Republic of the Philippines

NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY

Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

EL 121 – STYLISTICS AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

STYLISTICS ANALYSIS OF A STORY

“MY FATHER GOES TO COURT”

BY CARLOS BULOSAN

INSTRUCTOR

STEVEN CARL SILAGAN

GROUP 6

BALDOVINO, EUNICE DIVINE EVE T.

BAYLON, FELIX CANDID T.

CORTES, DAREEN

HAYAHAY, RAZEL JON S.

MIOLE, PETER NEIL M.

MAY 08, 2023

 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

1. INTRODUCTION
Stylistics places a major emphasis on studying the aesthetic aspect of language in its two media:
written and oral. Stylistics looks into many types of language stretches including: literary texts,
speeches, legal texts, news reports, advertisements, jokes and many more. Linguists place
stylistics in a mediated position between linguistics and literary criticism, with application of
linguistic methods and rules to literary texts, which elucidates naming stylistics as "linguistic
criticism" or "literary linguistics" (Fowler, 1986; Fabb et al, 1987). Style is a Latin word that is
used in referring to the method by which the writer utilises the means of language, selection of
words, order of sentences and the use of poetic devices (Khan, Raffique, Saddique, 2014).
Writer's style reflects his/her fingerprint, through which he communicates thoughts, feelings and
even personality to the recipients. One sometimes can guess truly the name of an author through
his style of writing, in the sense that some writers tend to deviate from the norms of language by
violating or breaking all language sub-systems including phonetic, graphological, morphological,
syntactic and semantic systems, making his/her style unique and distinguished. Linguists make
many attempts to reach a working definition of stylistics. Allan. et al (1988) defines stylistics as:

"A branch of linguistics which studies the characteristics of situationally distinctive use of
language with particular reference to literary language and tries to establish the principles
capable of accounting for the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their
use of language".

Lawal, (1997) further contends that stylistics refers to applying linguistic rules to a literary text.
According to Verdonk (2002), stylistics is the study of distinctive features of language with
clarification of their purposes and effects. Widdowson (1975) advances one more definition of
stylistics as examining literary language from a linguistic perspective, in which stylistics creates
a connection between literary criticism and linguistics. He adds that "Stylistics is an area of
mediation between two disciplines… that Stylistics can provide a way of mediating between two
subjects: English Language and literature”. From the foregoing discussion, there is no general
consensus over the definition of stylistics, however it is agreed on that stylistics is a separate
discipline playing a mediating role between linguistics and literature.

Historically speaking, stylistics began as a distinctive discipline between 1910 and 1930 with the
work of some Russian Formalists and some British and American semanticists. The three groups
of linguistics stress the significance of studying the aesthetic use of both literary and non-literary
texts. During the 1960s and 1970s, stylistic studies increased in which stylisticians employed
descriptive methods of linguistic theories in literary workssuch as those of American and
European structuralism, Transformational Grammar and systemic-functional grammar. At that
time, many journals specialized in stylistics appeared and stylistics was recognised as a separate
discipline. In the 1980s and 1990s, interest in stylistics dropped as many linguists refrained from
carrying out stylistic studies and interested more in cultural and mono-linguistic analysis.
However, claims supporting the study of stylistics remain robust as critics are still referring to
linguistic methods when explaining literary texts (Cureton, 1992).

A very essential principle of stylistic study is "foregrounding". This term is recognised by

Simpson (2004) as the technique of making language strange, which involves deviating from the
rules of language or using the means of parallelism. According to Childs and Fowler (2006),
foregrounding is easily identified when the writer violates from the norms or conventions of
language so that he transcends the boundaries of language. One glaring example of
foregrounding is the use of metaphor and other literary devices in literature, which is regarded as
a semantic deviation. In discourse, foregrounded clauses or sentences contain the most
significant ideas and thoughts in the text that the writer or poet attempts to convey to the reader.

Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 2
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

Whereas the function of other clauses in the text is to support or provide more clarifying details
of the foregrounded clauses.

Foregrounding is mostly exhibited in literature, particularly in poetry. Poetry is distinguished

from prose by style. In other words, poets deviate from the conventional style of language, where
they abundantly employ figures of speech e.g. metaphor, simile, alliteration, metonymy, pun and
others. Poets tend to violate language rules in order to direct the attention to their style of writing
not to what they write (Leech, 1969). In the view of foregrounding, several language deviations
can be found in literature.

