CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Novel has certain messages that delivered by the author to the reader.
Robert Stanton says that novel is a long story that present in detail the
development of a character or a large complex social situation or a relationship
involving many characters or a complicated event covering many years or
complex relationship among a few characters (Stanton, 1965:4). A novel is a
works of narrative prose fiction that is usually too long to read at a single sitting,
differs from all other literary forms, and introduces its reader to fictional
characters interacting on one another in some meaningful way (Chase, 1965:583).
Some relevant studies about nonliteral meaning can be found in Ambarita
(2008) in his thesis entitled “An Analysis of Non-Literal Meaning in Robert
Frost’s Selected Poems” concluded that in Robert Frost selected poem used seven
types of literal meaning, there are 31 cases of personification, 3 cases of
metaphor, 2 cases of simile, 2 cases of oxymoron, 2 cases of hyperbole, and 2
cases of idiom. The most dominant types is personification (31 cases). Sinulingga
(2007) in her thesis entitled “The Semantic Analysis of Non-Literal Meaning in
the selected songs Lyrics of Evanescence” concluded that the song writer uses
four kind of non-literal meaning types, there are 63 cases of non-literal meaning
cases of simile, and 1 case of synecdoche. The most dominant type of non-literal
meaning is hyperbole.
Saleh (2008) in his thesis entitled “A Semantic Analysis of Figurative
Expressions in Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea” found that 67 data
from the old man the sea novel by Ernest Hemingway. They are metaphor with 8
cases, simile with 27 cases, personification with 20 cases, hyperbole with 4 cases,
synecdoche with 7 cases, and oxymoron with 1 case.
Husaini (2007) in his thesis entitled “An Analysis of Non-Literal Meaning
Found in Roxette Selected Lyrics” concluded that the songwriter uses non-literal
meaning in the lyrics; they are simile, metaphor, personification, euphemism, and
irony.
In this thesis the writer analyzed the data to find out the types of nonliteral
meaning in novel of Diary of Wimpy Kid. After that it continued by showed the
dominant types in novel of Diary of Wimpy Kid. The literature review divided
into three parts: (I) meaning, (II) non literal meaning and, (III) novel and story
2.1 Meaning
Meaning deals with the idea of a word or sentence. Semantics is the study
of meaning. It is a wide subject within the general study of language. Recanati
(2004: 3)deals with the literal meaning of words and sentences as determined by
the rule of the language, while pragmatics deals with what the users of the
semantics is essential to the study of language. It is important for understanding
language in social contexts, as these are likely to affect meaning, and for
understanding varieties of English and effects of style. The study of semantics
includes the study of how meaning is constructed, interpreted, clarified, obscured,
illustrated, simplified negotiated, contradicted and paraphrased.
Semantics is one of the branches of linguistics that studies meaning, Leech
(1981:5) says, “The aim of semantics is to explain and describe meaning in
natural language”. The meaning of a word can be defined based on the particular
context and discipline; as example, yellow is the colour between orange to bright
red and green; while in the context of traffic light yellow means be careful. In
informal western community it may means easily frightened.
Semantics is characterised as dealing with literal, conventional and
context-independent meaning, pragmatics deals with non-literal, nonconventional
and context-dependent meaning. More generally, the standard notions of
semantics and pragmatics may be described as follows. Semantics deals with
those aspects of meaning that both simple and complex expressions have,
independent of their use. In contrast, pragmatics deals with those aspects of
meaning that are determined by the actual use of language.1 That is, semantics is
concerned with meaning that is independent of any specific context, whereas
pragmatics specically draws on contextual information for the interpretation of
Assuming that the borderline between semantics and pragmatics is xed and
stable, using the dichotomies mentioned above in the characterisation of the
respective systems suggests that there is a correspondence between literal,
conventional and context-independent meaning, on the one hand, and non-literal,
non-conventional and context-dependent meaning on the other. However, one
usually does not and actual characterisations of the kind of meaning picked out by
the terms literal meaning and non-literal meaning other than such that again (more
or less explicitly) relate the two notions back to the semantics/pragmatics
distinctionMeaning can be divided into literal and non-literal meaning. Literal
meaning means exactly what the speaker says. Literal meaning is we mean what
our words mean, as example, you are brilliant, means you are clever. Non-literal
meaning is we mean something different from what our words mean. You are
brilliant literally means “you are clever” but when the speaker says to somebody
that has made a mistake “you are brilliant” means “you are stupid”. The goal of
speaker convey his idea through language is to make the hearer understand what
the speaker want to express or share. Sometimes the hearer gets the wrong
interpretation because the speaker utters a word that has other meaning from the
original meaning. That is called non-literal meaning.
