A Textual Analysis Of Emily Dickinson’s Idea About Death In Her Selected Poems
CHAPTER II
REVIEW ON LITERATURE
2.1.
Literature and Poetry
Literature comes from the word littera (Latin) which is the smallest element
of alphabetical writing (Klarer, 2004:1). This definition is too general in describing
what literature is all about because it is not all written works can be considered as
literature.
The definitions, therefore, usually include additional such as
‘aesthetic’ or ‘artistic’ to distinguish literary works from text of
everyday use such as newspaper, legal documents or even scholarly
writing.
(Klarer, 2004:1)
Based on the brief description above, being a form of written works of
recognized artistic value is known as one of literature characteristic. Wellek and
Warren (1956: 94-95) states that literature represents life. Life is, in large measure, a
social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the
individual have also been objects of the literary imitation. Literature is an expression
of society. It means that in literary works, we can find phenomena of life in the
society because literary work is the reflection of life.
Poetry is one of the literature, it is an art form in which human language is
used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic
content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a
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manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose. Poetry and
poem describe a wide variety of spoken and written forms, styles, and patterns and
also a wide variety of subjects. Because of variety, it is not possible to make a single,
comprehensive definition. (Siswanto, 2015)
According to Understanding the Element of literature by Taylor Richard
(1981), some of poets had defined poetry, they are:
S.T. Coleridge
: Poetry is the product of the poet’s imagination and the best
words in the best order
William Wordsworth : Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
Lucelles Ubercombie : Poetry is the expression of imaginative experience, valid,
simply as such and significant as such communicable given
by language which employ every available and appropriate
device.
Allen Morris
: Poet in sense is a maker of experience
Emily Dickinson
: Poetry is the concrete and artistic expression of the human
merit in emotional and rhythmical language.
In analyzing poetry, one has to know the aspects of the poetry so it will be
possible to decide which part of poetry that should be studied to get the analysis goal.
According to Poetry and Prose Appreciation by L.G. Alexander (1977:1-24), the
aspects are sense, feeling, tone and intention.
2.1.1. Sense
Sense is the subject matter of the poem. As the theme on prose, sense
is what is the poem about. In some poems, the title will give the reader some
indications of its general meaning. In other poems, it may quite hard to
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understand its meaning because some words in poem may have different
meaning. By reading the poem over and over carefully, we can catch the
meaning.
In this analysis, it seems impossible to get the meaning from the title,
because Emily Dickinson names her poems by number. This can be
understood as the influence of William Shakespeare who are the great poet
and play writer in her era.
2.1.2. Feeling
Feeling is the attitude of the writer toward the subject of the matter.
By reading a certain poem carefully, we could understand what does the poet
think about the subject matter, how does the poet’s feeling towards the
subject matter and what is the poet’s opinion about the subject matter.
2.1.3. Tone
Tone is an attitude of a poet toward a subject or an audience. Tone is
generally conveyed through the choice of words or the viewpoint of a writer
on a particular subject.
Every written piece comprises a central theme or subject matter. The
manner in which a writer approaches this theme and subject is the tone. The
tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic, sarcastic, sad, and cheerful or it
may be any other existing attitudes.
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2.1.4. Intention
The poet writes their poem with a special intention. It can be written
to persuade, to describe, to explain or at least to express his feelings. Good
poems is written because they have to be, not because their poet wants them
to be. It means that, a good poem is written with an intention.
2.2.
Textual Analysis
Poem is a written communication between the writer and the reader as poem
is the text with various information that can be interpreted differently according to
each reader’s background. To do this thesis, the writer needs a method to gain the
goal of the study. Textual analysis is a method for communication researches that is
used to describe and interpret characteristics of a recorded visual message. (Frey,
1999:225) In other word, textual analysis can be a method to interpret the message
from Dickinson’s selected poem to find her ideas of death.
The main purpose of textual analysis is to describe the content, structure, and
functions of the message contain in texts. (Frey, 1990:226) In this thesis, the wruter
wants to describe and interpret the characteristics of Dickinson’s poem. The author
wants to see her idea of death through her written poems that engage death as the
main theme.
There are four major approaches in textual analysis according to Frey in
Investigating Communication: An Introduction to Research Methods (1990:229),
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they are rhetorical criticism, content analysis, interaction analysis and performance
studies.
2.2.1. Rhetorical Criticism
The terms, rhetoric and criticism, conjure up interesting images.
Rhetoric often carries negative connotations, such as when it is applied to
grand, eloquent, bombastic, or verbose discourse. For scholars, the word
rhetoric is associated with Aristotle’s definition: “the available means of
persuasion” and criticism is the “systematic process of illuminating and
evaluating products of human activity” (Andrews, 1984: 4).
