A Stylistic analysis of Maya Angelou`s Still I Rise and Caged Bird.
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ABSTRACT
Xenia, Tia. 2015. A Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird”. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Maya Angelou is considered as an extraordinary woman, and her works
are considered as the voice of Black people. The style of her poems makes them
popular poetry in which readers can easily understand the messages conveyed in
her poems. Since some of her poems are linked to the ideas of racism, there is a
possibility that they share similar themes. Therefore, this stylistic study was
conducted to relate the linguistic description to the themes of Maya Angelou’s
poems.
In collecting the data, the writer selected two poems. They must contain
enough words and reflect racism. As a result, the poems selected were “Still I
Rise” and “Caged Bird” taken from a book entitled The Complete Collected
Poems of Maya Angelou published by Random House in 1994. Both poems talk
about Black survival and Black oppressions.
There are two research problems in this research: What language features
are employed to develop the themes in “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird”? and
What are the different language features used in each poem to develop the same
themes? To answer the first problem, a stylistic approach was conducted. The
analyses to find the language features were based on four levels of stylistic
analysis. Those are graphology, phonology, lexis, and syntax. Besides, to answer
the second problem, the writer compared the language features found in the first
problem to find out the distinctive features between these two poems. Therefore,
the objectives of this study are to find out the language features used to develop
the themes in the poems and to figure out the different language features used in
each poem to develop the same themes.
The results of this study can be shown in two parts. First, it is clear that
some language features are employed to develop the themes of the poems. The
themes of “Still I Rise” are Black survival, Black oppressions, and Black
confidence, while the themes of “Caged Bird” are Black oppressions, Black
survival, and freedom of White. Those themes are developed by the language
features found in (1) the lexical items like the repeated words, word choices, and
the figurative language, (2) grammar like the clauses, parallel structures, and the
use of tenses, (3) graphology like punctuation, space, and the number of lines, (4)
the sound schemes like the rhyme and the repeated sounds. Second, it is found
that the different language features are employed to develop the same themes.
Those different language features can be found in (1) the lexical items like the
word choices and figure of speech, (2) grammar like the clause process and the
parallel structure, (3) graphology like punctuation and the number of lines in each
stanza, and (4) phonology like the rhyme and the repeated sounds.
Keywords: stylistics, Maya Angelou, poetic language feature
xiii
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ABSTRAK
Xenia, Tia. 2015. A Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird”. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Maya Angelou dianggap sebagai wanita yang luar biasa dan karyanya
dianggap sebagai ungkapan suara dari orang-orang ras Afrika-Amerika. Gaya
bahasanya membuat puisinya digemari karena pembaca dapat dengan mudah
mengerti maksud dari pesan yang diungkapkan dalam puisinya. Karena beberapa
puisinya dihubungkan dengan rasism, ada kemungkinan bahwa mereka
mengungkapkan tema yang sama. Oleh karena itu, penelitian stylistic digunakan
untuk menghubungkan deskripsi linguistik dengan tema dalam puisi-puisi Maya
Angelou.
Dalam mengumpulkan data, penulis memilih dua puisi. Data yang dipilih
harus memuat kata-kata yang cukup dan merefleksikan rasism. Oleh karena itu,
puisi yang dipilih berjudul “Still I Rise” dan “Caged Bird” yang diambil dari
buku berjudul The complete collected poems of Maya Angelou dipublikasikan
oleh Random House pada tahun 1994. Dua puisi tersebut mempunyai tema yang
sama yaitu tentang pertahanan untuk hidup bagi kaum Afrika-Amerika dan
penindasan kaum Afrika-Amerika.
Dalam penelitian ini, ada dua permasalahan yaitu (1) fitur-fitur bahasa apa
saja yang digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema dalam dua puisi Maya Angelou
yang sudah terpilih dan (2) fitur-fitur bahasa apa yang berbeda yang digunakan
untuk mengungkapkan tema yang sama. Sehingga, untuk menjawab permasalahan
yang pertama, penulis menggunakan pendekatan stylistic. Analisis-analisis untuk
menemukan fitur-fitur bahasa yang digunakan berdasarkan pada empat tingkatan
dari analisis stylistic yaitu graphology, phonology, lexis, dan syntax. Selain itu,
untuk menjawab permasalahan yang kedua, penulis akan membandingkan fiturfitur bahasa yang ditemukan di permasalahan yang pertama untuk menemukan
fitur-fitur bahasa yang berbeda antara dua puisi tersebut. Oleh sebab itu, tujuan
dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mencari fitur-fitur bahasa yang digunakan untuk
mengembangkan tema-tema dalam puisi-puisi tersebut dan untuk mencari fiturfitur bahasa yang berbeda yang digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema puisi
yang sama.
Hasil dari penelitian ini dapat ditunjukkan menjadi dua bagian. Pertama,
fitur-fitur bahasa digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema-tema puisi. Tema dari
puisi “Still I Rise” adalah pertahanan untuk hidup bagi orang-orang AfrikaAmerika, penindasan terhadap mereka, dan kepercayaan diri dari kaum AfrikaAmerika, sedangkan tema dari puisi “Caged Bird” adalah penindasan kaum
Afrika-Amerika, pertahanan untuk hidup, dan kebebasan sebagai kaum berkulit
putih. Tema-tema tersebut dikembangkan dengan fitur-fitur bahasa yang dapat
ditemukan di (1) kosa kata seperti pengulangan kata, pemilihan kata, dan bahasa
kiasan, (2) tata bahasa seperti klausa, struktur paralel, dan pengunaan bentuk kata
kerja untuk menunjukan waktu, (3) cara penulisan seperti tanda baca, jarak, dan
jumlah baris, (4) skema suara seperti sajak, dan pengulangan suara. Kedua, fiturx iv
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fitur bahasa yang berbeda untuk mengembangkan tema yang sama juga dapat
ditemukan dalam penelitian ini. Fitur-fitur bahasa yang berbeda itu dapat
ditemukan (1) di penggunaan kosa kata seperti pemilihan kata dan bahasa kiasan,
(2) dalam tata bahasa seperti proses klausa dan struktur paralel, (3) dalam cara
penulisan seperti tanda baca dan jumlah baris pada setiap bait, (4) dalam fonologi
seperti sajak dan pengulangan suara.
Kata kunci: stylistics, Maya Angelou, poetic language feature
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A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF MAYA ANGELOU’S “STILL I RISE” AND
“CAGED BIRD”
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) Degree
in English Language Studies
by
Tia Xenia
Student Number: 136332043
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2015
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A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF MAYA ANGELOU’S “STILL I RISE” AND
“CAGED BIRD”
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) Degree
in English Language Studies
by
Tia Xenia
Student Number: 136332043
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2015
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express gratitude to Jesus Christ as all of His
blessing, helping hands, love, and encouragement in doing this research, so that I
could pass all of the obstacles both when I reported the findings in thesis. Thus, I
thank God for all of the strength given to me when I went through the difficulties.
My completion of this thesis could not have been accomplished without
the attention from my best supervisor, Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. I thank him
for his time, guidance, suggestions, patience, and encouragement to finish this
thesis as soon as possible, and also his support and motivation when I worked on
my thesis. He always opened my mind when I got stuck in doing my thesis and
gave solutions to my problems.
Also, I cannot express enough thanks to Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A. for
spending his time giving feedback and suggestions for my thesis, reminding, and
encouraging me to finish my study as soon as possible. Moreover, I thank him for
the opportunity given to obtain remarkable experiences for my teaching skill.
My deepest gratitude also goes to all lecturers whose life experiences and
knowledge I could gain while I was studying in English Studies, Sanata Dharma
Yogyakarta. I thank Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A., Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A.,
Prof. Dr. Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo, F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D., Dr. F. X. Siswadi,
M. A., Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D., and other lecturers whom I cannot
mention. I thank them for their sharing and their kind and genuine hearts in
teaching me and trusting me as their student to have a better future.
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Even more important, to my caring and loving families, this is my biggest
gratitude. I thank my wonderful parents, Bapak Rudiyatno and Ibu Sih Widayati
for their understanding, patience, love, pray, guidance, and support. I also thank
my beautiful sister, Stephanie Otie Anggarani, and her husband, Allan Edwin
Tolip, for truly playing the roles as a great sister and brother to their little sister.
Due to their big hearts to support and encourage me, I was motivated to finally
finish this study. I also thank my beloved aunt, Mbak Ndari for supporting me to
go on, and praying for my success.
I would like to address gratitude to my beloved, FX. Adityo Nugroho,
S.T., who always motivated me and encouraged me to finish my study as soon as
possible. Also, I thank him for always believing in me that I could do best and
overcome all of the obstacles I faced in the completion of my thesis.
At last, I also thank Maria Adelheid Lelyana and the librarians in
Sanata Dharma University for all of their help during the process of this thesis.
Tia Xenia
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE .......................................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGES ............................................................................................. ii
DEFENCE APPROVAL PAGE ........................................................................... iii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ...................................................... iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PUBLIKASI ...................................................................v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... viii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ xi
LIST OF APPENDICES ...................................................................................... xii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ xiii
ABSTRAK ............................................................................................................ xiv
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
2.