Literal meaning, on the one hand, is assumed to be conventionalized, that
is, it does not take any special interpretation effort to arrive at it. The literal
of complex expressions is the result of a principled combination of the literal
meanings of their parts. Thus, both the literal meaning of simple as well as
complex expressions is characterised by the fact that it is context-independent.
Non-literal meaning, on the other hand, is assumed to be non-conventionalised,
thus, it does take a special interpretation effort to arrive at it. Intuitively, it is
considered as deviating from some more basic (literal) meaning in a fairly special
way. Overall, the term nonliteral meaning is used to differentiate from literal
meaning a kind of meaning that is derived from the latter and, in a sense, has a
secondary status. Therefore, it is traditionally assumed that in terms of the
enfolding of the interpretation process, the literal meaning of an expression is
processed first, whereas any potential nonliteral meanings are processed
afterwards and only if the literal interpretation does not the given context.
Everyday speech is marked by frequent use of literal meaning or
non-literal meaning. In studying the lexicon of English (or any language) it may group
together lexemes which inter-relate, in the sense that we need them to define or
describe each other. For example some lexemes as cat, feline, moggy, puss, kitten,
tom, queen and miaow occupy the same semantic field. It can also see that some
lexemes will occupy many fields: noise will appear in semantic fields for
acoustics, pain or discomfort and electronics. Chaer (2003:23-28) says that there
2.1.1 Lexical, Grammatical, and Contextual Meaning
Lexical meaning is the real meaning of a word. It is ordinary meaning. It is
usually the meaning defined in dictionary (thus sometimes it is also called
dictionary meaning). For example the word chair means a thing made of wood or
other materials on which one can sit. Grammatical meaning is the meaning which
occurs when there is a grammatical process such as affixation, reduplication,
composition, or construction. For example, the proposition on in The book is on
the table and in The book is on semantics has different grammatical meaning. The
meaning of on in the first sentence refers to location, while in the second means
being or about. When the meaning is understood only if the context in which it is
used known it is usually called contextual leaning. The context may be linguistics.
For example, the meaning of the word head in The child’s head is bigger than his
body is different with the word head in the sentence The man is the head of
English Applied Linguistic program.
2.1.2 Refererential and Non-Referential Meaning
A word or lexeme will have referential meaning when it has the reference.
The words such as horse, cat, and chicken are categorized as words which have
referential meaning as they have references in reality. Meanwhile, the words such
as and, or, and because are categorized as words which nonreferential meaning
(1) Denotative and Connotative Meaning
Denotative meaning is the real and original meaning of a lexeme. For
example, the word woman has denotative meaning as an adult female human.
On the other hand, connotative meaning is the additional or extension meaning
added to the denotative meaning which is related to the sense value of a
person a group of people who use the words. For example the woman may
connote a man who has some characteristic similar to those of a woman that is
weak, irrational, emotional, cowardly, sensitive, easy to cry, etc. the word lion
connotes strength and savagery.
(2) Conceptual and Associative Meaning
Conceptual meaning is the meaning of a lexeme in any context or association.
The word home has conceptual meaning that is building in which people live.
Thus, conceptual meaning is actually similar with lexical meaning, denotative
meaning, and referential meaning. In contrast, assosiative meaning is the
meaning of a lexeme or words as there is relationship between the word and
something out of the language. For example in Bahasa, the word melati
associated with something pureor purity.
(3) Word and Technical Term Meaning
At first, a word or lexeme has only lexical, denotative, or conceptual meaning.
context or the situation of the sentences. The meaning of words is also
considered as general, confusing, and ambiguous. The words hand and arm
usually considered that both have similar meaning. On the other hand, the
technical term meaning has exact and clear meaning though it has no context
in the sentences, for example the words hand and arm in the previous sample
have different meaning when both are used in medical terms. The word hand
refers to part of body from the wrist to the fingers, while the word arm refers
to part of body from the wrist to the shoulder.
