Title: Figurative Language Used in Naela Ali’s Book “Stories for Rainy Days

Volume II” and Its Contribution to Poetry Teaching

A. INTRODUCTION

1. Background of the Research

English is taught as a foreign language in Indonesia. It has been

taught in elementary school up to university for many years. According

to Kamlansi & Nokas (2015:131) English is considered as a difficult

subject for the Indonesian students, because English is completely

different from Indonesian language. It also takes a lot of practice to

develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in a new

language. In university those are very important because there are also

learned in elementary school until university so the students are required

to have a good ability in mastering English, especially in English

language education department. At the university there are also

additional course taught, including cross cultural understanding, English

for specific purpose, linguistic and literature.

In process, literature is everything that has been written. It includes

play, comic, novel, song lyric, and poetry. Robert & Jacobs (1993, p. 1)

refer “literature” to “composition that tells a story, dramatizes a situation,

expresses emotions, analyzes and advocates ideas.” Literature is not a

matter of “felt-experience”, “personal response” or “imaginative

uniqueness”: such terms, in dissociable for us today from the whole idea

of literary (Eagleton 2003, p. 16). Literature can be regarded as a

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language arts because created by using beautiful language. By studying

literature students not only learn about language skills such as reading,

listening, writing, speaking, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation but also

its aesthetic purpose cover enrichment of language. In understanding

literary work, it is much easier if the students can examine the literature,

for instance novel, poem, etc., by its elements. There are several elements

of literary work, such as prose, drama, and poetry (novel, novella, short

story).

Poetry is universal language used by the poets to express their

ideas in beautiful word (Laurence & Thomas, 1992). Poetry is one type

of literary works besides short stories and novels. Suminto A. Sayuti

(2008: 3) states that poetry is a form of language expression that takes

into account the aspect of the sounds in it, which expresses the

imaginative, emotional, and intellectual experience of the poet drawn

from his individual and social life; expressed by a certain choice of

technique, so it can evoke certain experiences in the reader or audience.

Poetry contains vocabulary features that aids students to improve

listening skills while listening to the speaker who perform poetry reading

on the stage, video or audio. There are some elements included in poetry

such as rhyme, rhythm, stanza, tone, theme, but the most important one is

figurative language.

Figurative language is language that uses words or expressions

with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. Figurative

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language can be used in any form of communication, such as in daily

conversation rarely, articles in newspaper, advertisements, novels,

poems, etc. Figurative language uses some words that go beyond their

ordinary meaning. It requires the readers to use his/ her imagination to

figure out the author's meaning. Giroux & Williston (as cited in

Jaroenroop, 2004, p. 101) classify the most common figurative language

into nine. They are symbol, simile, personification, metaphor, hyperbole,

litotes, metonymy. In this, the students have learnt all about poetry and

the elements included in a poetry, song and novel.

It is usually found in the novel in which the writer uses it to convey

exact meaning in a vivid and artistic manner. In other word, the writer

tries to create an image in the readers mind. According to Scholes Via

Junus, (1984:12) the novel is a story related to the real or fictional event

imagined by the author through his observations of reality. As we all

know that when we read a novel sometimes we will find some terms that

are difficult to understand because there will be so many figurative

expressions and some idioms that we will never find in our daily

conversation. It is important for us to know the meaning of the figurative

language found in a novel so we can imagine what happens in the story,

and we can feel the emotion of the story in the novel.

In poetry courses, most teachers/lecturers only use manuals book in

their learning, so students often feel bored with poetry lessons. The

teacher/lecturer should use a variety of media, for example, are novel.

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 The novel can be used as a media for learning, with interesting

illustrative images as well, and the languages that are easily understood

by students.

Based on the statement above, researcher chooses the figurative

language from Naela Ali’s novel entitled “Stories for Rainy Days Volume

II” because there are so many figurative expressions found in this novel

that are sometimes difficult to understand. The researcher is also interested

in finding out what the meaning of the figurative expressions found in that

novel.

2. Reasons for Choosing the Topic

There are some reasons why the writer chooses “Figurative

Language Used in Naela Ali’s Book Stories for Rainy Days Volume II

and Its Contribution to Poetry Teaching” as the topic, are:

a. A researcher finds there are many figurative language used by Naela

Ali in this novel.

b. This novel provides figurative languages that full of non-literal

meaning.

c. Poetry teaching media does not only use manuals book but it can use

novels as creative teaching media.

