Understanding Literature: Definitions, Figurative Languages, and Disney, Assignments of Poetry

Download Understanding Literature: Definitions, Figurative Languages, and Disney and more Assignments Poetry in PDF only on Docsity! 6 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Based on several relevant theories, the researcher presents review of related literature. In this chapter, there would be theories about literature, figurative languages, meaning, and Disney. 2.1 Literature Teeuw (as cited Islam, 2016) states that the word literature which comes from Latin term “litteratura” is actually derived from Greek term “grammatical” - origins from littira and gramma- which has meaning “letter”. According to that linguistic definition, literature is related to something written. Yet, the definition of literature is more than that linguistic definition. Islam (2016, p. 20) states “the closest definition we might come to is that literature is some kind of writing which for certain reasons people value highly”. It means literature is an art of writing. It contains beauty in the use of language. Different from Teeuw, there is another different point of view of literature. Beaty et al. (2002) state that literature is not only in written form. Although they agree with common definition of literature as “a creative writing”, but they give wider understanding about literature. Literature can be in form of audio, movies, even myths and traditions in society that are told from mouth to mouth. Quinn (2006, p. 244) explains the changes of literature definition based on several criticisms. He argues that literature is initially defined as fictional art which aims to entertain the readers with its beautiful and unique language. Later on, in another criticism, it is stated that literature has come and entered the real 7 world. It means literature may include nonfictional works such as essay, biography and even diary. From several definitions above, it can be concluded that literature is highly appreciated art of language as a communication between the initiator and audience in form of either written or verbal language. Literature not only raises fictional and imaginative stories but also utters real facts occurring in society culture, history and even tradition. Nowadays, literature can be created in various forms. It can be drama, prose and poetry. 2.3.1 Drama Drama is one of literary works. According to Abrams (2009, p. 84) drama is written and created to be performed in stage by actors. He explains that in drama, the actors take the characters’ roles, carry on the indicated actions and enounce the dialogues. Drama not only has dialogues as its element, but also other elements such us theme, plot, character and characterization, conflict, and so on. Arp & Johnson (2006, p. 1074) state that drama is created to be performed on stage, therefore, it obviously has some different components compared to other literary works. Drama involves playwright, actors and audience. Moreover, in conducting drama, the stage light, setting of stage and a director are needed. Islam (2016) divides drama into four genres, those are tragedy, comedy, melodrama, and tragicomedy. 2.3.2 Prose Another kind of literary works is prose. The kinds of literature are indeed controversial. There are some different arguments from experts. Arp & Johnson 10 often does some kinds like a direct interaction with the audiences. Besides, rap music and hip- hop can be included as dramatic poetry since both of them usually provide monologue of the writer (Schmidt & Bogarad, 2006). According to Abrams (1999, 2009), dramatic poetry has several features. The first feature is the single person who utters the dramatic poetry and acts as one of characters from the story. The second feature is interaction between the speaker and the other people. That interaction could be with the audiences or with the other imaginatively characters. It means the speaker should be able to encourage audiences to imagine there are other characters on the stage. The last feature is the speaker’s capability to create the atmosphere and well deliver the story to the audiences. c. Lyric Poetry Lyric poetry is often found in many literature works. Lyric poetry is usually written briefly and subjectively. Lyric poetry is mostly written as poet’s musing where the poet expresses ideas, moods and perceptions of several things. The word lyric itself is derived from “lyre” which has a meaning to be sung (Islam, 2016, p. 73). In ancient times, lyric began as a song chanted to the praise of Gods. This poetry is the closest one to song lyrics. If narrative and dramatic poetry tend to tell a story, the lyric poetry tends to express the poet’s personal feeling about anything even though the poetry is not told based on sequence plot. Schmidt and Bogarad (2006) argue that the purpose of lyric poetry is to accompany a song. They also classify the categories of lyrics poetry into four categories that are elegy, meditation, ode and pastoral. 11 Although it is personal poetry written by poet, according to Abrams (1999, 2009) sometimes in writing a poetry, the poet let the readers interpret the circumstances based on their own perceptions, for examples John Milton’s sonnet “When I consider how my light is spent” and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Frost at Midnight,”. Even in several poetries, the written words are referred to speaker’s character and utterance. In this case, the speaker is a figure created by the poet in certain character and circumstance. 