Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Why do people read? (General Introduction) and Units 7-10 (Exercises in Stylistics)
IDI-234 2015-2 Wed, September 2nd, 2015
Introduction and First Assignment
Hello, dear students. This blog here is another instrument we will be using on and for our stylistics class. As I told you the on the first face-to-face class we had, you had to do a lot of reading with no delay, in advance and constantly. So, after almost three weeks from that day, I expect you to have already fulfilled most, if not all, of that task. Counting on this, I would like you to think about and write about the characteristics of the different texts in the introductory section “why do people read?”. As you can see there is a central text in this section, (Porphyria’s Lover,) a poem by Robert Browning which deals with the assassination by strangulation of a young lady by her lover. The other texts deal with this subject from their own perspectives or objectives of communication. This is so because, as you can see in Units 7 (pp,152-3) 8 (pp.170-1), 9 (215-6), and 10 (217), respectively of the “Exercises in Stylistics” section , there are different kinds of Functional Styles or kinds of texts which follow certain fixed compositional and linguistic rules and structures in order to achieve a given communicative goal or aim. In other words, you (the writer or any person using language either in its oral or written variety) make conscious or unconscious use or words and expressions in order to better communicate your ideas and accomplish or get what you want. These expressions and words are very closely related to these Styles or Kinds of Texts for historical reasons. For example, a letter follows a certain compositional, visual or typographical organization very different from that of a newspaper.
We might also say that the date is important for both a letter and a newspaper. However, in both the date will appear in different places or positions. In addition, both the letter and the newspaper are addressed to a person, but in a letter, more than usual, the person addressed is known and mentioned in the letter. In the newspaper, that person is not mentioned because it is anybody who could buy or get one. Of course, there are letters that are open, that is, addressed to anybody, but even so they still differ in other aspects such a, the extension of the writing, the types of writings, the organization of the words or expressions used in them. Both a business letter and a newspaper can have as a goal to inform their readers. However, the range of topics in a letter is reduced to one mostly (i.e. a memo informing a change of work schedule), while the topics in a newspaper are obviously many (the state of the stock change, news of companies in bankruptcy, the present economic crisis, investments in the construction etc.).
All this said, what I want you to do is to compare the texts, “Why Do People Read” and units 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 (pages 152, 170, 215, 217, and 219 or 220) in the “Exercises in Stylistics” section. I want you to classify and compare each of the texts in the “why do people read” section taking into consideration the characteristics of the different functional Styles described in the above mentioned Units. By now, I want you to check the texts, the autopsy Surgeon’s Report, the “Legal Indictment”, the “Newspaper Account: Local Girl Found Slain by Rejected Lover”, The Sob Sister's Story” and of course “Porphyria’s Lover”. From the stylistic point of view, what is the difference among those texts? What makes “Porphyria’s Lover” different from the others? Which one is more literary? Why do you think so? (It would help reading the part “The Nature of Literature” which follows the introduction. What is the connotation? what is denotation? what differentiates a literary text from a non-literary one? what do you understand by aesthetic purpose? what characteristics of the belle lettre style are present in Porphyria's Lover and the other texts? what are the characteristics of the Scientific texts? what are those of the Publicistic style? which are those of the Newspaper Style? Can those characteristics of a type of text be shared with the other types? why do you think so? Well, enough by now. Read/See you later.
Introduction and First Assignment
Hello, dear students. This blog here is another instrument we will be using on and for our stylistics class. As I told you the on the first face-to-face class we had, you had to do a lot of reading with no delay, in advance and constantly. So, after almost three weeks from that day, I expect you to have already fulfilled most, if not all, of that task. Counting on this, I would like you to think about and write about the characteristics of the different texts in the introductory section “why do people read?”. As you can see there is a central text in this section, (Porphyria’s Lover,) a poem by Robert Browning which deals with the assassination by strangulation of a young lady by her lover. The other texts deal with this subject from their own perspectives or objectives of communication. This is so because, as you can see in Units 7 (pp,152-3) 8 (pp.170-1), 9 (215-6), and 10 (217), respectively of the “Exercises in Stylistics” section , there are different kinds of Functional Styles or kinds of texts which follow certain fixed compositional and linguistic rules and structures in order to achieve a given communicative goal or aim. In other words, you (the writer or any person using language either in its oral or written variety) make conscious or unconscious use or words and expressions in order to better communicate your ideas and accomplish or get what you want. These expressions and words are very closely related to these Styles or Kinds of Texts for historical reasons. For example, a letter follows a certain compositional, visual or typographical organization very different from that of a newspaper.
We might also say that the date is important for both a letter and a newspaper. However, in both the date will appear in different places or positions. In addition, both the letter and the newspaper are addressed to a person, but in a letter, more than usual, the person addressed is known and mentioned in the letter. In the newspaper, that person is not mentioned because it is anybody who could buy or get one. Of course, there are letters that are open, that is, addressed to anybody, but even so they still differ in other aspects such a, the extension of the writing, the types of writings, the organization of the words or expressions used in them. Both a business letter and a newspaper can have as a goal to inform their readers. However, the range of topics in a letter is reduced to one mostly (i.e. a memo informing a change of work schedule), while the topics in a newspaper are obviously many (the state of the stock change, news of companies in bankruptcy, the present economic crisis, investments in the construction etc.).
All this said, what I want you to do is to compare the texts, “Why Do People Read” and units 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 (pages 152, 170, 215, 217, and 219 or 220) in the “Exercises in Stylistics” section. I want you to classify and compare each of the texts in the “why do people read” section taking into consideration the characteristics of the different functional Styles described in the above mentioned Units. By now, I want you to check the texts, the autopsy Surgeon’s Report, the “Legal Indictment”, the “Newspaper Account: Local Girl Found Slain by Rejected Lover”, The Sob Sister's Story” and of course “Porphyria’s Lover”. From the stylistic point of view, what is the difference among those texts? What makes “Porphyria’s Lover” different from the others? Which one is more literary? Why do you think so? (It would help reading the part “The Nature of Literature” which follows the introduction. What is the connotation? what is denotation? what differentiates a literary text from a non-literary one? what do you understand by aesthetic purpose? what characteristics of the belle lettre style are present in Porphyria's Lover and the other texts? what are the characteristics of the Scientific texts? what are those of the Publicistic style? which are those of the Newspaper Style? Can those characteristics of a type of text be shared with the other types? why do you think so? Well, enough by now. Read/See you later.
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