1- Semantic Deviation: This implies how simple words can express extraordinary meaning or
using words to convey deeper meanings different from what they used to be.

2- Phonological Deviation: This requires the use of some sounds to create rhythmic language.
This can be identified with the repetition of sounds or missing sounds.

3- Graphological Deviation: This is manifested in the unordinary use of punctuation marks,

capitalisation and font-size or type.

4- Morphological Deviation: It is connected with any irregularities in the formation or structure

of words.

5- Syntactic Deviation: It is known as violation of the grammatical rules or norms of language

such as ordering words in a sentence wrongly or using tenses inappropriately.

6- Historical Deviation: It is related, for instance, to borrowing words from old or middle English
and using them in contemporary texts. Those words are no longer employed in everyday
language.

When doing stylistic analysis, stylisticians look primarily at the irregularities found in the target
text compared to regular texts. The following lines, which are taken from a poem published in
1939 by the American poet Cummings illustrate many types of deviation.

love is more thicker than forget

more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave
is wet more frequent than to fail

Simpson (2004) argues that one of the most conspicuous deviation in this poem is ignoring
orthographic and spelling rules of English. More specifically, the poet removes all punctuation
marks such as full stops, commas or semi colons. In addition to the removal of capitalisation in
the onset of each line. The poem is also untitled, which is the most notable violation. Those lines
deviate from the grammatical rules of English, in the sense that the poet uses "more + adj+er" as
in more thinner. In addition, the poet uses "than + verb" as in than forget or than to fail. Those
instances manifest a glaring violation of English grammatical rules.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study aims at fulfilling the objective:

1. Conducting an extensive stylistic analysis of the English story "My Father Goes to
Court"

Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 3
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

written by Carlos Bulosan.

2. BACKGROUND OF THE STORY

Father Goes To Court was written by Carlos Bulusan. It was about the two different
families and how they are living their lives. The family of the narrator was the poor. The poor
family is living happily and healthy while on the other hand is the rich family who is living
without social life.
The story is set in a city in the Philippines. The young narrator begins by describing his
large family. Though they are poor they are full of mischief and laughter. They are all strong and
healthy even though they often go hungry. While the rich children are thin and sickly although
they are given plenty of good food, which their neighbors enjoy smelling the scent of the food
over the fence. Because of this the rich man accuses the narrator’s family that they are stealing
the spirit of his family’s food. Then the case goes to court,
While in the court, father says that he will pay back the rich neighbour. He does this by
collecting coins from all his friends present. Then he shakes the hat full of coins. Being charged
to pay for the spirit of food which his family supposedly got from its smell, he maintains that the
jingling of the coins is a fair equivalent. The judge rules the poor father’s favor, and the rich man
is forced to depart with no other payment than the “spirit” of the money the poor man collected.
The poor father played a good and respectful role in the court despite of the rich man’s
nonsense accuses, he just seems so relaxed inside the court while the hearing is on going.

3. RELATED LITERATURE
This review of literature depicts some previous studies that conducted a stylistic analysis on
literary works. Those studies aim principally at showing the aesthetic use of language in those
works alongside deviation from the norms of English.

Yeibo (2011) conducts a discourse-stylistic analysis of mood structures in selected poems of J.P.
Clark- Bekederemo. The researcher argues that Clark-Bekederemo's works have not been
extensively examined from a linguistic point of view. This study examines mood structures
(declarative, interrogative and imperative moods) in the poems of Bekederemo with the aim of
gaining insight into the way interlocutors speak, judge their role and attitude in discourse. In
analysing mood of the dialogue, the researcher employs Halliday's systemic functional Grammar.
Such an approach helps the researcher investigate the stylistic and discourse aspects of the
dialogue. In other words, how the language communicated and what is communicated. The study
concludes that mood structures used by poets are heavily dependent on objectives of language
use in a particular situation.

Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 4
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

Mugair and Mahadi, (2014) present an overview of the two inseparable concepts: style and
stylistics. This research study is divided into three main parts: (i) Part one introduces stylistics as
a discipline and other linguistic principles. This section presents types of stylistic analysis and
some linguistic features that are intimately related to stylistics such as choice of words, sentence
structure, cohesion, coherence, punctuation marks and figures of speech. (ii) Section two
discusses the works of some authors on style such as Fundamental of Good Writing by Brooks
and Warren, A Short Way to Better English, states by Chapman. (iii) Section three is devoted to
the conclusion. In this study, the researchers choose the speech of Martin Luther King

"I have a dream" to analyse its linguistic features stylistically. The researchers conclude that style
works in tandem with the spirit of liberty and equality in order to make the speech great one.

