Stylistics routledge English Language Introductions

parts of the fictions we live 
in
and 
by
, if only to map them against alternative
constructions of reality.
(8) Finally, this would lead to an understanding that the fictions (both large and
small) that we live in and by can be rewritten. Both individually and collectively.
As reform or revolution, whichever is more appropriate.
As for my title? See it as notes for a poem, on Sylvia Plath, Women, Feminism,
Radical Stylistics, academic work in general. Optimistic notes.
ISSUES TO CONSIDER
As with a number of the scholars whose work constitutes Section D, Burton raises
many areas for further stylistic investigation in the course of her article. However,
you might wish to consider additionally the following issues:
❏
Burton uses a version of the transitivity model that has been partly reworked in
subsequent linguistic research. A useful exercise is to comb through the Plath
text using the version of the analytic model presented in A6 and B6, concen-
trating in particular on Plath’s use of 
behavioural processes
(as they relate to the
persona’s actions) and on her use of 
meronymic agency
(as it relates to her depic-
tion of the nurse).
❏
Rewrite the paragraph from 
The Bell Jar
from the point of view of either the Nurse
or the Doctor, staying as close as possible to the words of the original text. What
overall changes to the transitivity profile are brought about by your rewrites?
What sorts of processes now dominate? Look again at these rewrites once you
have completed unit 7, on point of view. To what extent do your rewrites involve
a realignment in the visual perspective of each of the characters in the scene?
❏
Since Burton’s study, certain critical theorists have suggested that feminism has
given way to a so-called ‘post-feminist’ era. Using the transitivity model, you
could evaluate this claim by looking at other texts by and/or about women. Are
there any novels or short stories that you have read which portray women
through what Burton calls ‘disenabling’ patterns of language, whether metaphor-
ical, lexical or grammatical in design? Is Burton’s feminist-stylistic polemic as
viable today as it was on its publication in 1982?
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E X T E N S I O N
✪