Seminar 10

Lexico-Semantic and Syntactic Expressive Means and Stylistic Devices

1. Figures of identity: simile; use of synonyms.

2. Figures of contrast: oxymoron; antithesis.
3. Figures of inequality: climax; anticlimax; zeugma; pun.
4. Syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices of the English language:
- based on reduction of the initial sentence model: ellipsis, aposiopesis,
nominative sentences, asyndeton;
- based on extension of the initial sentence model: repetition, enumeration,
tautology, polysyndeton, "it is (was) he, who...", the emphatic verb "to do",
parenthetic sentences;
- based on change of word-order: inversion, detachment;
- based on interaction of syntactic structures in context: parallel
constructions;
- based on transposition of meaning and connection of constituent parts:
rhetoric questions, parceling.

Literature recommended
1. Дубенко О. Ю. Порівняльна стилістика англійської та української мов.
Вид. 2-е перероб. і допов. Навч. посібник./ Олена Дубенко. – Вінниця: НОВА
КНИГА, 2011. – 328 с.
2. Єфімов Л. П., Ясінецька О. А. Стилістика англійської мови і
дискурсивний аналіз. Навчально-методичний посібник/ Л. П. Єфімов,
О. А. Ясінецька – Вінниця: НОВА КНИГА, 2011. – 240 с.

Exercises:
Єфімов Л. П., Ясінецька О. А. Стилістика англійської мови і дискурсивний
аналіз. Навчально-методичний посібник/ Л. П. Єфімов, О. А. Ясінецька –
Вінниця: НОВА КНИГА, 2011. – 240 с.
Ex. 2 (p. 127), 3 (p. 128), 4 (p. 128-129), 5, 6 (p. 129-130), 7 (p. 130), 3, 4 (p.
132).

H/t: Assignments 2, 3, 5, 6, 7
 Assignment 1. Pick out the appropriate comparative expressions from the a-e list
below. Explain the stylistic function of each simile. Define other stylistic devices:
I.
1. "Hurrah, hurrah!" Ramage bellowed … waving his arms. (A. Cronin).
2. He'd only have to take one look at Jan to be convinced in his honest old heart
that his son was lower …. (D. Cusack).
3. Tom is raving, running about … (F. Danby).
4. But the long seconds went by and she was as still …. (M. Wilson).
5. I should have thought you would have got on with these young folks like —
…. (Ch. Yonge).
a) than a snake's belly; b) like a house on fire; c) as ice; d) like a bear with a sore
head; e) like a bull
II.
1. "What's that?" cried Brodie, turning … (A. Cronin).
2. The creature was as lithe … and as active … .(H. Beecher Stowe).
3. Why, you're shaking … now because I mentioned his name! (E. Voynich).
4. I will be as silent …. (B. Show).
5. This was now a road of ice five miles long, smooth … and all but as straight
…. (H. Caine).
a) as glass ... as an arrow; b) like a leaf; c) like a flash; d) as a cat... as a monkey;
e) as the grave
III.
1. I should be no guide to you, for we are as different …. (E. Lyall).
2. March comes in … and goes out ….
3. Be you soft … and cunning …. (R. Aldington).
4. It [i. e. the talk] rolled off his mental sphere ….
5.He is as dead ….
a) as a door-nail; b) like water off the feathers of a duck; c) as doves ... as serpents;
d) like a lion ... like a lamb; e) as chalk and cheese
IV.
1. This hand-to-mouth existence kept him as thin …. (J. Galsworthy).
 2. Dave's voice drew the others …. (D. Carter).
3. Your father was as like you are now …. (A. Cronin).
4. I can't believe this is true. It sounds …. to me. (A. Cronin).
5. And his boss is as crooked …. (K. S. Prichard).
a) as two peas in a pod; b) like complete cock-and-bull yarn; c) as a dog's hind
leg; d) like a magnet; e) as a rail
V.
1. Your attention is as good for him ….
2. And all of a sudden he went as dumb …. (J. Galsworthy).
3. I should stick to it …. for my own sake. (G. Eliot).
4. Anyway, he is as blind ….
5. Curses …. come home to roost.
a) like a flea to fleece; b) as a bat; c) as a fish; d) like chickens; e) as a shoulder
of mutton to a sick horse

Assignment 2. Paraphrase the following cases of simile, indicate positive or

negative connotation:
1) like a squirrel in a cage; 2) (as) light as a butterfly; 3) (as) fussy as a hen with
one chick; 4) (as) gaunt as a grey-hound/ as bone; 5) (as) gaudy as a peacock; 6) (as)
gentle as a lamb; 7) like a boiled rag; 8) like a fighting-cock; 9) like a fish out of water;
10) like a million dollars; 11) (as) firm/ steady as a rock; 12) like swine; 13) (as) clear
as mud; 14) (as) black as a thunder cloud; 15) (as) fleet as a deer.