Jaafar, (2014) implements a stylistic analysis of two poems. The first poem is "maggie and milly
and molly and may” by E. E. Cummings, while the second poem is "A Kite for Aibhín" by
Seamus Heaney. The study attempts to apply plenty of linguistic features to the two poems.
More specifically, the study conducts extensive analysis of phonological, morphological,
graphological, syntactic and figurative features of the two poems. In addition, the writer
discusses the aesthetic use of language in the two poems including assonance, alliteration,
repetition and simile. The author concludes that a stylistic analysis of a poem enhances
understanding of the literary work. Stylistics give readers the opportunity to enjoy and feel the
aesthetic aspect of language.

In a parallel way, Khan, Raffique and Saddique, (2014) carry out a stylistic study on a poem
entitled " The Onset" by Robert Frost. The poem which was published in 1923 discusses two
opposing ideas; commitment to life and peacefulness of death so that a person falls in the
dilemma of fulfilling his life dreams or remaining in the wood, which leads him to doubtfulness.
The authors look into the stylistic use of some poetic devices in the poem such as symbolism,
imagery, simile, metaphor and hyperbole. Furthermore, the study discusses some sound devices
used by the author in the poem such as alliteration, consonance, assonance and rhyme scheme.
The study comes to the conclusion that the poem has very deep meanings, in which the poet
expresses using poetic devices like winter and spring to symbolise life and death.

In a similar vein, Khan and Khan (2015) analyse statistically a novel entitled " Black Beauty" by
Anna Swell. The study aims chiefly at discussing the aesthetic use of language in the novel by
analysing several literary devices. The novel is an autobiography of a horse named "black
beauty” and is narrated by the horse himself depicting his own life moments from cruelty to
kindness. In analysing the language of the novel, the researchers employ Halliday's Systemic
Function Linguistics in which the text is analysed by using different inter-connected levels

Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 5
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

including formal level and situational context level. In addition, the study analyses both
phonological features (sound repetition, sound elision and elongation of sounds) and
gramaphological features (punctuation marks, capitalisation, spelling, brackets, hyphenation,
dashes and pictures). Having analysed the text thoroughly, it is concluded that aesthetic language
in the text fosters comprehension especially in a text with multilayers of senses. Having
reviewed some previous studies, it is fitting to say that analysing some literary works is of a
paramount important to confirm the following points. First, the scope of the aforementioned
studies is restricted to literary works excluding Mugair and Mahadi (2014) who discussed a
speech of Martin Luther King. Some studies analyse poems (Yeibo, 2011; Jaafar, 2014; Khan,
Raffique and Saddique, 2014), whereas other studies discuss novels (Khan and Khan, 2015).
Second, some of those studies look into only poetic devices in the text (Jaafar, 2014), while
others look into linguistic devices solely (Mugair and Mahadi, 2014, Khan and Khan, 2015).

4. METHODOLOGY
The short story “My Father Goes to Court” has undergone a rigorous analysis to uncover the
stylistic features of the literary piece. This paper aims to analyze the four levels of linguistics:
phonological, semantic, syntactic, and graphological level. Additionally, it will also analyze the
figurative languages employed throughout the text such as hyperbole, simile, imagery,
onomatopoeia and repetition.

4.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE AUTHOR

Carlos Bulosan was born in the Philippines in the rural farming village of Mangusmana, near the
town of Binalonan (Pangasinan province, Luzon island) on November 2, 1911, near the end of a
tumultuous period in his country’s history. He was the son of a farmer and spent most of his
upbringing in the countryside with his family. Like many families in the Philippines, Carlos’s
family struggled to survive during times of economic hardship. Many families were
impoverished and many more would suffer because of the conditions in the Philippines created
by US colonization. Rural farming families like Carlos’ family experienced severe economic
disparity due to the growing concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the economic and
political elite. Determined to help support his family and further his education, Carlos decided to
come to America with the dream to fulfill these goals.

4.2 BACKGROUND OF THE STORY

Father Goes To Court was written by Carlos Bulosan. It was about the two different families and
how they are living their lives. The family of the narrator was the poor. The poor family is living
happily and healthy while on the other hand is the rich family who is living without social life.
The story is set in a city in the Philippines. The young narrator begins by describing his large
family. Though they are poor they are full of mischief and laughter. They are all strong and

Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 6
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

healthy even though they often go hungry. While the rich children are thin and sickly although
they are given plenty of good food, which their neighbors enjoy smelling the scent of the food
over the fence. Because of this the rich man accuses the narrator’s family that they are stealing
the spirit of his family’s food. Then the case goes to court.

