AN ANALYSIS ON FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE USED BY THE MINOR CHARACTERS IN MARY HIGGINS CLARK’S NOVEL “TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE”

AN ANALYSIS ON FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE USED BY THE

MINOR CHARACTERS IN MARY HIGGINS CLARK’S

NOVEL “TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE”

THESIS

This thesis submitted to meet one of the requirements to

achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education

By: MARSIH 201010100311151

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

i

This thesis written by Marsih was approved on March 27, 2014

ii

This thesis was defended in front of the examiners of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of University of Muhammadiyah Malang

and accepted as one of the requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education

on March 27, 2014

Approved by:

Faculty of Teacher Training and Education University of Muhammadiyah malang

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Praise and thanks due to Allah SWT, the Merciful and Charitable. Because He has given guidance, blessing and affection to the researcher to finish her thesis of “An Analysis on Figurative Language Used by the Minor Characters in Mary Higgins Clark’s Novel “Two Little Girls in Blue””.

The deepest gratitude is expressed to her advisors, Drs. Mas’udi M.Ed, her first advisor, and Dra. Erly wahyuni, M.Si, her second advisor, for their invaluable advices, patience, and suggestion during the thesis consultation. In addition, her sincere gratitude is also extended to Riza Elfana, S.Pd, M.A as her first examiner, and Riski Lestiono, M.A as her second examiner who have given correction and comment to the completion of this thesis that made this thesis was better and almost perfect.

The researcher would like to express her special thanks for her beloved mother, father, brother, and sister who have given motivation, pray and love. The special thanks for her beloved spouse for his support, pray, and attention so the writer can finish this thesis. Finally, may Allah SWT always bless them all and write their kindness as worship.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL ... i

LEGALIZATION...ii

MOTTO AND DEDICATION... iii

ABSTRACT...iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...v

TABLE OF CONTENTS... vi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study...1

1.2 Statement of the Problem...4

1.3 Purpose of the Study... 4

1.4 Significance of the Study... 5

1.5 Scope and Limitation of the Study...5

1.6 Definition of the Key Terms... 6

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Literature...7

2.2 Kinds of Literature...8

2.3 Novel...9

2.4 Element of the Novel... 9

2.4.1 Plot... 9

2.4.2 Characters... 10

2.4.3 Setting... 10

2.4.4 Point of View... 11

2.4.5 Theme... 11

2.5 Figurative Language... 12

2.6 Types of Figurative Language... 13

2.6.1 Metaphor...13

2.6.2 Simile... 13

2.6.3 Personification... 14

2.6.4 Hyperbole...14

2.6.5 Understatement... 15

2.6.6 Synecdoche... 15

2.6.7 Metonymy...16

2.6.8 Paradox... 16

2.6.9 Irony...17

2.6.10 Apostrophe...17

2.6.11 Symbol... 17

2.6.12 Antithesis... 18

2.6.13 Euphemism... 18

2.6.14 Litotes... 19

2.6.15 Allegory... 19

2.6.16 Allusion...19

2.7 The Theory of Meaning... 20

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CHAPTER III: RESEACH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design...23

