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ISSN 1 009-5039
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Overseas English海外英语
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Stylistic Features of Love/s
a
65690812
Fallacy
宋毅
(昆明学院外国语学院,云南昆明,650214)
Abstract:Stylistic features
help better express the meaning between lines.Love Is
can
novel.This paper will andyze how such stylistic features
as
a
cal sentences,inverted sentences,tag questions and loaded questions applied in the novel
and their psychology and the writer’s attitude
Fallacy by Max Shulman is
sati
a
ring
sentences,fragments,elliptical sentences,end—focus,periodi—
ixln—on
to
help describe heroes’characteristic
them.
to
Key words:stylistic features;suggestion;characteristic;psychology;attitude
中图分类号:1106
文献标识码:A
文章编号:1009—5039(2013)23—0230—02
Stylistic features used in the story Love Is
Max Shulman help the description
a
Fallacy written by
of heroes’characteristic,de—
just
because everybody else is doing it—this
mindlessness.”to
emphasize Peter‘s acme
to
of
me,is the acme
of mindlessness.The
scription of heroes’psychology and suggestion of the author’s atti—
function of periodic sentence is to stress the important pad.4 The
tude.
reason
Love Is
a
Fallacy is
short story which satirizes three heroes
a
and their attitudes to love.The narrator,a law school student,is
and self-conceited person who
smug
needs
just
a
him.and he doesn’t really 10ve Polly.Petey Butch is narrator’s
who always imitates other persons and is vainglorious.
roommate
He
can
even
trade his girl friend for
a
raccoon
The last hero is the girl—Polly who is
chooses
coat iust for fashion.
mindless girl and she
a
boyfriend by surface appearance.Max Shulman applies
a
such stylistic features like
run—on
Petey is
a
wife matching
sentences,fragments,elliptical
The narrator is
a
money
如ot
stylistic features like inverted
on
books and he
l spent all my
coat”.5“Like
them.
a
contrast
and his goal is
just
to
show his fashion
lose anything to acquire his shining ap—
sentences
whose function is
to
emphasize
a
can’t
moneyfor
afford
a
raccoon(:oat,he says‘‘Like
textbook,and now l can"t get
a
a
raccoon
fool”is the emphasized part which shows his
re—
and remorse.After readers learn that his remorse is just be-
he hasn’t enough money to buy
calls himself
and self_conceited person.Max
vain
provide
to
the inverted part.For example,when he regrets spending too much
cause
and their psychology and his attitude
can
characteristic is inverted
grets
to
weakness is
pearance.In the text the most obvious stylistic feature to reveal his
questions and loaded questions
describe heroes’characteristic
peter’s
vain person
a
like other people;he
sentences,end—focus,periodical sentences,inverted sentences,tag
to
he emphasizes
with his advantages.
Polly is
uses
a
raccoon
coat
and he
even
a
fool,his characteristic—vanity is apparent.
a
mindless girl from her responses to narrator’s invita—
emphasize his conceit.
tions
The function of rhetorical inversion is to emphasis.For example,in
Petey
the first paragraph.he introduces himself like“Cool was,and logi—
that the stylistic feature used to suggest her characteristic is invert—
cal.Keen,calculating,perspicacious,acute一,was
ed sentences.The narrator describes Polly with sentences“Beauti—
which is
a
sentences
to
purpose—oriented inversion to
all
of
these”,2
reveal his emphasis
on
his merits which is his own thought.At the same time the narrator
uses
elliptical
introduce his roommate Petey Butch,
sentences to
which are“Same age.same background,but dumb
enough
fellow,you
understand,but
type.Unstable.Impressionable.Worst
nothing
ns
an
upstairs.Emotional
of all,a知ddist.”3
his mocking Petey.These two stylistic features
ox.A nice
just
that imply
present two op—
and questions.At the same time Polly’s decision to choose
as
her boyfriend shows her ignorance to love.It is like Pete)'
mZ she was.Gracious she was.Intell堙ent she
vetted adjectives
can
was
not.”.These in.