Background of the Study ........................................................................1
Research Problems .................................................................................7
Objectives of the Study ..........................................................................7
Benefits of the Study ..............................................................................8
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1
Theoretical Review ...............................................................................10
2.1.1 Style ..........................................................................................10
2.1.2 Stylistics ....................................................................................11
2.1.3 Foregrounding ...........................................................................15
2.1.3.1 Deviation ....................................................................16
2.1.3.2 Repetition and Parallelism ..........................................18
2.1.4 Levels of Stylistic Analysis ......................................................19
2.1.4.1 Graphological Level ...................................................19
2.1.4.2 Phonological Level .....................................................20
2.1.4.3 Lexical Level ..............................................................22
2.1.4.4 Syntactic Level ...........................................................23
2.1.5 Poem .........................................................................................25
2.1.5.1 Words Used in Poem ..................................................26
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2.2
2.3
2.1.5.2 Characteristics and Functions of Poetry .....................27
2.1.6 The Poetry of Maya Angelou ...................................................28
2.1.6.1 Characteristics of Maya Angelou’s Poetry .................28
2.1.6.2 Reviews on the Themes of the Poems ........................29
2.1.6.2.1 The Poem “Still I Rise” ................................29
2.1.6.2.2 The Poem “Caged Bird” ...............................31
Related Studies .....................................................................................32
Theoretical Framework .........................................................................34
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
3.2
3.3
The Data of Study and the Source of Data ...........................................36
The Approach ........................................................................................37
The Method of Study ............................................................................37
3.3.1 Data Collection .........................................................................37
3.3.2 Data Analysis ............................................................................38
4. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1
4.2
Stylistic Analysis of “Still I Rise” .........................................................42
4.1.1 Lexical Level ............................................................................42
4.1.1.1 Lexical Repetition .......................................................42
4.1.1.2 Lexical Groupings ......................................................45
4.1.1.3 Figures of Speech .......................................................49
4.1.1.3.1 Similes ..........................................................49
4.1.1.3.2 Metaphors .....................................................51
4.1.2 Syntactic Level .........................................................................55
4.1.2.1 Transitivity Processes .................................................55
4.1.2.1.1 Material Process ...........................................56
4.1.2.1.2 Mental Process .............................................58
4.1.2.1.3 Relational Process ........................................59
4.1.2.1.4 Behavioural Process .....................................60
4.1.2.2 Grammatical Parallelism ............................................61
4.1.2.3 Tense ...........................................................................67
4.1.3 Graphological Level .................................................................67
4.1.4 Phonological Level ...................................................................69
4.1.4.1 Rhyme .........................................................................70
4.1.4.2 Sound Devices ............................................................74
Stylistic Analysis of “Caged Bird” .......................................................76
4.2.1 Lexical Level ............................................................................76
4.2.1.1 Lexical Repetition .......................................................77
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4.3
4.2.1.2 Lexical Groupings ......................................................78
4.2.1.3 Figures of Speech .......................................................81
4.2.2 Syntactic Level .........................................................................89
4.2.2.1 Transitivity Processes .................................................89
4.2.2.1.1 Material Process ...........................................90
4.2.2.1.2 Behavioral Process .......................................92
4.2.2.1.3 Mental Process .............................................93
4.2.2.1.4 Verbal Process ..............................................94
4.2.2.2 Grammatical Parallelism ............................................95
4.2.2.3 Tense ...........................................................................99
4.2.2.4 Pronoun .....................................................................100
4.2.3 Graphological Level ...............................................................100
4.2.4 Phonological Level .................................................................103
Different Language Features to Develop
the Same Themes ................................................................................105
4.3.1 The Different Language Features in Capturing
Black Survival .........................................................................106
4.3.1.1 Lexical Level ............................................................107
4.3.1.2 Syntactic Level .........................................................109
4.3.1.3 Graphological Level .................................................111
4.3.1.4 Phonological Level ...................................................112
4.3.2 The Different Language Features in Capturing
Black Oppressions ..................................................................113
4.3.2.1 Lexical Level ............................................................115
4.3.2.2 Syntactic Level .........................................................116
4.3.2.3 Graphological Level .................................................118
4.3.2.4 Phonological Level ...................................................119
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 The Language Features Employed in “Still I Rise”
and “Caged Bird” ................................................................................122
5.2 The Different Language Features in “Still I Rise”and “Caged Bird”
to Develop the Same Notions of Black Survival and Oppressions .....124
5.3 Other Findings .....................................................................................125
5.4 Recommendations ..............................................................................126
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................128
APPENDICES ....................................................................................................131
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 4.1. Lexical Repetition on the Lexis Found in “Still I Rise” .....................44
Table 4.2. Transitivity Processes Found in “Still I Rise” .....................................55
Table 4.3. Assonance Found in “Still I Rise” .......................................................74
Table 4.4. Lexical Repetition on the Lexis Found in “Caged Bird” ......................77
Table 4.5. Transitivity Processes Found in “Caged Bird” ....................................89
Table 4.6. Assonance Found in “Caged Bird” ....................................................104
Table 4.7. Comparisons of the Language Features between “Still I Rise”
and “Caged Bird” in Capturing Black Survival ..................................106
Table 4.8. Comparisons of the Language Features between “Still I Rise”
and “Caged Bird” in Capturing Black Oppressions ...........................114
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
APPENDIX 1. The Poems of Maya Angelou .....................................................132
Appendix 1.1 The Poem “Still I Rise” .........................................................133
Appendix 1.2 The Poem “Caged Bird” ........................................................134
APPENDIX 2. Transitivity Analysis of the Poems .............................................135
Appendix 2.1 Transitivity Analysis of “Still I Rise” ..................................136
Appendix 2.2 Transitivity Analysis of “Caged Bird” .................................138
x ii
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ABSTRACT
Xenia, Tia. 2015. A Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird”. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Maya Angelou is considered as an extraordinary woman, and her works
are considered as the voice of Black people. The style of her poems makes them
popular poetry in which readers can easily understand the messages conveyed in
her poems. Since some of her poems are linked to the ideas of racism, there is a
possibility that they share similar themes. Therefore, this stylistic study was
conducted to relate the linguistic description to the themes of Maya Angelou’s
poems.
In collecting the data, the writer selected two poems. They must contain
enough words and reflect racism. As a result, the poems selected were “Still I
Rise” and “Caged Bird” taken from a book entitled The Complete Collected
Poems of Maya Angelou published by Random House in 1994. Both poems talk
about Black survival and Black oppressions.
There are two research problems in this research: What language features
are employed to develop the themes in “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird”? and
What are the different language features used in each poem to develop the same
themes? To answer the first problem, a stylistic approach was conducted. The
analyses to find the language features were based on four levels of stylistic
analysis. Those are graphology, phonology, lexis, and syntax. Besides, to answer
the second problem, the writer compared the language features found in the first
problem to find out the distinctive features between these two poems. Therefore,
the objectives of this study are to find out the language features used to develop
the themes in the poems and to figure out the different language features used in
each poem to develop the same themes.
The results of this study can be shown in two parts. First, it is clear that
some language features are employed to develop the themes of the poems. The
themes of “Still I Rise” are Black survival, Black oppressions, and Black
confidence, while the themes of “Caged Bird” are Black oppressions, Black
survival, and freedom of White. Those themes are developed by the language
features found in (1) the lexical items like the repeated words, word choices, and
the figurative language, (2) grammar like the clauses, parallel structures, and the
use of tenses, (3) graphology like punctuation, space, and the number of lines, (4)
the sound schemes like the rhyme and the repeated sounds. Second, it is found
that the different language features are employed to develop the same themes.
Those different language features can be found in (1) the lexical items like the
word choices and figure of speech, (2) grammar like the clause process and the
parallel structure, (3) graphology like punctuation and the number of lines in each
stanza, and (4) phonology like the rhyme and the repeated sounds.
Keywords: stylistics, Maya Angelou, poetic language feature
xiii
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ABSTRAK
Xenia, Tia. 2015. A Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird”. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Maya Angelou dianggap sebagai wanita yang luar biasa dan karyanya
dianggap sebagai ungkapan suara dari orang-orang ras Afrika-Amerika. Gaya
bahasanya membuat puisinya digemari karena pembaca dapat dengan mudah
mengerti maksud dari pesan yang diungkapkan dalam puisinya. Karena beberapa
puisinya dihubungkan dengan rasism, ada kemungkinan bahwa mereka
mengungkapkan tema yang sama. Oleh karena itu, penelitian stylistic digunakan
untuk menghubungkan deskripsi linguistik dengan tema dalam puisi-puisi Maya
Angelou.
Dalam mengumpulkan data, penulis memilih dua puisi. Data yang dipilih
harus memuat kata-kata yang cukup dan merefleksikan rasism. Oleh karena itu,
puisi yang dipilih berjudul “Still I Rise” dan “Caged Bird” yang diambil dari
buku berjudul The complete collected poems of Maya Angelou dipublikasikan
oleh Random House pada tahun 1994. Dua puisi tersebut mempunyai tema yang
sama yaitu tentang pertahanan untuk hidup bagi kaum Afrika-Amerika dan
penindasan kaum Afrika-Amerika.