While in the court, father says that he will pay back the rich neighbour. He does this by
collecting coins from all his friends present. Then he shakes the hat full of coins. Being charged
to pay for the spirit of food which his family supposedly got from its smell, he maintains that the
jingling of the coins is a fair equivalent. The judge rules the poor father’s favor, and the rich man
is forced to depart with no other payment than the “spirit” of the money the poor man collected.

The poor father played a good and respectful role in the court despite of the rich man’s nonsense
accuses, he just seems so relaxed inside the court while the hearing is on going.

5. STYLISTICS ANALYSIS OF THE STORY

ALLITERATION. A stylistic device under phonology in which the first consonant sound is
expressed in a series of two or more words in a sentence. In this short story, the author made use
of this phonological feature to add vigor to the text. Examples are the folowing: was wafted
down to us from the windows (section 2), my sisters suddenly started screaming (section 6), we
turned to bed and tried to sleep (section 18), He walked over to where we children were sitting
(section 40, line 1-2). These lines from the narrative shows the playful attitude of the author as
he make use of this stylistic device to add flare to the aesthetic value of this piece.

ASSONANCE. A literary device that involves the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are
close together. Examples are the following: I lived with my mother and brothers and sisters in a
small town on the island of Luzon. (section 1, line 1), So several years afterwards we all lived in
the town though he preferred living in the country. (section 1, line 2), While we boys and girls
played and sang in the sun, his children stayed inside and kept the windows closed. (section 1,
line 4-5), His house was so tall that his children could look in the window of our house and
watched us played, or slept, or ate, when there was any food in the house to eat. (section 1, line
5-6), Now, this rich man’s servants were always frying and cooking something good. (section 2,
line 1), Sometimes, in the morning, our whole family stood outside the windows of the rich
man’s house and listened to the musical sizzling of thick strips of bacon or ham. (section 2, line
3-4), I can remember one afternoon when our neighbor’s servants roasted three chickens.
(section 2, line 5), We were all healthy because we went out in the sun and bathed in the cool
water of the river that flowed from the mountains into the sea. (section 3, line 2-3), We wondered
what happened. (section 4, line 5), He told Father the man claimed that for years we had been
stealing the spirit of his wealth and food. (section 7, line 3-4).

Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 7
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

CONSONANCE. A literary device that refers to the repetition of consonant sounds in words. It
is used to create a pleasing sound effect and can be found in poetry, prose, and music. Examples
are the following: I lived with my mother and brothers and sisters in a small town on the island
of Luzon. (Section 1, line 1), Now, this rich man's servants were always frying and cooking
something good. (Section 2, line 1), The chickens were young and tender and the fat that
dripped into the burning coals gave off an enchanting odor. (Section 2, line 5), We were all
healthy because we went out in the sun every day and bath in the cool water of the river that
flowed from the mountains into the sea. Sometimes we wrestled with one another in the house
before we went to play. (Section 3, line 3-4), Suddenly a black cat leaped out of the bundle and
ran wildly around the house. (Section 5, line 5), Another time of my sisters suddenly started
screaming in the middle of the night. (Section 6, line 1), My sister cried and groaned. When
father lifted the lamp, my sister stared at us with shame in her eyes. (Section 6, line 3-4),
Suddenly my sister opened her blouse and a bullfrog jumped out. Mother fainted, father dropped
the lamp, the oil spilled on the floor, and my sister’s blanket caught fire. One of my brothers
laughed so hard he rolled on the floor. (Section 17, line 1-3), When the fire was extinguished
and mother was revived, we turned to bed and tried to sleep. (Section 18, line 1).