3.2 Approach...24

3.2.1 Mimetic Approach... 24

3.2.2 Pragmatic Approach...25

3.2.3 Expressive Approach... 25

3.2.4 Objective Approach... 25

3.3 Object of the Study... 26

3.4 Research Instrument...26

3.5 Data Collection... 27

3.6 Data Analysis... 29

CHAPTER IV: FINDING AND DISCUSSION 4.1 The Research Finding... 28

4.1.1 The Kinds of the Figurative Language in “Two Little Girls in Blue” Novel...28

4.1.1.1 Personification...37

4.1.1.2 Metaphor...39

4.1.1.3 Hyperbole... 44

4.1.1.4 Simile...48

4.1.1.5 Understatement...50

4.1.1.6 Allegory...52

4.1.1.7 Synecdoche...52

4.1.1.8 Irony... 53

4.1.1.9 Symbol... 54

4.1.2 The Meaning of Figurative Language in “Two Little Girls in Blue” Novel...55

4.1.2.1 Personification...55

4.1.2.2 Metaphor...58

4.1.2.3 Hyperbole... 65

4.1.2.4 Simile...73

4.1.2.5 Understatement...75

4.1.2.6 Allegory...77

4.1.2.7 Synecdoche...78

4.1.2.8 Irony... 79

4.1.2.9 Symbol...79

4.2 Discussion... 80

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 5.1 Conclusion... 84

5.1.1 The Figurative Language in the “Two Little Girls in Blue” Novel...84

5.1.2 Meaning of the Figurative Languages in Novel “Two Little Girls in Blue”...85

5.2 Suggestion...85 REFERENCES

APPENDIXES I APPENDIXES II

REFERENCES

Abrams, M. H. 1999. A Glossary of Literary Terms (Seventh Edition). United States: Heinle.

Ambarsari, Shinta. 2013.An Analysis of Figurative Language and Message on the Song “Heal the World” Sung by Michael Jackson. Unpublished Thesis. Malang: Muhammadiyah University Malang.

Arp, R. Thomas and Greg Johnson. 2006. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense (Ninth Edition). United States: Thomson Wadsworth.

Ary, Donald, et. all. 2006. Introduction to Research in Education (Seventh Edition). By Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Beaty, Jerome, et. all. 2002. The Norton Introduction to Literature (Shorter Eight Edition). United States: W.W Norton & Company, Inc.

Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. 2006. The Norton Introduction to Literature (Shorter Ninth Edition). United States: W.W Norton & Company, Inc.

Clark, Higgins, Mary. 2006.Two Little Girls in Blue. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Definition of Meaning.(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/meaning, Accessed on November 10, 2013 at 15:48 pm).

DiYanni, Robert. 2002. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (Fifth Edition). New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams. 2003.An Introduction to Language. United States: Heinle.

Gershenbaum, Barbara Lipkien. 2011. Two Little Girls in Blue. ( http://mylibrarycardworeout.com/2011/08/17/two-little-girls-in-blue-by-mary-higgins-clark/,Accessed on November 10, 2013 at 21:53 pm)

Kennedy, X. J. 1983. Literature, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama (Third Edition). Boston: Little Brown and Company.

Macmillan, Literature Series. 1984. Appreciating Literature. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

Macmillan, Literature Series. 1987. Understanding Literature. California: Macmillan Publishing Company.

Madden, Frank. 2007. Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing about Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay (Third Edition). New York: Pearson Education.

Mary Higgins Clark Biography. (http://www.Biography.com/People/Mary-Higgins-Clark-278967, Accessed on March 18, 2014 at 18:12 pm)

Oklahoma, James. 1997.Research Design in Occupational Education.

(http://www.okstate.edu/ag/agedcm4h/academic/aged5980a/5980/newpa ge110.htm, Accessed on November 19, 2013 at 11.26 am)

Pretoria, Niekerk. 2009. Research Design and Methodology, (upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05022009-175019/.../03chapter3.pdf,

Accessed on November 19, 2013 at 12:37 pm)

Risdianto, Faizal. 2011. Introduction to Literature. Yogyakarta: Trust Media Publishing.

Schimdt, Jan Zlotnik, Carley Rees Bogarad, and Lynne Crockett. 2006.Legacies: Fiction, Drama, Nonfiction (Third Edition). United States: Thomson Wadsworth.

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents background of the study, problem of the study, objective of the study, scope and limitation of the study, significance of the study, and definition of the key terms.

1.1 Background of the Study

Trilling (n. d. , in Booth, Hunter, and May, 2006: 2) has stated, ‘Literature is the human activity that takes the fullest and the most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty’. It can be argued that literature has some characteristics that reflect to the human life. It describes about the human thought, feeling, behavior, and attitude that happen in our daily activities. It is very interesting, it not only shares lots of information such as culture and tradition but it also gives us entertainment. One of the most recent form of literature is novel.

According to Macmillan (1987:491), ‘Novel is a long work of narrative prose fiction’. Furthermore, ‘A novel can create the fullness, complexity, and ongoing flow of life itself’ (Macmillan, 1984:579). Thus, it is believed that novel is a kind of writing which presents a variety of human daily activities. The author often uses beautiful language in the aim to make the story interesting and to attract the readers’ attention through imagination and abstraction.