Dalam penelitian ini, ada dua permasalahan yaitu (1) fitur-fitur bahasa apa
saja yang digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema dalam dua puisi Maya Angelou
yang sudah terpilih dan (2) fitur-fitur bahasa apa yang berbeda yang digunakan
untuk mengungkapkan tema yang sama. Sehingga, untuk menjawab permasalahan
yang pertama, penulis menggunakan pendekatan stylistic. Analisis-analisis untuk
menemukan fitur-fitur bahasa yang digunakan berdasarkan pada empat tingkatan
dari analisis stylistic yaitu graphology, phonology, lexis, dan syntax. Selain itu,
untuk menjawab permasalahan yang kedua, penulis akan membandingkan fiturfitur bahasa yang ditemukan di permasalahan yang pertama untuk menemukan
fitur-fitur bahasa yang berbeda antara dua puisi tersebut. Oleh sebab itu, tujuan
dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mencari fitur-fitur bahasa yang digunakan untuk
mengembangkan tema-tema dalam puisi-puisi tersebut dan untuk mencari fiturfitur bahasa yang berbeda yang digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema puisi
yang sama.
Hasil dari penelitian ini dapat ditunjukkan menjadi dua bagian. Pertama,
fitur-fitur bahasa digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema-tema puisi. Tema dari
puisi “Still I Rise” adalah pertahanan untuk hidup bagi orang-orang AfrikaAmerika, penindasan terhadap mereka, dan kepercayaan diri dari kaum AfrikaAmerika, sedangkan tema dari puisi “Caged Bird” adalah penindasan kaum
Afrika-Amerika, pertahanan untuk hidup, dan kebebasan sebagai kaum berkulit
putih. Tema-tema tersebut dikembangkan dengan fitur-fitur bahasa yang dapat
ditemukan di (1) kosa kata seperti pengulangan kata, pemilihan kata, dan bahasa
kiasan, (2) tata bahasa seperti klausa, struktur paralel, dan pengunaan bentuk kata
kerja untuk menunjukan waktu, (3) cara penulisan seperti tanda baca, jarak, dan
jumlah baris, (4) skema suara seperti sajak, dan pengulangan suara. Kedua, fiturx iv
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fitur bahasa yang berbeda untuk mengembangkan tema yang sama juga dapat
ditemukan dalam penelitian ini. Fitur-fitur bahasa yang berbeda itu dapat
ditemukan (1) di penggunaan kosa kata seperti pemilihan kata dan bahasa kiasan,
(2) dalam tata bahasa seperti proses klausa dan struktur paralel, (3) dalam cara
penulisan seperti tanda baca dan jumlah baris pada setiap bait, (4) dalam fonologi
seperti sajak dan pengulangan suara.
Kata kunci: stylistics, Maya Angelou, poetic language feature
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1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter expounds the background of the study, the research problems,
the objectives of the study, and the benefits of the study.
1.1
Background of the Study
Maya Angelou has all through been esteemed as a famed African
American woman. Her real name was Marguerite Ann Johnson. She was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4th, 1928. In her life time, she experienced numerous
kinds of occupations. She used to be a dancer, an actress, a film producer, a TV
producer, a playwright, and a film director. She was also recognized as a poet, a
civil rights activist, an author, and a professor. Her personal experiences led her to
be well-regarded as a voice for Black people and women and her works have been
considered as a defense of Black culture and feminism.
She was not an ordinary woman. There were countless accomplishment
and recognitions she had already gained. She had received a huge number of
awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Besides, she was absolutely an
uncommon woman because she was the first Black woman in history who
obtained an unusual request from Bill Clinton, the President of the United States,
in 1992 to write and read a poem at his presidential inauguration after Robert
Frost at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. It turned out that
Clinton was a fan of her writing, especially her poetry. Stewart (2009: 6) in his
book, People in the News, states that “Clinton was an admirer of her writingespecially her poetry. He wanted to know if she would be willing to write a poem
for his inauguration in January and read it at the ceremony.”
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Apropos her poems, Maya Angelou had written loads of them found at
least in six volumes of poetry and her works arouse a mind to analyze as they are
stylistically interesting in two reasons. First, according to Stolz (2015), Maya
Angelou writes in a magical style and addresses something courageously. It is not
unusual that Angelou uses some particular pronouns to address some particular
references like the second-person pronouns you and his.
In line with Stolz, the website, Poetry Foundation, writes that the use of
first-person singular takes role in her style in which she followed a tradition
established by Frederick Douglass. She speaks in the first-person singular, but she
points the first-person plural. For instance, she uses pronoun I to refer to pronoun,
we. It indicates that she addresses her writing not for individual reference but for
larger social group.
Second, Maya Angelou’s poems are stylistically interesting due to her
wordings. They are simple and make the readers easily understand her poems.
Bloom (2001: 9) supports that “Her poetry has a large public, but very little
critical esteem. It is, in every sense, ‘popular poetry’, and makes no formal or
cognitive demands upon the reader.”
Moreover, her wordings are well-known for the influence of her personal
experiences like personal misfortune, Black experience, and female experience.
Stolz (2015) states that Angelou employs events in her life as the basis of her
writing in which she makes her feelings and beliefs put into words. Those made
her literary works mostly speak about racism and feminism.
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Since this study would take her poems as the objects of the study, it is
necessary to limit the scope of this study since Angelou wrote countless poems.
The present researcher selected the poems that contain enough words and voice
racism. As a result, the poems selected are “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird”.
Those poems were selected based on a number of considerations. First,
they share similar themes. They share similar ideas of Black survival and Black
oppressions. Second, the poem, “Still I Rise”, is considered as an important
literary accomplishment. It could be found in Harold Bloom’s editor’s note in
which his volume was designed to present information on Maya Angelou’s bestknown poems. Third, the poem, “Caged Bird”, is often correlated to the famous
autobiographical book entitled I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970). That
autobiographical book receives huge attention for some critics as well as readers.
Fourth, these poems are commonly used in the educational field as the materials
for teaching and learning process.
It is stated earlier that the themes of these poems are corresponding. It is
stated in the website, tripod.com, that the comparison between “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird” gives an idea about similar messages. They speak about racism in
which oppression and basic survival are well expressed in the poems. The racism
concept depicted in those poems concerns with the racial differences between
Whites and Blacks. Through history, Whites were superior, while Blacks were
inferior and positioned as slaves. However, they made equal racial differences and
survived from the painful situations.
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In my first impression, the title of the poem, “Still I Rise”, voices survival
which shows effort and fight over Black oppressions. It is shown in the word,
rise, which appears to be the idea of survival. It supposes that Black people must
always stand up for their lives. Also, the pronouns I and you help to suppose
whom the poet clearly addresses and the phrase a black ocean gives the idea of
Black people. As that reason, the pronoun I is seemingly intended to address
Black people, while you is for referring White people. It is clear that this poem
expresses racism. It shows oppressions as well as mistreatment, and also the faith
and spirit as Blacks to survive.
In the meantime, the poem, “Caged Bird”, makes clear from the title in
which there is a bird that is restricted by a cage. The nature of birds is living with
no limit in the open sky. However, the poet expresses this bird in a different way.
It is visualized by showing limited movement since it lives in a cage. By this, the
contrast lives between caged bird and free bird can be seen. Also, the word
freedom helps to give interpretation of racism since in the past freedom was not
given to Black people. It was their fate to be restrained and restricted. Hence, this
poem depicts that the lives of Whites and Blacks differ.
Since this study was conducted to analyze those poems, linguistics
becomes the core in analyzing text as it describes and explains the elements of
language used by language users. In the literary text, the analysis will be about
understanding and interpreting. However, in linguistic analysis, it also concerns
with describing or explaining the process where some particular meanings of the
text are revealed. Halliday & Hasan (1985: 328) state that “the role of linguistics
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is to say how and why the text means, what it does to the readers and how and
why they evaluate it in a certain way.”
Therefore, based on the above considerations, this study would conduct
stylistic study to relate linguistic description to the themes of the poems, “Still I
Rise” and “Caged Bird”. This study would provide the explicit basis of the
interpretation as the extended parts of the themes. More importantly, this study
was carried out to pay tribute to Maya Angelou who passed away on May 28th,
2 0 1 4.
Stylistics gives an idea about how the writers make use the language
features to convey the messages to the readers. It analyzes the distinctive
expression in language and the description of its purpose and effect (Verdonk,
2002, p. 4). Wales (1991) states that stylistics is conducted not only to describe
the language features of texts but also to give the readers an idea about the
interpretation of texts, or to link literary effects to linguistics causes in which they
are relevant.
Since some argues state that literary criticism and stylistics are overlap,
Verdonk (2002: 56) distinguishes them in order to see the interdependency of
those fields. Literary analysis is significance of what is represented in verbal arts.
