Assignments for stylistic analysis. 1. Define the theme of the extract.

1. Define the theme of the extract.

2. Analyse the way and form of presentation - whether the passage is the l^s7 3^rd person narration/ description. What is the author's role?

3. Characterise the stylistic value of the following morphological items within the text: the superlative degree form: "we'd have the whole river all to ourselves for the longest time"; the pronoun "you"; the number catego­ry in "Yonder was the banks and the islands", "they was made..., was hove out of the nest"; the infinitive form: "we used to lay on our backs", "I've seen a frog lay";;expression of correlation: "it would have took too long to make so many", "the moon could a laid them", "of course it could be done";;the double negation: "I didn't say nothing"; double ex­pression of the same syntactic component: "from one of them crafts ", "Jim he allowed...". What are those grammatical forms among the mentioned ones that speak of a) the pragmatic intention, b) emotional state, c) educa­tional background of the narrator? Specify.

4. Point out and comment on the stylistic functions of a) detachment, b) asyndeton, c) repetition.

5. Characterise the following metaphors: "the sky, up there, all speck­led with stars"; "the moon could a laid them"; "they'd got spoiled and was hove out of the nest";.

6. Define the tone of the piece, the narrator's character, and the idea expressed in the text.

 

 

Item 2

"E was blinded up 'Eeps way*, sir. Come out o' St. Dunstans Гц р nothin', not a man's work. Weaves mats, or something like that. Course, 'e '_s got 'is pension, but what I always ses is, what's a pension to a man what's lost 'is sight? See 'im walkin' past 'ere last week, with 'is ole mother 'olding 'im by the arm t' guide 'im, an' lookin' up at 'im pitiful like. Give me a turn it did, 'im with 'is scarred face - good-lookin' young feller 'e was too once-and 'er leadin' 'im along like a child. Gives up all 'er life to that boy, she does. But she ain't many years for this world, crackin' up fast, she is, and then what's goin' t' look after 'im?'

* 'E was blinded up 'Eeps way - Він втратив зір у боях поблизу Іпра (ipres [i:pr] - Іпр - бельгійське місто, у районі якого рімці влітку! igjy року вперше застосували ядовитый газ, який отримав назву іприт).

From Richard Aldington's The Lads of the Village