Stylistic Analysis of Gone With the Wind.doc

Stylistic Analysis of Gone With the Wind Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 for her epic novel Gone with the Wind, her only major publication. It is one of the most popular books of all time.Gone with the Wind is set in Clayton County, Georgia and Atlanta, Georgia during the American Civil War and Reconstruction and depicts the experiences of Scarlett OHara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner. In this text, I will analyze some discourses selected from Gone with the Wind in stylistic method to give us a clear look of it. Stylistic Analysis Related to Linguistic Description1. At the Lexical Level1) Descriptive and specific wordsIn these short discourses we can easily find that many of the words are descriptive and specific, for example:“Darling, Im going to tell you everything.” She said, putting her hands on the arm of his chair and leaning down to him. “Ive been so wrong, such a stupid fool.”“Ah, darling.” She said coming forward, hoping he would put out his arms and draw her to his knees. “Darling. Im so sorry but Ill make it all up to you! We can be so happy, now that we know the truth and-Rhett-look at me, Rhett! There there can be other babies-not like bonnie but- ”2) Dynamic and static wordsAnother lexical feature is the use of dynamic and static words which is easy to make readers know much about the heros physical and mental characteristics, for example:The dynamic words:“Darling, Im going to tell you everything.”“But I will tell you,” she began rapidly, as if “Ashley!” she said, and made an impatient gesture“Doest matter? What are you talking about? Of course, it matters! Rhett, you do care, dont you? You must care. Melly said you did.”“Ah, darling.” She said coming forward, hoping he would put out his arms and draw her to his kneesThe static words:“Darling, Im going to tell you everything.” She said, putting her hands on the arm of his chair and leaning down to him. “Ive been so wrong, such a stupid fool.”“But I will tell you,” she began rapidly, as if fearing his hand uponher mouth, silencing her. “Oh, Rhett, I love you so, darling! I must have loved you for years and I was such a fool I didnt know it. Rhett, you must believe me!”2. At the Syntactic/Grammatical Level1) Analyzing from the discourse, we can find that most of these discourses are compound sentences and all of them are written in normal order.2) There is also omission in the discourse, for example:“Doest matter? What are you talking about? Of course, it matters! Rhett, you do care, dont you? You must care. Melly said you did.”3) As far as tense is concerned, past tense is often used in the narrative part while present tense in the conversations. This best reflects the reality, for example: “Darling, Im going to tell you everything.” She said, putting her hands on the arm of his chair and leaning down to him. “Ive been so wrong, such a stupid fool.”“Ah, darling.” She said coming forward, hoping he would put out his arms and draw her to his knees. “Darling. Im so sorry but Ill make it all up to you! We can be so happy, now that we know the truth and-Rhett-look at me, Rhett! There there can be other babies-not like bonnie but- ”3. At the Semantic LevelIn order to better convey meanings, Margaret Michell use metaphor to name the novel. Gone with the Wind metaphor that Scarletts social position, wealth, family, and some of her friends will be taken away. All of this shows the message that the author was sending to readers. Stylistic Analysis Related to Literary Appreciation1. At the Lexical LevelMargaret Mitchell uses descritptive and specific words to creat clear images, letting readers find a similar world to their own in her novel.“putting her hands on the arm of his chair and leaning down to him. “ She said coming forward, hoping he would put out his arms and draw her to his kneesReading these discription, readers would engage in the scene and act himself/herself just like the hero.2. At the Syntactic/Grammatical LevelCompound sentences are used in narrative part to describe scenes like pictures, and compound sentences symbolize a world where everything is related with each other in a chaotic way.3. At the Semantic Level The title of the novel Gone With the Wind fits the theme of the book very well. The author chose the title Gone with the Wind because of how many losses all of the characters of the book had. At one point in the story Scarletts social position, wealth, family, and some of her friends were all taken away. All of this shows the message that the author was sending to readers.4. Contextual Factors AnalysisThe discourse took place in the occasion that Scarlett realized that she was in love with her husband Rhett but her husband feel heart-sink for her. All the dialogs are the symbol of Gone With the Wind.“Doest matt