2.2 Figurative Languages Figurative language is part of figure of speech defined as writer’s locution that makes readers either implicitly or explicitly experience and abstraction and emotion beyond its literal meaning (Schmidt and Bogarad, 2006, p. 1399). Figurative language gives more effective meaning in writing rather than just say it directly. Figurative language provides meaning more, or less, or the opposite or even the other meaning. It also triggers the reader to be more imaginative and emotional. It is commonly found in poetry, prose and even in conversation as well, but most of figurative languages are found in poetry. Schmidt and Bogarad (2006) divide figurative languages into nine types: a. Simile Simile is one of figurative languages used to compare two different things (Schmidt and Bogarad, 2006, p. 1399). This figurative language can be marked by the words like, seems, as, similar to and other equal words. According to Klarer (2004, p. 33) in simile, there are tenor and vehicle. He states that tenor is the compared person, object or idea, whereas vehicle is the image made equivalent to 12 tenor. For further explanation, the example of simile is taken from Robert Burn’s poem A Red, Red Rose, “Oh my love is like a red, red rose”. In that sentence, the words “my love” is called tenor, while “a red, red rose” is vehicle. In that example, Robert Burn compares his love to a red rose, but the meaning is not literally like a red rose, because love does not have both color and form. It means the poet feels happy to have love for someone. He has deep love that feels as incredible as the beauty of a red rose. b. Metaphor Metaphor has similar function as simile. It is to compare two objects. Yet, unlike simile which can be indentified bye the words, like, seems, similar, metaphor has an implicit comparison. Metaphor captures an object or idea and equates it with something different, then implicitly creates an analogy between them (Schmidt & Bogarad, 2006, p. 1399). If in simile, Burn says “Oh my love is like a red, red rose”, but in metaphor that sentence will change into “My love is a red rose”. Abrams (1999, 2009) states there are some types of metaphor such as implicit metaphor, dead metaphor and mixed metaphor. Implicit metaphor is when tenor is not directly written but implied. The example of implicit metaphor is “That reed was too frail to survive the storm of its sorrows”. In that sentence, the word “reed” is the vehicle of implied tenor, a human being, while the word “storm” is vehicle of explicit tenor “sorrows”. Second type of metaphor is called dead metaphor. The examples of dead metaphor are “the leg of a table” and “the heart of the matter”. This metaphor is common used even in daily conversation, and that is way now the use of dead 15 g. Symbol Symbol can be interpreted as something representative that has meaning more than what it is (Schmidt and Bogarad, 2006, p. 1400). Even ordinary and simple object can be symbol in writing poetry. Some symbols have conventional meaning related to culture in a country, such us “cherry blossoms”, “jade”, “rose”, “birds” that have significances in Japanese, Chinese or English poetry, and the rest are private symbol generated by the poet by exploiting the association between the object and certain concept, hence to understand the poem, the readers may interpret from close reading of work. Sometimes private symbol which is generated by poet causes a problem in interpreting it. For example, the word “rose” in Robert Burn’s poem “Oh my love is like a red, red rose” is used as simile, and becomes metaphor in Winthrop Mackworth Praed’s poem “she was our queen, our rose, our star”. Yet, in The Sick Rose by William Blake “Oh Rose, thou art sick” the word “rose” is used as symbol, since it does not role as vehicle which exists in simile or metaphor. Blake’s rose means more than what it is: “love”, “bed”, “joy” and by sinister tone and intensity of speaker’s feeling, it becomes a private symbol (Abrams, 1999, 2009, p. 359). h. Myth Myth is identical to symbol, still it signifies inexplicable and mysterious story exists in society culture and tradition, history, and custom and it is related to supernatural beings (Schmidt and Bogarad, 2006, p. 1400). The collection of myths or mentioned as mythology are derived from religious belief and ritual. 16 Mythologies that are commonly found in poetry mostly come from Greek, Roman, Germanic, Native American, and Egyptian. i. Allusion Allusion refers to famous literary work, person, event or place; it expands the world of poetry either implicitly or explicitly. The example of allusion exists in Judith Johnson poetry entitled Stone Olives. That poetry refers to several events for instance an event when one of the prophets received divine command to sacrifice his son in sentence “Does Abraham see that no scapegoat waits at hand? His son and his son’s sons and daughters…” Another passage is about the death of an Albany girl named Melina Hudson in this following part (Schmidt and Bogarad, 2006, p. 1401): Melina, who once danced at proms far from Beirut, laughed with my daughter years after Hiroshima broke into flower, told her beads in a church the Gulag never touched, now pours through our air. 2.3 Meaning According to Arp and Johnson (2006, p. 686), meaning is divided into denotation and connotation. 2.3.1 Denotation Denotation is the real meaning of the words; it is the basic part of meaning. The denotative meaning of any word can be found in dictionary. For example is the word “house” and “home”. It means a place where people live (Arp & Johnson, 2006). 17 2.3.2 Connotation Connotation can be interpreted as what is beyond the real meaning of the word. Having connotative meaning in writing poetry or another literary work is necessary. It aims to enrich the words and to give certain effects. By using connotative meaning, the writer can express a lot of things in fewer words. Only a single word can have variety of connotations. If the word “home” has denotation as a place to live, then it may suggest connotation as family, love and comfort. Another example is taken from George Herbert’s poem entitled Virtue (Arp & Johnson, 2006): Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, The bridal of the earth and sky... As explained by Abrams (2009, p. 57), the word “bridal” means a union between two human beings and in Hebert’s poem it is expressed by using metaphor to the union of earth and sky, however, by connotative, the word “bridal” means sacred, joyous, and ceremonial. 2.4 Disney The Walt Disney Company which is usually called as Disney Company is derived from the name of its founder Walt Disney. The original name of it is Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio until Walt’s partner, Roy suggested to change its name. Since October 16, 1923 this company runs in entertainment realm and started producing its first cartoon named Alice’s Wonderland. The other animation movies from Disney production are Mickey Mouse, The Silly Shimponies, Snow White, Aladdin, Mulan, Frozen and many more. Now, Disney Company not only works in movie production but also runs several businesses