Rhetorical Criticism, therefore, is a systematic method for describing,
analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating the persuasive force of messages
embedded within texts. The process serves five important functions
(Andrews, 1983) including:
a. sheds light on the purposes of a persuasive message
b. can aid in understanding historical, social, and cultural contexts
c. can be used as a form of social criticism to evaluate society
d. can contribute to theory building by showing how theories apply to
persuasive discourse.
e. serves a pedagogical function by teaching people how persuasion works
and what constitutes effective persuasion.
Classical rhetoric examined the characteristics and effect of
persuasive public speaking during the Greek and Roman civilizations.
10
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Contemporary rhetoric has expanded to incorporate a wide range of
philosophical, theoretical, and methodological perspectives that are used to
study the persuasive impact of many different types of texts and messages.
There are four steps to conducting rhetorical criticism, they are:
a. Choosing a text(s) to study
b. Choosing a specific type of rhetorical criticism
c. Analyzing the text(s) according to the method chosen
d. Writing the critical essay
There are several types of rhetorical criticism and they may be used to
answer a wide range of questions including: What is the relationship between
a text and its context?; How does a text construct reality for an audience?;
and What does a text suggest about the rhetoric?
2.2.2. Content Analysis
Content analysis is used to identify, enumerate and analyze
occurrences of specific message and message characteristics embedded in
texts. (Frey, 1990:236) This approach is chosen as the object of the analysis is
poems. Poems contain specific message from the writer. Each poem has a
main theme which is specific, so it can be said that poem has specific
message.
Content analysis is divided into qualitative content and quantitative
content. Qualitative content analysis is when the researchers are more
interested in the meanings associated with messages than with the number of
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times of message variable’s occurrence. Quantitative content analysis is the
systematic and step-by-step procedure, that are used to answer research
questions and test hypothesis. Quantitative analysis is considered as an
unobtrusive technique because researchers study texts that already exist rather
than asking people to produce texts.
Vast majority of content analyses employ quantitative procedures,
which are involving selecting texts, determining the units to be
coded,developing content categories, training observers to code units, and
analyzing the data.
a. Selecting texts which choosing appropriate texts to study such as,
newspapers, magazines, books, public service announcements, and Internet
messages, etc.
b. Determining the unit of analysis which finding first identify the
appropriate message unit to code (unitizing).
In analyzing, some units can be matter for the research. Any
information can
be unitizing depends on some point. There are five
units in content analysis, including:
a. Physical units
: the space and time devoted to content
b. Meaning units
: which the remaining four types reside within, involve
symbolic meaning
c. Syntactical units
: consist of discrete units of language, such as
individual words, sentences, and paragraphs
12
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d. Referential units
: also called character units, involve some physical or
temporal unit referred to or alluded to within content
e. Thematic units
: topics contained within messages.
Developing content categories into which units can be classified, it is
done through the use of nominal measurement procedures; this is a very
creative process; there are an infinite number of categories into which units
could potentially be classified. Analyzing the data, coding units into nominal
categories, yields qualitative data in that what is being communicated is
determined by the type of category.
2.2.3. Interaction Analysis
Interaction Analysis view interaction as a complex accomplishment
that requires much knowledge on the part of individual communicators and
the ability to coordinate behavior with others. To describe interaction,
researchers focus on a number of characteristics including:
a. Linguistic features: Studies range from the analysis of particular words and
sentence components (verbs), to nonverbal features (eye contact & touch),
tomore interpretive aspects of language (powerful vs. powerless speech).
b. Types of topics that people talk about.
c. The purposes of specific actions and utterances in an interaction.
Group decision making requires that group members satisfy four
fundamental tasks, called functional requisites: Thorough and accurate
understanding of the choice-making situation; identification of a range of
realistic alternative courses of action; thorough and accurate assessment of
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the positive qualities or consequences associated with alternative choices;
thorough and accurate assessment of the negative qualities or consequences
associated with alternative choices.
Researchers interested in the functional nature of messages exchanged
during interaction focus on the purpose of each communicator’s moves.
Others analyze the structure of interaction by studying the relationship
between conversants’ moves. Relating interaction to other variables is about
most interaction analysts go beyond description to study the ways in which
interaction is related to significant input and output variables.
Conducting interaction analysis involves two general tasks: Obtaining
a sample of interaction, and analyzing that sample. In gathering a sample of
interaction, researchers make choices that affect both the type and the quality
of the data obtained, including the type of interaction’s data required, the
desired location of the interaction, and the appropriate means for gathering
the data.
