A Stylistic Analysis Of Some Selected Poems Of Wole Soyinka

Language and style never moves beyond a concentration on the supremacy of words. These words somehow contain meanings style is effectively language manipulated in ways that signal it as different from ‘ordinary’ language. A stylistic analysis of the selection of some Wole Soyinka’s poems is carried out to educate, explicate and expose to everybody that comes across this write up, in guiding them on how to analyse. The data used to illustrate and substantiate our claims are systematically sourced from some selected poems of Wole Soyinka. The lexico-syntactic patterns and choices, the phonological, morphological and graphological devices are the main stylistic elements used to prove our claims. Finally, we find that each of the elements however, has identifiable functions which contribute to the effective meaning of the poems. It can therefore be concluded that these elements trigger and play important roles in passing the intention of the writer across.  

 

Contents             Page 

Title Page        i

Certification         ii

Dedication        iii

Acknowledgement        iv 

Abstract         vi

Table of Contents        viii

CHAPTER ONE : GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction        1

1.1 Research Problem       2

1.2 Aims and Objectives       3

1.3 Scope of the Study       3

1.4 Justification        3

1.5 Research Methodology      4 

1.6 Biography of the Poet      4

 

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REWIEW

2.0 Introduction         6

2.1 Style           6

2.2 Stylistics          8

2.3 Approaches to Stylistic Analysis     12

2.4 Levels of Stylistic Analysis      15

2.5 Elements in Stylistic Analysis    17 

2.5.1 Lexico-Syntactic Patterns     17 

2.5.2 Lexico-Syntactic Choices     18

2.5.3 Phonological Devices     20

2.5.4 Graphological Devices      21

2.5.5 Morphological Devices    21

CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS 

3.0 Introduction        23

3.1 Textual Analysis       23

3.2 Discussion of Tables      44

3.3 Conclusion       44 

CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY,FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

4.1 Summary        46

4.2 Findings        47

4.3 Conclusion        48

 Bibliography       49

   

 

Stylistics is a word derived from style; it is a discipline which studies different styles. It can refer to the study of proper use of words or language in proper places. Widdowson (1975, p 3) defines stylistics as “the study of literary discourse from a linguistic orientation”. He goes further by saying that  what distinguishes stylistics from literary criticism on the one hand, and linguistics on the other, is that it is essentially a means of linking the two and has (as yet at least) no autonomous domain of its own. He also added that stylistics, however involves both literary criticism and linguistics, as its morphological make-up suggest: the ‘style’ component relating it to the former and the ‘istics’ component to the latter. Style has grown to mean so many things to so many people today. Carter (1989, p 14) is of the view that it is generally recognized that the style of a work can depend on linguistic levels-often simultaneously and that one fairly crucial factor is our expectation concerning the literary form or genre employed.

Haynes (1989, p 3) believes that the study of style is the study of distinctions: looking at what was said against what might have been said. Style is almost synonymous with variety. Style refers in a simple way to the manner of expression which differs according to the various contexts. 

Style, being a versatile field, is defined depending on one’s field of study. Adejare (1992) makes this clear when he said that style is an ambiguous term. Lawal (1997, p 6) however, describes style as an aspect of language that deals with choices of diction, phrases, sentences and linguistic materials that are consistent and harmonious with the subject matter. He added that it involves the narrative technique of a writer in terms of choice and distribution of words and character. Lawal (1997, p 6) also added that it may be reckoned in terms of the sociolinguistic contexts and it may also be reckoned or analysed on linguistic, semantic and even semiotic terms.