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3. Statements of the Problem

Based on the background presented above, researcher plans to do

analyze the figurative language used in Naela Ali’s book Stories for

Rainy Days Volume II and the contribution to poetry teaching. The

formulation of the problem in this research as follows:

a. What are the types of figurative languages found in the novel Stories

for Rainy Days Volume II?

b. What are the non-literal meaning of that figurative languages found in

the novel Stories for Rainy Days Volume II?

c. What are the contribution of novel Stories for Rainy Days Volume II

to poetry teaching?

4. Objectives of the Research

Objectives of the research is a major intention or goal that want to be

reached by the writer in her research. Based on the statement of the

problem above, the objectives of research can be stated as follow:

a. To find out the types of figurative languages found in the novel

“Stories for Rainy Days Volume II”.

b. To find out the non-literal meaning of that figurative languages

found in the novel “Stories for Rainy Days Volume II”.

c. To find out the contribution of this novel “Stories for Rainy Days

Volume II” to poetry teaching.

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5. Significances of the Research

The findings of the research are expected give contribution both

theoretically and practically.

a. Theoretically

The result of this research gives more explanation about figurative

language and the use of figurative language especially in the novel.

b. Practically

The result of this research is hopefully contributive for reader, the

teacher, the students and the future researcher. Practically, the

readers’ purpose is both reading and understanding to the novel.

Then, for teachers can use novels as an interesting media for

teaching poetry. Meanwhile for the students, understanding the

figurative language can help them to catch the meaning and

message. Consequently, they can enlarge their scope of reading and

they can give a certain critical analysis toward novel.

6. Definition of Key Terms

Definition of key term is an explanation of the keyword’s meaning.

Here are the definition of key terms used in this research:

a. Figurative Language

Figurative Language is language that uses words or expressions

with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. Giroux

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 & Williston (as cited in Jaroenroop, 2004, p. 101) classify the most

common figurative language into nine. They are symbol, simile,

personification, metaphor, hyperbole, litotes, metonymy. In this, the

students have learnt all about poetry and the elements included in a

poetry, song and novel.

b. Naela Ali

Naela Ali is a Jakarta based freelance illustrator and graphic

designer who also writes in her spare time. Was born in Jakarta, 23rd

of July, 1992. On 2014, she has graduated from Bina Nusantara

University majored in Visual Communication Design. On 2014, she

also founded à brand named Asobi, turning her works into products.

Occasionally, she runs her own watercolor workshop named Summer

Wasting Class. Stories for Rainy Days Volume II is the sequel to her

first illustrated short story collections.

c. Novel Stories for Rainy Days Volume II

According to Scholes Via Junus, (1984:12) the novel is a story

related to the real or fictional event imagined by the author through

his observations of reality.

Stories for Rainy Days Volume II is a project by Naela Ali where

she writes about things that make her feel warm, completed with her

7
 own illustrations. She hopes this book will make whoever read it

feel warm and nice. This is the second book.

7. Outline of the Research

This research will contain five chapters. They are introduction,

review of related literature, methodology of the research, research finding

and discussion, and conclusion and suggestion.

The first chapter will present Introduction which comprises

background of the study, reasons for choosing the topic, statements of the

problem, objectives of the study, definition of key terms, outline of the

study.

The second chapter will discuss the Review of the Related

Literature. This chapter comprises the explanation of previous study and

review of related theories.

The third chapter will deal with the Methodology of the Research.

The writer presents research design, the object of the study, roles of the

researcher, source of data, the methods of collecting data, and the method

of data analysis.

The fourth chapter discusses research Findings and Discussion; it

presents data description and discussion.

The fifth chapter presents the Conclusion of the research and some

suggestion based on the research findings.

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B. REV IEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In this chapter, researcher wants to review some related literature used

in conducting the research. This chapter presents previous studies and review

of related theories. Previous studies is a study that has been done by another

one before the writer and has similarity with researcher’s study.

1. Previous Studies

There are three previous studies related to figurative languages.

They were done by Risma Hayani (2016), Trisna Dinillah Harya (2016),

Ebi Yeibo (2012).

