Unconventional linguistic features in E. E. Cummings’ poetic style have long been a focus of study. Linguists have researched this aspect of this poet’s technique mainly in connection to grammar, lexis and morphology; however, few approaches have looked at graphology in depth and even fewer at spelling. The present paper addresses this by analysing the use of lettering in E. E. Cummings’ experimental poetry. More concretely, two research questions are posed here: Which foregrounding devices are involved in E. E. Cummings’ unconventional use of spelling? And also, which effects are achieved by means of this particular use of lettering? To answer these questions, I first selected a group of 66 experimental poems displaying features of misspelling. After identifying and classifying the devices employed by Cummings for spelling foregrounding, I determined the meaning implications and functions produced through those misspellings. The research on these poems reveals that substitution, transposition, insertion and omission are the four basic patterns that permit such an unconventional use, and that this practice allows Cummings to reproduce linguistic varieties, create plays on words, control the reading process, indicate interruptions and create iconic effects.

Marked linguistic structures in E. E. Cummings’ poetry have long been an issue within literary criticism and stylistics. In this sense, critical approaches to Cummings’ style have dealt mainly with grammar, lexis and morphology, while only few works have examined his graphology extensively. Departing from these trends, in this paper I analyse the use of unorthodox capital letters in 96 of his experimental poems. My aim is twofold: to identify the processes present in Cummings’ unconventional use of capital letters and to determine the effects observable in such unusual patterns. The analysis reveals that the foregrounding of capitals is materialized by the insertion of initial caps, middle caps, final caps, all caps or mixed caps where these are not expected or required. It also suggests that these unconventional patterns mainly emphasize certain elements within the poems, produce iconic effects, generate wordplay and create chaotic scenes. To a lesser degree, they also schematize words, lines or a whole poem, and reproduce differences in the tone of some poetic voices or depict elements that are capitalized in real life.

For some time scholars have examined unconventional linguistic patterns in E. E. Cummings’ poetic style. Of all the aspects under consideration, it is grammar, lexis and morphology that have been most widely researched, while only a small number of studies have looked at graphology or, least of all, punctuation. This article is a contribution to the latter research field, and is aimed at developing a systematic approach to the use of punctuation marks in E. E. Cummings’ experimental poetry. I deal with two fundamental research questions: What foregrounding patterns are present in E. E. Cummings’ unorthodox use of punctuation marks, and what effects derive from his singular use of marks? Using 157 experimental poems as a corpus, I identify any instances of unconventional punctuation and classify the different devices that break with convention, determining the meaning implications (if any) that derive from these particular uses. An in-depth analysis of these poems reveals that there are three basic unconventional devices in Cummings’ use of punctuation marks (substitution, omission and insertion) and that these help Cummings to achieve a variety of purposes: emphasize certain elements within the poem, shift the tempo of the lines, create chaotic scenes, produce iconic effects, schematize any unit within the poem, omit letters and words, signal heteroglossia, indicate imperative voice, articulate the poem into different layers, create plays on words, and reproduce features of spoken language.

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Gomez-Jimenez, E 2018, ''An insufferable burden on businesses?' On changing attitudes to maternity leave and economic-related issues in the Times and Daily Mail', Discourse, Context and Media.