What is Style?:
The style in writing can be defined as the way a writer writes. It is the technique that an individual author uses in their writing. It varies from author to author, and depends upon one’s syntax, word choice, and tone. It can also be described as a “voice” that readers listen to when they read the work of a writer.
References:
“A Mercy Literary Elements.” GradeSaver, https://www.gradesaver.com/a-mercy/studyguide/literary-elements.
Shmoop Editorial Team. “Toni Morrison.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008,
https://www.shmoop.com/toni-morrison/.
“Toni Morrison,” http://www.umich.edu/~eng217/student_projects/nobel prize
Elements of Style
o -Diction
o -Sentence Structure and Length
o -Irony
o -Figurative Language
o -Ambiguity
Influencers of Style
o -Author’s background
o -Upbringing
o -Gender
o -Race
Style of A Mercy:
Elements Toni Morrison Uses:
Figurative Language
o Simile: “The sons were as silent as tombs. D’Ortega’s wife was a chattering magpie, asking pointless questions…” (Morrison 17)
o Allusion: ““Her own death was what she should be concentrating on. She could hear its hooves clacking on the roof, could see the cloaked figure on horseback.” (Morrison 79)
o Metaphor: “With the letter I belong and am lawful. Without it I am a weak calf abandon by the herd, a turtle without a shell...” (Morrison 115)
Ambiguity
How does Toni Morrison use this? Morrison begins the novel in media res (in the middle of things) with a narrator whose name you do not know yet, and this is how the first few chapters go. Also, the chapters switch from one voice to another, sometimes making it difficult to follow while challenging the reader to connect the dots.
Diction
Morrison also changes the dialect of the character, to display who is talking, this can also display education level and origin.
Reviews:
Every author has their own style. Toni Morrison is particularly known for writing books for and about African-Americans. This can be attributed to the outside influencers of style. Toni Morrison, being a black woman, she writes things she has seen, experienced, and the overall black experience.
“Toni Morrison is an important novelist who continues to develop her talent. Part of her appeal, of course, lies in her extraordinary ability to create beautiful language and striking characters. However, Morrison's most important gift, the one which gives her a major author's universality, is the insight with which she writes of problems all humans face.... At the core of all her novels is a penetrating view of the unyielding, heartbreaking dilemmas which torment people of all races" -- Elizabeth B. House (Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook).
“(Morrison) works her magic charm above all with a love of language. Her ... style carries you like a river, sweeping doubt and disbelief away, and it is only gradually that one realizes her deadly serious intent" -- Susan Lydon (Village Voice).