2.2.4. Performance Studies
Performance study is the process of dialog engagement with one’s
own and others’ aesthetic communication through the means of performance.
Researchers interpret texts as a method of inquiry that enables them and
audiences of performances to interpret the aesthetic richness of those texts.
There are six steps in generating and reporting insights in performance
studies, they are:
a. Selecting: Identifying the communication act or text they wish to examine
b. Playing: Trying on different vocal and bodily behaviors
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c. Testing: Establishes the range of legitimate understandings
d. Choosing: Question of selecting those valid interpretations to isolate one
possible understanding to pursue.
e. Repeating: Sets and refines the researchers chosen interpretation.
f. Presenting: Report of what has been discovered through public
performance; puts on a display for others’ consideration what the
performance researcher has come to
understand.
2.3.
Literature and Idea
Literature and ideas have very diverse way of relationship. Since literature is
one of art, idea has an important role on the writing process. Wellek and Warren
(1948:107) stated that literature is frequently considered as a form of philosophy, as
“ideas” wrapped in form; and it is analyzed to yield “leading ideas”. This approach
encourages the writer to summarize and to abstract works of art in terms of such
generalization.
The opposite approach is to deny any philosophical relevance to literature.
George Boas (1948:113) stated ideas in poetry are usually stale and false, and no one
older than sixteen would find it worth while to read poetry merely for what it says. In
other words, Boas considered literature as a piece of work that can only be enjoyed
as art despite as something that has more information or function than what is written
on the text.
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Rudolf Unger has most clearly defended an approach which, though not
systematically ex-ploited before, had long been used. He rightly argues that
literature is not philosophical knowledge translated into imagery and verse,
but that literature expresses a general attitude toward life, that poets usually
answer, unsystematically, questions which are also themes of philosophy but
that the poetic mode of answering differs in different ages and situations.
(Wellek and Warren, 1948:112)
According to Unger approach, the problems can be classified into 5 problems
:
1. Problems of faith
: relation of freedom and necessity, spirit and nature.
2. Religious problem : the interpretation of Christ, the attitude toward sin
and salvation.
3. Problem of nature : question as the feelings for nature, but also question
of myth and magic.
4. Problem of man
: questions of the concept of man, man’s relation to
death, man’s concept of love
5. Problem of society : questions about society, family and state.
The goal of this approach is to study the writer’s attitude towards these
problems in their works. In some case, some books which are related to the writer’s
biography are needed to find the background of their attitude that has shown on their
works.
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2.4.
Literature and Biography
Understanding poem is not as easy as understanding another literature works
like prose, novel or play. Poems contain words which are ordered carefully to convey
the writer’s thought. John Peck and Martin Coyle (1985:12) stated it is possible to
read a poem over and over again and yet still remain at a lost as to what it means.
This phenomenon happens because poem usually use words that represent the other
meaning than it should be.
In novel, a character can be briefly explained by the author. In the playwright,
we can even see the set of the story because the author explains it specifically, but in
poem, the messages are compressed and concentrated in certain words. We should
know the context, the possible meanings of word and even the used of punctuation
that may also contain any purposes. To analyze a poem, we should determine the
object we want to analyze to define what kind of approach that we used. There are
two kinds of approach based on object that we want to analyze:
“One approach is to concentrate on the poet himself. Underlying this
approach very often is the idea that poetry is primarily an expression of the
poet’s emotions.”
.............................................................................................................................
“The second approach, and the one we shall be following throughout this
section, concentrates on discussing the poem itself.”
(Peck & Coyle, 1985:12)
First approach assumes the poet as the center of the work, every part of the
poem is related to the poet. We study the poem to find out the figure in it; the poet.
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This approach helps the researcher to understand the poetry based on the poet’s
feeling or idea that are shown on their poem.
The second approach is focused on the poem itself. It is concentrated on the
writing process and the content of the poem. This approach considers the poet as ‘the
maker’, not the spot light of the poem. The analysis will discuss about the language
style or pattern that used to portray an idea and will see the efficiency of each diction
that are chosen.
In the first approach, we focus to study the poet, in this case, the biography of
the poet is needed. Wellek and Warren (1948:67-74) explained the relation about
literature and biography. They stated that:
The most obvious cause of a work of art is its creator, the author; and hence
an explanation in terms of the personality and the life of the writer has been
one of the oldest and best established methods of literary study.
It can be said that life experience of the poet has a big influence on his works.
Traumatic experience can even change his whole perspective about anything and
influence his work. InPsychological Trauma and the Adult Survivor: Theory,
Therapy, and Transformation by I. Lisa McCann, Laurie Anne Pearlman (1990:3556), they said there is evidence there some traumatic victims develop aggressive and
antisocial behaviour patterns.