be eye—catching,which emphasize her beau—
the narrator’s invitation of
ty,grace without intelligence.After
dinner,Polly’s responses
“’Gee,that was
saysh
a
are
inverted in front of the
detish dinner’,she
sentences
said.”,…Gee,I
time.’she said.’~which stress her responses at
kind of response directly reflects her politeness
as
posite sides—exaggeration of himself and looking down upon the
her thanks by
other.This opposite shows his characteristic—conceit
lacies with her,her answers almost with simple words
ganee.In the meantime,he
z甲in every new
craze
uses
a
and
alTO—
periodic sentence“To be swept
that comes along,to surrender oneselfto idiocy
收稿El期:2013一()9—10
an
had
a
a
like
sen—
first.This
she expresses
ordinary way.And when the narrator discusses fal—
like…Wow一
删。埘j’she cried.”…Really?’said Polly”.which directlv indieate
her ignorance.This kind of emphasis
on
her answers suggests her
修回日期:2013一()9—25
作者简介:宋毅,女,硕士。
本栏日责任编辑:杨菲菲
万方数据
2013年12月
Ove俺easEnglish诲外乒语
mindlessness.The narralor is discussing serious topir wilh her,but
her answers
iust()ne
are
woHls 1ike“wow,reallv”whi【,h
two
or
and psychology.
sh(Jws her ignorance of fallacies and her lack of some knowledge.
In thP stoI.)r stylisIi(・features he】p
reveal heroes’psycholo—
to
Petey’s eagemess
sentence
F0l’exam},je,“%e)’s胁rf.豫町姗eff 6“d.豫呵加e培^£oo删∽^.
ra(:coon
coat.An(i
are
nrst“)ur“they”s
suggesl the defini£e;dea fo
lo
s^ed,sme盯6口d,似e瞻^£oo mMc厶and¨ns罾^£陟reveal
disljke for
a
coat.Then the last“they”is
raccoon
short
a
the
narrator’s
f●agment to sug—
a(玎ectiVes
gesI his incomplete description of ra(:coon.The nega(jVe
of the incomplete【1escription
short sentences and
tures
change
cus
ra(,coon
sentence
is
with
use(i to
£^n£,)rec厶ion
f}agment.Therefbre his a(:tion to
can
a
create
that Petey will exchange
ex—
be understoo(1.Then end—fb-
sense
raccoon
a
the f0110wing
as
of suspense when he hears
with anything.“』Wy 6r’ni凡,
coat
in£o^igh I尹o r.”81t makes readers
ins£ru,nen£,5fiPped
think what he is thinking about and shows his mind’s nlnning.
At
are
used to
expI.ess
reveals Petey’s psychology fbr eagerly needing
tag ques【ion is used to ask
a
a
certain
kind of
f●om his father and】end
some money
to
him,he
cion…Ⅱ¨^en叫^i如)-0u’_e^ome,yo“coMf西z
uses
the tag ques—
2 g引so,,ze
money加m
ofd mon,cDufd),0M”which shows that he wants to make
your
whether the
a
coa“s suggested.
raccoon
Polly’s psychology is shown from his responses to the
tI)r.Almost her answers
use
are
just
some
on
general
1ike“触,£^口£t妒(醅Ⅱ(拓Z蠡矗(矗昆托er’i‘6酱e,,^Ⅱd口sen—
sn"^£ime。:Ⅱ饧叫~埘。州,’ReⅡf“?”.Then she refuses the
£o
narra—
inverted sentences to give emphasis
her words.Hel’first answers to the narrator
sentences
sure
couId do.From these two sentences Petey’s
narrator
for
eagerness
love
a
re—
of sureness.TheItfore when Petey asks the narrator to hring
sp()nse
is conveyed hy stylistic fba—
rac【:oon
a
girl frien(1
a
be concluded
can
words.His de“nite dislike for
senten(1一
J.accoon.And these words】ike
ellipti(’al
an
li{宅,ri(・h emotion,and quick successi()n of thoughts.1 There—
fbre this
es
senlences
verbosity.Elliplical
The Hh()rt sentences(-an he used“)express force anI{(1efinition.7
7碥e),'℃M,u培南£b.丁hq:..’’The
is shown by
go£foj…The second“,’"e go££o’is t()suggest emergen一
fense
js sh()n and simple sentences.
