboleIn the line 9,the speaker says that the lines of daffodils is “never-ending,”but we know this can not be strictly true:all good things come to an end.This is an example of hyperbole.MetaphorIn the last stanza,Wordsworth imagines the daffodils in his spiritual vision,for which he uses the metaphor of an “inward eye.”His heart dances like a person,too. SymbolismWhen the speaker is feeling lonely,the daffodils keep him company.The happiness of the daffodils can always cheer him up,and he can tell that they are happy because they dance.Wordsworth views the natural world as a spiritual realm.The daffodils symbolize the“bliss” of heaven occurs in his imagination.He uses of Christian ideas and images to make an ode to nature without any reference to God.Conclusion“All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”“Poetry takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”These are Wordsworth’s poetic principles and they are fully explained in the poem”I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud ”. He stresses the role of instinct and the feelings of “the heart” instead of classicists’emphasis on ”the head”,on regularity and uniformity.His view about nature,his ingenious use of rhetorical devices and his power of imagination,all contribute to creating a fresh prospect for the development of English poetry.References。