In this activity-based text, Rebecca Hughes invites the reader to examine the differences between spoken and written English. Instead of presenting a bewildering array of 'facts' about variety in English, she encourages the reader to actively investigate the differences between these two modes of communication by comparing actual speech patterns with literary ones.  Meer

In this highly readable and thought-provoking book, Delia Chiaro explores the pragmatics of word play, using frameworks normally adopted in descriptive linguistics.  Meer

This lively and accessible book is the first sustained account of feminist stylistics. Mills explores such issues as sexism, political correctness, reader positioning and meaning, opening up the study of style to feminist inquiry.  Meer

Using a wide-ranging variety of texts the author reviews and evaluates a broad range of approaches to textual commentary, introducing the reader to the fundamental distinction between `actual' and `virtual' worlds in critical practice.  Meer