ARISTOTLE'S COMMENT ON STYLE

Aristotle has many things to say about style of writings also. In his ‘Rhetoric’ he discusses style in some detail. According to Aristotle the sine qua non of good writing is clarity. He notes that man is the animal that employs a language to communicate. Language is the principal media through which man communicates with each other. For the communication to be effective the language should be clear, and simple. A writer must use appropriate style to put his ideas across to his readers. He is of the view that familiar words and expressions help the readers to grasp the significance of writing. He is also aware of the fact that a writer cannot always stay away from employing unfamiliar words and expressions. It is the figures of speech such as slimily and metaphor and personification that make the writing charming. Employing figures of speech would not discourage people from reading as they make use of metaphors in their ordinary speech. He says it is the combination of familiar and unfamiliar that suits imaginative writings. According to Aristotle compound words suits lyrics and rare and unfamiliar words suits epics. The appropriate language for drama that stands close to everyday speech is metaphorical. He says that the style of prose is different from that of poetry, though both employ metaphors. The charm of poetry is derived from the unfamiliar words and expressions and metaphors. In prose writings one should avoid countless clauses and faulty punctuation marks. They could lead to many confusions and misunderstandings. Aristotle says that words can be arranged in two ways, loosely and periodically. In the case of the former the sentences are made up of connective words. It has no particular form. In the latter case each sentence is complete and it is easy to understand the sentence without any extra effort. It has a definite form. And it has grace and charm.