The first previous study was "Figurative Language on Maya Angelou

Selected Poem" by "Risma Hayani " (Script Journal Volume 1, Issue II,

October 2016). The results of his study showed 40 sentences containing

figurative language in five poems chosen from Maya Angelou. Metaphors,

Personification, Hyperbole, Simile, Synecdoche, antithesis, symbolism,

and Paradox are the types of figurative language that are in the poem. Most

of the poems recounted his experiences in the past that were rooted in the

history of American-African discrimination.

The second previous study was "A Figurative Language Analysis Used in

Coelhos Novels Titled Alchemist" by "Trisna Dinillah Harya" (Premise

Journal Volume 5, Number 2, 2016 October). The results showed that

there were 70 sentences with figurative language. Of all sentences, there is

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Simile, personification, metaphor, and hyperbole. From the results that

have been mentioned that the dominant type of figurative language in this

novel is Simile. The author uses a Simile to explain the circumstances, to

illustrate the character, to express the emotions of the character, and make

his writing more meaningful and entertaining.

The third previous studies was “Figurative Language and Stylistic

Function in J. P. Clark-Bekederemo's Poetry” by “Ebi Yeibo” (Journal of

Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 180-187, January

2012). This research, investigating the value of the figuration as a semantic

marker or reinforcement in poetry. In particular, M.A.K. Halliday's three

language metafunctions are: ideational, interpersonal, and textual. As

analytical models, studies examining the use of figurative devices such as

imagery, metaphor, rhetoric operations, humor, and sound numbers, to

foreground aspects of meaning in the text, in relation to the context of the

situation and textual functions. The result of the study argues that every

style of exploration of the poem J. P Clark-Bekederemos has a figurative

language that plays in familiar textual messages and produces aesthetic

effects.

2. Review of Related Literature

a. Figurative Language

1) Definition of Figurative Language

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 According to Kennedy and Gioia (2005:699) figurative

language is an expression or comparison that rely not on its

literal meaning, but its connotations and suggestion. So,

figurative language is a language that uses words or phrases

with different meanings that are used to embellish the

language but still have the same meaning. Figurative language

is rarely used in everyday conversation. Figurative languages

are often found in literary works, such as articles in

newspapers, advertisements, short stories, novels, poems, Etc.

Figurative language is the use of words that exceed the

meaning we used to use. It requires us to use imagination to be

able to know what the author wants to convey. When an author

uses a literal language, he merely states the fact or meaning of

the writings. Figurative language using excessive or alteration

to create a specific linguistic point.

Figurative language refers to words, and groups of words,

which embellish or change the usual meanings in the figures of

speech component. An allegory can be said to occur every time

a speaker or writer, out of freshness or emphasis, deviates from

the usual denotation of words (Kennedy, 1983, p.479).

Beckson and Ganz (1975, p.80) state that figurative language

is a language that makes us use certain devices called figures

of speech, which are mostly techniques for comparing different

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 objects, to achieve effects beyond the reach of literal language.

As stated by Crystal (1999, p.116), Figure of Speech is the use

of expressive language in which words are used in non-literal

ways to suggest illuminating comparisons and similarities.

2) Types of Figurative Languages

Figurative language is very important for contributions in

poetry to make poetry more interesting and meaningful.

Common types of figures of speech we know as follows:

a. Personification

Kennedy and Gioia (2005: 128) explain that

personification is a figure of speech in which something,

animal, or abstract terms (truth, nature) are made by

humans. So, personification is a figure of speech in which

human attributes are given to an animal, an object, or a

concept. Here are some examples of personifications:

1) My teddy bear gives me a hug

2) The sky was full of dancing stars

3) The radio stopped singing

b. Simile

Kennedy and Gioia (2005: 121) say that a parable is

a comparison of two things, indicated by several ties,

usually like, as, rather than, or verbs like to resemble. So,

simile is a kind of figurative language that shows the

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 comparison of unlike things. Here are some simile

examples:

1) They fight like dogs and cats

2) Her hair is like silk.

3) Your smile is so bright like a diamond in the sky.

c. Metaphor

Kennedy and Gioia (2005: 702) say that a metaphor

is a statement that one thing is something else, which, in a

literal sense, is not. So, Metaphor is a kind of figurative

language in which an implicit comparison is made between

two things usually unlike but doesn't use connective words

such as like or as. The use of metaphors usually helps the

reader to form an understanding of an activity as an

extraordinary activity that does not occur. Here are some

examples of metaphors:

1) He is a tiger when he is angry.

2) The school is a prison for him.

