Richard Bradford provides a definitive introductory guide to modern critical ideas on literary style and stylistics. It will provide students with a basic grasp of stylistics and literary analysis.

This comprehensive and accessible guidebook for undergraduates examines:

* the terminology of literary form

* how literary style has evolved since the sixteenth century

* the role of stylistics in twentieth century criticism

* the discipline of stylistics from classical rhetoric to post-structuralism

* the relationship between literary style and its historical context

* style and gender

* examples of poems, plays and novels from Shakespeare to the present day.