IMAGERY ANALYSIS ON THREE OF MAYA ANGELOU’S POEMS
Mutiara Multama Ikhsani, Yola Merina, Dian Noviani Syafar Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat
[email protected] ABSTRAK
Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif dengan desain deskriptif.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui tipe-tipe dan fungsi dari imagery di dalam puisi Maya Angelou. Imagery adalah kilasan bayangan yang muncul dalam pikiran pembaca sajak. Penelitian ini menggunakan puisi sebagai objek penelitian yang berjudul Harlem Hopscotch, Riot:60's and The Calling of Names yang ditulis oleh Maya Angelou bertemakan tentang diskriminasi ras yang dialami Afrika-Amerika pada tahun 1960-an. Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menggunakan teori Perrine (1991). Peneliti fokus menganalisis 7 tipe-tipe imagery yaitu: visual, kineshtic, auditory, tactile, gustatory, organic dan olfactory imagery. Peneliti menemukan terdapat 6 jenis tipe-tipe imagery yang digunakan Maya Angelou di dalam puisinya, diantaranya yaitu: visual, kineshtic, auditory, tactile, gustatory, dan organic imagery. Fungsi imagery yang terdapat dalam ketiga puisi Maya Angelou ini adalah untuk menciptakan gambaran yang jelas terhadap pengalaman penyair serta membuat objek menjadi lebih hidup dan nyata. Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menemukan bahwa visual, auditory dan kineshtic imagery adalah tipe imagery yang sering muncul dalam ketiga puisi Maya Angelou karna dalam ketiga puisi tersebut, Angelou sering menggunakan objek, aksi, dan warna sebagai visual imagery, serta indera pendengaran sebagai kineshtic imagery, dan terakhir, adanya sifat gerak sebagai kineshtic imagery.
Kata Kunci : Citraan, Maya Angelou, Puisi
INTRODUCTION
Poet usually uses imagery to illustrate something to be easily imagined. In imagery, the reader can be aroused their sensory. Imageryisa representation of words or something that the poet feels. The image gives a whole meaning to a poem. Imagery is a combination of word that the poets use for various pictures. The pictures can
be the object that can be seen, hear, smell, taste, touch or feel. Most of poets occasionally use images to make abstract ideas to concrete and easier to communicate and retain by readers.
Imagery may be difined as the representation through language of sense experience and usually calls a mental picture in poem, where the
readers can experience what the poem says. Based on Abrams (1987:78) states that imagery experienced by the reader of a poem, to the totality of elements which make up a poem. In addition Perrine (1991:45), imagery may be defined as the representation through language of sense experience.
Poetry is one of the literary works that difficult to be understood. Because the power of language is arranged by concentration of the phsycal and mental structures that contain very deep meanings and need role of the heart to understand and need comprehend the meaning. According to Atmazaki (2008:119) states that imagery is reflection of imagination in the minds of the reader. It means that, from the poet’s point of view, imagery is used for reflection on their experience in the poetry. Meanwhile, from the reader’s point of view, imagery is used to pick up the reader’s experience in accordance with the poet’s experience. Additional from Chumley, et al (2012:92) says that imagery is created using language choices and techniques that engage our physical sense, our emotions and our intellect. It means that the description
engages our minds that relate to what we might see, hear, smell, taste or feel.
There are many definition of poetry coming from the poets and critics so it is almost impossible to define poetry. The words of poetry derived from the Greek word, Poiein means to make or to construct. Klarer (2004:26) states that poetry is one of the oldest genres in literary history.
Poetry is closely related to the term lyric, which derives etymologically from the Greek musical instrument lyra and points to an origin in the sphere of music.According to Brooks in Saksono (2011:24), the language of poetry is the language of paradox. It is not common language. In addition, Knickerbocker and Renninger in Patel (2014:650) says that poetry is the hymns of praise, and the essays on the nature of poetry would check the shelves of any modest public library and overflow onto the floors as well good talk about poetry is nevertheless rare. It means that poetry is a literary work with cramming words that has any kind of emotion and praise.
Moreover, Perrine in Siswantro (2016:23) states that poetry might be defined as a kind of language that says more and says it more intensely that
does ordinary language. Poetry is not only to be experienced but also to be felt with our senses, emotions and imagination and enrich our perspectives of the things that surrounds us. The best way to experience a poem is to live through it with our senses.
The researcher refferes to Perrine’s (1991) theory of imagery types. They are visual imagery, auditory imagery, olfactory imagery, gustatory imagery, tactile imagery, organic imagery and kineshtic imagery.
The main pupose of this research is to find out what are types of imagery and the functions that found in Maya Angelou’s poems, the data in this research was taken from stanzas of Maya Angelou’s collection poems. The researcher used some steps to analyze imagery in Maya Angelou’s poetry.
Firstly, reading over the poems several times. Secondly, identifying the data based on the types of imagery that exist in the stanza of poems itself. Thirdly, classifying and describing the result of the imagery that found in the poems.
Finally, writing the result of the research report in the data finding.
RESEARCH METHOD
This research used a qualitative approach. In addition, the method used in this research was descriptive research. As explained by Ratna (2010:94), qualitative research is not just to describe, but the important thing is to find the meaning. It means that the researcher has an authority in elaborating what has found in the source and applying the appropriate theory to answer the research questions.The purpose of descriptive study is to describe an image sistematically, factual, accurate that concern about the facts, characteristics and make relation with the phenomena.