The most common abstraction used by the author is figurative language. According to Macmillan (1987: 261), ‘Figurative language consists

2

expressions that are not literally true but express some truth beyond the literal level’. Figurative language is also a language that employs figures of speech. It is expressions that suggest more than their literal meaning, whether it is presented implied or direct comparisons that give readers the experience of abstraction or of an emotion (Schmidt, Bogarad, and Crockett, 2006:1399). It means that figurative language shows the deeper meaning other than what it says in which enables readers to bring out the emotion and understand the meaning of something vividly.

Moreover, the use of figurative language allows the author to provide the effectiveness of saying certain meaning rather than the real statement in creating a story. It is widely believed that the most successful stories are characterized by compression that can be done by using figurative language. Thomas and Johnson (2006: 274) has stated, ‘The writer’s aim is to say as much as possible as briefly as possible. It means only that nothing is wasted and that the author chooses each words and detail carefully for maximum effectiveness’. It shows that the author chooses each word selectively but meaningfully through figurative language. There are many kinds of figurative language that can be used to illustrate things in different ways other than its real meaning such as hyperbole, personification, metaphor, and understatement that can be found in novel.

In addition, to gain the author’s ideas, feeling, thought, and experience, the readers must be able to interpret the meaning of the figurative language. However, it sometimes difficult, not only needs imagination and deep understanding, but also an explicit knowledge about figurative language itself. It is fully needed to

3

comprehend the theory of figurative language in order to graph the meaning of the story and to avoid misinterpretation.

Some previous studies dealing with figurative language has been done in poem or song lyric by some researchers. One of them is conducted by Shinta Ambarsari (2013) a student of Muhammadiyah University Malang who conducted an investigation in the song “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson, focusing on analyzing the figurative language and the message of its song lyric. She found out hyperbole, repetition, personification, and antithesis. Furthermore, she also revealed the message of the song which was talking about how to solve the problem without war. It could be overcome by promoting diplomatic or peace way in order to avoid suffering, fear, and trauma for all people over the world. It is maintained that figurative language can be found in any kind of literary work such as song. Besides, it enables the author to express certain message or idea effectively and enjoyable.

Based on the previous research, figurative language is very interesting and essential to study. Additionally, it also can be found in novel frequently than in a song lyric. Similarly, having a good capability in interpreting the meaning of figurative language is even more crucial with an eye to comprehend the author’s purpose that delivered through story. Furthermore, discussing figurative language in novel will be more exciting because it has not been researched yet by other researchers. Eventually, this study is distinct from the previous research above in which the researcher is identifying the kinds and then describing the meaning of

4

each figurative language found in novel but does not explain the message of the author in the story.

Concerning on the importance of figurative language in novel and the difficulties of interpreting its meaning, the researcher is interested in analyzing the figurative language in “Two Little Girls in Blue” novel. The researcher selects this novel because it tells an exciting story of kidnapping the three years old twin girls who apparently had a special language and communication known only to them, which helps to keep one alive and reveal the criminals. Besides, this novel consists of many different kind of figurative languages which are appear mostly in the dialogue performed by the supporting characters. This novel is also very popular and written by well-known author, Mary Higgins Clark.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Based on the above explanation the writer formulates the problem as follows:

1. What kinds of figurative languages are used by the minor characters in Mary Higgins Clark’s novel “Two Little Girls in Blue”?

2. What are the meaning of those figurative languages?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

Related to the statement above, the writer formulates the purpose of this study as follows:

1. To discover the kinds of figurative language used by the minor characters in Mary Higgins Clark’s novel “Two Little Girls in Blue”.

5

1.4 Significance of the Study

Researcher hopes that the finding of this research gives a great contribution for readers particularly who are concern in figurative language.

In the first place, the result of this study is valuable for English Department students as a reference in getting sources related to figurative language to improve their knowledge about the material of figurative language. Moreover, it can be used as a guidance to practice interpreting figurative language in certain text.

Second, English lecturers, the finding of this research can be used as the material in teaching figurative language. The teacher may shows to the students that learning figurative language can be done in fun way through reading novel in which it will attract the students’ attention.

Third, the next researchers, the finding of this research is useful for students who are interested in investigating figurative language in the future. They can consult the procedure on analyzing figurative language to this research’s result when they want to conduct similar research.

