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ENG820Arts3 Unitsintermediate

Linguistics and the Study of Literature

This course introduces students to the basic principles and practice of textual analysis. As a field of applied linguistics, the main thrust of stylistics is to show the scientific link between authorial intentions in texts and their linguistic representations, all in a bid to assign semantic values to them. The course covers developments in theoretical and functional linguistics in the interpretation of textual impressions and expressions. It emphasizes the relationship between presentation and the motivation for use of such a text.

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150h
Study Time
13
Weeks
12h
Per Week
none
Math Level
Course Keywords
StylisticsLinguisticsLiteratureTextual AnalysisDiscourse

Course Overview

Everything you need to know about this course

Course Difficulty

Intermediate Level
Builds on foundational knowledge
65%
intermediate
📚
Math Level
No Math
🔬
Learning Type
Hands-on Practice

Course Topics

Key areas covered in this course

1

Language and Literature

2

Stylistics

3

Foregrounding

4

Levels of Language Analysis

5

Linguistic Metafunctions

6

Context in Discourse

7

Cohesion in Stylistics

Total Topics7 topics

Ready to Start

No specific requirements needed

This course is designed to be accessible to all students. You can start immediately without any prior knowledge or specific preparation.

Assessment Methods

How your progress will be evaluated (3 methods)

assignments

Comprehensive evaluation of course material understanding

Written Assessment

tutor-marked assessments

Comprehensive evaluation of course material understanding

Written Assessment

final examination

Comprehensive evaluation of course material understanding

Written Assessment

Career Opportunities

Explore the career paths this course opens up for you

Literary Critic

Apply your skills in this growing field

Editor

Apply your skills in this growing field

Content Writer

Apply your skills in this growing field

Linguist

Apply your skills in this growing field

Communication Specialist

Apply your skills in this growing field

Industry Applications

Real-world sectors where you can apply your knowledge

PublishingJournalismEducationAdvertisingPublic Relations

Study Schedule Beta

A structured 13-week journey through the course content

Week
1

Module 1: Language, Literature and Literary Analysis

4h

Unit 1: What language is

2 study hours
  • •Read the definition of language and its functions.
  • •Identify the spoken and written levels of language.
  • •Understand how language mediates between expression and meaning.

Unit 2: Literature and its allied concepts

2 study hours
  • •Explore the relationship between literature and society.
  • •Understand the didactic purposes of literature.
  • •Identify the ornamental resources that make literature special.
Week
2

Module 1: Language, Literature and Literary Analysis

3h

Unit 3: Stylistics as the confluence of linguistics and literature

3 study hours
  • •Understand how linguistics contributes to literary interpretation.
  • •Explore the interdisciplinary nature of stylistics.
  • •Differentiate between various branches of stylistics.
Week
3

Module 2: Nature and Focus of the Course – Stylistics and the Concept of Style

6h

Unit 1: Introduction to stylistics

3 study hours
  • •Define stylistics and its purpose.
  • •Review Stanley Fish's position on stylistics.
  • •Understand the goal of stylistic analysis.

Unit 2: The workings of stylistics – A review of Stanley Fish's (1981) position on stylistics

3 study hours
  • •Review Stanley Fish's (1981) position on stylistics
  • •Understand the workings of stylistics
  • •Identify the criticisms of stylistics
Week
4

Module 2: Nature and Focus of the Course – Stylistics and the Concept of Style

6h

Unit 3: Trends in stylistics

3 study hours
  • •Trace the evolution of stylistics.
  • •Understand the influence of structuralism.
  • •Identify the branches of stylistics.

Unit 4: The concept of style

3 study hours
  • •Define style and its characteristics.
  • •Explore different perspectives of approaching textual style.
  • •Understand social and language categories in the exploration of style.
Week
5

Module 3: Foregrounding

8h

Unit 1: What foregrounding is from the background

4 study hours
  • •Define foregrounding and its purpose.
  • •Understand the relationship between foregrounding and background.
  • •Explore the elements of foregrounding.

