Strategies of Question-Asking in D.H. Lawrence's" Odour of Chrysanthemums": A Taxonomical Stylistic Analysis

Abstract

This study is concerned with the significance of questions in the fictional dialogue. D.H. Lawrence wrote "Odour of Chrysanthemums" to reveal indifference and alienation in family relations, especially that between wife and husband (Nash,1982:101). A reader could not neglect the number of questions scattered here and there in the story. These operate to help progress the plot of the story. Most of the questions are short answer questions that call for a yes / no answer. And , thus involve little interaction between participants. All questions were analyzed according to Graesser, Huber, and Person's model of question asking to measure to which extent the writer succeeds in using questions as a technique to help identifying that picture.