A Stylistic Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poems: Fire and Ice & A Question

MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISHRESEARCH PROJECT

BY

MUHAMMAD ALI BAIG

MUHAMMAD ADNAN QURESHI

MUHAMMAD SAEED QASIM

MUHAMMAD FAZL UL HAQ

ADIL WAHID BUTT

USMAN RASHEED

MUHAMMAD FAROOQ

SAFDAR ABBASS KAZMI

SHAMS UL HASSAN

ABDUL HAFEEZ

WAQAS MEHMOOD

MUHAMMAD AZHAR TUFAIL

MUHAMMAD FAROOQ

IMRAN SHAHZAD

WAQAS KHAWAR

QAISAR ABBASS

HABIB UR REHMAN

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES

COMSATS INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, VIRTUAL CAMPUS

FALL 2016

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COMSATS INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, VIRTUAL CAMPUS

A Stylistic Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poems: Fire and Ice & A Question

A Research Project submitted in the partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in English

BY:MUHAMMAD ALI BAIG

CIIT/SP15-MENG-007/CVCMUHAMMAD ADNAN QURESHI

CIIT/SP15-MENG-008/CVCMUHAMMAD SAEED QASIM

CIIT/ SP15-MENG-035/CVCMUHAMMAD FAZL UL HAQ

CIIT/ SP15-MENG-036/CVCADIL WAHID BUTT

CIIT/ SP15-MENG-046/CVCUSMAN RASHEED

CIIT/ SP15-MENG-052/CVCMUHAMMAD FAROOQ

CIIT/ SP15-MENG-053/CVCSAFDAR ABBASS KAZMI

CIIT/ SP15-MENG-057/CVCSHAMS UL HASSANCIIT/ SP15-MENG-066/CVC

ABDUL HAFEEZCIIT/ SP15-MENG-101/CVCWAQAS MEHMOODCIIT/ SP15-MENG-160/CVC

MUHAMMAD AZHAR TUFAILCIIT/ FA14-MENG-082/CVC

MUHAMMAD FAROOQCIIT/ FA14-MENG-084/CVC

IMRAN SHAHZADCIIT/ SP15-MENG-081/CVC

WAQAS KHAWARCIIT/ SP15-MENG-089/CVC

QAISAR ABBASCIIT/ SP15-MENG-093/CVCHABIB UR REHMANCIIT/ SP15-MENG-102/CVC

SUPERVISOR:ANMOL AHMAD

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SESSION 2014-16

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FINAL APPROVAL

This project titled

A Stylistic Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poems: Fire and Ice & A Question

Submitted for the Degree of Master of Arts in English

By

Name Registration Number

MUHAMMAD ALI BAIG CIIT/SP15-MENG-007/CVCMUHAMMAD ADNAN QURESHI CIIT/SP15-MENG-008/CVCMUHAMMAD SAEED QASIM CIIT/SP15-MENG-035/CVCMUHAMMAD FAZAL L HAQ CIIT/SP15-MENG-036/CVCADIL WAHID BUTT CIIT/SP15-MENG-046/CVCUSMAN RASHEED CIIT/SP15-MENG-052/CVCMUHAMMAD FAROOQ CIIT/SP15-MENG-053/CVCSAFDAR ABBASS KAZMI CIIT/SP15-MENG-057/CVCSHAMS UL HASSAN CIIT/SP15-MENG-066/CVCABDUL HAFEEZ CIIT/SP15-MENG-101/CVC WAQAS MEHMOOD CIIT/SP15-MENG-160/CVC MUHAMMAD AZHAR TUFAIL CIIT/FA14-MENG-082/CVC MUHAMMAD FAROOQ CIIT/FA14-MENG-084/CVC IMRAN SHAHZAD CIIT/SP15MENG-081/CVC WAQAS KHAWAR CIIT/SP15-MENG-089/CVC QAISER ABBASS CIIT/SP15-MENG-093/CVC HABIB UR REHMAN CIIT/SP15-MENG-102/CVC

has been approved by

COMSATS Institute of Information TechnologyVirtual Campus

________________________ _______________________

Anmol Ahmad Dr. Mirza Naveed Baig

Supervisor Head, Department of Humanities

DECLARATION

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We hereby declare that the research project “A Stylistic Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poems:

Fire and Ice & A Question” is the work of our independent investigation except where we

have indicated our indebtedness to other sources. We also declare that this thesis has not been

submitted for any other degree elsewhere.

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Muhammad Ali Baig)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Muhammad Adnan Qureshi)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Muhammad Saeed Qasim)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Muhammad Fazal Ul Haq)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Adil Wahid Butt)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Usman Rasheed)

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Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Muhammad Farooq)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Safdar Abbas Kazmi)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Shams Ul Hassan)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Abdul Hafeez)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Waqas Mehmood)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Muhammad Azhar Tufail)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Muhammad Farooq)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Imran Shahzad)

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Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (WaqasKhawar)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Qaiser Abbas)

Date: ___ 10-1-2017 _________________________

Candidate (Habib Ur Rehman)

DEDICATION

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To our beloved mothers for the love, encouragement, perseverance

and unending support that theyhave given us,

To our dearest fathers whose prayers protected us from all calamities

of the world,

To our kindteachers who paved the path for us to make our studies, a

true journey of learning, without them we would never be at the point

that we are,

And,

To all those people who have kept humanity alive in their souls

despite knowing the fact that being human is the hardest chapter in

the book of life, there are millions of humans yet humanity is a rarity

to be found.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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The utmost appreciation to the Almighty Allah to whom we bow down, for blessing

us with the wealth of Emaanand making us reach at this point in the journey of life.Further

on, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the following people who have been so

instrumental in making this research project a success.

