Levels of Stylistic Analysis

Stylistic analysis can be conducted at various levels. Here are the common levels of stylistic analysis:

1. Lexical Level:
This level of analysis involves studying the individual words and their choices within a text. It includes
examining word choice, connotations, denotations, and the impact of specific words on the overall
meaning and style of the text.

Word Choice: At this level, the focus is on the individual words used in a text. Analyzing word choice
helps to understand how an author selects words to convey specific meanings and create a particular
atmosphere or tone. The choice of synonyms or words with specific connotations can significantly
impact the style of a text. For example, using ‘scorching’ instead of ‘hot’ creates a more intense and
vivid description.

Formal and Informal Words: Formal words are used in formal situations, whereas informal words are
used in informal situations. We use informal words with friends, children, and relatives. E.g.,

Formal Informal
postpone Put off
Accumulate Rack up
Fabricate Make up
Represent Stand for
Ascertain Find out

Slangs: Slangs are very informal words and expressions that are more common in spoken language. They
are not thought to be suitable for formal situations. Common slangs are: Dough (money), dude (man),
chuck (food), kicks a bucket (die), canned (drunk) etc.

Cliché: Cliché is a phrase or an idea which is used so often that it is no longer interesting, effective or
relevant. It is a word or expression that has lost much of its force through overexposure. Every man jack
(everyone); pound of flesh (revenge); high and dry (left in helpless state) under a cloud (depressed) etc.
are clichés.

Jargons: Jargons are technical words or expressions used by a particular profession or group of people.
They are difficult for others to understand. Collage, oil paint (arts); antibody, uterus (Biology); capital,
budget (business), electron, atom (chemistry) bug, refresh (computer) , writ, jury (law) la, note (music),
x-axis, vertex (mathematics) cyclone, equator (geography), coal, chalk (geology) etc. are jargons. We
should analyze the kinds of words and their role in the text.

Archaic words: Archaic words are very old fashioned words. These words are no longer in everyday use
or have lost a particular meaning in current usage but are sometimes used to impart an old-fashioned
flavor to historical poetry, or in standard conversation or writing just for a humorous effect. Some
archaic words are: (Abroad-- out of doors), (Bane--- Poison), (Bedlam-- an asylum).

Connotations: Words often carry not only their literal meanings (denotations) but also associations and
emotions (connotations). The analysis of connotations involves examining how certain words can evoke
specific feelings or ideas in the reader's mind. For instance, the word ‘home’ may evoke warmth,
security, and comfort, while ‘house’ may carry a more neutral or objective connotation.

Wordplay: Stylistic analysis at the lexical level also includes examining wordplay, which covers various
linguistic techniques such as alliteration and assonance. These techniques add layers of meaning, humor,
or musicality to the text. For instance, in Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet”, the famous line “O brawling
love! O loving hate!” uses alliteration to emphasize the contradictory nature of love and hate.

Juxtaposition: The way words are placed next to each other in a text can also be analyzed at the lexical
level. Juxtaposition can create contrasts, irony. For example, using the words ‘dark’ and ‘light’.

2. Phonological Level:
This level of analysis looks at the sound patterns and features in a text. It includes elements like rhyme,
alliteration, assonance, and the rhythm or meter of the text, which can contribute to its style and tone.

Sound Patterns: At the phonological level, stylistic analysis focuses on the sound patterns in a text. This
includes examining aspects like rhyme, alliteration, assonance, and consonance. These elements add a
musical quality to the text and contribute to its style.

Rhyme: Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the end of words, and it's often used in poetry to create a
pleasing or rhythmic effect.(E.g., Tyger! Tyger! burning bright, In the forest of the night.)

Rhythm and Meter: The phonological level also involves the study of rhythm and meter in a text.
Rhythm refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in language, while meter involves the
arrangement of these patterns into regular structures. Poetry often relies on specific meters, such as
iambic pentameter, to create a particular rhythmic style.