(4) Idiomatic and Proverb Meaning
An Idiom is a linguistic expression consisting of at least two words. The
meaning of an idiom cannot be derived from the meaning of each individual
word that makes up the idiom.the idim to carry out does not mean to move or
to take something but to perform, to take down does not mean to take a thing
to a lower place but to write. Different from idiomatic meaning, proverbial
meaning is able to derive from the meaning of each individual word since
there is association between its lexical meaning and its meaning as a proverb
such as cat and dog means two people who are difficult to go along with
(5) Figurative Meaning
Figurative meaning is the meaning of words or lexemes which is not the literal
not refer to the lieral meaning is defined as figurative meaning. Some words
with figurative meaning are puteri malam which means the moon and Raja
siang which means the sun.
2.2 Nonliterary Meaning
Figurative language uses figures of speech a way of saying something
other than the literal meaning of the word. It is a word or phrase that departs from
everyday literal language for the sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity, or
freshness. It is used not in the ordinary literal sense but in an imaginative way.
According to Wren and Martin (1995:297), figure of speech is a departure from
the ordinary form of expression, or the ordinary course of ideas in order to
produce a grater effect. Figure of speech convey of meaning that cannot be
expressed exactly in other ways, they convey the great deal in a shorter time that
would otherwise be possible, and they are immediate because they embody the
meaning in imagery instead of expressing it abstractly (Potter, 1967:56-57).
It is often associated with literature and with poetry in particular. However
the fact is, whether the people are conscious of it or not, the people use figure of
speech every day in their writing and conversations. Using original figures of
speech in writing is a way to convey meaning in fresh, unexpected ways. Figures
can help the reader understand and stay interested in what they have to say. For
all metaphor, the people rely on simile when making explicit comparison (light as
a feather) and hyperbole to emphasis a point (I’m starving).
Figurative language is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense.
Appealing to the imagination, figurative language provides new ways of looking
at the world. It always makes use of a comparison between different things.
Figurative language compares two things there are different in enough ways so
that their similarities, when pointed out, are interesting, unique and or surprising.
Gleason and Ratner (1998:257) argue that there two common types of
nonliteral meaning, they are metaphors and indirect requests. Metaphors are
formally defined as statements that are literally false but neverthless convey a
clearly understood meaning. For example “Billboards are warts on the landscape”,
eventhough we know what a person means by really warts. For indirect requests,
thye statements that are literally ask one thing but figuratively ask another. For
example someone ask you,” do you know what time is?” the appropriate answer is
not to say “yes” because we know that the person is indirectly asking you to tell
him what time is.
The general term that will use for the figure of speech that make up
figurative language is metaphor, much as the term imagery, which narrowly rivers
to visual phenomena, is nevertheless used to cover other sense-impressions as
well (Potter, 1967:53). The basic process of metaphor is the comparison of things
The metaphor process is that something is being compared, explicitly or implicitly
to something else. Metaphor is inherent not only in imaginative literature but in all
speech and writing because of its precision, economy, and immediacy as well
(Potter, 1967:56).
Figurative language is expressed by means of metaphor or other figure of
speech. Figurative language is addicted to or abounding in figures of speech
(Webster, 1994:350). Figure of speech is unusual, essentially metaphorical mode
of expression, used for effect in speech and writing and to clarify on deepen
meaning by suggesting similitude‟s which provoke thought (Webster, 1994:351).
Gleason and Ratner (1998:257) states that metaphor are formally defined
as statements that are literally false but nevertheless convey a clearly understood
meaning. To recognize the word is metaphor or not, Searle (1979: ) in Gleason
and Ratner (1998:257) provided three stages to notice the figurative language.
First, the individual determines the literal meaning of the sentence. Second, the
individual determines whether the literal meaning seems appropriate to the
context and circumstance surrounding the utterance. If it is not the case, a third
stage is undertaken in which the individual rejects the literal truth value of the
utterance and seeks a nonliteral interpretation. According to Leech there are eight
types of non literal meaning, they are:
(1) Metaphor
understanding two entities based on similarity. In common, metaphor is a
figure of speech in which one thing is compared with another by saying that
one is the other, as in He is a lion. (Lakoff and Johnson 2003: ) state that
“Metaphor is for most people a device of the poetic imagination and the
rhetorical flourish a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language”.
He also explained that metaphor is typically viewed as characteristic of
language alone, a matter of words rather than thought or action. For this
reason, most people think they can get along perfectly well without metaphor.