The society also has a big role in someone’s experience of life. Society
influences someone’s perspective about everything. Social background influences the
poet on making their poem. Wellek and Warren (1948:90) stated:
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“A writer inevitably ex- presses his experience and total conception of life ;
but it would be manifestly untrue to say that he expresses the whole of life
— or even the whole life of a given time—completely and exhaustively. It
is a specific evaluative criterion to say that an author should express the life
of his own time fully, that he should be "representative" of his age and
society. Besides, of course, the terms "fully" and "representative" require
much interpretation: in most social criticism they seem to mean that an
author should be aware of specific social situations, e.g., of the plight of the
proletariat, or even that he should share a specific attitude and ideology of
the critic.”
In this case, Puritan is the social background of Emily Dickinson. She was
born and raised in Puritan Era that undeniably influenced her attitude about
everything, including death. Puritan era is the time when the people were turning
back into Christianity.
2.5.
Idea of Death in WesternCulture
A lot of critics have argued intensively concerning Dickinson’s poems on
death and their topics are various, such as exploring her different themes, observing
and speculating on her religious beliefs. George and Barbara Perkins (1999:972)
praised Dickinson that “she remains incomparable because her originality sets her
apart from all others, but her poems shed the unmistakable light of greatness”. Her
poems on death stand remarkable in the American history.
America is the part of western country. It is hard to deny that the society has
biggest influence on Dickinson’s attitude towards death. The way of western people
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in dealing with death may have lot similarity on Dickinson’s attitude. Janaro and
Altshuler (1993:385) categorized the attitudes toward death in order to present
different concepts of death and to find the ways for people to overcome the fear of
death. They collected their data from different sources such as: philosopher’s views,
famous writer’s ideas and religious beliefs. Their outcomes are arranged into six
categories, they are:
2.5.1. Death is Enemy
Janaro and Altshuler (1993:387) first stated that death is the enemy of
all human beings. It is a source of great fear; therefore, nobody wants to
mention it. The concept of death fosters fear in people because it is inevitable
and beyond their control. Death will always remain an unwanted reality.
Furthermore, death is cruel because it takes away people’s opportunity to live
their lives and fulfill their goals. As a result, it is the enemy that is totally
unkind and unfavorable.
2.5.2. Death Has No Self-interest
The second concept of death is that death without self- Interest is
when dying people assign an empty value to their lives, and then they may
view death as an escape from this personal void. In this perspective, the view
is from people’s reaction toward death, it does not focus on the image of
death itself.
2.5.3 Death is Leveler
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Death is considered as a leveler that makes every human being equal.
Every life finally ends and turns into dust and this makes life means nothing.
No matter who they are, death is the final destination for all of them (Janaro
and Altshuler, 1993:388).
2.5.4. Death is Reward or Punishment
Death is as reward or punishment in the afterlife. People believe that
they were born on earth in order to work for God. Their death means that they
have already accomplished their mission. Some further believe that people
will reunite with their relatives and loved ones after they die. Furthermore,
people’s actions during their lifetime will determine their disposition in their
afterlife. Those who do good deeds will be rewarded with heaven, while
those who do bad deeds will be remanded to hell as their punishment. Then, death
can be either reward or punishment for dying people in their afterlife (Janaro
and Altshuler, 1993:392).
2.5.5. Death is Seen as Fatalism
Death is seen as predetermined end or fatalism. In this perspective
death is the inflexible destiny that is unavoidable because it is fixed for
human beings by God at the time of their birth. It is the fate that human
beings have no power to change or to escape from it. This concept is
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especially prominent in the Puritan religion. Human beings cannot determine
their own fate, thus God alone has the power and authority to determine the
death of everyone’s life. People believe that it is because of God’s affection
that He predestines people to their death. He wants to bring his people to
reside with Him, in life everlasting; as a result, death is a reward because it
would bring the dying person to enjoy this new life, in heaven. For this
reason, death is the predetermined end and the fatalistic idea for all human
beings on earth (Janaro and Altshuler, 1993:393).
2.5.6. Death as Self-Punishment
Death is taken as self-punishment. For some people, to punish
themselves with death is a better way than to confront the cruel truths of their
reality. Parsons reveals that people commit suicide because of the four major
reasons: “to show bereavement, to preserve honor, to avoid pain and shame,
and for the benefit of the state.” (Janaro and Altshuler, 1993:396). From these
perspectives, it seems that death is as a doorway to avoid shame and as the
shortcut to escape the painful reality.
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REVIEW ON LITERATURE
2.1.