coat
饥‘,’Fe
the
racco()n
ra(:coon
like…,’可e{rot to^Ⅱ口e o,uccoo凡con£,’^e s。idp。s5iDnn把一
(’y and avoj(1
attitude【o
a
sentence
gy an(j some attifudes.The 6rst slyl isli(1 featul-e use‘j t(';ndieate
nan’ator’s
to
narrator’s
w;th“”舶sty&nernf妇£ion;聊o£^船妇co凡£rov fo凡c£i Dic一
Simp如西汹”.This
change from
general
words t0
professional
that tinle he is thinking about Peter’s gi r1 fIjend—Polly.What’s
words
fhe impressi。n of PoUy lo the narrator?11he jmpression is inlm‘
in f南n£of the sen£ences.At£he beginning she passively accepts
inVersions
du(:e(1 hy inverte【l senten(,es.‘rhese purp(Jse—oriented
emphasize his(1irect feelings to
Polly.“BeoMt斩“s^e州Ⅱs.GJⅧcioMs
s^e州os.肪£effigenf s^P训ns nof.”.Later
used.“乩f o眦。厂£k cDmer
answer.He
can’t
with him.When the
the arrangements fmm the narrator and Petey,and then she
sentence
is
passiveIy acceptance to refhsal
o,m)’∞℃,丘印f州Ⅱ£c^i愕心觚”is
to
verted
a
periodicaI
make
whether Peter will make the deal
sure
narrator
descrihes P01ly,he
uses
a
long
sen—
tence.9
The long senIence is reJativeIy(10m pIex inform,fu¨y expres-
sive in
capacity,and often used in fbnnal style
plicated mentality
various
or
be directly presented to I℃aders by inverted her answers
kinds of
to
show
one’s
relationshjp of
com—
d订Iferent
are
sentences.
Max also suggests his attitudes
to
hemes by some stylistic fea—
tures.His main attitude to them is to criticize and satire.so he of—
ten uses
I.un—on
sentences
r11etorical f’unctions
are
and elliptical sentences because their
criticize and mocking.For example,“£kc南
ond扣“^^;s^e。d s札7i口eZe以de5i,七z£,n戈i,z彤re50ZMfion训nni7曙.”is
elliptical senIence to imply his mocking Petey’s hesitation to
an
make the deal with the narrator.“Buf i淞£one more”.is
p^pic仃2 c^Ⅱrr,醛Ⅱnd 060In f^e zⅣⅡy s^e enfe,℃dⅡ,Do,nⅡnd f^e训Ⅱy
cal sentence to mocking the narrator’s thought.He
s|llP厅Ⅱn扰e矗。南n扣nnd扣唬n忍矗,妇i如d£o,n佗南eⅡn咖玎.”。
Ⅲn—on
Which indicates that his thinking ah()ut Polly“)r
s^oo盎,rV^n凡d,”to
pers【)n thinks somel)ody()r something for
it is
an
enjoyable
long lime,he
must
a
feel
think ahout.Therefore his faVor for P01一
to
period
a
10ng time.If
ly is obvious.While after his first(1iscussion with P011),his feel—
are
ings
changed
a
little
c^nnce,,如西ded.”The
ment
to
n一£Ⅲ矿吝扣r
is
sentence
uses
to
senten(’e
me,n
proPer^Ds£ess.如r
emphasize his disappoint—
as
his wife
as
And when he felt he succee(1s
and expresses his l()ve,he
mn,v
can’t
his wife and he couldn’t list a11.