3) Her smile is rainbow in the rain.

d. Synecdoche

According to Kennedy and Gioia, (2005: 708)

synecdoche is the use of an important part of something to

defend the whole or vice versa. So, synecdoche is the whole

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 is replacing by the part. Here are a few examples of

synecdoche:

1) The word "screen" refers to the whole ship

2) The word "wheel" refers to a car or other vehicle.

3) The word "hand" refers to a helper.

e. Hyperbole

Kennedy and Gioia (2005: 129) say that hyperbole

also called excessive exaggeration is used to emphasize a

point. Hyperbole is a figure of speech where the writer or

speaker intentionally and exaggerates to the extreme. This

is used for emphasis or as a way to make the description

more creative and funny. It is important to note that

hyperbole is not meant to be taken literally: the audience

knows it is excessive. Here are some examples of

hyperbole:

1) His voice boomed across the sky.

2) He loves her for thousand years.

3) I will love you until the last drop of blood.

f. Apostrophe

Kennedy and Gioia (2005: 129) explain that

apostrophes are ways of dealing with someone or

something that is not seen or is usually not spoken to. So,

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 an apostrophe is an address for someone or something that

is not listening. For example: ("Twinkle twinkle little star,

how do I wonder what you are").

g. Symbols

Kennedy and Gioia (2005: 259) say that symbols

are real objects or actions that show further meaning other

than themselves. So, in this form the symbol used has a

certain meaning that represents something that is to be

conveyed. For example: "Black cat crosses his path" black

cat is used as a symbol of bad luck.

h. Metonymy

(Kennedy and Gioia, 2005:130) says that a

metonymy is the name of an object that is substituted for

others that are closely related to it. So, metonymy is a style

of language that uses a word to express something else,

because it has a very close affinity. For example, we say "I

want to buy an Avanza" and means he wants to buy a car.

i. Paradox (Irony)

According to Kennedy & Gioia, (2005) Paradox is a

talking figure that conveys two contradictory things but this

figure reveals real facts that make sense even the speaker or

writer uses words that don't make sense. So, irony is one

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 type of figurative language that declares the opposite

meaning. For example:

1) He still feels lonely in a crowded city.

2) In this prison, we are happy.

3) You can save money by spending it.

j. Alliteration

According to Kennedy and Gioia, (2005:693)

Alliteration is the repetition of two or more consonant

sounds in successive words in a line of verse or prose. For

example:

If you think you can do it, you can do it

k. Antithesis

According to Kennedy and Gioia, (2005:126) antithesis is

words, phrases, clauses, or sentence set in deliberate

contrast to one another. For example:

You are coming: I am going

b. Figurative Language in Novel

Figurative language is often found in novels. Novels are a way for

writers to write and create figurative languages. According to Buhler

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in Newmark (1988, p.39) said that this novel was incorporated into the

function of expressive language. The other two are informative and

vocative functions. The novel is an advanced work of the written

narrative, narrative, process, usually in the form of stories. The English

word comes from the Italian word 'novella', which means 'story, a

piece of news'. The novel is longer and more complex than other

works such as drama and poetry. However, novels usually try to bring

a greater sense of realism to the narrative by covering a variety of

characters and experiences.

c. Meaning

1) Definition of Meaning

The word 'meaning' has several definitions as suggested by

semantics, for example, Lyons in the Goddess (2010, p.17)

says that meaning can be distinguished by the technique of

replacing other words in the same context and asking whether

the resulting sentence is equivalent. Based on the above

definition, the semantic meaning depends on the grammatical

structure of the sentence the speaker says. The meaning

conveyed by the speaker must express their ideas, thoughts,

and feelings.

2) Literal Meaning

Maxim Stamenov (1992: 318) states "Literal meaning is a

concept which belongs to the representation of meaning and as

17
 is to be defined in theory of meaning. Meanwhile, Griffith

(2006: 80) meanings of words are literal meaning", then added

"Literal meaning of a sentence is based on just the semantic

information that you have from your knowledge of English"

According to him the literal meaning of a sentence which is

semantic information which is the knowledge we get. So, literal

meaning is the meaning that we easily get from dictionary.

Example:

"I'm hungry"

In the example, this sentence is very clear and easy to

understand namely that the speaker is hungry. From this

example, it is not necessary to search for meaning because it is

commonly used in daily conversation and the literal meaning is

spontaneously used when someone explains the meaning.