Literature and Poetry
Literature comes from the word littera (Latin) which is the smallest element
of alphabetical writing (Klarer, 2004:1). This definition is too general in describing
what literature is all about because it is not all written works can be considered as
literature.
The definitions, therefore, usually include additional such as
‘aesthetic’ or ‘artistic’ to distinguish literary works from text of
everyday use such as newspaper, legal documents or even scholarly
writing.
(Klarer, 2004:1)
Based on the brief description above, being a form of written works of
recognized artistic value is known as one of literature characteristic. Wellek and
Warren (1956: 94-95) states that literature represents life. Life is, in large measure, a
social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the
individual have also been objects of the literary imitation. Literature is an expression
of society. It means that in literary works, we can find phenomena of life in the
society because literary work is the reflection of life.
Poetry is one of the literature, it is an art form in which human language is
used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic
content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a
6
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manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose. Poetry and
poem describe a wide variety of spoken and written forms, styles, and patterns and
also a wide variety of subjects. Because of variety, it is not possible to make a single,
comprehensive definition. (Siswanto, 2015)
According to Understanding the Element of literature by Taylor Richard
(1981), some of poets had defined poetry, they are:
S.T. Coleridge
: Poetry is the product of the poet’s imagination and the best
words in the best order
William Wordsworth : Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
Lucelles Ubercombie : Poetry is the expression of imaginative experience, valid,
simply as such and significant as such communicable given
by language which employ every available and appropriate
device.
Allen Morris
: Poet in sense is a maker of experience
Emily Dickinson
: Poetry is the concrete and artistic expression of the human
merit in emotional and rhythmical language.
In analyzing poetry, one has to know the aspects of the poetry so it will be
possible to decide which part of poetry that should be studied to get the analysis goal.
According to Poetry and Prose Appreciation by L.G. Alexander (1977:1-24), the
aspects are sense, feeling, tone and intention.
2.1.1. Sense
Sense is the subject matter of the poem. As the theme on prose, sense
is what is the poem about. In some poems, the title will give the reader some
indications of its general meaning. In other poems, it may quite hard to
7
Universitas Sumatera Utara
understand its meaning because some words in poem may have different
meaning. By reading the poem over and over carefully, we can catch the
meaning.
In this analysis, it seems impossible to get the meaning from the title,
because Emily Dickinson names her poems by number. This can be
understood as the influence of William Shakespeare who are the great poet
and play writer in her era.
2.1.2. Feeling
Feeling is the attitude of the writer toward the subject of the matter.
By reading a certain poem carefully, we could understand what does the poet
think about the subject matter, how does the poet’s feeling towards the
subject matter and what is the poet’s opinion about the subject matter.
2.1.3. Tone
Tone is an attitude of a poet toward a subject or an audience. Tone is
generally conveyed through the choice of words or the viewpoint of a writer
on a particular subject.
Every written piece comprises a central theme or subject matter. The
manner in which a writer approaches this theme and subject is the tone. The
tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic, sarcastic, sad, and cheerful or it
may be any other existing attitudes.
8
Universitas Sumatera Utara
2.1.4. Intention
The poet writes their poem with a special intention. It can be written
to persuade, to describe, to explain or at least to express his feelings. Good
poems is written because they have to be, not because their poet wants them
to be. It means that, a good poem is written with an intention.
2.2.
Textual Analysis
Poem is a written communication between the writer and the reader as poem
is the text with various information that can be interpreted differently according to
each reader’s background. To do this thesis, the writer needs a method to gain the
goal of the study. Textual analysis is a method for communication researches that is
used to describe and interpret characteristics of a recorded visual message. (Frey,
1999:225) In other word, textual analysis can be a method to interpret the message
from Dickinson’s selected poem to find her ideas of death.
The main purpose of textual analysis is to describe the content, structure, and
functions of the message contain in texts. (Frey, 1990:226) In this thesis, the wruter
wants to describe and interpret the characteristics of Dickinson’s poem. The author
wants to see her idea of death through her written poems that engage death as the
main theme.
There are four major approaches in textual analysis according to Frey in
Investigating Communication: An Introduction to Research Methods (1990:229),
9
Universitas Sumatera Utara
they are rhetorical criticism, content analysis, interaction analysis and performance
studies.
2.2.1. Rhetorical Criticism
The terms, rhetoric and criticism, conjure up interesting images.
Rhetoric often carries negative connotations, such as when it is applied to
grand, eloquent, bombastic, or verbose discourse. For scholars, the word
rhetoric is associated with Aristotle’s definition: “the available means of
persuasion” and criticism is the “systematic process of illuminating and
evaluating products of human activity” (Andrews, 1984: 4).