It finds out the meaningfulness of the macro features of literary analysis such as
characters, themes, and plot, while stylistics is to provide supporting evidences on
how the significance is related to specific language features. It means that
stylistics provides the micro features such as grammar, sound scheme, the way
people write, and vocabulary used in some particular texts as the supporting
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evidences. To conclude, macro and micro features are highly associated. Verdonk
states that “…to provide supporting evidence for interpretation by indicating how
the macro features that the literary critic is concerned with might be reflected in
the micro features of linguistic texture.”
In stylistics, the objects of the study can be from some various texts, and
the reason why poems would be the objects of this study is due to the length of
poems. Since the length of poems is short, there is a possibility to examine the
whole texts. Verdonk (2002: 56) states that analyzing poem in stylistics can range
the entire text because the length of poem is short. Poem itself represents and
expresses an individual as well as a public voice, concepts, and views. The choice
of words and style used in a particular context are attractive and beautiful.
Therefore, it is clear that the stylistic analysis of Maya Angelou’s poems,
“Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird”, would be conducted in this study. The present
researcher was curious to know what language features are employed in
developing the themes and what different language features are used in each poem
to share similar ideas. Therefore, this study is aimed to find out the language
features employed in her poems to develop the themes emerged in the poems and
to find out different language features employed in each poem to develop the
same themes.
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1.2
Research Problems
In line with the background of the study, the problems of this study are
formulated as follows:
1. What language features are employed to develop the themes in “Still I Rise”
and “Caged Bird”?
2. What are the different language features used in each poem to develop the
same themes?
1.3
Objectives of the Study
In accordance with the above problems, this study is aimed at two
objectives. The first objective is to describe what language features are employed
to develop the themes. In critics’ reviews, the poems generally talk about the ideas
of Black oppressions and survival. However, there is a possibility of finding other
themes. Therefore, it should be emphasized that this analysis aims to find out
language features used in the poet’s style to develop the themes of oppression and
survival as well as other themes.
Even though the two poems have similar themes, those must keep
something in distinct due to practicability. The analysis of the second problem
will find out the different language features used in each poem. Hence, the second
objective of this study is to describe the different language features used in each
poem in order to develop the same themes which are about Black oppression and
survival. As a result, it proves the flexibility of language in expressing various
ideas and meanings.
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1.4
Benefits of the Study
This study will give benefits based on its two research problems. Firstly,
the results of the first problem theoretically can help to describe the language
features employed in these two poems to develop the themes. By this, it will
provide readers stylistic analysis in which each linguistic feature like grammar,
vocabulary, sound scheme, and graphology can be exposed. It helps to acquire
explicit basis for the interpretations, so this study can give contributions for
readers’ reference. More importantly, by this study, the present researcher
indirectly asks readers to become more consciously aware of the process of
interpretation.
Practically, this study can be of great benefits to both teachers and students
as these two poems are commonly used in the educational field in which teachers
use them in teaching and learning process in classroom. It helps them enrich their
interpretations of these poems as well as the process of analyzing seen from the
linguistic description. Therefore, they can obtain not only the messages expressed
in the poems but also the elements to support the interpretations.
Secondly, the results of the second problem are capable of describing the
different language features used in each poem in developing the same themes.
Practically, readers or students who are interested in literary work can take
advantage of this study as they can discern the differences of the language features
between “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird” as well as be aware of the various
language features that can be employed to convey some particular messages.
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Moreover, this study will also give benefits to future researchers. Since
this study only focuses on two poems related to racism, future researchers can
gain enlightment to conduct a stylistic study of other poems of Maya Angelou that
also talk about racism to see the various language features employed by her in
developing the same themes. Besides, since this study only concerns about the
text and discursive practice, future researchers can also expand the focus by
relating the language in these poems to the social practice. Therefore, a critical
stylistic study can be conducted for further research.
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2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter will present the theories which underlie the study. It consists
of three parts. The first part is the theoretical review. The second part presents the
related studies regarding stylistics and the poems, whereas the third part is the
theoretical framework in which the theories are linked to the current study.
2.1
Theoretical Review
In this part, the theories associated with style, stylistics, foregrounding,
levels of stylistic analysis, poem, and the poetry of Maya Angelou will be
presented in the following discussions.
2.1.1 Style
Style may convey various interpretations. First, style can portray someone
by a fashionable, elegance, or high class manner. It can determine his/her social
status by looking at his/her style in which social status and someone’s style are
often correlated. Second, style can also depict a good shape like a style of a dress,
architecture of a particular building, and a style of a haircut. As a result, people
can judge whether those things are good or bad. More importantly, style can be
expressed in language as well. Style in language signifies the distinctive linguistic
expression in language (Verdonk, 2002, p. 3).
In relation to style in language, style can be defined as “a set of conscious
or unconscious choices of expression, inspired or induced by a particular context”
(Verdonk, 2002, p.121). As in line with Verdonk, Leech & Short (2007: 9) define
style in its general interpretation by means language is applied in a particular
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context, by a certain person, and for a specified purpose. In other words, style is
the choices of expression either consciously or unconsciously which differs
according to some particular context.
Context has relations to “the surrounding features of language inside a
text, while non-linguistic context includes any number of text-external features
influencing the language and style of a text (Verdonk, 2002, p.117).” As in line
with Verdonk, there are two types of context, (1) linguistic context which refers to
the language features in a text (sounds, typography, vocabulary, grammar) and (2)
non-linguistic context which refers to the features outside the text which influence
language and the style of a text.
Context becomes very important in analyzing language, especially in
stylistics. By looking at the context, it can help to understand the sentence
completely. Doing linguistic analysis without looking at the context will be not
enough to grab the meaning. According to Verdonk (2002), a particular style built
by conscious or unconscious choices of expression can be influenced, encouraged,
inspired, as well as persuaded by particular contextual circumstances (p.7).
Therefore, to study a style in language, it is necessary to combine linguistic,
contextual, and general world knowledge as the basis of inferring an interpretation
(Short, 1996, p. 8).
2.1.2 Stylistics
Stylistics can be defined as the study of style in language. Verdonk (2002:
4) defines stylistics as “the analysis of distinctive expression in language and the
description of its purpose and effect.” As in line with Verdonk, Leech & Short
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(2007) state that stylistics describes what use is made of language in order to
explain something (p.11). Simpson (2004: 2) supports it by defining stylistics as
“a method of textual interpretation in which primacy of place is assigned to
language.” Language becomes important as it contains various forms, patterns,
and levels that represent linguistic structures to lead to the entrance of
interpretation.
In other words, it can be said that stylistics relates the linguistic descriptors
to interpretation. Katie Wales in A dictionary of Stylistic writes that “The goal of
most stylistics in not simply to describe the formal features of texts for their own
sake but in order to show their interpretation of the text, or in order to relate
literary effects to linguistics causes where there are felt to be relevant.” Short
(1996: 5) states linguistic description and meaning (interpretation) become the
concern of stylistics and those must be interrelated explicitly. He adds that
“analyzing linguistic structure at various levels (grammar, sounds, words, textual
structure) helps to understand the sentences of the text and the relations between
them” (p. 5).
Moreover, relating linguistic description to interpretation turns to be the
essential part of a good criticism. Short (1996: 5) supports that “it constitutes a
large part of what is involved, say, in supporting a particular view of a poem of
arguing for one interpretation as against another”. To interpret utterances, a shared
knowledge of English structure and the common procedures of inference are
employed.
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Apart from the essential part of good criticism, conducting stylistics also
shares other purposes. First, it is used to explore language and creativity in
language use, and to enrich the ways of thinking to help in understanding text
(Simpson, 2004, p.3). Second, it is employed “to uncover authorial styles, text
styles and other kinds of styles and to recognize that style and meaning are
inextricably linked with one another” (Short, 1996, p.27).
The scopes of stylistics itself reach some types of texts or genres, for
example advertisements, newspaper articles, slogans, graffiti, and menus. Since
the scopes of stylistics are so wide, mostly stylistics deals with literary texts, what
is so called literary stylistics. Leech & Short (2007) write that literary stylistics
endeavors to explain the relation between language and artistic function (p.11). As
cited in Costa, Leech (1985) defines stylistics as the study of the language usage
in literature in which the general language characteristics particularly in the
English language are investigated as a means of literary expression. Katie Wales
explains in her Dictionary of Stylistics that the term is also “sometimes called
confusingly literary stylistics or linguistic stylistic; literary because it tends to
focus on literary texts; linguistic because its models are drawn from
linguistics...because of its eclecticism” (as cited in Costa, p.215).
Since stylistics mostly deals with literary works, it needs to be noticed that
analyzing poem and prose has slight dissimilarity. According to Verdonk (2002:
56), the detailed analysis in stylistics of prose will be time-consuming in which
the analysis is applied to the whole text. The better analysis of stylistic for prose is
by selecting particular perspective that will be revealed in the particular extracts.
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Unlike analyzing prose, analyzing poem in stylistics can be different. It can range
the entire text because the length of poem is short.
