Stylistic devices

investigation of graphical means—the signals indicating the correct

interpretation of the utterance—, on the other,

Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton is the stylistic device of connecting sentences, or phrases, or syntagms, or words'by using connectives (mostly conjunc¬tions and prepositions) before each component part, as in:

"The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast qf the advantage over him in only one respect." (Dickens)

In this passage from Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha", there is ^repetition both of conjunctions and prepositions:

"Should you ask me, whence these stories?

' Whence these legends and traditions, With the odours of the forest, With the dew, and damp of meadows, With the curling smoke of wigwams, With the rushing of great rivers, With their frequent repetitions,..."

The repetition of conjunctions and other means of connection makes an utterance more rhythmical; so much so that prose may even seem like verse. The conjunctions and other connectives, being generally un¬stressed elements, when placed before each meaningful member, will cause the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables — the essential requirement of rhythm in verse. Hence, one of the functions of polysynde¬ton is a rhythmical one.

In addition to this, polysyndeton has a disintegrating function. It generally combines homogeneous elements of thought into one whole resembling enumeration. But, unlike enumeration, which integrates both homogeneous and heterogeneous elements into one whole, poly¬syndeton causes each member of a string of facts to stand out conspic¬uously. That is why we say that polysyndeton has a disintegrating func¬tion. Enumeration shows things united; polysyndeton shows them iso¬lated. ;

Polysyndeton has also the function of expressing sequence, as in:

"Then Mr. Boffin... sat staring at a little bookcase of Law Practice and Law Reports, and at a window, and at an empty blue bag, and a stick of sealing-wax, and at a pen, and a box of wafers, and an apple, and a writing-pad — all very dusty — and at a number of inky smears and blots, and at an imperfectly disguised gun-case pretending to be something legal, and at an iron box labelled "Harmon Estate", until Mr. Lightwood ap¬peared." (Dickens)

All these ands may easily be replaced by thens. But in this case too much stress would be laid on the logical aspects of the utterance, where¬as and expresses both sequence and disintegration.

Note also that Dickens begins by repeating not only and, but also at. But in the middle of the utterance he drops the at, picks it up again, drops it once more and then finally picks it up and uses it with the last three items.

The Gap- Sentence Link

There is a peculiar type of connection of sentences which for want of a term we shall call the g ap-s en fence link (GSL). The conne¬ction is not immediately apparent and it requires a certain mental effort to grasp the interrelation between the parts of the utterance, in other words, to bridge the semantic gap. Here is an example:

"She and that fellow ought in Italy" (Galsworthy)

to be the sufferers, and they were

In this sentence the second part, which is hooked on to the first by the conjunction and, seems to be unmotivated or, in other words, the whole sentence seems to be logically incoherent. But this is only the first impres¬sion. After a more careful supralinear semantic analysis it becomes clear that the exact logical variant of the utterance would be:

'Those who ought to suffer were enjoying themselves in Italy (where well-to-do English people go for holydays).'

Consequently, GSL is a way of connecting two sentences seemingly unconnected and leaving it to the reader's perspicacity to grasp the idea implied, but not worded. Generally speaking, every detail of the situa¬tion need not be stated. Some must remain for the reader to divine.

As in many other cases, the device of GSL is deeply rooted in the norms of the spoken language. The omissions are justified because the situation easily prompts what has not been said. The proper intonation also helps in deciphering the communication. It is also natural in conver¬sation to add a phrase to a statement made, a phrase which will point to uncertainty or lack of knowledge or to the unpredictability of the possi¬ble issue, etc., as in:

says nothing, but it is clear that she is harping on this engagement, and — goodness knows what." (Galsworthy)

In writing, where the situation is explained by the ,writer and the intonation is only guessed at, such breaks in the utterance are regarded as stylistic devices. The gap-sentence link requires a certain mental effort to embrace the unexpressed additional information.

