Name : Tan Wai Kian

Matric Number : 174764

Course :BBL3207 Language in Literature

Lecturer : Mr Ewan Awang

Semester : Semester 2 ( 2014 /2015)

Programme : B. A . English Literature

Assignment :
Task 1 Creative writing ( You and Me )
Task 2 Write an essay that discusses how the study of stylistics / language in
literature can help improve ones English language.

Task 1.

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 You and Me

Let the object of objection become but a dream

As I cause the Seen to be Unseen
Let the object of objection return
So that its existence may be reaffirmed
(credit to Charmed TV series Season 4 : 2001)

Among the earthly mortals, I ask: what is Love

That engages couples through life and death?
This flying pair, travelling from north to south,
Had jaded wings, which survived many summers and winters.
Staying paired is blissful,
But to sever, bitter: a trap in itself where devoted lovers
I shine with the light of flame
Lighting my innermost desire
When I shall call for your name
You shall feel my flame
I call across time and space
That thee shall be back to me

If we shall be perfect match

This spell will surely catch
If you are the one to be
Then find your way back to me
In this perfect love and trust
I send this out but not from lust
The rhythm shall us unite
That well be free tonight

The me in your eyes

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 The me in your heart
The me who met you
Being hated and loved
All are just preordained fate
Even if it turns out to be misfortune
So if we end up losing our sense of reason
We will never come and back away

The love that I call for it now

Love me now as will I do
Harm shall be none, so be it
My love shall not whither
No matter where are thou
Take my heart nearer thee
Across time and space shall be

But fate repeatedly jolts around

Shuffling back and forth
I reached out to grasp you but was dissolved into foam
Fate repeatedly jabs our hearts
Another round of perturbance comes
The one thoughts of our too persistent.

Guiding spirits I asked for your charity

Hear my cries through the sky
Help my day to have a smile
Make me gleeful for just one night
Mote it be as my night

Having lost of our souls

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 To whom do we speak of you and me
There are too many doings in this mortal world
Incarcerating you and me
We are submerged in tears
Of which we cannot cleanse
And who cares what they are
Take them as delusion to test me and you
Finding ourselves in midst of fire and ice
To whom do we speak of you and me?

Hear these words, hear my cry

Spirit from the other side
Come to me, I summon thee
Cross now the great divine
(credit to Charmed TV series Season 1 : 1998)

1.0 Introduction

The theme for my poem here is basically a person seeking his or her lost love

but fate gets in the way of the relationship. His or her lover left the persona for some
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unknown reason. When I was drafting this poem, my mind was filled with a lot of past

memories and hatred. However, after jotting down all the emotions in a paper, I realize that it

is not the hatred I had for the person but how much I missed the person and the moment we

had. The first stanza and last stanza of the poem is basically taken from the television series,

Charmed. I wanted to infuse the incantation into my poem as it is the main sources of my

idea. The first two lines in my first stanza talks about the hatred the persona had for the lover

and how much the persona wanted to make him or the memories disappeared. It is also

known as the Vanishing Spell in the TV series. Then the third and fourth line talks about it

is too precious by the persona to be vanished thus reaffirming the back the memories. In the

TV show, the spell is a counterpart to Vanishing Spell and it is nameless. The last stanza is

a prayer to the spirit or the Gods that blessed persona to find the lost love that he or her once

had. It is called the Summoning a Spirit Spell where it is used to summon a person that you

miss dearly . The second stanza implied that the persona had gone through many years with

her or his lover. However, the persona has lost the lover and he or she is looking desperately

for the love( when I shall call for you name / You shall feel my flame ). The third stanza is

pure hope saying that one will be together with his/ her lover if it is true love. The fourth

stanza is suggesting that love is just fated and sometimes, love can make us lose our mind (...

losing the sense of reason). The fifth stanza suggests that the persona will continue to love the

person forever (my love shall not wither) and the love is timeless (take my heart nearer thee /

across time and shall be). The next stanza suggests that no matter how much the persona

love the lover, fate always get in the way of life causing them to be apart( I reached out to

grasp you but was dissolved into foam / Fate repeatedly jabs our hearts ). The next stanza ,

however, is pleading for sympathy (Guiding spirit I asked for your charity / make me gleeful

for just one night ). The next stanza suggests that the wrongdoing in the world is too painful

and there is no one to confront or admit the wrongdoing.