Onomatopoeia: Onomatopoeia is a phonological device where words imitate the sounds they describe.
For example, words like ‘buzz’, ‘hiss’, or ‘murmur’ not only convey meaning but also create a phonetic
representation of the sounds themselves. Onomatopoeia can be used to evoke sensory experiences and
enhance the stylistic qualities of a text.
Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. This technique
can create a sense of unity, musicality, and style in a text.

For example, “fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese” uses alliteration (the repetition of the ‘s’ and ‘g’
sounds).

Assonance: Assonance involves the repetition of vowel sounds within words.

For example, “fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese” uses assonance (the repetition of the ‘ee’ sound).

Consonance: The repetition of the consonant sounds within sentences or phrases. E.g., “Mike likes his
new bike”.

3. Morphological Level:
At this level, the analysis focuses on the structure of words and the use of prefixes, suffixes, and
inflections. Morphological analysis can reveal aspects of a text's style and can help in understanding
word formation and wordplay. It deals with words, their internal structure, and how they are formed.

Major ways of Forming of Words:

Some major ways of forming words are given below:

i. Compounding: Compounding is the process of combining two or more words to create a single word.
This technique can be used for stylistic purposes, especially in languages that allow for flexible word
formation. For example;

Noun + Noun: moonlight, armchair, postman etc.

Adjective + Noun: blackboard, sweetheart, shorthand etc.

Verb + Noun: breakfast, telltale, scarecrow etc.

Gerund + Noun: looking-glass, walking-stick, drawing- room etc.

(Adverb / Preposition) + Noun: overcoat, downfall, afternoon etc.

Verb + Adverb: drawback, lock-up, send-off etc.

Adverb + Verb: outset, income, upkeep etc.

Noun + Adjective: blood-red, sky-blue, lifelong etc.

Adjective + Adjective: blue-black, lukewarm, dull-grey etc.

Adverb + Participle: everlasting, never-ending, outspoken etc.

Noun + Verb: backbite, typewrite, waylay etc.

Adjective + Verb: safeguard, whitewash, fulfill etc.

Adverb + Verb: overtake, upset, undergo etc.

ii. Blending: Blending is a process of combining two separate forms to produce a single new term,
typically by taking only the beginning of one word and joining it to the end of the other word.

For example; Smoke + fog-- smog, motor + hotel-- motel, breakfast + lunch-- brunch etc.

iii. Clipping: Clipping is a process of reducing certain elements of polysyllabic words into shorter forms
to form new words: Advertisement-- Ad, influenza-- flu , cabriolet-- cab etc.

iv. Backformation: Backformation is a reduction of certain letters of a word of one type to form a word
of another type involving a change a part of speech.

Donation (n) --- Donate (v), writer (n) --- write (v), editor (n) -- edit (v)

v. Acronym: It is a process of forming a new word from the initial letters of a set of words.

Compact disk--CD, video cassette recorder--VCR, North Atlantic Treaty Organization—NATO

vi. Coinage: It is the invention of totally new terms.

For example, aspirin, nylon, Xerox etc.

vii. Borrowing: It refers to the taking over the words from other languages. Some borrowing words in
English are; Garage (French), Piano (Italian), Ghee (Hindi) etc.
viii. Modification: It is a process of deriving a new word by changing a sound segment or spelling from
the base.

Man-- men, take-- took, goose-- geese etc.

ix. Derivation: Derivation is the process of creating new words through using prefixes that may or may
not change a part of speech (class changing or class maintaining).

Prefixes that change a part of speech such as Able (adj) then enable (verb).

Prefixes that doesn’t change a part of speech such as happy (adj) then unhappy (adj).

Suffixes that change a part of speech: Hard (adj) --- hardness (n) and quick (adj) --- quickly (adv).

x. Inflection: Inflection is the process of creating new words through using only suffixes that do not
change a part of speech: cat (n) --- cats (n) and tall (adj) --- taller (adj).