The gap-sentence link is generally indicated by and or but. There is no asyndetic GSL, inasmuch as connection by asyndeton can be carried out only by semantic ties easily and immediately perceived. These ties are, as it were, substitutes for the formal grammatical means of connection. The gaft-sentehce link has no immediate semantic connections, therefore it requires formal indications of connection. It demands an obvious break in the semantic texture of the utterance and forms an "unexpected seman¬tic leap."

The possibility of filling in the semantic gap depends largely on associations awakened by the two sentences linked cumulatively. In the following utterance ihЈ connection betwreen the two sentences needs no comment.

"It was an afternoon to dream. And she took out Jon's letters." (Galsworthy) *

While maintaining the unity of the utterance syntactically the author leaves the interpretation of the link between the two sentences to the mind of the reader. It is the imaginative mind only that can decode a message expressed by a stylistic device. Nowhere do the conjunctions and and but acquire such varied expressive shades of meaning as in GSL constructions. It is these nuances that cause the peculiar intonation with which and or but are pronounced. Thus in the following sentence the

conjunction and is made very conspicuous by the intonation signalled.

by the dash:

"The Forsytes were resentful of something, not Individually, but as a family, this resentment expressed itself in an added per¬fection of raiment, an exuberance of family cordiality, an exagger¬ation of family importance, and—the sniff" (Galsworthy)

The GSL and—the sniff is motivated. Its association with 'an exagger¬ation of family importance' is apparent. However, so strong is the emo¬tive meaning of the word sniff that it overshadows the preceding words which are used in their primary, exact, logical meanings. Hence the dash after and to add special significance to the cumulative effect. This exam¬ple shows that GSL can be accompanied by semantic gaps wider or narrower as the case may be. In this example the gap is very narrow and therefore the missing link is easily restored. But sometimes the gap is so wide that it requires a deep supralinear semantic analysis to get at the implied meaning. Thus in the following example from Byron's maiden speech: "And here I must remark with what alacrity you are accustomed to fly to the succour of your distressed allies, leaving the distressed of your own country to the care of Providence or—the parish"

Here the GSL, maintained by or and followed by the dash, which indicates a rather long pause, implies that the parish, which was supposed to care for impoverished workers, was unable to do so.

By its intrinsic nature the conjunction, but can justify the apparently unmotivated coupling of two unconnected statements. Thus, in the fol¬lowing passage GSL is maintained by and, backed up by but.

"It was not Capetown, where people only frowned when they saw a black boy and a white girl. But here... And he loved her" (Abrahams)

The gap-sentence link as a stylistic device is based on the peculiari¬ties of the spoken language and is therefore most frequently used in represented speech. It is GSL alongside other characteristics that moulds the device of unuttered represented speech.

The gap-sentence link has various functions. It may serve to signal the introduction of inner represented speech; it may be used to indicate a subjective evaluation of the facts; it rnay introduce an effect result¬ing from a cause which has already had verbal expression. In all these functions GSL displays an unexpected coupling of ideas. Even the cause- * and-effect relations, logical as they are, when embodied in GSL structures are not so obvious.

In contra-diitinction to the logical segmentation of the utterance, which leaves no room for personal interpretation of the interdependence of the component parts, GSL aims at stirring up in the reader's mind the suppositions, associations and conditions under which the' sentence uttered can really exist.

E.  PARTICULAR USE OF COLLOQUIAL CONSTRUCTIONS

We have already pointed out some of the constructions which bear an imprint of emotion in the very arrangement of the words, whether they are neutral or stylistically coloured (see" p. 39). Such constructions are almost exclusively used in lively colloquial intercourse. The emotional element can be strongly enforced by emphatic intonation, which is an indispensable component of emotional utterance. But what is important to observe is that the structure itself, independent of the actual lexical presentation, is intended to carry some emotional charge.

Emotional syntactical, structures typical of the spoken variety of language are sometimes very effectively used by men-of-letters to depict the emotional state of mind of tha characters; they.may even be used, in particular-cases, in the narrative of the author. But even when used in the dialogue of novels and stories these emotional constructions, being deprived of their accompaniment—intonation—assume a greater signifi¬cance and become stylistically marked. Here the emotional structures stand out more conspicuously, because they are thrown into prominence not by the intonation pattern but by the syntactical pattern.

