In literature, writing style often is referred to as the way of expressing ideas in literary language, characteristic of a particular person, time, country, or period. The style of writing is a very important part of literature, and it’s interpretation varies with different disciplines. For instance, in classical literature, the style of writing usually tends to be formal, and is characterized by prescribed forms, such as stanza, sonnet, hexameter, epilogue, and the like. These are all formal forms, which give formal shape to the work of literature. Modern literature on the other hand, often describes the style of writing in more descriptive terms, which are less formal in nature.
Writing is a creative act of the writer, and it’s up to him/her to determine what kind of style they prefer to use. This can be categorized into several different styles: the first is called the dominant style; it’s the style that’s most common to all disciplines of writing. The other styles are known as alternative, hybrid, and experimental. An alternative style can be identified as a style which differs from the traditional style in one or more ways. For example, the word “discovery” in the novel “The DaVinci Code” by Dan Brown doesn’t follow the normal rules of the English language, which is why it’s considered an alternative style. It combines current ideas with historic facts, allowing for a fresh take on the familiar.
Another great example of an alternative style is the story told through the point of view of a character. A famous example of this is a book called “Green Eggs and Ham”. In this book, the young protagonist, Elliott, chooses to see the world from the perspective of a creature looking at green eggs instead of from the perspective of the human characters. Other popular examples of this kind of story are “The Color Of Forever”, “A Time To Kill”, and “Windmills of the Gods”. All these books, as well as many others, show Dr. Seuss make different styles throughout the book; the reader picks up on bits of each style and identifies with them as he or she reads.
Hybridity refers to combining two or more styles into a single novel. Two of the most famous examples of this are “The DaVinci Code” and “The Paper Bag Princess”. In “The DaVinci Code”, John Keats uses several different types of language and storytelling to tell the story. Mixed in with the main plot of the characters finding key information is a lengthy, complex description of how the DaVinci Code was made, and what the symbols actually mean. In the book, the main characters are seen from the perspective of those who made the book: a painter, a scholar, and a priest, all of whom have their own unique language and point of view.
One of the most interesting forms of mixed style is Pistil. The writer of “Pistorius” is described as having “a broad vocabulary but a tight style” and so the style switches back and forth between narrative and expository prose. The style is most clear when describing actions rather than descriptions of objects. While describing a painting, Pistil is very keen about describing the colors and how they are used, and uses an innovative way of combining the primary and secondary verbs to describe the passion and emotion felt in the painting.
In the final section, “The Case of the Exploding Painting”, Pistil turns his attention back to the primary verbs and tries to make sense of what is happening. This style could be called a type of paradox. As the story is narrated from the viewpoint of the characters who produced the work, we can understand why the characters are reacting the way they do, but it’s hard to see how they would react if they saw themselves as just mere mortals. Here, Pistil uses the past tense, and describes what might have been, as the past.