RHYME. A rhyme is when the ending sounds of two words sound alike. In the story, several
examples of devices can be found: When I was four, I lived with my mother and brothers and
sisters in a small town on the island of Luzon (section 1, line 1), While we boys and girls played
and sang in the sun, his children stayed inside and kept the windows closed (section 1, line 4),
Now, this rich man’s servants were always frying and cooking something good, and the aroma of
the food was wafted down to us form the windows of the big house. (section 2, line 6), Now, this
rich man’s servants were always frying and cooking something good, and the aroma of the food
was wafted down to us form the windows of the big house. We hung about and took all the
wonderful smells of the food into our beings. Sometimes, in the morning, our whole family stood
outside the windows of the rich man’s house and listened to the musical sizzling of thick strips of
bacon or ham. (section 2, lines 6 – 8), The chickens were young and tender and the fat that
dripped into the burning coals gave off an enchanting odor. (section 2, line 10), Father kept
jumping up from his chair and stabbing the air with his arms, as though we were defending
himself before an imaginary jury. (section 5, line 27), From that day on, the windows of our
neighbor’s house were always closed. (section 6, line 29), The rich man’s lawyer jumped up and
pointed his finger at Father. (section 13, line 38).

SYNTACTICAL LEVEL. The story "My Father Goes to Court by Carlos Bulosan" follows a
straightforward narrative structure and is written in past tense. It is mostly composed of simple
and compound sentences, with some complex sentences dispersed throughout the passage. The
author also uses a combination of descriptive language and dialogue to convey the series of

Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 8
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

events of the story. On the other hand, the passage contains sentences that do not deviate the
norm of English word order, following the subject-verb agreement. Here are some examples:
“When I was four, I lived with my mother and brothers and sisters in a small town on the island
of Luzon.” (section1, line 1), “Father’s farm had been destroyed in 1918 by one of our sudden
Philippine floods, so several years afterwards we all lived in the town though he preferred living
in the country.”(section 1, line 2), “While we boys and girls played and sang in the sun, his
children stayed inside and kept the windows closed.” (section 1, line 4), We watched the servants
turn the beautiful birds and inhaled the heavenly spirit that drifted out to us.” (section 2, line 11)

GRAPHOLOGICAL LEVEL. The short story made an extensive use of punctuation marks.
Different kinds of punctuation marks can be found in every corner of the text. This part of the
study aims to pinpoint all the punctuation marks used in the story.

TERMINAL POINTS. Terminal points are punctuation marks that end sentences. These marks
are: periods, question marks, exclamation points, and interrobangs. They indicate the type and
strength of the statement being made, such as a statement, a question, an exclamation, or a
combination. In the story ‘My Father Goes to Court’ we have depicted different terminal points.
PERIODS (Statement). Here are some examples:

Section 1, Line. When I was four, I lived with my mother and brothers and sisters in a small
town on the island of Luzon.
Section 1, Line 3. We had as a next door neighbor a very rich man, whose sons and daughters
seldom came out of the house.

QUESTION MARK (Question). Here are some examples:

Section 10, Line 1. “Do you have a lawyer?” he asked.
Section 19, Line 1. “How do you account for that?”
EXCLAMATION POINT (Exclamation). Here is an example:
Section 14, Line 1. “I do not!” Father said.

PAUSING POINTS. Pausing points are punctuation marks that tell the reader to pause. These
include: commas, colons, semicolons, em dashes, and ellipses. They indicate the relationship
between clauses, phrases, or words within a sentence, such as coordination, subordination,
apposition, interruption, or omission.

COMMAS
Coordination. A comma is used for coordination when it separates two independent clauses that
are joined by a coordinating conjunction such “and,” “but,” “or,” “nor,” “for,” “yet,” or “so”.
Here are some examples:

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Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 9
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

Section 1, Line 2. Father’s farm had been destroyed in 1918 by one of our sudden Philippine
floods, so several years afterwards we all lived in the town though he preferred living in the
country.
Section 1, Line 5. His house was so tall that his children could look in the window of our house
and watched us played, or slept, or ate, when there was any food in the house to eat.
Section 2, Line 1. Now, this rich man’s servants were always frying and cooking something
good, and the aroma of the food was wafted down to us form the windows of the big house.
Section 4, Line 2. Our faces were bright and rosy, but theirs were pale and sad.

Subordination. A comma is used for subordination when it separates a dependent clause from
an independent clause. Here is an example: Section 23, Line 1. The spectators covered their
mouths with their hands, they were so amazed to see the children so thin and pale.

Interruption. When a sentence has interruptions or little thoughts in the middle of the sentence,
these interruptions should be bracketed by commas, with a comma before and after the
interruption. These commas are called “interrupter commas” and help the flow of the sentence
and add clarity. Here is an example: Section 2, Line 1 . He looked at my sisters, who had grown
fat in laughing, then at my brothers, whose arms and legs were like the molave, which is the
sturdiest tree in the Philippines.

