Bakhtin claims that students must learn to write lively prose, but they will not until teachers have a grammar of style that links syntax to stylistic qualities such as "lively" and "creative." It is, however, unlikely that such a grammar could be written, because particular rhetorical effects too often depend on context, perceived intention, and so on. Moreover, such a grammar will not be written until language describing a writer or a writers style can be translated into language describing a readers response. Even so, some stylistic effects can be linked to some syntactic structures, and parataxis is one of them. Bakhtins method of teaching -- showing how the same content expressed in different ways can have contrasting rhetorical effects -- is sound. Although he focuses on pedagogy, his own language suggests a larger aim: the replacement of bureaucratic language with the language of the people, perhaps even the liberalization of Soviet society.