Thought Presentation in Nicholas Sparks' The Guardian: A Stylistic Analysis

Document Type : Original Article

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Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Beni Suef University, Egypt

Abstract

This paper explores the categories of thought presentation used by Nicholas Sparks (2003) in an extract from his novel, The Guardian. In this novel, Sparks employs thought presentation extensively. He offers the reader access to the mind of almost every one of his characters, even the dog to whom the title of the novel refers. My aim is to investigate how categories of thought presentation, like Free Direct Thought (FDT), Free Indirect Thought (FIT) and Narrative Report of a Thought Act (NRTA), are used in such a way as to manipulate the reader's perception of, and feelings for the characters involved. Thus, in the extract selected for analysis, the reader's empathy is likely to be established for Mike, the protagonist of the novel, whose thoughts are vividly and directly rendered. On the other hand, the reader is to be distanced from Richard, the antagonist of the novel, whose thoughts are never directly conveyed. The categories of thought presentation to be discussed in the paper are theoretically based on the model devised by Leech and Short (2007) in Style in Fiction.

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