Stylistic Study Of "The Grapes Of Wrath

This thesis, based on the theories of literary stylistics , especially those advanced by such stylists as Geoffrey N. Leech, Michael H. Short , falter Nash and Halliday is to make a stylistic study of Steinbeck' s The Grapes of Wrath , and discusses how the literary stylistics helps to express and strengthen the theme and achieve the aesthetic effect by the choice of language. It also focuses on the structure of epic and deviance in the discourse situation to unveil how the writer produces aesthetic feeling in different writing styles to embody and deepen the motif of this novel.The thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter One gives theoretical views of stylistics and the main items of the stylistic analysis of The Grapes of Wrath. According to Walter Nash, stylistic study reveals the relationship between the detection of stylistics and the comprehension of the plane of articulation and plane of information. Chapter Two is devoted to the framework of Epic in the novel, including the influence of the styles of the Old Testament as well as Biblical allusion, reflected in symbols, characters and settings. Chapter Three applies Geoffrey N. Leech, Michael H. Short and Halliday' s views ?mind style and variance in discourse situation, focuses on the use of different writing styles, the shift of point of View, and also probes into stylistic features in interchapters, linguistic features in the characters' dialogue.Finally the thesis makes a conclusion about Steinbeck' s creative techniques of writing the historical subject matter. With the stylistic analysis, the readers can probe into the value of stylistics in literary works apart from that of theme.