Finally, this research’s finding enrich the theory of figurative language itself which is more understandable by students since they sometimes find difficulties to apprehend the theory from the original text or source.

1.4 Scope and Limitation of the Study

In order to avoid the broadening discussion, the scope of this study was focused on the use of the figurative language and the meaning of words based on figurative language only in the Mary Higgins Clark’s Novel “Two Little Girls in

6

Blue”. In this study, the analysis was limited on the figurative language used only by minor characters. They were Margaret (the twin's mother), and Angie Ames (the twin’s kidnapper). It was because they had a significant role in the world of kidnapping the twins and whose characters were extremely different.

1.5 Definition of the Key Terms

To avoid misinterpretation about the terms, the writer defines the important terms which are related to this research as follows:

1. Figurative language is a language that consists of figure of speech in

which it is cannot be understand literally (Thomas and Johnson, 2006: 715). It is the author’s language used to describe persons, things, and ideas using comparisons or abstraction that is being studied.

2. Characters are the people or players in the story and their conflicts

(Schmidt, Bogarad, and Crockett, 2006: 1382). Minor character is one or more secondly whose function is partly to illuminate the major characters (DiYanni, 2002: 54-55). Minor characters are actors and actresses in the novel of “Two Little Girls in Blue” who play a great role in supporting the main characters in the story.

3. Two Little Girls in Blue is the title of novel written by Mary Higgins

Clark which is being investigated.

4. Mary Higgins Clarkis an American suspense author who wrote the novel

of “Two Little Girls in Blue”.

5. Novel is a kind of long work of narrative prose fiction (Macmillan, 1987:

1

This chapter presents background of the study, problem of the study, objective of the study, scope and limitation of the study, significance of the study, and definition of the key terms.

1.1 Background of the Study

Trilling (n. d. , in Booth, Hunter, and May, 2006: 2) has stated, ‘Literature is the human activity that takes the fullest and the most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty’. It can be argued that literature has some characteristics that reflect to the human life. It describes about the human thought, feeling, behavior, and attitude that happen in our daily activities. It is very interesting, it not only shares lots of information such as culture and tradition but it also gives us entertainment. One of the most recent form of literature is novel.

According to Macmillan (1987:491), ‘Novel is a long work of narrative prose fiction’. Furthermore, ‘A novel can create the fullness, complexity, and ongoing flow of life itself’ (Macmillan, 1984:579). Thus, it is believed that novel is a kind of writing which presents a variety of human daily activities. The author often uses beautiful language in the aim to make the story interesting and to attract the readers’ attention through imagination and abstraction.

The most common abstraction used by the author is figurative language. According to Macmillan (1987: 261), ‘Figurative language consists

expressions that are not literally true but express some truth beyond the literal level’. Figurative language is also a language that employs figures of speech. It is expressions that suggest more than their literal meaning, whether it is presented implied or direct comparisons that give readers the experience of abstraction or of an emotion (Schmidt, Bogarad, and Crockett, 2006:1399). It means that figurative language shows the deeper meaning other than what it says in which enables readers to bring out the emotion and understand the meaning of something vividly.

Moreover, the use of figurative language allows the author to provide the effectiveness of saying certain meaning rather than the real statement in creating a story. It is widely believed that the most successful stories are characterized by compression that can be done by using figurative language. Thomas and Johnson (2006: 274) has stated, ‘The writer’s aim is to say as much as possible as briefly as possible. It means only that nothing is wasted and that the author chooses each words and detail carefully for maximum effectiveness’. It shows that the author chooses each word selectively but meaningfully through figurative language. There are many kinds of figurative language that can be used to illustrate things in different ways other than its real meaning such as hyperbole, personification, metaphor, and understatement that can be found in novel.

In addition, to gain the author’s ideas, feeling, thought, and experience, the readers must be able to interpret the meaning of the figurative language. However, it sometimes difficult, not only needs imagination and deep understanding, but also an explicit knowledge about figurative language itself. It is fully needed to

comprehend the theory of figurative language in order to graph the meaning of the story and to avoid misinterpretation.