Knowles and Moon (2006: ) state that the terms of metaphor concern to the
use of language that refer to something other than what it was originally
applied to, or what it literally means, in order to suggest some resemblance or
make a connection between the two things. Carver and Picalo (2008: 123)
argue that etymologically, metaphor is a carrying over or more colloquially, a
kind of standing-for relationship between one concept and another.
Therefore, metaphor is just a rhetorical device, a figure of speech, a tool in
language, a device of poetic imagination, a deviant linguistic expression or
‘catachresis’, a matter of words rather than of thought or action, the primary
role of which is to describe a social reality by using a stand-in word or phrase
different from the one usually taken to be literal.
The metaphorical is thus usually taken to be opposite to, or at least other than,
metaphor, the audience is able to understand and get the point of the speakers
easily. Not only give understanding to the listener, but also metaphor makes
the speech beautify, attractive and more variant. On the contrary, that
metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and
action. As in the Encyclopedia Britannica puts it: “metaphor is a figure of
speech that implies comparison between two unlike entities, as distinguished
from simile, an explicit comparison signaled by the words ‘like’ or ‘as’ ”
emphases in the original. For example, it considers the word lion to be a
metaphor in the sentence “Achilles was a lion in the fight.”
Metaphor also say that the word is used metaphorically in order to achieve
some artistic and rhetorical effect, since it speak and write metaphorically to
communicate eloquently, to impress others with “beautiful,” esthetically
pleasing words, or to express some deep emotion. Perhaps it also adds that
what makes the metaphorical identification of Achilles with a lion possible is
that Achilles and lions have something in common: namely, their bravery and
strength (Kovecses, Z. 2010).
Metaphors is a kind of figurative expression, which a comparison is made
between two things by identifying one with other. Metaphors are a way to
describe something. Authors use them to make their writing more interesting
(2) Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities
between two different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance
with the help of the words “like” or “as”. Therefore, it is a direct comparison.
We can find simile examples in our daily speech. We often hear comments
like “John is as slow as a snail.” Snails are notorious for their slow pace and
here the slowness of John is compared to that of a snail. The use of “as” in the
example helps to draw the resemblance.Similes are comparisons that show
how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important
way. Similes are a way to describe something. Similes use the words “as” or
“like” to make the connection between the two things that are being
compared. This comparison is usually made between two things that are
essentially unlike. It’s using the word “like” or “as”. According to Perrine
(1978:54), simile is a means of comparing things that are essentially unlike
directly by using connection words, e.g. similar to, like, same as, etc. In
addition, simile is establishes the comparison explicitly with the words like or
as (Diyanni 2004:563). It is a figure of speech in which one thing is likened to
another in one respect by the use of “like”, “as”, etc (Webster, 1994:927). In
addition, simile is a comparison between two objects of different kinds which
have however at least one point in common (Wren & Malik, 1995:297). For
means his temper is being compared to a volcano in that, it can be sudden and
violent. Simile both in our everyday life as well as in literature. Using similes
attracts the attention and appeals directly to the senses of listeners or readers
encouraging their imagination to comprehend what is being communicated. In
addition, it inspires life-like quality in our daily talks and in the characters of
fiction or poetry. Simile allows readers to relate the feelings of a writer or a
poet to their personal experiences. Therefore, the use of similes makes it easier
for the readers to understand the subject matter of a literary text, which may
have been otherwise too demanding to be comprehended. Like metaphors,
similes also offer variety in our ways of thinking and offers new perspectives
of viewing the world.
