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CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Figurative Language
1. Definition of Figurative Language
Figurative language is the general phrase that poet use to describe many devices of language that allow the poet to speak non-literally, to say
one thing and mean another. It is the use of words that go beyond their ordinary meaning. It requires the use of imagination to figure out the
authors meaning. Figurative language is essential in certain types of writing to help convey meaning and expression. Figurative language is
necessary to convey the exact meaning in a vivid and artistic manner, yet a concise and to the point manner to the reader. The writer has a story to tell
and the language used must portray every emotion and feeling possible on the paper. If the writer does not create an image in the readers mind, he or
she will lose the reader‘s attention. Holding the attention of the reader is the writers goal. Figurative language uses figures of speech such as
simile, hyperbole, metaphor, irony, personification, etc. It is used to increase shock, novelty, appearance, or illustrative consequences.
According to Perrine figure of speech is any way of saying something than the ordinary way.
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While according to Hall, figure of speech are extraordinary, original, nonliteral uses of language, common to lively
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Laurence Perrine, Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense Fifth Edition, ed. Thomas R. Arp San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988, p.509
speech and literature.
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It is a use of a word that diverges from its normal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal
meaning of the words in it such as a metaphor, simile, or personification. Figures of speech often provide emphasis, freshness of expression, or
clarity.
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However, clarity may also suffer from their use, as any figure of speech introduces an ambiguity between literal and figurative
interpretation. A figure of speech is sometimes called rhetoric or a locution.
2. Kind of Figure of Speech