Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Department of European,
American and Intercultural Studies
2016-2017
WEEK 3 - LECTURE 1
Dr. Margherita Dore
margherita.dore@uniroma1.it
Overview
Stylistic Devices and Figures of Speech
Alliteration
Allusion
Hyperbole
Metaphor
Metonymy
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Stylistic Devices & figures of speech
Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sound (e.g. for
the greater good of; fantastic philosophy)
REPETITION
There was an old lady of Ryde
(Willard Espy)
6
Metaphor
A metaphor is a mapping between two different conceptual
domains. The different domains are known as the target (more
abstract, e.g. ARGUMENT, ANGER) and the source domain (more
concrete, e.g. WAR, A HEATED FLUID IN A CONTAINER). The target
domain is the topic or concept that you want to describe through
the metaphor while the source domain refers to the concept that
you draw upon in order to create the metaphorical construction:
ARGUMENT IS WAR:
I defended my views
He shot down all of my arguments
ANGER IS A HEATED FLUID IN A CONTAINER:
She really blew her lid
She blew her top
She just exploded
Metaphors are the basic schemes by which people
conceptualise their experience and their external world.
Metaphor
However, literature metaphors are typically more novel and
less clear. Writers consciously strive for novelty in literary
expression. Let look for instance at these lines by Sylvia
Plaths poem Metaphors (and consider that the author may
have thought to be pregnant at the time she wrote this):
[Im] An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
PREGNANT WOMEN ARE BIG
SYLVIA IS AN ELEPHANT(big animal)
SYLVIA IS A HOUSE (a big building)
SYLVIA IS A MELON (a big round fruit) standing on thin sticks
(=legs)
Example Friends, series 1
Metaphor: SEX IS A ROCK CONCERT
Monica: What you guys don't understand is, for us, kissing is as
important
as any part of it.
Joey: Yeah, right!.......Y'serious?
Phoebe: Oh, yeah!
Rachel: Everything you need to know is in that first kiss.
Monica: Absolutely.
Chandler: Yeah, I think for us, kissing is pretty much like an opening
act, y'know? I mean it's like the stand-up comedian you have to sit
through before Pink Floyd comes out.
Ross: Yeah, and-and it's not that we don't like the comedian, it's that
that... that's not why we bought the ticket.
Chandler: The problem is, though, after the concert's over, no matter how
great the show was, you girls are always looking for the comedian
again, y'know? I mean, we're in the car, we're fighting traffic... Basically
just trying to stay awake.
Rachel: Yeah, well, word of advice: Bring back the comedian.
Otherwise next time you're gonna find yourself sitting at home,
listening to that album alone.
Joey: Are we still talking about sex?
Exercise 1
Read this passage from Fiends, Series 1, and try to explain the
metaphor in it:
[Context: Ross has just been left by his lesbian wife and he is very upset.
He suggests that if there is only one woman for every man he has lost his
chance to be happy. Joey tries to cheer him up]
Joey: What are you talking about? One woman? That's like
saying there's is only one flavor of ice cream for you. Lemme
tell you something, Ross. There's [sic.] lots of flavors out
there. There's Rocky Road, and Cookie Dough, and Bing!
Cherry Vanilla, You could get 'em with Jimmies or nuts,
or whipped cream! This is the best thing that ever happened
to you! You got married, you were, like what, eight? Welcome
back to the world! Grab a spoon!
Ross: I honestly don't know if I'm hungry or horny!
Exercise 1 - key
Joeys metaphor:
(Dore 2008)
Exercise 2
Read the stanza below and explain the figures of speech in it
(along with anything else you can think of according to what
we studied so far):
Metonymy
In Metonymy, the transfer occurs within a single conceptual
domain.
It involves the transportation between associated concepts in
the same domain.
It results in transfer between the part and the whole, a
producer and the produced, an institution and its location,
etc.
Buckingham Palace is thought to be furious
Ambiguity
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Context
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Lettuce Duck
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Intentional Ambiguity is Fun
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Bilingual Humour (Italian)
Whats black and white and red all over?
A newspaper.
ITALIAN VERSION:
Che cosa nero, bianco e rosso ovunque?
A. LUnit, or (a Communist newspaper)
B. Una zebra con labbronzatura (a zebra with a sunburn)
NOTE: The first red retains the read association, while the
second red does not.
(Chiaro [2008]: 580)
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Introduction to Stylistics
Department of European,
American and Intercultural Studies
2016-2017
WEEK 2 - LECTURE 2
Dr. Margherita Dore
margherita.dore@uniroma1.it
Overview
What is grammar for?
Types of Grammar
One English Grammar or Many?
Grammatical structure and function
Five functional elements
Interpreting a sentence
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Before Starting
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR
LOVE IS A JOURNEY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu-9rpJITY8
Exercise 1
N V N
John kissed Mary
Mary kissed John
Exercise 2 - key
Interpreting a sentence
Interpreting a sentence
Exercise 3 - Key
The women, however, concluded that computers should be masculine, 'le computer',
because:
1) In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on
2) They have a lot of data, but they are still clueless
3) They are supposed to help you to solve problems, but half the time they are the
problem
4) As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd waited a little you could
have got a better model.
Bibliography
What we covered so far: