Chapter 10: Study Project on Style Style consists of the choice
and arrangement of words in a text. The choice of words is called
diction.
The arrangement of words follows the possibilities of grammar. Style involves
the particular ways an author arranges words in sentences as well as the ways
writers vary sentences in paragraphs. Studying style requires a close reading
of the story: an attention to words and how they are arranged. Style works
with a story's imagery and formal elements (plot, character, setting, narrator).
Analyzing style means looking at the following ways words are used in a story:
- Word choice or diction
- The arrangement of words in sentences
- The variation of sentences in paragraphs
1. Diction
Although many words may
refer to the same object or qualities (denotation), they all suggest slightly
different associations (connotations). How, for example, are the words in
the following pairs slightly different in what they may suggest or connote?
feigned
frankly
tepid
minimized
unalterable
friendly
| pretended
honestly
lukewarm
lessened
consistent
warm |
Compare the following two passages:
She drew him into the salon, where the family waited, a boy and a girl his
daughter's age, his sister-in-law and her husband. He greeted Marion with
his voice pitched carefully to avoid either pretended enthusiasm or dislike,
but her response was more honestly lukewarm, though she lessened her expression
of consistent distrust by directing her regard toward his child. The two
men clasped hands in a warm way and Lincoln Peters rested his for a moment
on Charlie's shoulder.
She drew him into the salon, where the family waited, a boy and a girl his
daughter's age, his sister-in-law and her husband. He greeted Marion with
his voice pitched carefully to avoid either feigned enthusiasm or dislike,
but her response was more frankly tepid, though she lessened her expression
of unalterable distrust by directing her regard toward his child. The two
men clasped hands in a friendly way and Lincoln Peters rested his for a moment
on Charlie's shoulder.
Consider the following questions:
- Are there any differences in the ways the passages feel? In what they mean?
- What are the differences?
- How do those differences contribute to the tensions of plot or to characterization?
- Which passage is from Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited"?
In the following passage,
underline words whose choice increases the suggestive quality of the language
or that you think are words typical of Fitzgerald's style. In order to accomplish
this, you must have some idea of the kinds of words Fitzgerald uses.
He was thirty-five, and good to look at. The Irish mobility of his face
was sobered by a deep wrinkle between his eyes. As he rang his brother-in-law's
bell in the Rue Palatine, the wrinkle deepened till it pulled down his brows;
he felt a cramping sensation in his belly. From behind the maid who opened
the door darted a lovely little girl of nine who shrieked "Daddy!" and flew
up, struggling like a fish, into his arms. She pulled his head around by
one ear and set her cheek against his.
Diction consists both of the choice of unusual words (orange) and the choice
of plain or common words (green). Note in the above passage, how Fitzgerald
mixes the two. Note also how his choice of verbs and combination of verbs and
images portrays the joy of his daughter's response.
He was thirty-five, and good to look at. The Irish mobility of his face
was sobered by a deep wrinkle between his eyes. As he rang his brother-in-law's
bell in the Rue Palatine, the wrinkle deepened till it pulled down his brows;
he felt a cramping sensation in his belly. From behind the maid who opened
the door darted a lovely little girl of nine who shrieked "Daddy!" and flew
up, struggling like a fish, into his arms. She pulled his head around by
one ear and set her cheek against his.
2.
Sentence Grammar
Words can be combined in an almost infinite number of ways. Different orderings
of words in a sentence can produce different emphases:
Compare:
The Irish mobility of his face was sobered by a deep wrinkle between his
eyes.
A deep wrinkle between his eyes sobered the Irish mobility of his face.
How does the emphasis change from one sentence to the other?
Can delay information and produce tension:
Compare:
From behind the maid who opened the door darted a lovely little girl of nine
who shrieked "Daddy!" and flew up, struggling like a fish, into his arms.
A lovely little girl of nine who shrieked "Daddy!" and flew up, struggling
like a fish, into his arms darted from behind the maid who opened the door.
In which passage is tension produced? How?
Can link actions and ideas:
Compare:
He was thirty-five, and good to look at.
He was good to look at. He was thirty-five.
What is the difference in effect between the two?
Can establish rhythm:
Compare:
As he rang his brother-in-law's bell in the Rue Palatine, the wrinkle deepened
till it pulled down his brows; he felt a cramping sensation in his belly.
He rang his brother-in-law's bell in the Rue Palatine. The wrinkle deepened.
It pulled down his brows. He felt a cramping sensation in his belly.
As he rang his brother-in-law's bell in the Rue Palatine, the wrinkle deepened
till it pulled down his brows and he felt a cramping sensation in his belly.
What are the differences in rhythm in the three passages?
3.
Sentences in Paragraphs
It is difficult to look at sentences in isolation from one another. How sentences
combine, just as how words combine, is an important element of style.
Compare the following paragraphs:
Her dislike was evident in the coolness with which she spoke, but Charlie
only smiled; he had larger plans. Her very aggressiveness gave him an advantage,
and he knew enough to wait. He wanted them to initiate the discussion of
what they knew had brought him to Paris.
He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the
other tracks. He looked up the tracks but could not see the train. Coming
back, he walked through the barroom, where people waiting for the train were
drinking. He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were
all waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain.
She was sitting at the table and smiled at him.
Top be regularly gay was to do every day the gay thing that they did every
day. To be regularly gay was to end every day at the same time after they
had been regularly gay. They were regularly gay. They were gay every day.
They ended every day in the same way, at the same time, and they had been
every day regularly gay.
Looking at diction, sentence structure, and the kinds of sentences, describe the
three paragraphs:
| ¶ # | DICTION | SENTENCE STRUCTURE | KINDS OF SENTENCES |
1
| | | |
2
| | | |
3
| | | |
Putting It All Together Clearly style consists of a combination of many elements in addition to word
choice and sentence order and length. Looking again at the three paragraphs
above, note what other elements or practices characterize and distinguish the
three styles.
Who are the authors of the three paragraphs?
Style is unique to every author. The study of style is called
Stylistics
and it is closely related to
New Criticism. Elements of style can function
as motifs in a story; repeated words or sentence structures sometimes have a
larger significance in relation to the larger story. It is important to link
style to other aspects of a story to see how the reflects, parallels, or sometimes
even plays against plot, imagery, or tone. In addition, the ways authors deploy
imagery, motifs, tone, and setting contribute to our understanding of style.
