Literary Style Notes

Style: Word, Sentence, Discourse
See: Class notes

Diction/Word:
Formality scale (See: class notes)

Language of origin (See: class notes)

Register:
The subvocabulary used in a particular social setting by a particular social group
Psychology: codependency, psyche, dysfunctional
Christianity: sin, soul, sinful
Soccer: miskick, player, benched
Medicine: pathology, brain, diseased

Syntax/Sentence:
Sentence structure (structure of clauses)
simple-------compound-------complex-------compound complex

Syntax (order of words)
standard-------periodic-------inverted

Sentence length
short-------varied-------long

Discourse:
Tone: Author's attitude toward subject matter as implied by her/his use of language.
sarcastic-------ironic-------humorous-------euphoric-------serious-------solemn

Mood: overall feeling which permeates a piece
horrific-------eerie-------mysterious-------cheerful
atmospheric-------neutral

Narration:
Point of View
1st person (minor character)-------1st person (protagonist)-------2nd person (rare)-------3rd person limited-------3rd person omniscient

unreliable-------naive-------reliable

Narrative Language
subjective stream of consciousness-------objective report language

showing-------telling

Approach toward "reality":
surrealistic-------fantastical (magical realism)-------mimetic

Dialogue:
exclusively dialogue-------no dialgoue

Use of detail
descriptive-------spare
adjectival-------noun+verb

Use of figures
literal-------figurative
image-------similes-------metaphor-------symbol-------allegory
controlling metaphor-------decorative metaphor-------dead metaphor (cliche)

Sound of Words and Sentences (Aural Properties)
incantatory (chant-like)-------rhythmic-------arhythmic
onomatopoeia-------rhyme-------assonance-------alliteration-------dissonance

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(notes derived from materials created by Elizabeth Johnson Tsang)