Consequently, it will be found necessary to classify some of the most typical structures of these kinds, in spite of the lurking danger of confus¬ing idiomatic phrases (set expressions, phraseological units) with abstract patterns.

a) One of the most typical patterns is a simple statement followed by the pronoun that+noun (pronoun)+verb to be (in the appropriate form), for example:

"June had answered in her imperious brisk way, like the little embodiment of will that she was." (Galsworthy)

"And Felix thought: 'She just wants to talk to me about Derek, Dog in the manger that I am.'"

b) Another pattern is a-question form with an exclamatory meaning expressing amazement, indignation, excitement, enjoyment, etc., for example:

"Old ladies, Do I ever hate them?"

"He said in an awestruck voice: 'Boy, is that a piece of boat!'"

"And boy, could that *guy spend money Г

"And was Edward pleased!"

"'Look', she said. 'Isn't that your boss there, just coming in?' 'My God! Yes,' said Lute, 'Oh, and has he a nice package?' Til say. That's his wife with him, isn't it?'" (O'Hara) "A witch she is. I know her back in the old country. Sure, and didn't she come over on the same boat as myself?" (Betty Smith)

Note that this pattern is generally preceded by an exclamatory word, or an interjection, or the conjunction and in the same function.

c) The third pattern is a morphological one (generally use of contin¬uous forms), but mentioned here because it is closely connected with syntactical structures, inversions, repetitions and others, for example:

"You are not being silly, are you?" (Leslie Ford) "Now we're not going to have any more of that, Mrs Euston."

(O'Hara)

d) The fourth pattern, also very common in colloquial English, is a construction where a noun or pronoun subject followed by the verbs to have (noun+object) or to be (noun+predicative) ends with the two com¬ponents in inverted order, for example:

"She had a high colour, had Sally"

"He has a rather curious smile, has my friend"

"She is a great comfort to me, is that lass" (Cronin)

Sometimes though, the noun or pronoun subject is predicated by notional verbs. In this case fodoisused in this trailing emphatic phrase, as in:

"He fair beats me, does James Brodie'1 (Cronin)

Negative forms are frequently used to indicate an emotional out-burst of the speaker, for instance:

"You don't say!"

"I do say. I tell you I'm a student of this." (J. Steinbeck) "Don't be surprised if he doesn't visit you one of these days." (=if he visits you)

The emphasis is weaker in the second example.

The basic patterns of emotional colloquial constructions enumerated above have a particularly strong stylistic effect when they are used in the author's speech. The explanation of this must be sought in the well-known dichotomy of the oral vs the written variety of language.

As has been previpusly pointed out, the oral variety has, as one of its distinctive features, an emotional character revealed mostly in the use of special emotive words, intensifiers and additional semanticizing factors caused by intonation and voice qualities. The. written variety is more intellectual; it is reasoned and, ideally, is non-emotional. So when such constructions have travelled from their homeland—dialogue — into the author's domain — monologue—, they assume the quality of an SD. Some of the examples given above illustrate this with sufficient clarity.

Among other cases of the particular use of colloquial constructions are 1) ellipsis, 2) break-in-the-narrative, 3) question-in-the-narrative, and 4) represented speech.

Ellipsis

Ellipsis is a typical phenomenon in conversation, arising out of the situation. We mentioned this .peculiar feature of the spoken language when we characterized its essential qualities and properties.

But this typical feature of the spoken language assumes a new qual¬ity when used in the written language. It becomes a stylistic device

inasmuch as it supplies suprasegmental information. An elliptical sentence in direct intercourse is not a stylistic device. It is simply a norm of the spoken language.

Let ug take a few examples.