(3) Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a literary technique in which a certain piece of information,
feeling, or other statement is exaggerated intentionally for a certain effect. In
most cases, the literal interpretation of a hyperbole could not actually be true,
but the exaggeration serves to emphasize a certain point. The statement
"I have a million things that I have to do today," for example, is a hyperbole it
means that the speaker has many things to do, but it is unlikely that anyone
actually needs to do a million tasks in one day. Hyperbole can also be used in
emphasis or for humor. A writer who wants to make a particular point may
make that point by overstating or exaggerating it. Hyperbole can be used in
descriptions to emphasize some particularly prominent feature of a character,
for instance. It can also be used to describe an action that is remarkable in
some way. In these and other similar cases, hyperbole is used to place
emphasis on a particular action, feeling, or feature and is not meant to be taken
literally. Hyperboles are exaggerations to create emphasis or effect. As a
literary device, hyperbole is often used in poetry, and is frequently
encountered in casual speech. An example of hyperbole is: "The bag weighed
a ton. Hyperbole makes the point that the bag was very heavy, though it
probably does not weigh a ton. In rhetoric, some opposites of hyperbole are
meiosis, litotes, understatement, lackluster, prosaic, dull and bathos (the
'letdown' after a hyperbole in a phrase). Hyperbole is a figure of speech in
which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or
to create a strong impression, but is rarely meant to be taken literally. In
hyperbole a statement is made emphatic by overstatement (Wren & Malik,
1995:299). Seems to have a different perception on hyperbole, it is simply an
exaggeration, but exaggeration in the service of truth, not just to dramatize or
emphasis an idea. This type of figurative language is used by poets and writers
for special effect. According to Diyanni (2004:563), hyperbole is
which greatly exaggerated the truth (Webster, 1994:476). Hornby (2000:418)
affirms that hyperbole is use of exaggerated statement made for effect and not
intended to be taken literally. For example “I could sleep for a year”. In this
case, the speaker does not mean to sleep for a year. He wants to sleep longer
as he can. Again, he just wants to exaggerate his truth meaning.
(4) Metonymy
Metonymy is a figure of speech characterized by the use of the name of one
thing in place of the name of something that is symbolizes. For example
“They want to go to the white house”. White is focus here, when the speaker
says about White House, it refers to America. It does not mean I want to go to
the house whose Universitas Sumatera Utara paint is white. Generally,
metonymy is used in developing literary symbolism i.e. it gives more
profound meanings to otherwise common ideas and objects. By using
metonymy, texts exhibit deeper or hidden meanings and thus drawing readers’
attention. In addition, the use of metonymy helps achieve conciseness. For
instance, “Rifles were guarding the gate” is more concise than “The guards
with rifles in their hands were guarding the gate.”Furthermore, metonymy,
like other literary devices, is employed to add a poetic color to words to make
them come to life. The simple ordinary things are described in a creative way
(5) Litotes
Litotes are figures of rhetoric speech that use an understated statement of an
affirmative by using a negative description. Rarely talked about, but
commonly used in modern day conversations, litotes are a discreet way of
saying something unpleasant without directly using negativity. Sometimes
called an ironical understatement and/or an avoidance of a truth which can be
either positive or negative. Common examples: “I'm not feeling bad,” or “he's
definitely not a rocket scientist.” The actual meanings are: “I am feeling well,”
and “he is not smart.” Litotes were used frequently in Old English Poetry and
Literature, and can be found in the English, Russian, German, Dutch and
French languages. Litotes is an understatement in which an affirmation is
expressed by the negative of its contrary. For example “Please come to my
hut”. For the sentence above, the focus is my hut, as we know hut is very
simple. Nevertheless, in this situation hut is not the hut but actually, he has a
big house. He does not want to tell the hearer the truth. Litotes, derived from a
Greek word meaning “simple”, is a figure of speech which employs an
understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, positive
statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions. For example,
using the expression “not too bad” for “very good” is an understatement as
well as a double negative statement that confirms a positive idea by negating
ugly” or saying “I am not as young as I used to be” in order to avoid saying “I
am old”. Litotes, therefore, is an intentional use of understatement that renders
an ironical effect.
(6) Personification
Personification is the treating of an abstract quality of thing as if it had human
qualities. It is a figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is
endowed which human qualities or abilities. According to Diyanni
(2004:563), personification is endowing inanimate objects or abstracts concept
with animate characteristics or qualities. In addition, personification consists
in giving the attributer of human being to an animal, an object, or a concept
(Parrine, 1978:55). Webster (1994:749) affirms that personification is the
treating of an abstract quality or things as if it had qualities, an instance of
this, a person regarded as the embodiment of a quality. Personification is a
figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human
attributes. The non-human objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel
they have the ability to act like human beings. In personification inanimate
objects on abstract notions are spoken of has having life and intelligence
(Wren & Malik, 1995:298). For example “the leaves danced when the wind
blew”. From the sentence above it is not means leaves dance, but the effect of
Another example, when we say, “The sky weeps” we are giving the sky the
ability to cry, which is a human quality. Thus, we can say that the sky has
been personified in the given sentence. Personification is not merely a
decorative device but it serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to
literary texts. It adds vividness to expressions as we always look at the world
from a human perspective. Writers and poets rely on personification to bring
inanimate things to life, so that their nature and actions are understood in a
better way. Because it is easier for us to relate to something that is human or
that possesses human traits. Its use encourages us to develop a perspective that
is new as well as creative.