In connection with analyzing literary works, literary criticism is often said
that it is same as stylistics in literature, whereas both of them are highly different
in some points. First, literary criticism and
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ABSTRACT
Xenia, Tia. 2015. A Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird”. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Maya Angelou is considered as an extraordinary woman, and her works
are considered as the voice of Black people. The style of her poems makes them
popular poetry in which readers can easily understand the messages conveyed in
her poems. Since some of her poems are linked to the ideas of racism, there is a
possibility that they share similar themes. Therefore, this stylistic study was
conducted to relate the linguistic description to the themes of Maya Angelou’s
poems.
In collecting the data, the writer selected two poems. They must contain
enough words and reflect racism. As a result, the poems selected were “Still I
Rise” and “Caged Bird” taken from a book entitled The Complete Collected
Poems of Maya Angelou published by Random House in 1994. Both poems talk
about Black survival and Black oppressions.
There are two research problems in this research: What language features
are employed to develop the themes in “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird”? and
What are the different language features used in each poem to develop the same
themes? To answer the first problem, a stylistic approach was conducted. The
analyses to find the language features were based on four levels of stylistic
analysis. Those are graphology, phonology, lexis, and syntax. Besides, to answer
the second problem, the writer compared the language features found in the first
problem to find out the distinctive features between these two poems. Therefore,
the objectives of this study are to find out the language features used to develop
the themes in the poems and to figure out the different language features used in
each poem to develop the same themes.
The results of this study can be shown in two parts. First, it is clear that
some language features are employed to develop the themes of the poems. The
themes of “Still I Rise” are Black survival, Black oppressions, and Black
confidence, while the themes of “Caged Bird” are Black oppressions, Black
survival, and freedom of White. Those themes are developed by the language
features found in (1) the lexical items like the repeated words, word choices, and
the figurative language, (2) grammar like the clauses, parallel structures, and the
use of tenses, (3) graphology like punctuation, space, and the number of lines, (4)
the sound schemes like the rhyme and the repeated sounds. Second, it is found
that the different language features are employed to develop the same themes.
Those different language features can be found in (1) the lexical items like the
word choices and figure of speech, (2) grammar like the clause process and the
parallel structure, (3) graphology like punctuation and the number of lines in each
stanza, and (4) phonology like the rhyme and the repeated sounds.
Keywords: stylistics, Maya Angelou, poetic language feature
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ABSTRAK
Xenia, Tia. 2015. A Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird”. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Maya Angelou dianggap sebagai wanita yang luar biasa dan karyanya
dianggap sebagai ungkapan suara dari orang-orang ras Afrika-Amerika. Gaya
bahasanya membuat puisinya digemari karena pembaca dapat dengan mudah
mengerti maksud dari pesan yang diungkapkan dalam puisinya. Karena beberapa
puisinya dihubungkan dengan rasism, ada kemungkinan bahwa mereka
mengungkapkan tema yang sama. Oleh karena itu, penelitian stylistic digunakan
untuk menghubungkan deskripsi linguistik dengan tema dalam puisi-puisi Maya
Angelou.
Dalam mengumpulkan data, penulis memilih dua puisi. Data yang dipilih
harus memuat kata-kata yang cukup dan merefleksikan rasism. Oleh karena itu,
puisi yang dipilih berjudul “Still I Rise” dan “Caged Bird” yang diambil dari
buku berjudul The complete collected poems of Maya Angelou dipublikasikan
oleh Random House pada tahun 1994. Dua puisi tersebut mempunyai tema yang
sama yaitu tentang pertahanan untuk hidup bagi kaum Afrika-Amerika dan
penindasan kaum Afrika-Amerika.
Dalam penelitian ini, ada dua permasalahan yaitu (1) fitur-fitur bahasa apa
saja yang digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema dalam dua puisi Maya Angelou
yang sudah terpilih dan (2) fitur-fitur bahasa apa yang berbeda yang digunakan
untuk mengungkapkan tema yang sama. Sehingga, untuk menjawab permasalahan
yang pertama, penulis menggunakan pendekatan stylistic. Analisis-analisis untuk
menemukan fitur-fitur bahasa yang digunakan berdasarkan pada empat tingkatan
dari analisis stylistic yaitu graphology, phonology, lexis, dan syntax. Selain itu,
untuk menjawab permasalahan yang kedua, penulis akan membandingkan fiturfitur bahasa yang ditemukan di permasalahan yang pertama untuk menemukan
fitur-fitur bahasa yang berbeda antara dua puisi tersebut. Oleh sebab itu, tujuan
dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mencari fitur-fitur bahasa yang digunakan untuk
mengembangkan tema-tema dalam puisi-puisi tersebut dan untuk mencari fiturfitur bahasa yang berbeda yang digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema puisi
yang sama.
Hasil dari penelitian ini dapat ditunjukkan menjadi dua bagian. Pertama,
fitur-fitur bahasa digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema-tema puisi. Tema dari
puisi “Still I Rise” adalah pertahanan untuk hidup bagi orang-orang AfrikaAmerika, penindasan terhadap mereka, dan kepercayaan diri dari kaum AfrikaAmerika, sedangkan tema dari puisi “Caged Bird” adalah penindasan kaum
Afrika-Amerika, pertahanan untuk hidup, dan kebebasan sebagai kaum berkulit
putih. Tema-tema tersebut dikembangkan dengan fitur-fitur bahasa yang dapat
ditemukan di (1) kosa kata seperti pengulangan kata, pemilihan kata, dan bahasa
kiasan, (2) tata bahasa seperti klausa, struktur paralel, dan pengunaan bentuk kata
kerja untuk menunjukan waktu, (3) cara penulisan seperti tanda baca, jarak, dan
jumlah baris, (4) skema suara seperti sajak, dan pengulangan suara. Kedua, fiturx iv
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fitur bahasa yang berbeda untuk mengembangkan tema yang sama juga dapat
ditemukan dalam penelitian ini. Fitur-fitur bahasa yang berbeda itu dapat
ditemukan (1) di penggunaan kosa kata seperti pemilihan kata dan bahasa kiasan,
(2) dalam tata bahasa seperti proses klausa dan struktur paralel, (3) dalam cara
penulisan seperti tanda baca dan jumlah baris pada setiap bait, (4) dalam fonologi
seperti sajak dan pengulangan suara.
Kata kunci: stylistics, Maya Angelou, poetic language feature
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A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF MAYA ANGELOU’S “STILL I RISE” AND
“CAGED BIRD”
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) Degree
in English Language Studies
by
Tia Xenia
Student Number: 136332043
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2015
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A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF MAYA ANGELOU’S “STILL I RISE” AND
“CAGED BIRD”
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) Degree
in English Language Studies
by
Tia Xenia
Student Number: 136332043
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2015
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express gratitude to Jesus Christ as all of His
blessing, helping hands, love, and encouragement in doing this research, so that I
could pass all of the obstacles both when I reported the findings in thesis. Thus, I
thank God for all of the strength given to me when I went through the difficulties.
My completion of this thesis could not have been accomplished without
the attention from my best supervisor, Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. I thank him
for his time, guidance, suggestions, patience, and encouragement to finish this
thesis as soon as possible, and also his support and motivation when I worked on
my thesis. He always opened my mind when I got stuck in doing my thesis and
gave solutions to my problems.
Also, I cannot express enough thanks to Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A. for
spending his time giving feedback and suggestions for my thesis, reminding, and
encouraging me to finish my study as soon as possible. Moreover, I thank him for
the opportunity given to obtain remarkable experiences for my teaching skill.
My deepest gratitude also goes to all lecturers whose life experiences and
knowledge I could gain while I was studying in English Studies, Sanata Dharma
Yogyakarta. I thank Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A., Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A.,
Prof. Dr. Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo, F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D., Dr. F. X. Siswadi,
M. A., Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D., and other lecturers whom I cannot
mention. I thank them for their sharing and their kind and genuine hearts in
teaching me and trusting me as their student to have a better future.
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Even more important, to my caring and loving families, this is my biggest
gratitude. I thank my wonderful parents, Bapak Rudiyatno and Ibu Sih Widayati
for their understanding, patience, love, pray, guidance, and support. I also thank
my beautiful sister, Stephanie Otie Anggarani, and her husband, Allan Edwin
Tolip, for truly playing the roles as a great sister and brother to their little sister.
Due to their big hearts to support and encourage me, I was motivated to finally
finish this study. I also thank my beloved aunt, Mbak Ndari for supporting me to
go on, and praying for my success.
I would like to address gratitude to my beloved, FX. Adityo Nugroho,
S.T., who always motivated me and encouraged me to finish my study as soon as
possible. Also, I thank him for always believing in me that I could do best and
overcome all of the obstacles I faced in the completion of my thesis.
At last, I also thank Maria Adelheid Lelyana and the librarians in
Sanata Dharma University for all of their help during the process of this thesis.
Tia Xenia
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE .......................................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGES ............................................................................................. ii
DEFENCE APPROVAL PAGE ........................................................................... iii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ...................................................... iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PUBLIKASI ...................................................................v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... viii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ xi
LIST OF APPENDICES ...................................................................................... xii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ xiii
ABSTRAK ............................................................................................................ xiv
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
2.