SEMI-COLON
Connects two independent clauses.
Here is an example: Section 9, Line 1. He had grown old and feeble; his face was scarred with
deep lines.
Connect two clauses that are closely related in meaning. It indicates a stronger separation
between the two clauses than a comma would.
Here is an example: Section 4, Line 2. The rich man started to cough at night; then he coughed
day and night.

EM DASH
To indicate a sudden break or change in thought. Here is an example: Section 23, Line 1.
Finally he said, “I should like to cross — examine the complaint.”

INVERTED COMMAS
IDENTIFYING QUOTATION. Identifying quotation are punctuation marks that show that
someone else’s words are being used. These include: quotation marks, single quotation marks,
and brackets. They indicate the source and accuracy of the quotation, such as direct speech,
indirect speech, paraphrase, or alteration.

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Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 10
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
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Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

Direct Speech. Direct speech is a form of speech in which a person’s exact words are quoted or
reported verbatim. It is also known as quoted speech. Here are some examples:
Section 10, Line 1. “Do you have a lawyer?” he asked.
Section 11, Line 1. “I don’t need any lawyer, Judge,” he said.

Indirect Speech. Indirect speech is when you report what someone said without using their
exact words. Here is an example: Section 7, Line 3. He told Father the man claimed that for
years we had been stealing the spirit of his wealth and food.

APOSTROPHE
To show possession or ownership of something or someone. Here are some examples:
Section 1, Line 2. Father’s farm had been destroyed in 1918 by one of our sudden Philippine
floods, so several years afterwards we all lived in the town though he preferred living in the
country.
Section 2, Line 1. Now, this rich man’s servants were always frying and cooking something
good, and the aroma of the food was wafted down to us form the windows of the big house.
Section 13, Line 1. The rich man’s lawyer jumped up and pointed his finger at Father.

SEMANTIC LEVEL. The author of the "My Father Goes to Court" utilizes some semantic
relationship unlike their ordinary use. The writer uses plenty of synonymy throughout the story
as shown in the following examples:
(Section 2, line 5)- Young and tender
(Section 4, line 5) - grotesque shape and making faces
(Section 20, line 1) - robust and full of fire
(Section 20, line 2) - Our faces were bright and rosy
(Section 25, line 2) - He had grown old and feeble
(Section 38, line 1) - morose and sad.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

Hyperbole. He looked at my sister who had grown fat with laughing. (section 5, line 1-2).

Simile. At night their coughing sounded like the barking of a herd of seals.(section 4, line 4),
My brothers, whose arms and legs were like the molave. (section 5, line 2).

Imagery. The chickens were young and tender and the fat that dripped into the burning coals
gave off an enchanting odor. (section 2, line 5-7), The aroma of the food was wafted down to us
form the windows of the big house. (section 2, line 1-2).

Onomatopoeia. The sweet tinkle of the coins carried beautifully in the courtroom. (section 35,
line 1)

Repetition. The rich man started to cough at night; then he coughed day and night. His wife
began coughing too. Then the children started to cough, one after the other. (section 4, line 2-4)

Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 11
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

CONCLUSION
The primary goal of the current study is to undertake a thorough style analysis of Carlos
Bulosan's short tale "My Father Goes to Court." Four linguistic levels are covered in the study of
the story: the phonological level, which includes alliteration, assonance, consonance, and rhyme.
The second level is syntactic, which is mostly concerned with English word order irregularities.
The third level of punctuation is known as graphological level, and it is characterized by
excessive usage of several punctuation symbols, including the comma, semicolon, en dash,
hyphen, and inverted commas. Fourth, semantic level, which is primarily highlighted by the
writer's extensive use of synonymy in the whole story. In addition to the aforementioned four
levels of language, this study analyzes several figures of speech, including hyperbole, simile,
imagery, onomatopoeia, and repetition, in terms of their stylistic use in the short narrative. It is
possible to get the conclusion that the short tale "My Father Goes To Court" has a lot to say and
is full of aesthetically interesting language elements since the writer's style is marked by
breaking from grammatical conventions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We deeply appreciate the support and cooperation of the members of this group for allocating
their time and effort to finish this analysis. Our special thanks to Mr. Steven Silagan, our
instructor in this subject, for imparting his knowledge and for encouraging us to make this
analysis possible and successful.

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Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 12
 Republic of the Philippines
NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

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Baldovino, E.D.E., Baylon, F.C., Cortes, D., Hayahay, R., Miole, P.N.
Stylistics Analysis of the Story “My Father Goes To Court” by Carlos Bulosan Page 13