(7) Oxymoron
Oxymoron is figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms are
combined to produce an epigrammatic effect. Oxymoron is a special form of
antithesis, whereby two contradictory qualities are predicted at once of the
same thing (Wren & Malik, 1995:299). A figure of speech that brings together
ideas or terms that are opposite is an oxymoron. They are usually created with
just two or three opposing words. In addition, this figure of speech uses
incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side. According to Webster
(2004:718) oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory
terms are combined to produce an epigrammatic effect. For example “Revenge
nobody is damaged or loss. Everybody is sincere in accepting the decision, but
here justice is wild. Therefore, it is contradictory. The speaker means revenge
is the only way to get success justice not through the law.
(8) Irony
From the sentence it’s not mean the room so tidy but the room very dirty, even
the speaker choose to sleep outside than sleep in the room. So, irony is the
quality of an event or situation which is the opposite of what it is promised,
expected, etc. and which therefore seems to mock ones expectation. For
example “Your room is so tidy, I better sleep outside”.
2.3 Novel of Diary of Wimpy Kid
Diary of a Wimpy Kid began in 1998 when Kinney brought up an idea
about a middle-school weakling named Greg Heffley who wrote about his
personal life. In 2004, FunBrain and Kinney released an online version of Diary
of a Wimpy Kid. The website made daily entries until June 2005. The book
became an instant hit and the online version received about 20 million views as of
2009; many online readers requested a printed version. Kinney had agreed and in
2007, Diary of a Wimpy Kid was published. To date, eight Wimpy Kid books
have been released, plus two do-it-yourself books and three movie diaries. In
2009, Kinney was named one of Time magazine's 100 "Most Influential People"
The characters are Greg Heffley is a wimpy middle schooler in the 6th
grade (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), 7th grade (Rodrick Rules - The Last Straw), and
8th grade (Ugly Truth - present). His best friend is Rowley Jefferson.
- Rowley Jefferson is the childish best friend of Greg. In Hard Luck, he gets a
girlfriend named Abigail Brown.
- Rodrick Heffley is the older brother of Greg. He is very rude. He is the
drummer in Löded Diper.
- Manny Heffley is Greg & Rodrick's younger brother. He is known to be a
tattletale.
- Susan Heffley is Greg's mom.
- Frank Heffley is Greg's dad.
- Fregley is Greg's weird neighbor and classmate.
- Chirag Gupta is Greg's friend.
- Holly Hills is Greg's crush, she thought he was Fregley.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid was well-received from the Princeton Review,
Gold Card Association, The Dallas News, The TRR Editors, The NW Press, and
The JJ Printing Company. The New York Times, which ranks children's serials
collectively on a "Series Books" bestseller list, has included the Wimpy Kid series
for 64 weeks as of April 10, 2010. USA Today, which ranks best sellers based on
sales alone regardless of genre or intended audience, has listed Diary of a Wimpy
the same date, Rodrick Rules has been on the list for 117 weeks (peaking at
number 4), The Last Straw has been on the list for 65 weeks (peaking at number
1), Dog Days has been on the list for all 25 weeks of its publication (peaking at
number 1), and The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary has been listed for all three weeks
of its publication, peaking at number 2. As of May 2010, more than 32 million
Wimpy Kid books are in print in the U.S., and the books have been sold in more
than 30 countries. The series has sold over 75 million books in 40 countries
Who knew when the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book by Jeff Kinney was
published in 2007 that by spring 2014 there would be more than 120 million
Wimpy Kid books in print worldwide? What is it that has made the Diary of a
Wimpy Kid and related books so popular? In part, it's the format, which appeals to
young readers, from upper elementary to middle school age, including reluctant
readers. The book appears to be the handwritten diary, on lined paper, with spot
cartoon illustrations on every page, of Greg Haffley, who's in middle school.
What makes it work is how true to life and humorous (and wacky) Greg's thought
process and actions are.
Based on the background of the novel, it is suitable for the writer to
choose the novel as a source of data to find out some of nonliterary meaning.