4. Graphological Level
When we talk about the graphological level in analyzing a text, we're looking at how it's physically
written or printed. This includes not just the words and letters themselves but also things like
punctuation, paragraphing, and spacing. In other words, it's about the visual presentation of the text on
the page.

When you analyze the graphological level of a poem, you're paying attention to how the poem is laid
out. This means looking at how the lines are arranged, where paragraphs start and end, and how
punctuation marks like commas and periods are used.

For example, a poem with very short lines might create a fast and energetic feeling, while longer lines
can slow the reading pace. The use of stanzas (groups of lines) can also affect how you interpret the
poem. The elements of the layout of a poem are:

i. Font / fount /face type: Times New Roman, Arial, Arial Black, Calibre etc.
ii. Size: bold, italics, underline, etc.
iii. Indentation: space at the beginning of a written line or paragraph.
iv. Alignment: left, center, and right.
v. The space between words in a line: expanded spacing or not.
vi. Lines: single, double or more widely spaced.
vii. Lines: initial capitals or not.
 viii. Nature of line: If the line is flush with the left margin, it is called ekthesis. The indented line
iscalled eithesis.
ix. Stanza: numbering or not.
x. Leading: Space between verses or stanzas
xi. Length of verses or stanzas: regular or irregular
xii. Rhyme: end, beginning, Intraline, masculine, feminine etc.
xiii. Margins: right or left , justified or ragged.
xiv. The title design: Catchy or simple
xv. The epigraph: between the title and the text to support the point of the text.
xvi. Capitalization: initial caps, medial capitalization ( deictic punctuation)
xvii. Punctuation: full stop, comma, colon, dash etc.
xviii. Parentheses: what they mean

5. Syntactic Level
According to Tallerman, syntax means “Sentence construction”. It deals with how words group together
to make phrases and sentences. Syntax is what gives words their structure and organizes them into
meaningful sentences. Without syntax, words are just random and don't form sentences that we can
understand.

In regular language, we follow certain rules, but in poetry, there's more flexibility. Poets can use words
in unusual ways and create unique patterns. For example, “Me saw he” is not how we usually talk, but in
poetry, it's okay because it's about being creative with language.

The way sentences are structured can change the meaning of a sentence. For example, “She loves me”
and “I am loved by her” convey different ideas because of how the words are arranged. Poets use these
changes in syntax to add different shades of meaning to their poems.

Analyzing the syntactic level embraces analyzing the sentence constructions:

 Internal structure of sentences

 Surface structure of the sentence
 Implied structure
 Parallelism (repetition identical statistical structures)
 Use of conjunctions, anaphora, cataphora, inversion, ellipsis, refrains
 Inverted word order, omission of words
 Active or passive forms.
6. Semantic Level:
Semantics deals with the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. Semantic Level analysis focuses on
the meaning of words and how they interact within a text. Major figures of speech related to meanings
are as follows:

i. Allegory: An allegory is a story in verse or prose with a double meaning: a primary meaning and a
secondary meaning. “Allegory of caves” by Plato”.

ii. Apostrophe: A figure of speech in which a thing, a place, an abstract quality, a dead or absent person,
is addressed as if present and capable of understanding. Example: Milton! Thou should be living at this
hour. / Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods.

iii. Climax: Climax is the part of a story or play at which a crisis is reached and resolution is achieved. It is
a crime to bind a Roman citizen, an outrage to scourge him, almost an unnatural act to put him death.

iv. Conceit: It is useful to think of the conceit as an extension of the simile in which aspects of the basic
analogy are developed with a kind of relentless ingenuity. Example: The grave is a fine and private place,
/ But none I think do there embrace.

v. Euphemism: An inoffensive expression used in place of a blunt one that is felt to be disagreeable or
embarrassing. Example: Adult material for pornography, escort for prostitute, making love for having
sex.

vi. Hypallage: A figure of speech in which the epithet is transferred from the appropriate noun to modify
another to which it does not really belong. Example; Angry crowns of kings.

