Language Through Literature: An Introduction

by Paul Simpson

Overview

Paul Simpson provides a definitive introduction to the English language through the medium of English Literature. Through the use of illustrations from poetry, prose and drama, this book offers a lively and accessible guide to important concepts and techniques in English language study.
Each chapter:
* develops a particular topic in language through a series of practical tasks
* provides points for further discussion
* includes project work for use individually, or as part of a group.
Students will find the author's selection and presentation of topics helpful, as he progressively widens the scope of topics through from single words to the structure of whole conversations. By developing practical activities designed for the study of English Language, this book goes way beyond pure linguistic description, and will be an invaluable aid for the beginner student of the English language.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415149631
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/05/1996
Series:	Interface
Pages:	238
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1290L (what's this?)

About the Author

Paul Simpson is a Lecturer in the School of English at Queen’s University, Belfast. His previous publications include Language, Ideology and Point of View (1993).

Table of Contents

Preface 1 Introduction: studying language and literature 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Why stylistics? 1.3 Register and ‘literary language’ 1.4 Using this book Suggestions for further reading 2 From shapes to words: exploring graphology and morphology in poetry 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The system of graphology 2.3 Morphemes and words 2.4.1 Using linguistic models for stylistic analysis 2.4.2 Extending the analysis: a workshop 2.5 Summary Suggestions for further reading 3 Words and meanings: an introduction to lexical semantics 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Words and meanings 3.3 Words and combinations 3.4 Techniques for stylistic analysis 3.5 Summary Suggestions for further reading 4 Exploring narrative style: patterns of cohesion in a short story 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Practical activity: reconstructing a short story 4.3 Results and discussion 4.4 Extending the analysis 4.5 Practical activity: creative writing 4.6 Summary Suggestions for further reading 5 Dialogue and drama: an introduction to discourse analysis 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Dialogue and discourse 5.3 Models for the analysis of discourse 5.4 Discourse analysis and drama dialogue 5.5 Summary Suggestions for further reading Afterword.

Editorial Reviews

'A book that has long been needed, collecting together relatively recent linguistic ideas with the most useful of the older work and presenting them accessibly, without the assumption that the reader either has a sophisticated command of grammatical terms or that tutors will necessarily want to subscribe to either a formal or a functional approach to language study. There is no doubt that this book will be a major contribution to the pool of textbooks upon which stylistics teaching can draw.' - Judy Delin, The Linguist

From the Publisher