Rhetorical Criticism, therefore, is a systematic method for describing,
analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating the persuasive force of messages
embedded within texts. The process serves five important functions
(Andrews, 1983) including:
a. sheds light on the purposes of a persuasive message
b. can aid in understanding historical, social, and cultural contexts
c. can be used as a form of social criticism to evaluate society
d. can contribute to theory building by showing how theories apply to
persuasive discourse.
e. serves a pedagogical function by teaching people how persuasion works
and what constitutes effective persuasion.
Classical rhetoric examined the characteristics and effect of
persuasive public speaking during the Greek and Roman civilizations.
10
Universitas Sumatera Utara
Contemporary rhetoric has expanded to incorporate a wide range of
philosophical, theoretical, and methodological perspectives that are used to
study the persuasive impact of many different types of texts and messages.
There are four steps to conducting rhetorical criticism, they are:
a. Choosing a text(s) to study
b. Choosing a specific type of rhetorical criticism
c. Analyzing the text(s) according to the method chosen
d. Writing the critical essay
There are several types of rhetorical criticism and they may be used to
answer a wide range of questions including: What is the relationship between
a text and its context?; How does a text construct reality for an audience?;
and What does a text suggest about the rhetoric?
2.2.2. Content Analysis
Content analysis is used to identify, enumerate and analyze
occurrences of specific message and message characteristics embedded in
texts. (Frey, 1990:236) This approach is chosen as the object of the analysis is
poems. Poems contain specific message from the writer. Each poem has a
main theme which is specific, so it can be said that poem has specific
message.
Content analysis is divided into qualitative content and quantitative
content. Qualitative content analysis is when the researchers are more
interested in the meanings associated with messages than with the number of
11
Universitas Sumatera Utara
times of message variable’s occurrence. Quantitative content analysis is the
systematic and step-by-step procedure, that are used to answer research
questions and test hypothesis. Quantitative analysis is considered as an
unobtrusive technique because researchers study texts that already exist rather
than asking people to produce texts.
Vast majority of content analyses employ quantitative procedures,
which are involving selecting texts, determining the units to be
coded,developing content categories, training observers to code units, and
analyzing the data.
a. Selecting texts which choosing appropriate texts to study such as,
newspapers, magazines, books, public service announcements, and Internet
messages, etc.
b. Determining the unit of analysis which finding first identify the
appropriate message unit to code (unitizing).
In analyzing, some units can be matter for the research. Any
information can
be unitizing depends on some point. There are five
units in content analysis, including:
a. Physical units
: the space and time devoted to content
b. Meaning units
: which the remaining four types reside within, involve
symbolic meaning
c. Syntactical units
: consist of discrete units of language, such as
individual words, sentences, and paragraphs
12
Universitas Sumatera Utara
d. Referential units
: also called character units, involve some physical or
temporal unit referred to or alluded to within content
e. Thematic units
: topics contained within messages.
Developing content categories into which units can be classified, it is
done through the use of nominal measurement procedures; this is a very
creative process; there are an infinite number of categories into which units
could potentially be classified. Analyzing the data, coding units into nominal
categories, yields qualitative data in that what is being communicated is
determined by the type of category.
2.2.3. Interaction Analysis
Interaction Analysis view interaction as a complex accomplishment
that requires much knowledge on the part of individual communicators and
the ability to coordinate behavior with others. To describe interaction,
researchers focus on a number of characteristics including:
a. Linguistic features: Studies range from the analysis of particular words and
sentence components (verbs), to nonverbal features (eye contact & touch),
tomore interpretive aspects of language (powerful vs. powerless speech).
b. Types of topics that people talk about.
c. The purposes of specific actions and utterances in an interaction.
Group decision making requires that group members satisfy four
fundamental tasks, called functional requisites: Thorough and accurate
understanding of the choice-making situation; identification of a range of
realistic alternative courses of action; thorough and accurate assessment of
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the positive qualities or consequences associated with alternative choices;
thorough and accurate assessment of the negative qualities or consequences
associated with alternative choices.
Researchers interested in the functional nature of messages exchanged
during interaction focus on the purpose of each communicator’s moves.
Others analyze the structure of interaction by studying the relationship
between conversants’ moves. Relating interaction to other variables is about
most interaction analysts go beyond description to study the ways in which
interaction is related to significant input and output variables.
Conducting interaction analysis involves two general tasks: Obtaining
a sample of interaction, and analyzing that sample. In gathering a sample of
interaction, researchers make choices that affect both the type and the quality
of the data obtained, including the type of interaction’s data required, the
desired location of the interaction, and the appropriate means for gathering
the data.