Some previous studies dealing with figurative language has been done in poem or song lyric by some researchers. One of them is conducted by Shinta Ambarsari (2013) a student of Muhammadiyah University Malang who conducted an investigation in the song “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson, focusing on analyzing the figurative language and the message of its song lyric. She found out hyperbole, repetition, personification, and antithesis. Furthermore, she also revealed the message of the song which was talking about how to solve the problem without war. It could be overcome by promoting diplomatic or peace way in order to avoid suffering, fear, and trauma for all people over the world. It is maintained that figurative language can be found in any kind of literary work such as song. Besides, it enables the author to express certain message or idea effectively and enjoyable.

Based on the previous research, figurative language is very interesting and essential to study. Additionally, it also can be found in novel frequently than in a song lyric. Similarly, having a good capability in interpreting the meaning of figurative language is even more crucial with an eye to comprehend the author’s purpose that delivered through story. Furthermore, discussing figurative language in novel will be more exciting because it has not been researched yet by other researchers. Eventually, this study is distinct from the previous research above in which the researcher is identifying the kinds and then describing the meaning of

each figurative language found in novel but does not explain the message of the author in the story.

Concerning on the importance of figurative language in novel and the difficulties of interpreting its meaning, the researcher is interested in analyzing the figurative language in “Two Little Girls in Blue” novel. The researcher selects this novel because it tells an exciting story of kidnapping the three years old twin girls who apparently had a special language and communication known only to them, which helps to keep one alive and reveal the criminals. Besides, this novel consists of many different kind of figurative languages which are appear mostly in the dialogue performed by the supporting characters. This novel is also very popular and written by well-known author, Mary Higgins Clark.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Based on the above explanation the writer formulates the problem as follows:

1. What kinds of figurative languages are used by the minor characters in Mary Higgins Clark’s novel “Two Little Girls in Blue”?

2. What are the meaning of those figurative languages?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

Related to the statement above, the writer formulates the purpose of this study as follows:

1. To discover the kinds of figurative language used by the minor characters in Mary Higgins Clark’s novel “Two Little Girls in Blue”.

1.4 Significance of the Study

Researcher hopes that the finding of this research gives a great contribution for readers particularly who are concern in figurative language.

In the first place, the result of this study is valuable for English Department students as a reference in getting sources related to figurative language to improve their knowledge about the material of figurative language. Moreover, it can be used as a guidance to practice interpreting figurative language in certain text.

Second, English lecturers, the finding of this research can be used as the material in teaching figurative language. The teacher may shows to the students that learning figurative language can be done in fun way through reading novel in which it will attract the students’ attention.

Third, the next researchers, the finding of this research is useful for students who are interested in investigating figurative language in the future. They can consult the procedure on analyzing figurative language to this research’s result when they want to conduct similar research.

Finally, this research’s finding enrich the theory of figurative language itself which is more understandable by students since they sometimes find difficulties to apprehend the theory from the original text or source.

1.4 Scope and Limitation of the Study

In order to avoid the broadening discussion, the scope of this study was focused on the use of the figurative language and the meaning of words based on figurative language only in the Mary Higgins Clark’s Novel “Two Little Girls in

Blue”. In this study, the analysis was limited on the figurative language used only by minor characters. They were Margaret (the twin's mother), and Angie Ames (the twin’s kidnapper). It was because they had a significant role in the world of kidnapping the twins and whose characters were extremely different.

1.5 Definition of the Key Terms

To avoid misinterpretation about the terms, the writer defines the important terms which are related to this research as follows:

1. Figurative language is a language that consists of figure of speech in which it is cannot be understand literally (Thomas and Johnson, 2006: 715). It is the author’s language used to describe persons, things, and ideas using comparisons or abstraction that is being studied.

2. Characters are the people or players in the story and their conflicts (Schmidt, Bogarad, and Crockett, 2006: 1382). Minor character is one or more secondly whose function is partly to illuminate the major characters (DiYanni, 2002: 54-55). Minor characters are actors and actresses in the novel of “Two Little Girls in Blue” who play a great role in supporting the main characters in the story.

3. Two Little Girls in Blue is the title of novel written by Mary Higgins Clark which is being investigated.

4. Mary Higgins Clarkis an American suspense author who wrote the novel of “Two Little Girls in Blue”.

5. Novel is a kind of long work of narrative prose fiction (Macmillan, 1987: 491). It is the book that covers the story of “Two Little Girls in Blue”.