38
6. Rhetorical Questions
According to Jay 2003, p. 343 , “rhetorical questions are not meant to be
answered.” They function as statements. Furthermore, they are used to clarify and show negative emotion Robert Kreuz, 1994, p. 161. There are 39 rhetorical
questions in the lyrics. Among those rhetorical questions, 8 rhetorical questions are used to show the negative emotion and 31 rhetorical questions are intended to
clarify. The examples of rhetorical questions showing the negative emotion are as
follows. The first example is where‟s the good in goodbye? No Good in
Goodbye, line 9. The songwriters do not need the answers from the listeners. They want to show the sadness that there is no good in goodbye because in a
parting there is only sadness and it is not good at all. The second example is where‟s the nice in nice try? No Good in Goodbye, line 10. There is no nice in
nice try since people say nice try to someone else when doing something to mean that it is not successfully correct or as good as their expectation.
The next two examples of the rhetorical questions are did you break but never mend? and did it hurt so much you thought it was the end? Flares, lines 16
and 17. The two lines are meant to express the negative emotion. A feeling of not worthy and a feeling of giving up are kinds of negative emotions that are reflected
by those two lines. Another example is
who would‟ve thought that I‟d be here by myself? Man on a Wire, line 1. The songwriters want to state that the man is now alone
without his woman and nobody thinks it will happen. He is sad because he is left PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
39 by his woman. The last example is
who would‟ve thought that I‟d see you with someone else? Man on a Wire, line 21. The line means that no one thinks that he
will see his woman with someone else. Thus, he sees his woman with someone else and he feels unhappy with it.
The examples of rhetorical questions that aim to clarify are as follows. The first examples are found in the chorus of Flares song, which are but did you see
the flares in the sky?, Were you blinded by the light?, Did you feel the smoke in your eyes?, Did you? Did you?, and Did you see the sparks filled with hope?
lines 9-13. The lines mean that in the middle of the struggle of life or in a down situation, there will be a chance to have a better life and even a small hope to do a
better effort in life. Even though that kind of hope, chance or help does not come from her, it can come from God through people around her. The songwriters want
to clarify that there is a help and a miracle in her life and what she needs to do is just put faith in it and still fight for the best for her life.
The next rhetorical questions are would Sinatra be just a gangster ” and or
would Jackson be just a dancer without those songs? Without those Songs, lines 19 and 20. Sinatra is not a gangster. Then, Jackson is not a dancer. The
songwriters clarifies that they are two famous American musicians who wrote a lot of songs that made them successful musicians. Furthermore, the lines also give
a conviction that the songs created by the musicians are the songs which are still appreciated until now since they are full of meanings and influential in some way.
The next examples of the rhetorical questions are she said, is this the life you‟ve been dreaming of and spending half the day away from the things you
40 love?
It‟s not Right for You, lines 3 and 4. The woman does not need the man to answer the question, but she wants the man to consider again his activities that
he is doing since it is not the life the man has been dreaming of because he spends half the day away from the things he loves and does things he does not love. The
complete rhetorical expressions analysis can be seen in Appendix 3.
7. Metonymy
Lakoff and Johnson 1980 state that “metonymy is the tactic of using a
familiar or easily perceived aspect of an object or situation to stand for the things as a whole” as cited in Jay, 2003, p. 323.
There are four examples of metonymy found which are included in one song entitled Paint the Town Green. The examples are and that life you had in
Dublin , we‟re so close to Paddy‟s Day, like it was the Luas line, and chase the
Hudson to the Liffey lines 3, 11, 21, 22 . The phrases Dublin, Paddy‟s Day, Luas
line, and the Hudson represent Ireland. It is easy to perceive since Dublin is the capital city of Ireland. Furthermore, Paddy‟s Day or Saint Patrick‟s Day is the day
to commemorate Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. There, all Irish people celebrate Paddy‟s Day by having a Mass and having a carnival or a parade in the
streets of Ireland while wearing green costumes. Moreover, Luas line is a famous line which exists in Dublin. Then, Luas line represents Ireland as the homeland of
the immigrants. Thus, the songwriters want the immigrants to travel places around them as comfortable as they travel in Ireland and do what they usually do in their
homeland. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Kategori