2.2.4. Performance Studies
Performance study is the process of dialog engagement with one’s
own and others’ aesthetic communication through the means of performance.
Researchers interpret texts as a method of inquiry that enables them and
audiences of performances to interpret the aesthetic richness of those texts.
There are six steps in generating and reporting insights in performance
studies, they are:
a. Selecting: Identifying the communication act or text they wish to examine
b. Playing: Trying on different vocal and bodily behaviors
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c. Testing: Establishes the range of legitimate understandings
d. Choosing: Question of selecting those valid interpretations to isolate one
possible understanding to pursue.
e. Repeating: Sets and refines the researchers chosen interpretation.
f. Presenting: Report of what has been discovered through public
performance; puts on a display for others’ consideration what the
performance researcher has come to
understand.
2.3.
Literature and Idea
Literature and ideas have very diverse way of relationship. Since literature is
one of art, idea has an important role on the writing process. Wellek and Warren
(1948:107) stated that literature is frequently considered as a form of philosophy, as
“ideas” wrapped in form; and it is analyzed to yield “leading ideas”. This approach
encourages the writer to summarize and to abstract works of art in terms of such
generalization.
The opposite approach is to deny any philosophical relevance to literature.
George Boas (1948:113) stated ideas in poetry are usually stale and false, and no one
older than sixteen would find it worth while to read poetry merely for what it says. In
other words, Boas considered literature as a piece of work that can only be enjoyed
as art despite as something that has more information or function than what is written
on the text.
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Rudolf Unger has most clearly defended an approach which, though not
systematically ex-ploited before, had long been used. He rightly argues that
literature is not philosophical knowledge translated into imagery and verse,
but that literature expresses a general attitude toward life, that poets usually
answer, unsystematically, questions which are also themes of philosophy but
that the poetic mode of answering differs in different ages and situations.
(Wellek and Warren, 1948:112)
According to Unger approach, the problems can be classified into 5 problems
:
1. Problems of faith
: relation of freedom and necessity, spirit and nature.
2. Religious problem : the interpretation of Christ, the attitude toward sin
and salvation.
3. Problem of nature : question as the feelings for nature, but also question
of myth and magic.
4. Problem of man
: questions of the concept of man, man’s relation to
death, man’s concept of love
5. Problem of society : questions about society, family and state.
The goal of this approach is to study the writer’s attitude towards these
problems in their works. In some case, some books which are related to the writer’s
biography are needed to find the background of their attitude that has shown on their
works.
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2.4.
Literature and Biography
Understanding poem is not as easy as understanding another literature works
like prose, novel or play. Poems contain words which are ordered carefully to convey
the writer’s thought. John Peck and Martin Coyle (1985:12) stated it is possible to
read a poem over and over again and yet still remain at a lost as to what it means.
This phenomenon happens because poem usually use words that represent the other
meaning than it should be.
In novel, a character can be briefly explained by the author. In the playwright,
we can even see the set of the story because the author explains it specifically, but in
poem, the messages are compressed and concentrated in certain words. We should
know the context, the possible meanings of word and even the used of punctuation
that may also contain any purposes. To analyze a poem, we should determine the
object we want to analyze to define what kind of approach that we used. There are
two kinds of approach based on object that we want to analyze:
“One approach is to concentrate on the poet himself. Underlying this
approach very often is the idea that poetry is primarily an expression of the
poet’s emotions.”
.............................................................................................................................
“The second approach, and the one we shall be following throughout this
section, concentrates on discussing the poem itself.”
(Peck & Coyle, 1985:12)
First approach assumes the poet as the center of the work, every part of the
poem is related to the poet. We study the poem to find out the figure in it; the poet.
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This approach helps the researcher to understand the poetry based on the poet’s
feeling or idea that are shown on their poem.
The second approach is focused on the poem itself. It is concentrated on the
writing process and the content of the poem. This approach considers the poet as ‘the
maker’, not the spot light of the poem. The analysis will discuss about the language
style or pattern that used to portray an idea and will see the efficiency of each diction
that are chosen.
In the first approach, we focus to study the poet, in this case, the biography of
the poet is needed. Wellek and Warren (1948:67-74) explained the relation about
literature and biography. They stated that:
The most obvious cause of a work of art is its creator, the author; and hence
an explanation in terms of the personality and the life of the writer has been
one of the oldest and best established methods of literary study.
It can be said that life experience of the poet has a big influence on his works.
Traumatic experience can even change his whole perspective about anything and
influence his work. InPsychological Trauma and the Adult Survivor: Theory,
Therapy, and Transformation by I. Lisa McCann, Laurie Anne Pearlman (1990:3556), they said there is evidence there some traumatic victims develop aggressive and
antisocial behaviour patterns.
