Approximate Scheme of Overall Stylistic Analysis of a Fiction Text

*The text (extract, excerpt, episode, passage, piece, paragraph) under consideration (analysis) comes from

- (indefinite) a work of literature (novel, story, short story, tale, play, fable, poem) written by... name of the author,

- (definite) the book (novel, story, short story, tale, play, fable, poem)... name of the work...written by... name of the author.

*The author (writer, poet) is famous for (known as an) ...a bit of infor­mation about the author and his works, style of writing.

*The extract concerns (is devoted to, deals with)...

*The basic theme is...

*The central idea finds its particularization in.../ is disclosed through the following collision (internal/ external conflict)...

*From the point of view of presentation the text is

 

- the l^s7 3^rd person narrative

- rather a description than a narration

- rather a narration than a description

- a mixture of narration and description

with some a) insertions of direct/ interior/ represented speech;

b) lyrical/ critical/ philosophical digression/ retardation/

foreshadowing/ flashbacks to the past

*The plot is simple/ complex/ intricate. It centres around...

*The setting of the events is realistic/ historical/ fantastic/ exotic/ rural.

*The span of time the extract covers is (obviously)...

*The narrative flow is straight/ complex/ circular/ frame-like.

*The climax of the plot development is presented in...

*The denouement is shown in...

*The sentence structure is (predominantly) a) simple; b) composite; c) complicated by the following predicative complexes...; homogeneous/ het­erogeneous enumeration of... It is aimed at exciting (evoking) a feeling/ an emotion/ a state of mind/ the sense of being a witness of a particular logical (complex, confused) philosophical (moral, social) consideration (observation).

*The text segmentation is realized by the following graphic means:...

*The tone of the piece of literature is formal/ semiformal/ informal/ conversational/ casual/ sympathetic/ cheerful/ vigorous/ serious/ humorous/ mock-serious/ lyrical/ dramatic/ excited/ agitated/ passionate/ impassive/ detached/ matter-of-fact/ dry/ impartial/ melancholy/ moralizing/ unemo­tional/ pathetic/ sarcastic/ ironical/ sneering/ bitter/ reproachful, etc. It be­comes obvious owing to:

a) such cases of morphemic foregrounding as repetition of the root.../

the prefix.../the suffix.../the inflexion

b) the morphological transposition of...;

c) the following phonetic stylistic phenomenon/ -na:...

*The direct/ indirect characterization of the person-image/ landscape-image/ animal-image/ object-image ...mention the person/non-person im­age... is achieved with a number of stylistic devices.

Thus, thanks to the

- associated (unassociated) epithet(s)...

- dead (original) nominational (cognitive, imaginative) simple (sustained)

metaphor..., etc.

we may perceive the optimistic/ involved/ critical/ contemptuous/ ironi­cal/ cynical, etc. attitude of the narrator/ interlocutor(s).

 

A deliberate exaggeration.../an unexpected comparison (simile).../-round-about metonymic (metaphoric) way of portraying (exposing, revealing enforcing, rendering, bringing out, ridiculing, etc) the positive (negative, con­tradictory, complex/ well-rounded) character of... produces the effect of

To stimulate/ stir imagination (to arouse warmth/ affection/ compassion/ delight/ admiration/ dislike/ disgust/ aversion/ resentment/ antipathy, etc.; to in­crease the credibility of the plot; to stimulate the reader to make his own judge­ment; to increase the immediacy and freshness of the impression, etc.) the author makes use of... name the stylistic phenomenon {phenomena), etc.