A Complete Summary of Patterns in Language: An Introduction to Language and Literary Style

 

1. Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION & SOUND AND METRE IN POETRY
2. Chapter 2: SOUND AND METRE IN POETRY
3. Chapter 3: GRAMMAR AND LITERARY STYLE
4. Chapter 4: MEANING
5. Chapter 5: STYLISTIC APPLICATIONS TO DRAMA
6. Chapter 6: FROM CLASSIC REALISM TO MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM
7. Chapter 7: STYLE IN POPULAR TEXTS
8. Chapter 8: THEORY AND STYLE: NEXT STEPS

Bibliography

Thornborrow, J., & Wareing, S. (1998). Patterns in Language: An Introduction to Language and Literary Style. 11 New fatter Lane, London EC4P 4EE: Routledge.

 

Sample Questions:

Questions to Practice 2023

PART 1: Subjective Questions

 

1.      What is stylistics? Explain some debates about the methods and purpose of stylistics.

2.      What is phonology? Elaborate sound patterning with examples. 

3.      Define the following terms:

a)      Couplets

b)     Quatrains

c)      Blank verse

d)     Sonnet

e)      Free verse

f)      Limericks

4.      What common words are represented by the following phonemic notations?

a)      fⁱlm

b)     pe^Ipəkl^Ip

c)      f^Ingət^Ip

d)     bük

e)      vjuz

f)      keik

g)     kad

h)     gagl

i)       güd

j)       fud

5.      Identify the number of syllables in the following words:

a)      Kite

b)     Bridge

c)      Classic

d)     Decentralisation

e)      Tranquil

f)      Sensation

g)     Spam

h)     Melodious

i)       Tomato

j)       Automatic

6.      Define the following terms:

a)      Phonemes in English 

b)     Vowels

c)      Sound and metre in poetry

d)     Different types of feet

7.      What is grammar? Define morphology and syntax.

8.      Define the following word class terms:

a)      Nouns

b)     Verbs

c)      Adjectives

d)     Adverbs

e)      Prepositions

9.      Describe noun and verb phrases with examples.

10.   What is the difference between finite verb phrases and non-finite verb phrases?

11.   Read the following extract and underline all the verb phrases. 

He stood at the hall door turning the ring, turning the heavy signet ring upon his little finger while his glance travelled coolly, deliberately, over the round tables and basket chairs scattered about the glassed-in veranda. He pursed his lips—he might have been going to whistle—but he did not whistle—only turned the ring—turned the ring on his pink, freshly washed hands.

12.   Describe simple and complex sentences. 

13.   Identify the subject and predicate in the following extract from a short story by Ernest Hemingway.  

The king was working in the garden. He seemed very glad to see me. We walked through the garden. ‘This is the queen,’ he said. She was clipping a rose bush. ‘Oh, how do you do,’ she said. We sat down at a table under a big tree and the king ordered whisky and soda. 

14.   What is semantics? Elaborate your answer with some examples.  

15.    Suggest hyponyms for the following:

the media, jewellery, soup, fastenings for clothes, stationery 

16.   Suggest superordinates for the following:

jazz, wheat, fountain pen, central heating, igloo, dictionary, suitcase 

17.   Define the following terms:

a)      Homonyms

b)     Literal language and figurative language

c)      Simile

d)     Metaphor

18.   What is the difference between simile and metaphor?

19.   What is a metaphor? Define extended metaphor, anthropomorphic metaphor anddead metaphor with some examples. 

20.   How should we analyse drama? Elaborate on the difference between speech and writing.

21.   Define the following terms with reference to drama:

a)      Pauses and pause fillers

b)     Repetition and recycling

c)      Turn-taking

22.   What are the stylistic characteristics of realist texts?

23.   Show some differences between classic realism, modernism and postmodernism. 

24.   What are the stylistic characteristics of postmodernist texts? Elaborate.  

25.   What is lexical creativity? What are the ways of targeting the reader? Explain with some examples. 

26.   What is the use of metaphors in advertising?

 

Part 2: Objective Questions

 

1.      Phonology is the study of … in language.
(a) sound (b) metre (c) stress
ANSWER: SOUND

2.      Words that have several syllables like tragedy are called … . 
(a) consonant clusters (b) monosyllabic words (c) polysyllabic words
ANSWER: POLYSYLLABIC WORDS

3.      Rhyme refers specifically to two words having the same final … sound. 
(a) vowel (b) consonant (c) vowel and consonant
ANSWER: VOWEL AND CONSONANT

4.      … describes syllables with a common vowel. 
(a) Consonance (b) Assonance (c) Alliteration
ANSWER: ASSONANCE

5.      … foot contains two syllables, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.
 (a) Iamb (b) Trochee (c) Anapest
ANSWER: IAMB

6.      … foot contains two syllables as well, but in this case, the stressed syllable comes first, followed by an unstressed syllable 
(a) Spondee (b) Trochee (c) Dectyl  
ANSWER: TROCHEE

7.      A sonnet is a poetic form which has been used in English since the … century.
(a) Late-sixteenth (b) mid-sixteenth (c) early-sixteenth  
ANSWER: MID-SIXTEENTH

8.      The rhyme scheme of Shakespeare's sonnets is … 
(a) abab bcbc cdcd ee  (b) abbaabba-cdecde (c) abab cdcd efef gg  
ANSWER: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

9.      The rhyme scheme of Miltonic sonnets is … 
(a) abab bcbc cdcd ee  (b) abbaabba-cdecde (c) abab cdcd efef gg  
ANSWER: ABBAABBA CDECDE

10.   Free verse (also called very libre) has been very popular in the … century.
(a) nineteenth (b) late eighteen (c) twentieth   
ANSWER: TWENTIETH

