Stylistics ─ A Resource Book for Students

Routledge English Language Introductions cover core areas of language study and are one-stop resources for students.

Assuming no prior knowledge, books in the series offer an accessible overview of the subject, with activities, study questions, sample analyses, commentaries and key readings – all in the same volume. The innovative and flexible ‘two-dimensional’ structure is built around four sections – introduction, development, exploration and extension – which offer self-contained stages for study. Each topic can be read across these sections, enabling the reader to build gradually on the knowledge gained.

Stylistics:

• provides a comprehensive overview of the methods and theories of stylistics: from metre to metaphor, dialogue to discourse
• enables students to uncover the layers, patterns and levels that constitute stylistic description
• helps the reader to develop a set of stylistic tools of their own, which can be applied to any text
• is written in a clear and entertaining style with lively examples from authors as diverse as Shakespeare and Irvine Welsh
• provides classic readings by key names in the field, such as Katie Wales, Mick Short, Derek Attridge and Henry Widdowson.

Written by an experienced teacher and researcher, this accessible textbook is an essential resource for all students of creative writing, English language and English literature.

Paul Simpson is a Professor of English Language in the School of English at Queen’s University Belfast. He is best known for his books and articles in stylistics and critical linguistics and his publications in this area include Language, Ideology and Point of View, Language through Literature and the co-authored textbook Language and Power, all published by Routledge. He is the author of the monograph On the Discourse of Satire and from 2003 to 2009 was editor of Language and Literature, the journal of the International Poetics and Linguistics Association. He is currently writing a monograph on the linguistic pragmatics of irony.