"So Justice Oberwaltzer — solemnly and didactically from his high seat to the jury." (Dreiser)

One feels very acutely the absence of the predicate in this sentence. Why was it omitted? Did the author pursue any special purpose in leav¬ing out a prirrtary member of the sentence? Or is it just due to careless¬ness? The answer is obvious: it is a deliberate device. This particular model of sentence suggests the author's personal state of mind, viz. his indignation at the shameless speech of the Justice. It is a common fact that any excited state of mind will manifest itself in some kind of violation of the recognized literary sentence structure.

Ellipsis, when used as a stylistic device, always imitates the com¬mon features of colloquial language, where the situation predetermines not thje..QmissipЈ...of^ but their absence. It would perhaps be adequate io call sentences lacfang certain members4 "incomplete-sentences", leaving the term ellipsis to specify struc¬tures where we recognize a digression from the traditional literary sen¬tence structure.

Thus the sentences 'See you to-morrow/, 'Had a good time?', 'Won't

are typical'^oF jhe jcollo^^ ^^ structures in the spoken

language and to call them elliptical, means to judge every sentence structure according to the structural models of the written language. Likewise, such sentences as the following can hardly be called elliptical.

"There's somebody wants to speak to you." "There was no -breeze came through the open window." *•  * '    . .   ; K                      (Hemingway) "There's many a man in this Borough would be glad to have the blood that runs in my veins." (Cronin)

The relative pronouns who, which, who after 'somebody', 'breeze', 'a man in this Borough' could not be regarded as "omitted" — this is the norm of colloquial language, though now not in frequent use except, perhaps, with the there (s (яге) constructions as above. This is due, per¬haps, to the standardizing power of the literary language. O. Jespersen, in his analysis of such structurea, writes:

"If we speak here of 'omission' or 'subaudition' or 'ellipsis'* the reader is apt to get the false impression that the fuller expres¬sion is the better one as being complete, and that the shorter ex¬pression is to some extent faulty or defective, or something that has come into existence in recent times out of slovenliness. This is wrong: the constructions are very old in the language and have not come into existence through the dropping of a. previously necessary relative pronoun."

, Here are some examples quoted by Jespetsen:

'7 bring him news will raise his drooping spirits."

"...or like the snow falls in the river."

"...when at her door arose a clatter might awake the dead."

However, when the reader encounters such structures in literary texts, even though they aim at representing the lively norms of the spoken, language, he is apt to regard them as bearing some definite stylistic function. This is due to a psychological effect produced by the relative rarity of the construction, on the one hand, and the non-expectancy of any strikingly colloquial expression in literary narrative.

It must be repeated here that the most characteristic feature of the written variety of language is amplification, which by. its very nature is opposite to ellipsis. Amplification generally demands expansion of the ideas with as full and as exact relations between the parts of the utterance as possible. Ellipsis, on the contrary, being the property of colloquial language, does not express what can easily be supplied by the situation. This is perhaps the reason that elliptical sentences are rarely used as stylistic devices. Sometimes the omission of a link-verb adds emotional colouring and makes the sentence sound more emphatic, as in these lines from Byron:

"Thrice happy he who, after survey

of the good company, can win a corner."

"Nothing so difficult as a beginning."

"Denotes how soft the chin which bears his touch."

It is wrong to suppose that the omission of the link-verbs in these sentences is due to the requirements of the rhythm.

Break-in-the-Narrative (Appsiopesis)

Aposiopesis is a device which dictionaries define as "A stop¬ping short for rhetorical effect." This is true. But this definition is too general to' disclose the stylistic functions of the device.

In the spoken variety of the language, a break in the narrative is usually caused by unwillingness to proceed; or by the supposition that what remains to be said can be understood by the implication embodied in what has been said; or by uncertajnty as to what should be said.

In the written variety, a break in the narrative is always a stylistic device used for some stylistic effect. It is difficult, however, to draw a hard and fast distinction between break-in-the-narrative as a typical feature of lively colloquial language and as a specific stylistic device. The only criterion which may serve as a guide is that in conversation the implica¬tion can be conveyed by an adequate gesture. In writing it is the context, which suggests the adequate intonation, that is the only key to de¬coding the aposiopesis.