3) Non-literal Meaning

The non-literal meaning is clearly different from the literal

meaning, the non-literal meaning according to John Saeed

(1997: 16) is as follows; "Non-literal uses of language are

traditionally called figurative and are described by a host of

rhetorical terms including metaphor, irony, metonymy,

synecdoche, hyperbole and litotes." According to Saeed, non-

literal meaning can also be called figurative language because

non-literal meaning is also used in metaphors, irony, metonymy,

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 synecdoche, hyperbole and litotes. Example:

"I could eat a horse"

From this example the word I has a literal meaning, but horse

certainly has a non-literal meaning. The sentence cannot be

interpreted literally, to understand the context of the sentence is

needed. The example above does not mean that one can eat a

horse, but the example illustrates the situation of someone who

is very hungry and wants to eat a lot and is depicted with a horse

with a large body. So, figurative language is included in non-

literal meaning, because to get the meaning we must understand

the context first.

C. METHODOLOGY OF THE RESEARCH

1. Research Design

The type of research is qualitative research which focuses on the

analysis of textual data. Qualitative research refers to the meaning,

definition, and description of things. This research concern about the

figurative languages that find in the novel ”Stories for Rainy Days volume

II”. The researcher analyzes and finds out the types of figurative languages

and the non-literal meaning of the figurative languages in the novel

”Stories for Rainy Days volume II”. 

2. Object of the Research

The data are taken from the novel “Stories for Rainy Days Volume II”

from Naela Ali which published in 2017. Naela Ali is a writer from

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 Jakarta, novels that she has created can be purchased at Gramedia. The

novel that she made, containing short stories and poems that are very

beautiful and meaningful. In this research, the researcher chooses poetry in

the book "Stories for Rainy Days Volume II". Then, this study focuses on

figurative language use in poetry.

3. Role of the Research

The role of the research is the researcher is the key instrument and

uses qualitative research. This human instrument is functioned to

determine the result of the study. The position of the researcher cannot

change with another instrument because the researcher collects the data

and she does the observation directly. Most activities are done by reading

and analyzing the novel. Role of research, besides, gaining entry to a

research site and the ethical issues that might arise are also elements of the

researcher's.

4. Instrument of the Research

The research instrument is a list of notes. The researcher analyzes the

figurative language of the poem in the novel, then she writes several notes

to collect and process data. In classifying figurative language, researcher

use the theory of Kennedy and Gioia in 2005. Researchers use poetry

contained in the novel "Stories for Rainy Days Volume II" as a primary

data source and several related theories as secondary data sources.

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5. Method of Data Collection

In this case, the researcher uses a study document to collect the data.

The researcher analyzes poetry in the novel "Stories for Rainy Days

Volume II" to collect the data related to this research. In collecting the

data, the researcher ran observation through the following steps:

a) Reading poetry in the novel "Stories for Rainy Days Volume II".

b) Selecting figurative languages.

c) Writing down the data.

d) Arranging data into several parts based on classification.

6. Method of Data Analysis

Methods of data analysis are an important part of research because the

researcher will get the data of the research and the conclusion of the data

analysis. According to Creswell (2014:245), data analysis in qualitative

research will be processed hand-in-hand with other parts of developing

the qualitative study, namely, the data collection and the write-up of

findings. In analyzing the data, the researcher use sentences as the data

analysis than discovering what is important and what is learned. In

analyzing the data, the researcher has some steps that she thought

suitable to use, they are:

a) Reading and choosing poetry in the novel

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 The researcher chooses poetry in the novel "Stories for

Rainy Days Volume II" that will determine which figurative

language of the text in the poetry and read the poetry more than

once. 

b) Analyzing the figurative language in the poetry

The researcher list all the words, phrase and sentence which

have figurative language as the data, then classify it the figurative

language.

c) Finding out the non-literal meaning of figurative language in the

poetry 

The researcher writes down the data based on their

classification and looks for any word, phrase, and sentence which

the writer had not to know yet by using a dictionary to find the

non-literal meaning of the figurative language. 

d) Finding out the contribution of figurative language use in poetry to

poetry teaching 

The researcher identifies all the figurative languages which

are already found and already classified in the poetry and decides

them as the possible contribution of figurative language that used

in poetry to poetry teaching. 

e) Finding out the conclusion 

Finally, the researcher takes the conclusion from this

research to answer the research problems.

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