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by Rachid Acim (Author)
'Style, Meaning and Pedagogy' can be useful to students and researchers of different backgrounds; it can assist them to deeply fathom literary and non-literary texts and scaffold their critical thinking when approaching human language like poems, headlines, blurbs or paintings. Admittedly, the print and visual texts chosen in the book were produced in the 14th, 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Whereas some of them are up-to-date and timely as they tap upon the emotions of the last pandemic (i.e., "And the People Stayed Home"), others:
- Provide a profound view of peace and fellowship (i.e., "Abou Ben Adhem");
- Introduce a description of the system of etiquette followed in 1918 (i.e., "Manners");
- Unravel the dichotomy of face and beauty (i.e., "Memory");
- Examine the dialectical relationship between rhetoric and metaphors (i.e., "How Do I Love Thee?");
- Stress the power of art and pedagogy in the medieval age (i.e., "Laurentius de Voltolina's Painting");
- Revisit dialogism and intertextuality in Afro-American Literature (i.e., "Dreams");
- Stimulate students' critical reflections (i.e., "Poem in Your Pocket");
- Showcase the informative and persuasive dimension of media discourse (i.e., "The NYT");
- Bring to the fore reader-response theory and positive self-talk (i.e., "Thinking").
The book is a gem for students pursuing their English Studies in Higher Education. It is a rich resource for novice researchers and university professors teaching courses such as Literary Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Literary Criticism, Poetry, Rhetoric, to mention but a handful. With an exhaustive list of readings and references, insightful methodology and signposts for critical reflections, 'Style, Meaning and Pedagogy' proffers you a chance to question the textual and semiotic selections people dwell on to produce their own texts. And with the short tasks and exercises at the end of each chapter, you will be able to savour and simultaneously retain much of the invaluable input prepared just for you.
