Walter Nash

A study of style and technique in comic discourse.

The Language of Humour

David Stacey

Creating Texts emphasises a practical approach to composition and enables students to understand what is involved in the creation of a text and to learn from the practice of other writers. Extensively rewritten and updated from Walter Nash's earlier volume, Designs in Prose, attention is paid to the general theory of composition, in both traditional and original terms, so that students are made familiar with the basic resources of composition, in grammar and in the lexicon. The essence of every chapter is the discussion of examples of text, sometimes devised by the authors, but more often drawn from the work of authors writing in diverse styles of English. This practical approach is most evident in the final section of the book where detailed suggestions for projects and exercises reinforce the connection between theory and practice, and encourage students to develop their creative sense and to adapt their style of writing to fit the particular audience and context. In addition, this section is cross-referenced to the main text to allow students to consult easily the relevant chapter.

An Introduction to the Study of Composition

Creating Texts

There is a popular image of academic writing as obscure, convoluted and replete with jargon. Some academic writers conform to this image, while others transform it. Academic discourse is clearly influenced by many factors, conventions and motives. These essays, by internationally-noted researchers and theorists in the field, bring varied insights to bear on the question of what happens, linguistically and psychologically, when academics set out to report facts, explain phenomena, propound hypotheses, argue, persuade and rebut. The contributors look critically at the assumptions and principles underlying academic writing.

Studies in Academic Discourse

The Writing Scholar

The broad aim of this lively and engaging book is to examine relationships between the linguistic patterns, the stylistic functions, and the social and cultural contexts of humour. The material used in illustration is of corresponding breadth: schoolyard jokes, graffiti, aphorisms, advertisements, arguments, anecdotes, puns, parodies, passages of comic fiction, all come under Dr Nash's scrutiny.

Ronald Carter

This book aims to help students with little linguistic experience develop an articulate awareness of language.

A Guide To Styles Of English Writing

Seeing Through Language

First published in 1991, An Uncommon Tongue explores the theme of usage in its widest sense: usage as what we say or write; usage as a social question; usage as a literary convention; usage and creativity. The book reflects on the practice and status of the English language in the modern world and the demands it makes on its academic disciplines. It puts forward the argument that the study of usage transcends both the 'prescriptive' and 'descriptive' and is ultimately 'constructive', displaying the resources of language and exploring their use.

Walter Nash

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