Unit 2: Elements of foregrounding

4 study hours
  • •Identify and analyze graphological deviation.
  • •Identify and analyze phonological deviation.
  • •Identify and analyze morphological deviation.
Week
6

Module 4: Levels of Language in Stylistics

6h

Unit 1: Phonology

3 study hours
  • •Understand the role of phonology in stylistics.
  • •Analyze sound effective devices in poetry.
  • •Explore the relationship between phonic and graphic substance.

Unit 2: Graphology

3 study hours
  • •Understand the role of graphology in stylistics.
  • •Analyze typography and punctuation in written texts.
  • •Explore the functional significance of graphemes.
Week
7

Module 4: Levels of Language in Stylistics

6h

Unit 3: Morphology

3 study hours
  • •Understand the role of morphology in stylistics.
  • •Analyze word formation processes in poetry.
  • •Explore the relationship between morphology and thematic foregrounding.

Unit 4: Lexis

3 study hours
  • •Understand the role of lexis in stylistics.
  • •Analyze lexico-grammatical constituents of a structure.
  • •Explore the relationship between lexis and meaning.
Week
8

Module 4: Levels of Language in Stylistics

6h

Unit 5: Syntax

3 study hours
  • •Understand the role of syntax in stylistics.
  • •Analyze syntactic patterns in poetry.
  • •Explore the relationship between syntax and meaning.

Unit 6: Lexico-semantics

3 study hours
  • •Understand the role of semantics in stylistics.
  • •Analyze lexico-semantic features of language.
  • •Explore the relationship between semantics and meaning.
Week
9

Module 4: Levels of Language in Stylistics

4h

Unit 7: Pragmatics

4 study hours
  • •Understand the role of pragmatics in stylistics.
  • •Analyze the influence of context on meaning.
  • •Explore the relationship between pragmatics and interpretation.
Week
10

Module 5: Linguistic Intercessions in Stylistics

6h

Unit 1: Experiential or ideational function

3 study hours
  • •Understand the experiential or ideational function of language.
  • •Identify the components of experiential function.
  • •Analyze material, relational, and projecting processes.

Unit 2: Interpersonal function

3 study hours
  • •Understand the interpersonal function of language.
  • •Explore the processes of exchanging information and services.
  • •Analyze the mood block and its components.
Week
11

Module 5: Linguistic Intercessions in Stylistics

3h

Unit 3: Textual function

3 study hours
  • •Understand the textual function of language.
  • •Analyze theme and rheme in a text.
  • •Explore given and new information.
Week
12

Module 6: Context of Text Composition and Decomposition

8h

Unit 1: The place of context in discourse

4 study hours
  • •Understand the place of context in discourse.
  • •Explore the components of context: field, tenor, and mode.
  • •Analyze the types of context: physical, socio-cultural, psychological, and linguistic.

Unit 2: Text and contextualization

4 study hours
  • •Define text and its characteristics.
  • •Understand the concept of contextualization.
  • •Analyze contextualization cues in discourse.
Week
13

Module 7: Cohesion in Stylistics

8h

Unit 1: Introduction and definitions

4 study hours
  • •Define cohesion and its importance in literary analysis.
  • •Understand the relationship between cohesion and coherence.
  • •Explore the ways of instilling cohesion in discourse.

Unit 2: Ways of instilling cohesion in discourse

4 study hours
  • •Analyze substitution, ellipsis, reference, and conjunction.
  • •Explore lexical cohesion: reiteration and collocation.
  • •Understand the stages of stylistic analysis.

This study schedule is in beta and may not be accurate. Please use it as a guide and consult the course outline for the most accurate information.

Course PDF Material

Read the complete course material as provided by NOUN.

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Study Tips & Exam Preparation

Expert tips to help you succeed in this course

1

Create a glossary of key stylistic terms and concepts from Modules 1-3.

2

Practice analyzing different text types (prose, poetry, drama) using the levels of language framework from Module 4.

3

Develop a checklist for identifying cohesive devices in texts, focusing on examples from Module 7.

4

Apply the stages of stylistic analysis (identification, validation, interpretation) to sample passages from Module 9.

5

Review the linguistic metafunctions (experiential, interpersonal, textual) and their application in analyzing discourse from Module 5.

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