Descriptive method is used in this research because the researcher describes the phenomenon of imagery types found on Maya Angelou’s poem.
Therefore, source of the data in this research is three of Maya Angelou’s poem entitled Riot:60's, Harlem Hopscotch and The Calling of Names. Meanwhile, data formal in this research is the stanza in three of Maya Angelou’s poems that contains the imagery in the poetries. The researcher used note taking technique. The stages of collecting the data consist several
steps. First, choose the poetries as the object of the research. Second, decides the poetries that will be the object of the research.The stages of analysing the data consisted several steps. First, read three poetries by Maya Angelou entitled Riot:60's, Harlem Hopscotch and The Calling of Names. Second, identified the data based on the types of imagery that are exist in the stanza of poetries itself. Third, the researcher described the data to interprets the result. Last, the researcher wrote the result of the research report in data finding.
FINDING AND DISCUSSION This research was comducted about imagery of poems. After analyzed the data, the researcher found that there were six types of imagery that found in three of Maya Angelou’s poems. They are, visual imagery, auditory imagery, olfactory imagery, gustatory imagery, tactile imagery, organic imagery and kineshtic imagery. The only types that not found is olfactory imagery. Olfactory imagery represents the smell. In three of poetries that researcher analyzed, Angelou did not expressed the sense of
smell in her poems. the researcher found totalling 20 data of imagey types that are used inMaya Angelou’s poems that entitled Harlem Hopscotch, The Calling of Names, and Riot:60’s. The most frequently appear is visual, auditory and kineshtic imagery. The reasercher reffered to to Perrine’s (1991). Visual imagery, auditory imagery and kineshtic imagery that are freuently appear, because three of Maya Angelou’s poems bassically tells about the experience of racism that Angelou feels. The first isvisual imagery that frequently appear can be seen in Harlem Hopscotch poem :
“Harlem Hopscotch”
Since you black, don't stick around.
It tells about the game that the reader will found the sense of movement that describe racism.The words of “black”can be seen in second stanza and second line. From the word of“black”,the reasercher imagines the colour of black. The colour that appeal in stanza two, line six, explain the complexion. Not the colour of objects but complexion of African-American.
The poet wants to makes the reader knows about the meaning of the colour of black that is the different race which
later become the long history of racism.
The colour is included in visual imagery based on Perrine’s (1991) theory of visual imagery types. The words deliver the meaning that since you are an African-American, you can not socialize as free as you want.
The second is kineshtic imagery that can be found inThe Calling of Names poem :
“The Calling of Names”
He went to being called a colored man after answering to “hey, nigger.”
Now that’sa big jump
Kinesthic imagery is something static as a moving thing or it truly the description of something moving.In the words of “a big jump” that appeal in first stanza and line three is one example of kineshtic imagery. The words of “a big jump” shows the progress of alteration as a big jump was going from calling colored man to“hey nigger”. That is a big jump or it can be said that a change when the people call colored man become “hey nigger”.
From that words, the researcher imagines the trace of black people.
Angelou uses the poetry of names to trace the spiritual development of black people. It means, there are the
movement on that change. That is why the word of big jump is concluded to kineshtic imagery.
The third is auditory imagery, the researcher found that auditory imagery is frequently appear in the poem.
Auditory imagery can also be seen in fourth stanza, line twenty four :
“Riot:60’s”
Lighting: a hundred Watts Detroit, Newark and New York Screeching nerves, exploding minds
lives tied toa policeman’s whistle
From the lines above, an auditory imagery can clearly be seen.
The words of “policeman whitle” is appeal to the sense of hearing. Angelou imitates the sounds in the line
“whistle”. Angelou creates sound images in this line is to use the actual sound effects of words to describe a noise. Based on the history of poetry, in the 1960s, Detroit known as the state where the riot happened for five days and killed so many black lives.
The function of each of imagery are to make a realistic description and create vivid. The researcher propossed to Hassanuddin’s (2012) theory of imagery function, the function of imagery are to create a vivid of the sense, appeal the senses and help the
reader imagine characters or scenes clearly. It can be seen in datum 3 :
“The Calling of Names”
Light, Yellow, Brown and Dark-brown skin,
were okay colors to describe him then
This stanza can be found in stanza four. From the above words
“light, yellow, brownand dark-brown skin” is an utterance which invites the reasercher to use the sight of senses organ to understand the poet’s idea and it deals with visual imagery because the colour recreates our mind’s eyes. It describes about the description of the colour of light, yellow, brown and dark-brown as symbols as race and complexion. It makes the reader can imagine vividly the colour and can imagine the object as real because it is invite the mind of eyes.
While the second function is to make realistic description of the sense, appealing to as many of the readres senses as possible, describes the appearance of characters and setting, the sounds, smeel, taste and feeling of the fictional world. It can bee seen in datum 1 :
“Harlem Hopscotch”
One foot down, then hop! It's hot.
Good things for the ones that's got.
The words of “one foot down”
can be seen in first stanza and first line.
The researcher imagines the action which the poet wants to make the readers know about commonly game in Harlem. The words of“one foot down”
describe as an action so that is why it has a function to make a realistic description because it likes as the reader images the action.
In a poem, the poet needs the concreate picture to make the picture easy to imagine, so the reader can feel what the poet feel and the abstract idea more clearly.
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