The society also has a big role in someone’s experience of life. Society
influences someone’s perspective about everything. Social background influences the
poet on making their poem. Wellek and Warren (1948:90) stated:
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“A writer inevitably ex- presses his experience and total conception of life ;
but it would be manifestly untrue to say that he expresses the whole of life
— or even the whole life of a given time—completely and exhaustively. It
is a specific evaluative criterion to say that an author should express the life
of his own time fully, that he should be "representative" of his age and
society. Besides, of course, the terms "fully" and "representative" require
much interpretation: in most social criticism they seem to mean that an
author should be aware of specific social situations, e.g., of the plight of the
proletariat, or even that he should share a specific attitude and ideology of
the critic.”
In this case, Puritan is the social background of Emily Dickinson. She was
born and raised in Puritan Era that undeniably influenced her attitude about
everything, including death. Puritan era is the time when the people were turning
back into Christianity.
2.5.
Idea of Death in WesternCulture
A lot of critics have argued intensively concerning Dickinson’s poems on
death and their topics are various, such as exploring her different themes, observing
and speculating on her religious beliefs. George and Barbara Perkins (1999:972)
praised Dickinson that “she remains incomparable because her originality sets her
apart from all others, but her poems shed the unmistakable light of greatness”. Her
poems on death stand remarkable in the American history.
America is the part of western country. It is hard to deny that the society has
biggest influence on Dickinson’s attitude towards death. The way of western people
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in dealing with death may have lot similarity on Dickinson’s attitude. Janaro and
Altshuler (1993:385) categorized the attitudes toward death in order to present
different concepts of death and to find the ways for people to overcome the fear of
death. They collected their data from different sources such as: philosopher’s views,
famous writer’s ideas and religious beliefs. Their outcomes are arranged into six
categories, they are:
2.5.1. Death is Enemy
Janaro and Altshuler (1993:387) first stated that death is the enemy of
all human beings. It is a source of great fear; therefore, nobody wants to
mention it. The concept of death fosters fear in people because it is inevitable
and beyond their control. Death will always remain an unwanted reality.
Furthermore, death is cruel because it takes away people’s opportunity to live
their lives and fulfill their goals. As a result, it is the enemy that is totally
unkind and unfavorable.
2.5.2. Death Has No Self-interest
The second concept of death is that death without self- Interest is
when dying people assign an empty value to their lives, and then they may
view death as an escape from this personal void. In this perspective, the view
is from people’s reaction toward death, it does not focus on the image of
death itself.
2.5.3 Death is Leveler
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Death is considered as a leveler that makes every human being equal.
Every life finally ends and turns into dust and this makes life means nothing.
No matter who they are, death is the final destination for all of them (Janaro
and Altshuler, 1993:388).
2.5.4. Death is Reward or Punishment
Death is as reward or punishment in the afterlife. People believe that
they were born on earth in order to work for God. Their death means that they
have already accomplished their mission. Some further believe that people
will reunite with their relatives and loved ones after they die. Furthermore,
people’s actions during their lifetime will determine their disposition in their
afterlife. Those who do good deeds will be rewarded with heaven, while
those who do bad deeds will be remanded to hell as their punishment. Then, death
can be either reward or punishment for dying people in their afterlife (Janaro
and Altshuler, 1993:392).
2.5.5. Death is Seen as Fatalism
Death is seen as predetermined end or fatalism. In this perspective
death is the inflexible destiny that is unavoidable because it is fixed for
human beings by God at the time of their birth. It is the fate that human
beings have no power to change or to escape from it. This concept is
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especially prominent in the Puritan religion. Human beings cannot determine
their own fate, thus God alone has the power and authority to determine the
death of everyone’s life. People believe that it is because of God’s affection
that He predestines people to their death. He wants to bring his people to
reside with Him, in life everlasting; as a result, death is a reward because it
would bring the dying person to enjoy this new life, in heaven. For this
reason, death is the predetermined end and the fatalistic idea for all human
beings on earth (Janaro and Altshuler, 1993:393).
2.5.6. Death as Self-Punishment
Death is taken as self-punishment. For some people, to punish
themselves with death is a better way than to confront the cruel truths of their
reality. Parsons reveals that people commit suicide because of the four major
reasons: “to show bereavement, to preserve honor, to avoid pain and shame,
and for the benefit of the state.” (Janaro and Altshuler, 1993:396). From these
perspectives, it seems that death is as a doorway to avoid shame and as the
shortcut to escape the painful reality.
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