In the following example the implication of the aposiopesis is a warn¬ing

"If you continue your intemperate way of living, in six months' time ..."

In the sentence:

"You just come home or I'll ..."

the implication is a threat. The second example shows that without a context the implication can only be vague. But when one knows that the words were said by an angry father to his son over the telephone the im¬plication becomes apparent.

Aposiopesis is a stylistic syntactical device to convey to the reader a very strong upsurge of emotions. The idea of this stylistic device is that the speaker cannot proceed, his feelings depriving him of the ability to express himself in terms of language. Thus in Don Juan's address to Julia, who is left behind:

"And oh! if e'er I should forget, / swear—  ;i But that's impossible, and cannot be." (Byron)

Break-in-the-narrative has a strong degree of predictability, which is ensured by the structure of the sentence. As a stylistic device it is used in complex sentences, in particular in conditional sentences, the //-clause being given in full and the second part only implied.

However, aposiopesis may be noted in different syntactical structures.

Thus, one of Shelley's poems is entitled "To—", which is an aposio¬pesis of a different character, inasmuch as the implication here is so vague that it can be likened to a secret code. Indeed, no one except those in the know would be able to find out to whom the poem was addressed.

Sometimes a break in the narrative is caused by euphemistic consid¬erations—unwillingness to name a thing on the ground of its being offen¬sive to the ear, for example:

"Then, Mamma, i hardly like to let the words cross my lips, but they have wicked, wicked attractions out there—like dancing girls that—that charm snakes and dance without—Miss Moir with downcast eyes, broke off significantly and blushed, whilst the down on her upper lip quivered modestly." (Cronin)

Break-in-the-narrative is a device which, on the one hand, offers a number of variants in^deciphering the implication and, on the other, is highly predictable. Thevproblem of implication is, as it were, a crucial one in stylistics. What is implied sometimes outweighs what is expressed. In other stylistic devices the degree of implication is not so high as in break-in-the-narrative. A sudden 'break in the narrative will inevitably focus the attention on what is left unsaid. Therefore the interrelation between what is given and what is new becomes more significant, inasmuch as the given is what is said and the new—what is left unsaid. There is a phrase in colloquial English which has become very familiar: "Good intentions but—"

The implication here is that nothing has come of what it was planned to accomplis

Aposiopesis is a stylistic device in which the role of the intonation implied cannot be over-estimated. The pause after the break is generally charged with meaning and it is the intonation only that will decode the communicative significance of the utterance.

Question-in-the-Narrative

Questions, being both structurally and semantically one of the types of sentences, are asked by one person and e'xpected to be answered by another. This is the main, and the most characteristic property of the question, i. e. it exists as a syntactical unit of language to bear this partic¬ular function in communication. Essentially, questions belong to the spoken language and presuppose the presence of an interlocutor, that is, they are commonly encountered in dialogue. The questioner is presumed not to know the answer.

Q uestion- in- the- narrative changes the real nature of a question and turns it into a stylistic device. A question in the narrative is asked and answered by one and the same person, usually the author.

It becomes akin to a parenthetical statement with strong emotional implications. Here are some cases of quest ion-in-tbe-narrative taken from Byron's "Don Juan":

1) 'Tor what is left the poet here?

For Greeks a blush—for Greece a tear."

2) "And starting, she awoke, and what to view?

Oh, Powers of Heaven. What dark eye meets she there? 'Tis—'tis her father's—fix'd upon the pair."

As is seen from these examples, the questions asked, unlike rhetorical questions (see p. 244), do not contain statements. But being answered by one who knows the answer, they assume a semi-exclamatory nature, as in 'what to view?'

Sometimes quest ion-in-the-narrative gives the impression of an inti¬mate talk between the writer and the reader. For example:

"Scrooge knew he was dead! Of course he did. How could it be, otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years." (Dickens)