It is with immense gratefulness that we acknowledge the support and help of our

mentor, Mr. Anmol Ahmad,who has the substance to provide proficientcoaching,

encouragement and conveyed a spirit of inspiration. Without hisunrelentingassistance and

priceless suggestions, the completion of this research project would not have been possible.

All of us would like to gratefully acknowledge the wholehearted support of our

families and our friends, who made us learn those valuable lessons of life which are not to be

found in any book and for nourishing our soul.

We place on record, tremendous thanks to our respective mothers for their heart

whelming motivation, untiringprayers and encouragement. We are ceaselesslyindebted to our

respective fathers for their unflinching faith in us.

It is crucial to thank our kind teachers for their guidance and patience during the

coursework of our studies; their care, assistance and keenness is highly appreciated by all of

us.

Lastly, we would also like to gratefully acknowledge the ferventmotivation of our

own group mates who have worked for this venture as a team and have given each other

complete moral support, consistently.

ABSTRACT

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Stylistics is the linguistic study of word choice by an author within a text for the reflection of

authorial intent. Due to its widespread application, the aim of this research project was to

stylistically analyze the poems written by Robert Frost. Convenient Sampling technique was

used to collect two poems written by Robert Frost, Fire and Ice and A Question as the

population of this study. The findings revealed that fire and ice by Robert Frost is a literary

Irony in which he has chosen to talk about the darkest aspect of human world. This analysis

helps the reader to understand the theme of the poem that the fire represents desire and ice

represents hate. The poem is symbolic and the diction is simple but evocative. Various

stylistic devices like imagery, paradox and assonance are used in this single nine line stanza

poem. Although the poem is short but it contains the deeper connotations. The poem ' A

Question’ revolves around a vivid and compelling question about the existence of human

being on earth and the price they have to pay for their birth on the earth. The diction used in

the poem is very vivid and elaborative which clearly expresses the thoughts and feelings of

the poet, thus creating a pictorial image of human life, death and sufferings. The

aforementioned results paved the way for young researchers to apply the technique of

stylistic analysis on many other renowned literary works for their improved comprehension.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE i

FINAL APPROVAL FORM iv

DECLARATION FORM v

DEDICATION viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ix

ABSTRACT x

TABLE OF CONTENTS xi

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1. Language 1

1.2. Linguistics 5

1.3. Branches of Linguistics 6

1.3.1 General Linguistics 7

1.3.2 Descriptive Linguistics 7

1.3.3 Diachronic Linguistics 7

1.3.4 Synchronic Linguistics 7

1.3.5 Theoretical Linguistics 8

1.3.6 Descriptive Linguistics 8

1.3.7 Applied Linguistics 8

1.3.8 Micro-Linguistics 8

1.3.9 Macro-Linguistics 9

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1.4. Stylistics 9

1.5. Statement of the Problem 11

1.6. Objectives 12

1.7. Rationale 12

1.8. Research Questions 13

1.9. Significance of the Study 13

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW 15

2.1. Style 15

2.2. Stylistics 16

2.3. Levels of Stylistic Analysis 18

2.4. Previous Studies 19

2.5. Biography of Robert Frost 20

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 22

3.1. Research Paradigm 22

3.1.1.Interpretivism 23

3.1.2. Constructivism 23

3.2. Research Method 24

3.2.1Close Reading and Inductive Analysis 24

3.3. Theoretical Framework 24

3.3.1Power and Interpersonal Relationships 25

3.4. Population 25

3.5. Sampling 25

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CHAPTER 4

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 26

4.1. Analysis of ‘Fire and Ice’ 26

4.1.1.Title 26

4.1.2.Theme 27

4.1.3.Diction and Choice of words 27

4.1.4. Syntax or Grammatical Structures 28

4.1.5.Rhyme Scheme 28

4.1.6. Paradox 28

4.1.7.Irony 29

4.1.8.Stylistic Devices 29

4.1.8.1 Assonance 29

4.1.8.2 Cacophony 30

4.1.8.3 Consonance 30

4.1.8.4 Alliteration 30

4.1.8.5 Onomatopoeia31

4.1.8.6 Imagery 31

4.1.8.7 Personification 32

4.1.8.8 Antithesis 32

4.1.8.9 Metaphor 33

4.1.8.10 Symbolism 33

4.1.8.11 Connotation 33

4.2. Analysis of ‘A Question’ 34

4.2.1.Title 34

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4.2.2.Theme 34

4.2.3.Diction or choice of words 34

4.2.4. Syntax or Grammatical Structures 35

4.2.5.Rhyme Scheme 35

4.2.6. Paradox 35

4.2.7.Irony 36

4.2.8.Stylistic Devices 36

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION 39

REFERENCES 41