A stylistic analysis of Robert Frost's Poems Fire & Ice & A Question

1. A Stylistic Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poems: Fire and Ice & A Question
MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH
RESEARCH 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/CVC
MUHAMMAD ADNAN QURESHI
CIIT/SP15-MENG-008/CVC
MUHAMMAD SAEED QASIM
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-035/CVC
MUHAMMAD FAZL UL HAQ
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-036/CVC
ADIL WAHID BUTT
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-046/CVC
USMAN RASHEED
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-052/CVC
MUHAMMAD FAROOQ
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-053/CVC
SAFDAR ABBASS KAZMI
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-057/CVC
SHAMS UL HASSAN
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-066/CVC
ABDUL 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/ SP15-MENG-081/CVC
WAQAS KHAWAR
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-089/CVC
QAISAR ABBAS
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-093/CVC
HABIB UR REHMAN
CIIT/ SP15-MENG-102/CVC
SUPERVISOR:
ANMOL AHMAD
SESSION 2014-16

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4. iv
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/CVC
MUHAMMAD ADNAN QURESHI CIIT/SP15-MENG-008/CVC
MUHAMMAD SAEED QASIM CIIT/SP15-MENG-035/CVC
MUHAMMAD FAZAL L HAQ CIIT/SP15-MENG-036/CVC
ADIL WAHID BUTT CIIT/SP15-MENG-046/CVC
USMAN RASHEED CIIT/SP15-MENG-052/CVC
MUHAMMAD FAROOQ CIIT/SP15-MENG-053/CVC
SAFDAR ABBASS KAZMI CIIT/SP15-MENG-057/CVC
SHAMS UL HASSAN CIIT/SP15-MENG-066/CVC
ABDUL 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 Technology
Virtual Campus
________________________ _______________________
Anmol Ahmad Dr. Mirza Naveed Baig
Supervisor Head, Department of Humanities

5. v
DECLARATION
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)

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DEDICATION
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.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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.

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ABSTRACT
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 Onomatopoeia ..................................................................................................31
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