Lexical Level Analysis on the Short Story

“The Californian’s Tale” by Mark Twain

through its Plot Structure
Submitted by Group – V
Ma Nandar Lwin BA IVE – 3
Mg Than Zaw Oo BA IVE – 5
Ma Zin Htet Htet Nway BA IVE – 18
Ma Eaindra Kyaw BA IVE – 20
Mg Thu Oak Kyaw BA IVE – 25
Ma Ei Ei Lin BA IVE – 28
Ma Khine Sandi Kyaw BA IVE – 33
Ma Win Htay BA IVE – 35
Ma Moh Moh Thu BA IVE – 37
 Content
Introduction

Aim and Objectives

Resources

Research Methodology

Data Analysis

Findings and Discussion

Conclusion

References
 Introduction
Short stories – many words
Authors – uses – intentionally – uncontrollably
Lexical level analysis – The Californian’s Tale
One of the writer’s good arts - the senses of sorrow –
the character
Content words – nouns and verbs
 Aim and Objectives
 Aim - to do the lexical level analysis - “The
Californian’s Tale” by Mark Twain - its plot structure
 Objectives - to know the maximum categories of
content words that the author uses in each plot section
 To show how the author’s maximum usage of content
words can make a link with the creation of his plot
structure
 Resources
“Stylistics, simply defined as the (linguistic) study of
style.” (Leech & Short –
2007)
Different levels of analysis - the style of a piece of
language or text
Phonetic / graphetic level - phonological /
graphological level - grammatical level - lexical level -
semantic level (Crystal & Davy –
1969)
Lexical level - the choice of specific lexical items in a
text - their distribution in relation to one another and
their meaning
 Research Methodology
The theory - David Crystal & Derek Davy (1969)
The plot structure of the short - needed to be divided into its
plot structure
plot structure - the theory of Pickering & Hoeper (1986)
Research Methodology (Cont.)
The methodology framework for lexical level
analysis of the short story
Type of Kinds of Kinds of each
Analysis
words Content Words word group
Abstract Noun
Common Noun
Noun
Proper Noun
Content Collective Noun
Lexical
Words Stative Verb
Verb
Dynamic Verb
Adjective Adjective
Adverb Adverb
 Research Methodology (Cont.)
Firstly - divided - into its plot structure - information
taken from one of the website sources
Secondly, the number of sentences - each part -
counted - numbered
Next - the words in each sentence - four groups
(Noun, Verb, Adjective and Adverb)
Then - nouns - into abstract, common, proper and
collective - verbs - stative and dynamic
After that - the words - counted - used mostly - each
part of the plot structure - the link between the usage
of words - the message - the author wants to convey
 Data Analysis
The analysis of the sentences in the resolution of the short story “The Californian’s Tale”
Nouns Verbs
No Adjecti Adver
Sentence
. N1 N2 N3 N4 V1 V2 ves bs
S1 And he lost his mind in mind consequ lost
consequence? ence
S2 Never has been sane an hour since. hour been sane Never

S3 But he only gets bad when that time, gets, bad that
time of the year comes round. year comes
round
S4 Then we begin to drop in here, three begin, due, here,
three days before she's due, to days, drop ready up
encourage him up, and ask if he's Saturday in,
heard from her, and Saturday we , house, encour
all come and fix up the house with flowers, age,
flowers, and get everything ready dance ask,
for a dance. heard,
come,
fix up,
get
S5 We've done it every year for every done
nineteen years. year,
ninteen
years
 Findings and Discussion
The number of words in the exposition of the short story

Kinds of content Total number of

Sub-kinds of words
words words
Abstract noun 31
Common noun 120
Nouns
Proper noun 3
Collective noun -
Stative verb 45
Verbs
Dynamic verb 52
Adjectives Adjective 74
Adverbs Adverb 49
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The content words used in the exposition of the short story

The content words used in the exposition of the

short story
Abstract noun
Common noun
Proper noun
Collective noun
Stative verb
Dynamic verb
Adjective
Adverb
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
many common nouns - to introduce the person,
thing, idea or place - to provide the background
information - to set the scene and to establish the
situation
a logical hook between the author ‘s maximum
usage of words and his creation of plot structure
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The number of words in the complication of the short story

Kinds of content Total number of

Sub-kinds of words
words words
Abstract noun 45
Common noun 141
Nouns
Proper noun 11
Collective noun -
Stative verb 107
Verbs
Dynamic verb 125
Adjectives Adjective 73
Adverbs Adverb 55
 Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The content words used in the complication of the short story

