ABSTRACT

The Scarlet Letter is one of the most significant works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. There are many discussions and researches on this novel. This paper, based on the stylistics theory and foregrounding theory, mainly discusses the foregrounding linguistic features of this novel. Two types of foregrounding can be found in this novel, namely over-regularity and deviation. Over-regularity is achieved by the using of alliteration and assonance at phonological level, the repetition of the same words at lexical level, the repetition and parallelism at syntactic level. Deviation is accomplished by the using of sub-standard pronunciation at phonological level, the adoption of italics at graphological level, the employment of compounding, affixation and conversion at lexical level, the adoption of ellipsis and inversion at syntactic level, the employment of symbolism, metaphor, hyperbole, irony and transferred epithet at semantic level. After the investigations, we can have a better understanding of this novel, as well as Hawthorne’s writing style and techniques in this novel. 

Key Words：The Scarlet Letter; style; foregrounding; over-regularity; deviation

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One  INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 Background and Aim of the Study-1

1.2 Organization of the Thesis-1

Chapter Two  LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 About Nathaniel Hawthorne-3

2.2 About The Scarlet Letter-4

Chapter Three  STYLISTICS AND FOREGROUNDING-6

3.1 Brief Introduction of the Stylistics-6

3.2 Foregrounding-7

3.2.1 The definition of foregrounding-7

3.2.2 Types of foregrounding-7

3.2.3 The effects of foregrounding-8

Chapter Four  OVER-REGULARITY IN THE SCARLET LETTER-9

4.1 Phonological Category-9

4.1.1 Alliteration-9

4.1.2 Assonance-10

4.2 Lexical Category-10

4.3 Syntactic Category-11

4.3.1 Repetition-11

4.3.2 Parallelism-12

Chapter Five  DEVIATION IN THE SCARLET LETTER-14

5.1 Phonological Category-14

5.2 Graphological Category-14

5.3 Lexical Category-15

5.3.1 Compounding-15

5.3.2 Affixation-16

5.3.3 Conversion-17

5.4 Syntactic Category-17

5.4.1 Ellipsis-17

5.4.2 Inversion-18

5.5 Semantic Category-18

5.5.1 Symbolism-18

5.5.2 Metaphor-19

5.5.3 Irony-20

5.5.4 Hyperbole-21

5.5.5 Transferred epithet-21

Chapter Six  CONCLUSION-23

6.1 Summary-23

6.2 Limitations of this Study-23

WORKS CITED-25