Style in Literature

Mr. McPherson
STYLE is the arrangement of words in a manner which best expresses the individuality of the author's ideas and purposes.

The style of a piece of literature may include some of the following:

  1. Use of figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification).
  2. Use of imagery (phrases encourage the reader to imagine what is described, by appealing to the senses of sight, sound, touch, smell or taste).
  3. Choice of words with effective connotations (the feelings and ideas associated with the words).
  4. Special techniques such as flashback, contrast, understatement.
  5. Sentence variety and structure. (Some simple, some introductory phrases or clauses etc.)
  6. Sentence variety in length. (Some short, some long.) (Varied length prevents monotony, and can also be used to support the meaning. For example, a child frightened of a dog may be described by the author using short sentences, suggesting the child's hesitation.)
  7. Use of parallel constructions.
    EXAMPLE: In this lash and spill of water, in the slow grinding of rock and cliff, in the perpetual slide of mountain and forest, in the impact of whirlpool and winter ice, the river is forever mad, ravenous and lonely. (Bruce Hutchison: The Fraser)
  8. Use of balanced sentences.
    EXAMPLE: His speech became longer and longer; my eyes became heavier and heavier.
    EXAMPLE: The more he talked, the less I listened.
  9. Use of periodic sentences (instead of loose sentences). In a periodic sentence, the words to be emphasised are kept to the end.
    EXAMPLE: (Loose) On the warm grey stone was a huge yellow and black butterfly, gently waving its wings in the sunshine. (Periodic) On the warm grey stone, gently waving its wings in the sunshine, was a huge yellow and black butterfly.
  10. Use of repetition for emphasis.
  11. Leval of usage (formal, colloquial, archaic).
  12. Diction ("accent", vocabulary peculiar to a certain region).
  13. Humour (satire, irony, sarcasm).
  14. The tone of the passage (humorous, serious, bitter, angry, etc.).

All of these must be related to the author's purpose in the piece of literature.

An author will have a style that is evident in everything he/she writes. However, the particular characteristics of a single work may present a slightly different style from that of other works by the same author.

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