The Stylistic Analysis Of Abraham Lincoln’s Personal Letters

Stylistics is a branch of linguistics. It applies the theory and methodology of modern linguistics to the study of style with the aim of revealing the expressive effect and communicative function of language in the specific context. Personal letters are a variety of genres which are used for written communication among people. The letters written by historical figures, as an important part of world literature, possess highly literary and artistic value. Abraham Lincoln’s personal letters are famous for his unique style and still worthwhile to appreciate and study by the modern readers.This thesis takes nine Lincoln’s letters, three groups in total, as sample texts and makes a detailed analysis on their distinguished stylistic features by applying modern stylistic theories and two studying methods of analysis and comparison. The analysis is made from three dimensions:linguistic description, textual analysis and contextual factor analysis. Linguistic description consists of graphological, phonological, lexical, syntactic and rhetorical levels. Textual analysis mainly focuses on the structure of personal letters. Contextual factor analysis explores the influence of different subjects, purposes, and the relationship between the addresser and addressee on the style of language. The thesis also tends to summarize the stylistic features of Lincoln’s personal letters with the method of combining quantitative and qualitative analysis through analyzing a series of data and forms.This thesis attempts to reveal the various stylistic features of personal letters and Abraham Lincoln’s unique writing style due to their different contents, functions and the relationship between the addresser and the addressees by describing and analyzing the style markers of great stylistic significance. What’s more, through the study we can not only explore Abraham Lincoln’s great personality and learn from his wisdom of life but can acquire a better understanding on American politics and culture, thus contribute to our English learning.