Assignment 3. Out of the following expressions determine those, which

represent: 1) oxymoron; 2) antithesis. Point out other stylistic devices:
1. A little body often harbours a great soul. 2. Sprinting towards the elevator he
felt amazed at his own cowardly courage. 3. Little pigeons can carry great messages.
4. To know everything is to know nothing. 5. The play was awfully funny. 6. She
pleased his eyes and plagued his heart. 7. The pleasures of the mighty are the tears of
the poor. 8. A friend to all is a friend to none. 9. A joke never gains an enemy but often
loses a friend. 10. The garage was full of nothing. 11. The furthest way about is the
nearest way home. 12. False friends are worse than open enemies. 13. He is so full of
himself that he is quite empty. 14. There's a change coming, Erik. Any blind man can
see that. 15. Old Jolyon seemed master of perennial youth. 16. The fool does think he
is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. 17. Good words cost nothing and
are worth much. 18. Better a lean peace than a fat victory. 19. Cheapest is the dearest.
20. Better a glorious death than a shameful life. 21. The newly planted trees wouldn't
stand the gentle violence of the wind. 22. The speaking silence grew oppressive. 23.
The picture was horribly beautiful. 24. Don't use big words. They mean so little.

Assignment 4. Choose from the a-e list the appropriate for pun words, missing in
the sentences. Point out the key words of pun:
1. "Are the tires on the car …. ?" — "No, two of them are left."
2. "Son, are you pursuing your studies faithfully?" — "Yes, indeed, father. I'm
always …."
3. "If you were in Africa and saw a lion coming, what steps would you take?" —
“….”
4. "Is it a board school you go to, my dear?" — "No, sir. I believe it is …."
5. "Papa, what kind of a robber is …?" — "A what?" — "It says here that two
pages held up the bride's train."
a) brick; b) behind; c) a page; d) the longest; e) all right

Assignment 5. Suggest the missing parts of the humorous replies based on pun of
the meanings of the underlined words:
1. "Hasn't Harvey ever married?" — "…., because he's studying for a bachelor's
degree."
2. "Did you have any luck, hunting tigers in India?" — "... Didn't come across a
single tiger."
3. "What, your son is an undertaker? I thought you said he was a doctor?" — "No,
I said he followed ..."
4. "What is the meaning of the word 'matrimony'?" — "Father says it..., it's a
sentence."
 5. "What model is his car?" — "...; it's a horrible example."

Assignment 6. Distinguish between: 1) irony; 2) zeugma; 3) pun. Point out other

stylistic devices:
1. For my own part, I swim like a stone. 2. Joe's been putting two and two together
to make a million. 3. Bookcases covering one wall boasted a half-shelf of literature. 4.
"Lord Henry, I am not at all surprised that the world says that you are extremely
wicked." — "But what world says that?" asked Lord Henry, elevating his eyebrows.
"It can only be the next world. This world and I are on excellent terms." 5. Last time it
was a nice, simple, European-style war. 6. Your project is just fit for the wastepaper
basket. 7. He is really now a gentleman of the three outs: out of pocket, out of elbow,
out of credit. 8. Yes, he is my blood cousin, seven times removed. 9. Telling of a
member expelled from her club, a woman said: "They dismembered her." 10.
"Unmaried?" — "Twice." 11. The quickest way to break a bad habit is to drop it. 12.
The man who is always asking for a loan is always left alone. 13. Father to daughter's
suitor: "My daughter says you have that certain something, but I wish you had
something certain!" 14. (She, tearfully) — "You said if I'd marry you you'd be humbly
grateful." — (He, sourly) — "Well, what of it?" — (She) — "You're not; you're
grumbly hateful." 15. (an epitaph on Sir John Strange) Here lies an honest lawyer, and
that is Strange.

Assignment 7. Pick out tautology in the following sentences:

1. Pain, even slight pain, tends to isolate. Pain, such as he had to suffer, cuts the
last links with society. (S. Chaplin). 2. The widow Douglas, she took me for her son.
(M. Twain). 3. "What's the matter?" — "Nothing... everything. .. it's good news...
news... well, Jean's much better. 4. And — now my Arvie's gone. Whatever will I and
my children do? Whatever will I do? Whatever will I do?.. (H. Lawson). 5. I can say
no more, but blessings, blessings on all in the dear house I leave, prays. (W.
Thackeray).
 Assignment 8. Supply the missing words to indicate cases of repetition. Define
the repetition types:
1. Avoid evil and it will … you. 2. Live not to … but eat to live. 3.A … for
everything and everything in its place. 4. The alarm swept from lip to … , from group
to … , from street to …. (M. Twain). 5. Nothing will come of ... . 6. What is lost is …
7. The worst has come to …. 8. God defend me from my friends; from my enemies I
can … myself. 9. He's not fit to … others that cannot command himself. 10. He that
hatches matches … catches.. 11. If the mountain will not come to Mahammed, … must
go to …. 12. … to you is like talking to the wall. 13. It was a ghost of a train, a Flying
Dutchman of …, a nightmare of …. (R. Davis). 14. Nothing comes from …. 15. "That's
a fine open mind you've got there!" "Open mind, my eye! We didn't come with …. (M.
Wilson). 16. Habit cures …. 17. It's queer that you should be so different from Violet.
… is as hard as nails. (B. Shaw). 18. A crooked stick throws а … shadow.