11.   Stanzas of four lines, known as …, are very common in English poetry 
(a) Sonnet (b) Quatrains (c) Couplets 
ANSWER: QUATRAINS

12.   … consist of lines in iambic pentameter which do not rhyme. 
(a) Blank Verse (b) Sonnet (c) Free Verse
ANSWER: BLANK VERSE

13.   The smallest unit that carries grammatical information in a language is called a … .
(a) word class (b) syntax (c) morpheme
ANSWER: MORPHEME

14.   A grammatical sentence usually consists of a subject and a … .
(a) noun phrase (b) predicate (c) utterance
ANSWER: PREDICATE

15.   A … is one which consists of a single clause. 
 (a) complex sentence (b) simple sentence (c) compound sentence
ANSWER: SIMPLE SENTENCE

16.   A … sentence is one which consists of two or more clauses joined by a conjunction like and or but. 
(a) subordinated (b) relative (c) coordinated
ANSWER: COORDINATED

17.   … is the study of word meaning.
(a) syntax (b) semantics (c) context
ANSWER: SEMANTICS

18.   The technical term for words with more than one meaning is … 
(a) hyponyms (b) deixis (c) homonyms
ANSWER: HOMONYMS

19.   Coffee is a … for cappuccino, filter, espresso and decaf. 
(a) hyponym (b) superordinate (c) homonym
ANSWER: SUPERORDINATE

20.   The phrase as cold as ice is a common … 
(a) simile (b) metaphor (c) conceit
ANSWER: SIMILE

21.   When animals, objects, or concepts are given specifically human attributes, … is said to have taken place. 
a) mixed metaphor (b) pathetic fallacy (c) anthropomorphism
ANSWER: ANTHROPOMORPHISM

22.   The … is a metaphor which has been absorbed into everyday language usage and become naturalised so that most language users are not aware of it as a metaphor any more. 
a) mixed metaphor (b) dead metaphor (c) anthropomorphism
ANSWER: DEAD METAPHOR

23.   The way people have a conversation and organise who is going to speak next is called …
a) turn-taking (b) unclear speech (c) repetition and recycling
ANSWER: TURN-TAKING

24.   … is the term used in linguistics to describe the relationship between a particular style of language and its context of use. 
a) speech acts (b) presupposition (c) register
ANSWER: REGISTER

25.   Realism was an artistic movement which began in the late … century. 
a) eighteenth (b) nineteenth (c) twentieth
ANSWER: EIGHTEENTH

26.   Virginia Woolf proposed ... as a key date for modernism. 
a) 1922 (b) 1848 (c) 1910
ANSWER: 1910

27.   Postmodernism emerged in Western literature, art and architecture, and other forms of thinking and expression, in the period ... , and is still in progress. 
a) 1940-45 (b) 1945-50 (c) 1950-55
ANSWER: 1945-50

28.    Postmodernism is characterised by parody and pastiche. … imitates other work in order to mock it. 
a) Pastiche  (b) Parody (c) Modernism
ANSWER: PARODY

INTERNAL EXAM 2079 QUESTIONS (LBU)

GROUP A

1.     What is a sonnet? What are the different types of sonnets? Elaborate briefly.

2.     Define the following terms:

a.     The dead metaphor

b.     Simple and complex sentences 

GROUP B

3.     What is the difference between literal language and figurative language?

4.     Identify the subject and predicate in the following sentences:

a.     John eats oranges.

b.     Chocolate is good for you.

c.     It snowed in the morning.

d.     The train was late.

e.     Six North Africans were playing boule beneath Flaubert’s statue.

5.     What common words are represented by the following phonemic notations?

a.     fⁱlm

b.     pe^Ipəkl^Ip

c.     f^Ingət^Ip

d.     bük

e.     vjuz

6.     Identify the number of syllables in the following words:

a.     Classic

b.     Tomato

c.     Decentralisation

d.     Automatic

e.     Sensation

7.     Suggest super-ordinates for the following:

a.     Jazz

b.     Suitcase

c.     Wheat

d.     Dictionary

e.     Central heating 

8.     Suggest hyponyms for the following:

a.     The media 

b.     Jeweller  

c.     Soup  

d.     Stationary

e.     Fastenings for clothes

GROUP C

1.     … is concerned with the idea of style with the analysis of literary texts, and with the use of linguistics. 
(a) linguistic (b) style (c) morphemes 

ANSWER: (b) style

2.     … is the study of sounds in a language.
(a) phonology (b) style (c) metre

ANSWER: (a) phonology

3.     … contains two syllables: an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.
(a) trochee (b) iamb (c) anapest

ANSWER: (b) iamb

4.     … contains three syllables: two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed one.
(a) trochee (b) iamb (c) anapest

ANSWER: (c) anapest

5.     Stanzas of four lines, known as …, are very common in English poetry.
(a) couplets (b) quatrains (c) sonnets

ANSWER: (b) quatrains

6.     … uses little or no conventional rhyme or metre.
(a) free verse (b) limericks (c) blank verse

ANSWER: (a) free verse

7.     The smallest unit that carries grammatical information in a language is called a ...
(a) morpheme (b) noun phrase (c) determiner

ANSWER: (a) morpheme

8.     The technical term for words with more than one meaning is … 
(a) deixis (b) opposites (c) homonyms 

ANSWER: (c) homonyms

9.     … is a way of comparing one thing with another with the words as or like.
(a) metaphor (b) simile (c) conceit

ANSWER: (b) simile

10.  When animals, objects, or concepts are given specifically human attributes … is said to have taken place.
(a) anthropomorphic metaphors (b) pathetic fallacy (c) mixed metaphor

ANSWER: (a) anthropomorphic metaphors

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