Background of the Study ........................................................................1
Research Problems .................................................................................7
Objectives of the Study ..........................................................................7
Benefits of the Study ..............................................................................8
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1
Theoretical Review ...............................................................................10
2.1.1 Style ..........................................................................................10
2.1.2 Stylistics ....................................................................................11
2.1.3 Foregrounding ...........................................................................15
2.1.3.1 Deviation ....................................................................16
2.1.3.2 Repetition and Parallelism ..........................................18
2.1.4 Levels of Stylistic Analysis ......................................................19
2.1.4.1 Graphological Level ...................................................19
2.1.4.2 Phonological Level .....................................................20
2.1.4.3 Lexical Level ..............................................................22
2.1.4.4 Syntactic Level ...........................................................23
2.1.5 Poem .........................................................................................25
2.1.5.1 Words Used in Poem ..................................................26
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2.2
2.3
2.1.5.2 Characteristics and Functions of Poetry .....................27
2.1.6 The Poetry of Maya Angelou ...................................................28
2.1.6.1 Characteristics of Maya Angelou’s Poetry .................28
2.1.6.2 Reviews on the Themes of the Poems ........................29
2.1.6.2.1 The Poem “Still I Rise” ................................29
2.1.6.2.2 The Poem “Caged Bird” ...............................31
Related Studies .....................................................................................32
Theoretical Framework .........................................................................34
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
3.2
3.3
The Data of Study and the Source of Data ...........................................36
The Approach ........................................................................................37
The Method of Study ............................................................................37
3.3.1 Data Collection .........................................................................37
3.3.2 Data Analysis ............................................................................38
4. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1
4.2
Stylistic Analysis of “Still I Rise” .........................................................42
4.1.1 Lexical Level ............................................................................42
4.1.1.1 Lexical Repetition .......................................................42
4.1.1.2 Lexical Groupings ......................................................45
4.1.1.3 Figures of Speech .......................................................49
4.1.1.3.1 Similes ..........................................................49
4.1.1.3.2 Metaphors .....................................................51
4.1.2 Syntactic Level .........................................................................55
4.1.2.1 Transitivity Processes .................................................55
4.1.2.1.1 Material Process ...........................................56
4.1.2.1.2 Mental Process .............................................58
4.1.2.1.3 Relational Process ........................................59
4.1.2.1.4 Behavioural Process .....................................60
4.1.2.2 Grammatical Parallelism ............................................61
4.1.2.3 Tense ...........................................................................67
4.1.3 Graphological Level .................................................................67
4.1.4 Phonological Level ...................................................................69
4.1.4.1 Rhyme .........................................................................70
4.1.4.2 Sound Devices ............................................................74
Stylistic Analysis of “Caged Bird” .......................................................76
4.2.1 Lexical Level ............................................................................76
4.2.1.1 Lexical Repetition .......................................................77
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4.3
4.2.1.2 Lexical Groupings ......................................................78
4.2.1.3 Figures of Speech .......................................................81
4.2.2 Syntactic Level .........................................................................89
4.2.2.1 Transitivity Processes .................................................89
4.2.2.1.1 Material Process ...........................................90
4.2.2.1.2 Behavioral Process .......................................92
4.2.2.1.3 Mental Process .............................................93
4.2.2.1.4 Verbal Process ..............................................94
4.2.2.2 Grammatical Parallelism ............................................95
4.2.2.3 Tense ...........................................................................99
4.2.2.4 Pronoun .....................................................................100
4.2.3 Graphological Level ...............................................................100
4.2.4 Phonological Level .................................................................103
Different Language Features to Develop
the Same Themes ................................................................................105
4.3.1 The Different Language Features in Capturing
Black Survival .........................................................................106
4.3.1.1 Lexical Level ............................................................107
4.3.1.2 Syntactic Level .........................................................109
4.3.1.3 Graphological Level .................................................111
4.3.1.4 Phonological Level ...................................................112
4.3.2 The Different Language Features in Capturing
Black Oppressions ..................................................................113
4.3.2.1 Lexical Level ............................................................115
4.3.2.2 Syntactic Level .........................................................116
4.3.2.3 Graphological Level .................................................118
4.3.2.4 Phonological Level ...................................................119
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 The Language Features Employed in “Still I Rise”
and “Caged Bird” ................................................................................122
5.2 The Different Language Features in “Still I Rise”and “Caged Bird”
to Develop the Same Notions of Black Survival and Oppressions .....124
5.3 Other Findings .....................................................................................125
5.4 Recommendations ..............................................................................126
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................128
APPENDICES ....................................................................................................131
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 4.1. Lexical Repetition on the Lexis Found in “Still I Rise” .....................44
Table 4.2. Transitivity Processes Found in “Still I Rise” .....................................55
Table 4.3. Assonance Found in “Still I Rise” .......................................................74
Table 4.4. Lexical Repetition on the Lexis Found in “Caged Bird” ......................77
Table 4.5. Transitivity Processes Found in “Caged Bird” ....................................89
Table 4.6. Assonance Found in “Caged Bird” ....................................................104
Table 4.7. Comparisons of the Language Features between “Still I Rise”
and “Caged Bird” in Capturing Black Survival ..................................106
Table 4.8. Comparisons of the Language Features between “Still I Rise”
and “Caged Bird” in Capturing Black Oppressions ...........................114
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
APPENDIX 1. The Poems of Maya Angelou .....................................................132
Appendix 1.1 The Poem “Still I Rise” .........................................................133
Appendix 1.2 The Poem “Caged Bird” ........................................................134
APPENDIX 2. Transitivity Analysis of the Poems .............................................135
Appendix 2.1 Transitivity Analysis of “Still I Rise” ..................................136
Appendix 2.2 Transitivity Analysis of “Caged Bird” .................................138
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ABSTRACT
Xenia, Tia. 2015. A Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird”. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Maya Angelou is considered as an extraordinary woman, and her works
are considered as the voice of Black people. The style of her poems makes them
popular poetry in which readers can easily understand the messages conveyed in
her poems. Since some of her poems are linked to the ideas of racism, there is a
possibility that they share similar themes. Therefore, this stylistic study was
conducted to relate the linguistic description to the themes of Maya Angelou’s
poems.
In collecting the data, the writer selected two poems. They must contain
enough words and reflect racism. As a result, the poems selected were “Still I
Rise” and “Caged Bird” taken from a book entitled The Complete Collected
Poems of Maya Angelou published by Random House in 1994. Both poems talk
about Black survival and Black oppressions.
There are two research problems in this research: What language features
are employed to develop the themes in “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird”? and
What are the different language features used in each poem to develop the same
themes? To answer the first problem, a stylistic approach was conducted. The
analyses to find the language features were based on four levels of stylistic
analysis. Those are graphology, phonology, lexis, and syntax. Besides, to answer
the second problem, the writer compared the language features found in the first
problem to find out the distinctive features between these two poems. Therefore,
the objectives of this study are to find out the language features used to develop
the themes in the poems and to figure out the different language features used in
each poem to develop the same themes.
The results of this study can be shown in two parts. First, it is clear that
some language features are employed to develop the themes of the poems. The
themes of “Still I Rise” are Black survival, Black oppressions, and Black
confidence, while the themes of “Caged Bird” are Black oppressions, Black
survival, and freedom of White. Those themes are developed by the language
features found in (1) the lexical items like the repeated words, word choices, and
the figurative language, (2) grammar like the clauses, parallel structures, and the
use of tenses, (3) graphology like punctuation, space, and the number of lines, (4)
the sound schemes like the rhyme and the repeated sounds. Second, it is found
that the different language features are employed to develop the same themes.
Those different language features can be found in (1) the lexical items like the
word choices and figure of speech, (2) grammar like the clause process and the
parallel structure, (3) graphology like punctuation and the number of lines in each
stanza, and (4) phonology like the rhyme and the repeated sounds.
Keywords: stylistics, Maya Angelou, poetic language feature
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ABSTRAK
Xenia, Tia. 2015. A Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird”. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Maya Angelou dianggap sebagai wanita yang luar biasa dan karyanya
dianggap sebagai ungkapan suara dari orang-orang ras Afrika-Amerika. Gaya
bahasanya membuat puisinya digemari karena pembaca dapat dengan mudah
mengerti maksud dari pesan yang diungkapkan dalam puisinya. Karena beberapa
puisinya dihubungkan dengan rasism, ada kemungkinan bahwa mereka
mengungkapkan tema yang sama. Oleh karena itu, penelitian stylistic digunakan
untuk menghubungkan deskripsi linguistik dengan tema dalam puisi-puisi Maya
Angelou.
Dalam mengumpulkan data, penulis memilih dua puisi. Data yang dipilih
harus memuat kata-kata yang cukup dan merefleksikan rasism. Oleh karena itu,
puisi yang dipilih berjudul “Still I Rise” dan “Caged Bird” yang diambil dari
buku berjudul The complete collected poems of Maya Angelou dipublikasikan
oleh Random House pada tahun 1994. Dua puisi tersebut mempunyai tema yang
sama yaitu tentang pertahanan untuk hidup bagi kaum Afrika-Amerika dan
penindasan kaum Afrika-Amerika.
