ABSTRACT
This research effort sets out to examine the stylistic features employed by Niyi Osundare in the poems, “the Language of Pain”, “Death Came Calling”, “with the Nib of a Borrowed Pen”, “The weeping Book”, and “The Lake came to my House”, culled from the anthology titled “A City Without People”. It also aims at analyzing the identified stylistic features, with a view to relating them with how they contribute to the messages of the poems and their readability. This study is done using Systemic Functional Grammar as the theoretical basis. The methodology adopted involved a thorough perusal of our primary text, the aforementioned poems to determine how they are employed by the poet to create desired effects. Through this study, we have been able to know that Osundare uses stylistic features at the graphological, phonological, lexico-semantic/morphological and syntactic levels to assert his authorial purpose.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract vi
Table of Contents vii
CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Introduction 1
Statement of the Problem 7
Aim and Objectives 7
Scope of Study 8
Justification of Study 9
Research Methodology 9
Theoretical Framework 10
A short Biography of Niyi Osundare 14
Conclusion 15
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 16
2.2 The Notion of Style 16
2.3 Approaches to the Study of Style 19
2.3.1 Style as Choice 19
2.3.2 Style as Deviation from the Norm 22
2.3.3 Style as an Idiosyncratic Phenomenon/Personality 24
2.3.4 Style as a Temporal Phenomenon 26
2.3.5 Style as Relationship between Message and Medium 27
2.4 Stylistics: An Overview 27
2.5 Levels of Linguistic-Stylistic Analysis 32
2.5.1 Graphological Level 35
2.5.2 Phonological Level 41
2.5.3 Lexical Level/ Morphological 42
2.5.4 Syntactic Level 43
2.5.5 Semantic Level 45
2.6 Cohesion 46
2.6.1 Lexical Cohesion 51
2.7 Systemic Functional Grammar: A short Appraisal 52
2.8 Conclusion 54
CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS
3.1 Introduction 56
3.2 Graphological Analysis 56
3.2.1 Foregrounding 57
3.2.1.1 Fonting 57
3.2.1.2 Spacing 58
3.2.1.3 Capitalization 58
3.2.1.4 Italics 59
3.2.2 Punctuation 59
3.2.2.1 Apostrophe 60
3.2.2.2 Parenthesis 60
3.2.2.3 Hyphen 61
3.2.2.4 Full stop 61
3.2.2.5 Comma 63
3.2.2.6 Question Mark 64
3.3 Phonological Analysis 64
3.3.1 Alliteration 65
3.3.2 Assonance 67
3.3.3 Repetition 69
3.3.4 Enjambment 70
3.3.5 Onomatopoeia 71
3.3.6 Pun 71
3.4 Lexico-Semantic Analysis/ Morphological
Analysis 72
3.4.1 Figurative Expressions 72
3.4.1.1 Simile 73
3.4.1.2 Personification 74
3.4.1.3 Oxymoron 76
3.4.1.4 Hyperbole 77
3.4.1.5 Allusion 77
3.4.1.6 Antithesis 78
3.4.2 Lexical Items suggesting Destruction and Death 78
3.4.3 Morphological Analysis 80
3.4.3.1 Affixation 81
3.4.3.2 Prefixation 81
3.4.3.3 Suffixation 82
3.4.3.4 Compounding 83
3.4.3.5 Conversion 84
3.5 Syntactic Features 84
3.5.1 Group Structures and Types 85
3.5.1.1 The Nominal Group 85
3.5.1.2 The Verbal Group 87
3.5.1.3 The Adjectival Group 89
3.5.2 Sentence Types 91
3.5.2.1 The Simple Sentence Type 91
3.5.2.2 The Compound Sentence Type 92
3.5.2.3 The Complex Sentence Type 93
3.6 Cohesive Features 96
3.6.1 Reference 97
3.6.2 Conjunction 98
3.7 Context of Situation 100
3.7.1 Field of Discourse 100
3.7.2 Tenor of Discourse 101
3.7.3 Mode of Discourse 103
3.8 Conclusion 104
CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY, FINDINGS
AND CONCLUSION
4.1 Introduction 105
4.2 Summary 105
4.3 Findings 106
4.4 Conclusion 108
References 110
Appendix 119