in improving P011y’s intelligence
a(・(・ept that PoIly陀fuses him.He
do o叫e,ne so,ne£^西增,
tag quesfion“7_hn£0 rig^£.So)竹u
r如n t yozb my deor?’’‘‘don’£,田M”is to ask the am丌T1atiVe answer
m)m P01ly.He
wants to
remind P011y that she
surely owes
him
something.These styljstic f色atures suggest the narrator’s attitu(1e
本栏日责任编辑:杨菲菲
万方数据
an
uses
ellipti—
another
sentence“够er如Prom蠡e盔妒盯是e mG如8如8最够e,托
criticize the
improper deal.“^,n£惦t no£6e
£^o昭^££^o£,2uos zui£^ou£fo可e扣r£^厶gi“.Q¨i把£^e contrⅡM”
Here is
love
an
elliptical
sentence
to
show his mocking the narrator’s
fbr Polly.“O卵erⅡnd o秒erⅡ,耐o"er(增口in,ci£ed i,拈£Ⅱ凡ce5,
p疏比d。扰∥n螂,是印£矗口mme矗增删7形倒泓oH£Ze£印”is
senten(:e to
suggest
a
run—on
the author’s disagreement with the naITator’s
behavior.These九ln—on sentences and elliptical sentences suggest
his cdticism and satire to heroes.
That f0丌n carries meaning is best used in this story.The difkr—
mn珊io珊,o sHif06如
c^i厶Z胛忍”.This fragment indicates that
Polly has many qualifications
a
“D聊,怼o,℃
fragments to list PoIIy’s quaIincations.“5^P
m。£是er如r,n,,圳e皿一矗船如d
uses
periodical
and his control of anger.But he also regards Polly
match him.He
训os
a
by
re—
obviousIy presented f}om the in—
things.For example“BM£f^en,go££o£,ji凡矗函增n60uz^er 06undo凡£
a
can
fhse the demands from the narrator.This psych0109y changes from
emphasjze his obserVafion for P色ter.It shows his un(:ertainty for Pe—
ter’s
can
ent
ry
styljstic features convey dif艳rent meanings to readers.This sto—
succeeds in applying them to help descrip“on of heroes’charac—
teristic,their psychology and suggestion the attitudes of the author
|o“1em.
Notes:
1.覃先美,李阳,《英语修辞学概论》,湖南:湖南大学出版社,
2006,p.89.
(下转第255页)
2013年12月
Overseas
tahms,”then“to lengthen itself
out
she went
as
u
p’''at last“like
a
great main—mast to the voyaging earth.’’Cirlot argues that“in its
general sense。the symbolism of the tree denotes life of the
most
eosmos:its
consistence,growth,proliferation….It stands for inex—
haustible life,and is therefore equivalent
ty.”On another aspect,the tree is
to
symbol of immortali—
a
old tree depicted as“the old
an
still.nder the hunter’s
was
who was
vesterday.…‘But
something
practical
enough
have loved his new dependent.”Here the pine is personi—
thought“he
fled
old man of the spiritual redemption,representing“knowl—
story
an
edge,reflection,insight.一and intuition
other,moral qualities such
cording
Jung.The journey
journey
to
Sylvia
too
the
hand,and
one
the
on
goodwill and readiness to help,”ac—
as
to
on
of climbing the old pine is
since“Now she thought of the
tree
a
spiritual
with
a
new
excitement…”Sylvia is right because“truly it was vast an(1 awe—
world,”and“here and there were church steeples,and white
some
villages.”She continues her
off
ing
you
journey
to
a“such
the top of the tree is the climax of her
saw
the white heron
once
VOU
will
see
a
him
should pay attention to the heron’s gender;it is
one
hand,the heron
can
giddy height.”Be—
where
journey,“there
again.’’Here we
male—heron.On
a
stand for Sylvia.The white color implies
pure,innocent and belong to nature.The most important similarity
between them is both the heron and Sylvia resist to the young man
in
one
way
suggests
the
or
another.On the other hand,a male heron probably
that what the young hunter asks
eonventional
role
women
Women should help their
must
or
expects
fulfill in
masculine world.
utilize other
males.