Dalam penelitian ini, ada dua permasalahan yaitu (1) fitur-fitur bahasa apa
saja yang digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema dalam dua puisi Maya Angelou
yang sudah terpilih dan (2) fitur-fitur bahasa apa yang berbeda yang digunakan
untuk mengungkapkan tema yang sama. Sehingga, untuk menjawab permasalahan
yang pertama, penulis menggunakan pendekatan stylistic. Analisis-analisis untuk
menemukan fitur-fitur bahasa yang digunakan berdasarkan pada empat tingkatan
dari analisis stylistic yaitu graphology, phonology, lexis, dan syntax. Selain itu,
untuk menjawab permasalahan yang kedua, penulis akan membandingkan fiturfitur bahasa yang ditemukan di permasalahan yang pertama untuk menemukan
fitur-fitur bahasa yang berbeda antara dua puisi tersebut. Oleh sebab itu, tujuan
dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mencari fitur-fitur bahasa yang digunakan untuk
mengembangkan tema-tema dalam puisi-puisi tersebut dan untuk mencari fiturfitur bahasa yang berbeda yang digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema puisi
yang sama.
Hasil dari penelitian ini dapat ditunjukkan menjadi dua bagian. Pertama,
fitur-fitur bahasa digunakan untuk mengembangkan tema-tema puisi. Tema dari
puisi “Still I Rise” adalah pertahanan untuk hidup bagi orang-orang AfrikaAmerika, penindasan terhadap mereka, dan kepercayaan diri dari kaum AfrikaAmerika, sedangkan tema dari puisi “Caged Bird” adalah penindasan kaum
Afrika-Amerika, pertahanan untuk hidup, dan kebebasan sebagai kaum berkulit
putih. Tema-tema tersebut dikembangkan dengan fitur-fitur bahasa yang dapat
ditemukan di (1) kosa kata seperti pengulangan kata, pemilihan kata, dan bahasa
kiasan, (2) tata bahasa seperti klausa, struktur paralel, dan pengunaan bentuk kata
kerja untuk menunjukan waktu, (3) cara penulisan seperti tanda baca, jarak, dan
jumlah baris, (4) skema suara seperti sajak, dan pengulangan suara. Kedua, fiturx iv
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fitur bahasa yang berbeda untuk mengembangkan tema yang sama juga dapat
ditemukan dalam penelitian ini. Fitur-fitur bahasa yang berbeda itu dapat
ditemukan (1) di penggunaan kosa kata seperti pemilihan kata dan bahasa kiasan,
(2) dalam tata bahasa seperti proses klausa dan struktur paralel, (3) dalam cara
penulisan seperti tanda baca dan jumlah baris pada setiap bait, (4) dalam fonologi
seperti sajak dan pengulangan suara.
Kata kunci: stylistics, Maya Angelou, poetic language feature
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1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter expounds the background of the study, the research problems,
the objectives of the study, and the benefits of the study.
1.1
Background of the Study
Maya Angelou has all through been esteemed as a famed African
American woman. Her real name was Marguerite Ann Johnson. She was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4th, 1928. In her life time, she experienced numerous
kinds of occupations. She used to be a dancer, an actress, a film producer, a TV
producer, a playwright, and a film director. She was also recognized as a poet, a
civil rights activist, an author, and a professor. Her personal experiences led her to
be well-regarded as a voice for Black people and women and her works have been
considered as a defense of Black culture and feminism.
She was not an ordinary woman. There were countless accomplishment
and recognitions she had already gained. She had received a huge number of
awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Besides, she was absolutely an
uncommon woman because she was the first Black woman in history who
obtained an unusual request from Bill Clinton, the President of the United States,
in 1992 to write and read a poem at his presidential inauguration after Robert
Frost at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. It turned out that
Clinton was a fan of her writing, especially her poetry. Stewart (2009: 6) in his
book, People in the News, states that “Clinton was an admirer of her writingespecially her poetry. He wanted to know if she would be willing to write a poem
for his inauguration in January and read it at the ceremony.”
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Apropos her poems, Maya Angelou had written loads of them found at
least in six volumes of poetry and her works arouse a mind to analyze as they are
stylistically interesting in two reasons. First, according to Stolz (2015), Maya
Angelou writes in a magical style and addresses something courageously. It is not
unusual that Angelou uses some particular pronouns to address some particular
references like the second-person pronouns you and his.
In line with Stolz, the website, Poetry Foundation, writes that the use of
first-person singular takes role in her style in which she followed a tradition
established by Frederick Douglass. She speaks in the first-person singular, but she
points the first-person plural. For instance, she uses pronoun I to refer to pronoun,
we. It indicates that she addresses her writing not for individual reference but for
larger social group.
Second, Maya Angelou’s poems are stylistically interesting due to her
wordings. They are simple and make the readers easily understand her poems.
Bloom (2001: 9) supports that “Her poetry has a large public, but very little
critical esteem. It is, in every sense, ‘popular poetry’, and makes no formal or
cognitive demands upon the reader.”
Moreover, her wordings are well-known for the influence of her personal
experiences like personal misfortune, Black experience, and female experience.
Stolz (2015) states that Angelou employs events in her life as the basis of her
writing in which she makes her feelings and beliefs put into words. Those made
her literary works mostly speak about racism and feminism.
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Since this study would take her poems as the objects of the study, it is
necessary to limit the scope of this study since Angelou wrote countless poems.
The present researcher selected the poems that contain enough words and voice
racism. As a result, the poems selected are “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird”.
Those poems were selected based on a number of considerations. First,
they share similar themes. They share similar ideas of Black survival and Black
oppressions. Second, the poem, “Still I Rise”, is considered as an important
literary accomplishment. It could be found in Harold Bloom’s editor’s note in
which his volume was designed to present information on Maya Angelou’s bestknown poems. Third, the poem, “Caged Bird”, is often correlated to the famous
autobiographical book entitled I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970). That
autobiographical book receives huge attention for some critics as well as readers.
Fourth, these poems are commonly used in the educational field as the materials
for teaching and learning process.
It is stated earlier that the themes of these poems are corresponding. It is
stated in the website, tripod.com, that the comparison between “Still I Rise” and
“Caged Bird” gives an idea about similar messages. They speak about racism in
which oppression and basic survival are well expressed in the poems. The racism
concept depicted in those poems concerns with the racial differences between
Whites and Blacks. Through history, Whites were superior, while Blacks were
inferior and positioned as slaves. However, they made equal racial differences and
survived from the painful situations.
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In my first impression, the title of the poem, “Still I Rise”, voices survival
which shows effort and fight over Black oppressions. It is shown in the word,
rise, which appears to be the idea of survival. It supposes that Black people must
always stand up for their lives. Also, the pronouns I and you help to suppose
whom the poet clearly addresses and the phrase a black ocean gives the idea of
Black people. As that reason, the pronoun I is seemingly intended to address
Black people, while you is for referring White people. It is clear that this poem
expresses racism. It shows oppressions as well as mistreatment, and also the faith
and spirit as Blacks to survive.
In the meantime, the poem, “Caged Bird”, makes clear from the title in
which there is a bird that is restricted by a cage. The nature of birds is living with
no limit in the open sky. However, the poet expresses this bird in a different way.
It is visualized by showing limited movement since it lives in a cage. By this, the
contrast lives between caged bird and free bird can be seen. Also, the word
freedom helps to give interpretation of racism since in the past freedom was not
given to Black people. It was their fate to be restrained and restricted. Hence, this
poem depicts that the lives of Whites and Blacks differ.
Since this study was conducted to analyze those poems, linguistics
becomes the core in analyzing text as it describes and explains the elements of
language used by language users. In the literary text, the analysis will be about
understanding and interpreting. However, in linguistic analysis, it also concerns
with describing or explaining the process where some particular meanings of the
text are revealed. Halliday & Hasan (1985: 328) state that “the role of linguistics
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is to say how and why the text means, what it does to the readers and how and
why they evaluate it in a certain way.”
Therefore, based on the above considerations, this study would conduct
stylistic study to relate linguistic description to the themes of the poems, “Still I
Rise” and “Caged Bird”. This study would provide the explicit basis of the
interpretation as the extended parts of the themes. More importantly, this study
was carried out to pay tribute to Maya Angelou who passed away on May 28th,
2 0 1 4.
Stylistics gives an idea about how the writers make use the language
features to convey the messages to the readers. It analyzes the distinctive
expression in language and the description of its purpose and effect (Verdonk,
2002, p. 4). Wales (1991) states that stylistics is conducted not only to describe
the language features of texts but also to give the readers an idea about the
interpretation of texts, or to link literary effects to linguistics causes in which they
are relevant.
Since some argues state that literary criticism and stylistics are overlap,
Verdonk (2002: 56) distinguishes them in order to see the interdependency of
those fields. Literary analysis is significance of what is represented in verbal arts.