vii. Hyperbole: The figure of speech or trope, called hyperbole is a bold overstatement, or the
extravagant exaggeration of fact or of possibility; it may be used either for serious or ironic or comic
effect. Example: He is as old as a hill. Ten thousand saw I at a glance.
Viii. Imagery: Imagery, images taken collectively, is used to signify as the objects and qualities of some
perception referred to in a poem or other work of literature. Example: Visual, auditory, olfactory,
gustatory, tactile, kinesthetic, abstract, organic.

ix. Irony: Irony is a figure of speech or trope derived from Greek “eironia” via Latin and meaning
dissimulation. Irony is found when the words actually use appear to contradict the sense actually
required in the context. Example: The Bagmati river in the Kathmandu valley is very clean.

x. Metaphor: Metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another. A
comparison is usually implicit; whereas in simile it is explicit. Example: The entire world is a stage.

xi. Metonymy: Metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of an attribute or a thing is
substituted for itself. Example: Crown for monarchy, pentagon for building, stage for theatrical
profession.

xii. Oxymoron: Oxymoron is a figure of rhetoric which juxtaposes apparently contradictory expressions
for witty or striking effects. It presents a kind of condensed paradox. Oxymoron is a figure of speech
which combines strange and apparently contradictory words and meanings for a special effect. Example:
Heavy lightness; bright smoke; cold fire; pleasing pain; wise fool.

xiii. Paradox: Paradox is a statement which seems on its face to be self-contradictory or absurd yet turns
out to make good sense. Example: The child is father of the man.

xiv. Personification: Personification is a figure of speech or trope in which inanimate objects, animate
non-human or abstract quality is given human attributes. Personification is particularly associated with
literary, especially poetic language. Example: The sky said to the earth, “I will marry you”.

xv. Pun: Pun is a figure of speech which involves a play upon words. The pun is wide spread in many
literatures and gives rise to a fairly universal form of humor. Example: Even a stable boy will find / This
life no stable thing.
xvi. Satire: Satire is a kind of protest, a sublimation and refinement of anger and indignation. Example:
Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” satirizes the fashionable world of the eighteenth century.

xvii. Simile: Simile is a figure of speech whereby two concepts are imaginatively and descriptively
compared. Example: “Sita is like a rose” or “I wandered lonely as a cloud”.

xviii. Symbol: Symbol is an object, animate or inanimate, which represents or “stands for something
else”. Example: Rose stands for beauty, tiger for experience, lamb for innocence etc.

xix. Synecdoche: A trope in rhetoric in which part of a referent is named and stands for the “whole” or
vice versa. Example: Wheels for a vehicle, people for mouths.

xx. Proverb: It is a short well-known sentence or phrase that states a general truth about life or gives
advice. Every culture has a collection of wise sayings that offer advice about how to live your life. These
sayings are called “proverbs”. Some proverbs are:

The pen is mightier than the sword. (Trying to convince people with ideas and words is more effective
than trying to force people to do what you want).

xxi. Idiom: Idiom is the language or dialect of a group of people. It is a phrase or sentence whose
meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit.
For example, A hue and cry (a loud protest), lose heart (to grow discouraged) a dark horse (a person
whose ability is unknown) etc. are examples of idioms.

xxii. Colloquial: It is a variety of language commonly employed in conversation or other communication

in informal situations. Colloquial language is distinct from formal speech or formal writing. It is the
variety of language that speakers typically use when they are relaxed and not especially self-conscious. It
is used to create a natural, or realistic, effect in characters dialogue in dramatic poems. It shows that
they’re working class - or ordinary, or from a particular area. It’s used to create a conversational feel.
This shows that the emotions are every day, not elevated formal language. Sometimes it’s meant to be
‘easy’ to read. However, it’s often difficult. This is because colloquial language usually belongs
exclusively to a particular group. Here are some examples: Give me a hand -- assist me. Give you hell --
shout at you Rat hole-- a small dirty uncomfortable room.