The content words used in the complication of the

short story
Abstract noun
Common noun
Proper noun
Collective noun
Stative verb
Dynamic verb
Adjective
Adverb
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
a great number of common nouns - dynamic
verbs – the complication
to introduce the characters - makes - conflict
develop – many dynamic verbs - to indicate the
action
link - between his usage of words - his creation
of his plot structure
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The number of words in the crisis of the short story
Kinds of content Sub-kinds of Total number of
words words words
Abstract noun 19
Common noun 76
Nouns
Proper noun 13
Collective noun -
Stative verb 46
Verbs
Dynamic verb 82
Adjectives Adjective 37
Adverbs Adverb 52
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The content words used in the crisis of the short story

The content words used in the crisis of the

short story Abstract noun
Common noun
Proper noun
Collective noun
Stative verb
Dynamic verb
Adjective
Adverb
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The point of greatest emotional intensity
The place - excitement and inquisitive
Many dynamic verbs - to arouse the readers’
interests – to create the turning point of the plot
Some common nouns - in creating the highest
point of his story
A logical hook between his choice of words and
his plot creation
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The number of words in the falling action of the short story

Kinds of content Sub-kinds of Total number of

words words words
Abstract noun 1
Common noun 19
Nouns
Proper noun 1
Collective noun -
Stative verb 8
Verbs
Dynamic verb 16
Adjectives Adjective 8
Adverbs Adverb 10
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The content words used in the falling action of the short story

The content words used in the falling action of the

short story
Abstract noun
Common noun
Proper noun
Collective noun
Stative verb
Dynamic verb
Adjective
Adverb
 Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
Some common nouns - to describe the appointed
resolution - some dynamic verbs - to show the subsided
tension of the plot
One thing - doesn’t use a large number of nouns and
verbs - as in the previous sections - the final part of the
plot structure
The link between the author’s maximum usage of words
- his creation of plot structure
 Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The number of words in the resolution of the short story

Kinds of content Sub-kinds of Total number of

words words words
Abstract noun 1
Common noun 22
Nouns
Proper noun -
Collective noun -
Stative verb 6
Verbs
Dynamic verb 25
Adjectives Adjective 11
Adverbs Adverb 9
Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
The content words used in the resolution of the short story

The content words used in the resolution of the

short story
Abstract noun
Common noun
Proper noun
Collective noun
Stative verb
Dynamic verb
Adjective
Adverb
 Findings and Discussion (Cont.)
 The final section - does not use so many words – not
many events to portray
 The outcome of the conflict - some dynamic verbs -
common nouns - to indicate the things - the actions for
some new equilibrium
 His logical hook between his maximum usage of words
- his creation of his plot
 Some significant points in creation of his plot
 Every section - a few abstract nouns - rarely uses the
other kinds of nouns (proper nouns and collective
nouns)
 The possibility - cannot be very important - cannot make
proper attribution in creation of a good plot structure
 Conclusion
Studying the works of literature - not be neglected
only the small things - some kind of effect - its art of
work
The lexical level analysis of the short story “The
Californian’s Tale” by Mark Twain
The results - in every plot section - mostly - common
nouns and dynamic verbs
One possible explanation - the words - useful and
effective - introducing - the necessary information -
the setting - the characters - the conflict - bringing
into the point of greatest emotional intensity - the
appointed resolution
 Conclusion (Cont.)
 The kinds of content words - create the arranging sequence
of interrelated events - the plot of a work of fiction
 A limit in doing this research
 Adjectives and adverbs - cannot be studied - categorized in
detail
 The minimum usage of words - some implications in the
creation of the plot structure
 Further researches - done on the link of the minimum usage
of words - the creation of a plot
 The reason of these words being minimal
 Common nouns and dynamic verbs - paid more attention -
in appreciating the plot structure of a work of art in
literature
 References
• Crystal, D. & Derek, D. (1969). Investigating English style. New
York: Longman Group Ltd.
• Eng – 4102, 19th Century Short Stories & The Novel, English Text
Book for Fourth Year English Specialization Students, Yangon.
• Leech, G. & Short, M. (2007). Style in fiction: A linguistic
introduction to English fictional prose. New York: Pearson
Education.
• Pickering, J. H. & Hoeper, J. D. (1986). Literature. New York:
Macmillan Publishing Company.
• The Californian’s Tale. Retrieved from
https://quizlet.com/106376647/the-californians-tale-flash-cards/
• Wren, P.C. & Martin, H. (1986). High school English grammar
and composition. Ram Nagar, New Delhi: S. Chard & Company
Ltd.
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