It finds out the meaningfulness of the macro features of literary analysis such as
characters, themes, and plot, while stylistics is to provide supporting evidences on
how the significance is related to specific language features. It means that
stylistics provides the micro features such as grammar, sound scheme, the way
people write, and vocabulary used in some particular texts as the supporting
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evidences. To conclude, macro and micro features are highly associated. Verdonk
states that “…to provide supporting evidence for interpretation by indicating how
the macro features that the literary critic is concerned with might be reflected in
the micro features of linguistic texture.”
In stylistics, the objects of the study can be from some various texts, and
the reason why poems would be the objects of this study is due to the length of
poems. Since the length of poems is short, there is a possibility to examine the
whole texts. Verdonk (2002: 56) states that analyzing poem in stylistics can range
the entire text because the length of poem is short. Poem itself represents and
expresses an individual as well as a public voice, concepts, and views. The choice
of words and style used in a particular context are attractive and beautiful.
Therefore, it is clear that the stylistic analysis of Maya Angelou’s poems,
“Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird”, would be conducted in this study. The present
researcher was curious to know what language features are employed in
developing the themes and what different language features are used in each poem
to share similar ideas. Therefore, this study is aimed to find out the language
features employed in her poems to develop the themes emerged in the poems and
to find out different language features employed in each poem to develop the
same themes.
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1.2
Research Problems
In line with the background of the study, the problems of this study are
formulated as follows:
1. What language features are employed to develop the themes in “Still I Rise”
and “Caged Bird”?
2. What are the different language features used in each poem to develop the
same themes?
1.3
Objectives of the Study
In accordance with the above problems, this study is aimed at two
objectives. The first objective is to describe what language features are employed
to develop the themes. In critics’ reviews, the poems generally talk about the ideas
of Black oppressions and survival. However, there is a possibility of finding other
themes. Therefore, it should be emphasized that this analysis aims to find out
language features used in the poet’s style to develop the themes of oppression and
survival as well as other themes.
Even though the two poems have similar themes, those must keep
something in distinct due to practicability. The analysis of the second problem
will find out the different language features used in each poem. Hence, the second
objective of this study is to describe the different language features used in each
poem in order to develop the same themes which are about Black oppression and
survival. As a result, it proves the flexibility of language in expressing various
ideas and meanings.
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1.4
Benefits of the Study
This study will give benefits based on its two research problems. Firstly,
the results of the first problem theoretically can help to describe the language
features employed in these two poems to develop the themes. By this, it will
provide readers stylistic analysis in which each linguistic feature like grammar,
vocabulary, sound scheme, and graphology can be exposed. It helps to acquire
explicit basis for the interpretations, so this study can give contributions for
readers’ reference. More importantly, by this study, the present researcher
indirectly asks readers to become more consciously aware of the process of
interpretation.
Practically, this study can be of great benefits to both teachers and students
as these two poems are commonly used in the educational field in which teachers
use them in teaching and learning process in classroom. It helps them enrich their
interpretations of these poems as well as the process of analyzing seen from the
linguistic description. Therefore, they can obtain not only the messages expressed
in the poems but also the elements to support the interpretations.
Secondly, the results of the second problem are capable of describing the
different language features used in each poem in developing the same themes.
Practically, readers or students who are interested in literary work can take
advantage of this study as they can discern the differences of the language features
between “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird” as well as be aware of the various
language features that can be employed to convey some particular messages.
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Moreover, this study will also give benefits to future researchers. Since
this study only focuses on two poems related to racism, future researchers can
gain enlightment to conduct a stylistic study of other poems of Maya Angelou that
also talk about racism to see the various language features employed by her in
developing the same themes. Besides, since this study only concerns about the
text and discursive practice, future researchers can also expand the focus by
relating the language in these poems to the social practice. Therefore, a critical
stylistic study can be conducted for further research.
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2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter will present the theories which underlie the study. It consists
of three parts. The first part is the theoretical review. The second part presents the
related studies regarding stylistics and the poems, whereas the third part is the
theoretical framework in which the theories are linked to the current study.
2.1
Theoretical Review
In this part, the theories associated with style, stylistics, foregrounding,
levels of stylistic analysis, poem, and the poetry of Maya Angelou will be
presented in the following discussions.
2.1.1 Style
Style may convey various interpretations. First, style can portray someone
by a fashionable, elegance, or high class manner. It can determine his/her social
status by looking at his/her style in which social status and someone’s style are
often correlated. Second, style can also depict a good shape like a style of a dress,
architecture of a particular building, and a style of a haircut. As a result, people
can judge whether those things are good or bad. More importantly, style can be
expressed in language as well. Style in language signifies the distinctive linguistic
expression in language (Verdonk, 2002, p. 3).
In relation to style in language, style can be defined as “a set of conscious
or unconscious choices of expression, inspired or induced by a particular context”
(Verdonk, 2002, p.121). As in line with Verdonk, Leech & Short (2007: 9) define
style in its general interpretation by means language is applied in a particular
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context, by a certain person, and for a specified purpose. In other words, style is
the choices of expression either consciously or unconsciously which differs
according to some particular context.
Context has relations to “the surrounding features of language inside a
text, while non-linguistic context includes any number of text-external features
influencing the language and style of a text (Verdonk, 2002, p.117).” As in line
with Verdonk, there are two types of context, (1) linguistic context which refers to
the language features in a text (sounds, typography, vocabulary, grammar) and (2)
non-linguistic context which refers to the features outside the text which influence
language and the style of a text.
Context becomes very important in analyzing language, especially in
stylistics. By looking at the context, it can help to understand the sentence
completely. Doing linguistic analysis without looking at the context will be not
enough to grab the meaning. According to Verdonk (2002), a particular style built
by conscious or unconscious choices of expression can be influenced, encouraged,
inspired, as well as persuaded by particular contextual circumstances (p.7).
Therefore, to study a style in language, it is necessary to combine linguistic,
contextual, and general world knowledge as the basis of inferring an interpretation
(Short, 1996, p. 8).
2.1.2 Stylistics
Stylistics can be defined as the study of style in language. Verdonk (2002:
4) defines stylistics as “the analysis of distinctive expression in language and the
description of its purpose and effect.” As in line with Verdonk, Leech & Short
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(2007) state that stylistics describes what use is made of language in order to
explain something (p.11). Simpson (2004: 2) supports it by defining stylistics as
“a method of textual interpretation in which primacy of place is assigned to
language.” Language becomes important as it contains various forms, patterns,
and levels that represent linguistic structures to lead to the entrance of
interpretation.
In other words, it can be said that stylistics relates the linguistic descriptors
to interpretation. Katie Wales in A dictionary of Stylistic writes that “The goal of
most stylistics in not simply to describe the formal features of texts for their own
sake but in order to show their interpretation of the text, or in order to relate
literary effects to linguistics causes where there are felt to be relevant.” Short
(1996: 5) states linguistic description and meaning (interpretation) become the
concern of stylistics and those must be interrelated explicitly. He adds that
“analyzing linguistic structure at various levels (grammar, sounds, words, textual
structure) helps to understand the sentences of the text and the relations between
them” (p. 5).
Moreover, relating linguistic description to interpretation turns to be the
essential part of a good criticism. Short (1996: 5) supports that “it constitutes a
large part of what is involved, say, in supporting a particular view of a poem of
arguing for one interpretation as against another”. To interpret utterances, a shared
knowledge of English structure and the common procedures of inference are
employed.
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Apart from the essential part of good criticism, conducting stylistics also
shares other purposes. First, it is used to explore language and creativity in
language use, and to enrich the ways of thinking to help in understanding text
(Simpson, 2004, p.3). Second, it is employed “to uncover authorial styles, text
styles and other kinds of styles and to recognize that style and meaning are
inextricably linked with one another” (Short, 1996, p.27).
The scopes of stylistics itself reach some types of texts or genres, for
example advertisements, newspaper articles, slogans, graffiti, and menus. Since
the scopes of stylistics are so wide, mostly stylistics deals with literary texts, what
is so called literary stylistics. Leech & Short (2007) write that literary stylistics
endeavors to explain the relation between language and artistic function (p.11). As
cited in Costa, Leech (1985) defines stylistics as the study of the language usage
in literature in which the general language characteristics particularly in the
English language are investigated as a means of literary expression. Katie Wales
explains in her Dictionary of Stylistics that the term is also “sometimes called
confusingly literary stylistics or linguistic stylistic; literary because it tends to
focus on literary texts; linguistic because its models are drawn from
linguistics...because of its eclecticism” (as cited in Costa, p.215).
Since stylistics mostly deals with literary works, it needs to be noticed that
analyzing poem and prose has slight dissimilarity. According to Verdonk (2002:
56), the detailed analysis in stylistics of prose will be time-consuming in which
the analysis is applied to the whole text. The better analysis of stylistic for prose is
by selecting particular perspective that will be revealed in the particular extracts.
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Unlike analyzing prose, analyzing poem in stylistics can be different. It can range
the entire text because the length of poem is short.
In connection with analyzing literary works, literary criticism is often said
that it is same as stylistics in literature, whereas both of them are highly different
in some points. First, literary criticism and