Moreover,love between man and woman requires women to
surren—
men
are
der their bodies physically the same
young man wants to
to
as
kill
a
Sylvia to do is
or
the white heron.What the
do with the bird is to kill,to stuff and to pro—
eess.And what the men want to do with women is to conquest their
bodies,to profit from their child—bearings and
to
own
them physi・
cally and spiritually.In this sense,Sylvia is the heron.
On
her way home,she
when she told him how
still wonders“what
find
to
tn
his way straight to the
thP hunter and wil】offer“1e bird
or
herself
heron’s
to
Shulman.Love Is
a
Fallacy: http://www.douban.corn/group/
4.覃先美,李阳,《英语修辞学概论》,湖南:湖南大学出版社,
a
Fallaey:http://www.douban.com/group/
a
Fallacy:http://www.douban.com/group/
topic/221 17309/
Shulman,Love Is
7.覃先美,李阳,《英语修辞学概论》,湖南:湖南大学出版社,
本栏日责任编辑:扬菲菲
万方数据
nlanly
h,ve
waits
to
as
she
hear the
of the pine,the white heron,the gohten air.the
sea
and the
nature
itself give her strength to keep the secret.“When the great worhl
for the first time puts
natural worhl
cent
over
natural companions
to
pure love
out
hand tn her.”Sylvia chooses the inno—
a
the urban tempting world.She chooses her
the alluring young man.And she chooses
over
the heterosexual attraetion.
over
3 Conclusion
‘‘A White Heron”is
a
gentle story telling Sylvia’s spiritual
iourney of resistances.She resists to the urban civilize,】worht,to
the money and the young man’s possible love she is tempted.On
the masculine side,there
the crowded city,the gun,the
are
jaeket—
knife,the money,the red face and the aggressive attitude towards
nature.On the contrary,there
cow.the color of white an(1
thor Fen,arks
at
are
sense
the exclusive farm,the lady—like
ot’heing part of nature.As the
au—
the end of the story“Ⅵ7ere the birds better friends
than their hunter might have
been.一who
can
tell?”the girl is(1(1n—
fused and wondered.However.at that time.Sylvia resisted to a11
the allures brought with the young charming man,and nobody
tell it is wrong
or
t‘an
right.
References:
Taylor&Francis e—Lihrary.200 1.
[2]Jewett Sarah Orne.A White He,on.Anthnlog),of
erature[Z].New
Anlerican
I,it—
York:Macmillan Publishing Co.Inc,1980.
Shulman,Love
Is
a
Falla(‘y:http:,/www.douhan.corn/group/
topic/22 1 1 7309/
2006,p.83.
a
Fallacy:http://www.douban.com/group/
topic/22 1 1 7309/
2006,p.87.
References:
topic/22 1 1 7309/
2006,p.82.
his
11.覃先美,李513,《英语修辞学概论》,湖南:湖南大学出版社,
2006,p.85.
6.Max
and
a11 the temptations.The green hranches
to
10.Max Shulman,Love Is
topic/221 17309/
5.Max Shulman.Love Is
money
9.覃先美,李阳,《英语修辞学概论》,湖南:湖南大学出版社,
topic/22 1 1 7309/
3.Max
tell
taithful admirer.She could he
tell”with appealing eyes.“No,she must keep si—
lenee!”She must resist
8.Max
Fallacy: http://www.douban.corn/group/
a
the
get
twice
speak aftel・a11.”She could
a
n,ake them rich with money…he
can
can
to
or
him.She
(上接第231页)
2 Max Shulman,Love Is
not
once
[1】Cirlot J E.A Dictionary of Symbuls[M].Sage Jack,rans.1.ondon:
he would think
nest.”Here Sylvia is ready to surrender to her passionate feeling to—
wards
she
Sylvia does
the young mall like
to
nlall,
somethjng about the whih、
heron because of“the way the shy little girl 100ked
pine must
as
charming spell and the young
that Sylvia will tell 13ira
su re
English藩外乒裙
【l】覃先美,李阳.英语修辞学概论[MI.湖南:湖南大学出版社,
2006.
[2]Max Shulman,Love Is
topic/22 1 1 7309/.
a
Fallacy:http://www.douhan.corn/group/