Richard Bradford provides a definitive introductory guide to modern critical ideas on literary style and stylistics. It will provide students with a basic grasp of stylistics and literary analysis.This comprehensive and accessible guidebook for undergraduates examines: * the terminology of literary form* how literary style has evolved since the sixteenth century* the role of stylistics in twentieth century criticism* the discipline of stylistics from classical rhetoric to post-structuralism* the relationship between literary style and its historical context* style and gender* examples of poems, plays and novels from Shakespeare to the present day.