10/9/2015

Checklist:ElementsofLiteraryStyle

Checklist:ElementsofLiteraryStyle

1.SentenceStructure

Arethesentenceslongorshort?Whydotheychange?
Dotheycontainmanysubordinateclauses,oraretheyoftenfragments?
Arethereanydigressionsorinterruptions?
Isthewordorderstraightforwardorunconventionallycrafted?
2.Pace
Isthewritingheavilydescriptive,withemphasisonsettingandatmosphere,or

doesitfocusonactionandplotmovement?
3.Expansive/Economical Isthewritingtightandefficient,orelaborateandlongwinded?
Diction
Whendoestheauthoruseoneortheothermode,andwhy?
4.Vocabulary
Arethewordssimpleorfancy?Aretheytechnical,flowery,colloquial,cerebral,

punning,obscure(andsoon...)?
5.Figuresofspeech
Arethereanymetaphors,similes,orsymbols?

Arethereanyotherusesoffigurativelanguage(personification,metonymy,and
soon)?
6.UseofDialogue
Howoftendoesdialoguetellthestory?

Doweseewholeconversationsorjustfragments?
Doestheconversationuseslangorisitformal?Doesitappearnaturalor
contrived?
Doesthedialoguegiveasenseofpacing,ofpauses,oftheunsaid?
Howmuchdoesitsubstitutefornarration?
7.PointofView
Possibilities:first,second,third,omniscient,limitedomniscient,multiple,

inanimate,freeindirectdiscourse.
8.Characterdevelopment Howdoestheauthorintroducecharacters,andhowdoweseetheirevolutionin

thestory?Whatistheirfunctionandmotivation?

Whatkindsofcharactersarethey?Full/round?Stockcharacters?Stereotypes?
Caricatures?
9.Tone
Whatistheauthorsattitude?Whatisthemoodofthestory?

Doestheauthorseemsarcastic?Aggressive?Wistful?Pessimistic?Inlove?
Philosophicallydetached?Hopeful?Ironic?Bitter?(Andsoon...)
Whateverthetone,whereisitvisibleinthenarrative?
10.WordColor,Word
Howmuchdoesthelanguagecallattentiontoordependonthequalityofits
Sound
sound,e.g.throughalliteration,assonance,consonance,dissonance,rhythm,

unusualwordchoice,andsoon?
11.Paragraph/Chapter Areparagraphsveryshort,oraretheyenormousblocksrunningacrossmany
Structure
pages?

Arethechaptersshortorlong?Howmanyarethere,howaretheyorganized,and
whyisthisimportant?
12.TimeSequencing/
Howhastheauthororganizedthechronologyofevents?Towhateffect?Whatis
Chronology
theworksstructuralrhythm?
13.Allusions
14.Experimentationin
Language
15.Metafictional
techniques

Howandhowoftendoestheauthorrefertoothertexts,myths,symbols,famous
figures,historicalevents,quotations,andsoon?
Arethereanyunusualtechniques,suchasstreamofconsciousness,mixingstyles
andgenres,unusuallayoutonthepage,breakingrulesofgrammarandform,odd
orunstablenarrativeperspectives,onomatopoeia,aporia,andsoon?
Doestheauthorcallattentiontohisorherownprocessofnarration?
Arethenarratorsposition,role,andthoughtsasastorytellermentionedexplicitly
inthetext?Whatfunctiondoesthisserve?

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10/9/2015

Checklist:ElementsofLiteraryStyle

http://teachers.lakesideschool.org/us/english/ErikChristensen/WRITING%20STRATEGIES/LiteraryStyles.htm

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