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2.0 Linguistics Element

2.1 Graphology

Graphology simply is the pattern of the written language or the shape of the

language on the page. Graphological Deviation, this is the deviation in which poets

disregard the rules of writing. They write the words in such a way without any boundaries in

lines, space, or rhymes.. I utilized two graphology method in my poem. First, I bolded the

first stanza and the last stanza. The reason I bolded it is it was not my own work. I took it

from a TV series, Charmed back in the year 1998 and 2001. I wanted to highlight that

incantation or spells are basically poetry too. They rhyme and carry a meaning for a certain

event. For example, the first stanza is vanishing spell whereby I was hoping to vanishing my

feelings towards a person but then I add on a reaffirming to show that I realized that it is too

precious to be vanished. These incantation can be found the TV series, Charmed in 1998 and

2001. Besides that, I wanted to stress that the bolding is a highlight to acknowledgement to

ancient prayer. The another reason why I bold the two stanzas is to foreground the meaning of

the poem which is memories. The meaning of the first two line (Let the object of objection

become but a dream / As I cause the Seen to be Unseen ) in stanza 1 is basically that the

persona wants the obstacles such as his feelings and memories towards his lover to disappear.

The meaning implied third and fourth line is stanza 1(Let the object of objection return/ So

that its existence may be reaffirmed) is the memories is, however, too precious to be

forgotten .The meaning of the first two lines alone could stand for many lines in the poem.

For example, in stanza 2 line 9 and 10. (Staying paired is blissful /But to sever, bitter: a trap

in itself where devoted lovers) which basically trying to imply that love was beautiful but it is

a trap for devoted lovers especially when they break up. The memories of these lovers will

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leave a deep footprint to them if they ever be apart. However, it would be waste if we forget

about the memories we had. It is important that one remember the sweet and romantic

moments we once had. We should learn to cherish the good memories and forget the bad

memories. With that, that is where the line 4 and 5 in stanza 1 comes in handy. The last stanza

is a Summoning a Spirit Spell. It simply means that the persona is summoning his lovers

spirit back to him in line 61 to 64 in stanza 9 (Hear these words, hear my cry /Spirit from

the other side / Come to me, I summon thee / Cross now the great divine). As I mentioned

before, the reason why I bold it is because it carries the entire meaning of the poem. If you

look at line 42 in stanza 6 ( I reached out to grasp you but was dissolved into foam) , you will

find that this line stands for the persona tries to get back on track with his lover but it is only

an illusion. Thus the last stanza could represent the hope or inner desire of the persona

towards his beloved. I also bold the stanzas because it is not my work and I copied it from the

TV series. Hence the quoting of the television shows name. It helps me to brainstorm my

ideas and thought into words. However , it doesnt affect the poem if it is bolded. The second

graphology deviation is the indentation of the poem. As you will notice, some of the stanzas

are at the left and some are at the right. This is purely aesthetics. I wanted to just show that it

is different stanzas and make it easier for the readers to read. It has nothing to do with

intentions and the meaning of the poem will remain the same if I place it all in the left.

2.2 Figurative Language

You and Me is written with a lot of reference to figurative language. The first

figure of speech would be metaphor. Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or a

phrase is applied to an object or action which is not literally applicable. Another definition of

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metaphor would be a thing regarded as a representative or symbolic of something else

especially something abstract. From the second stanza, it is clear that the metaphor in that

stanza is in line 7, This flying pair, travelling from north to south. In the literal

meaning,this phrase is referring to the wild geese that migrated from north pole to south pole

during the transition of winter season to spring season. Figuratively, it is trying to imply the

journey of a couple in understanding each other. Since the journey from north to south is a

very long journey and sometimes it will be tiring. Thus a couples of understanding each

other is similar to the journey, it takes a long period and at times it will be tiring. Another

metaphor I used is light of flame in stanza 2 line 11and line 14. The word flame is a

metaphor to the passion of a couple in love. I used the word flame due to the symbolic idea

of burning desire to passion. Another metaphor would be in stanza 6, line 42 (I reached out to

grasp you but was dissolved into foam), the phrase dissolved into foam is a metaphor for

the awakening (dissolved) from disillusion (foam). From that line, one would understand the

meaning of the metaphor by looking at the target domain which is I reached out to grasp

you and one would understand that it is trying to say the persona is trying to get hold of his

beloved. Thus when the source domain was dissolved into foam, it is easily understood that

it is an illusion because the word foam. Foam does not last long which is like bubble where

it will pop once touch or hold. Another metaphor would be in stanza 7, line 47 (Hear my cries

through the sky), the word cries is a metaphor to sadness and suffering. It is clear that when

one loses his love , the person will cry due to sadness and sufferings (mental torture). This

metaphor suits the theme of the poem which is seeking love. In stanza 8, line 59 (Finding

ourselves in midst of fire and ice) the phrase in midst of fire and ice is a metaphor to

dilemma. This could be interpreted when one could not decide, the situation is similar one is

asked to choose to stay in fire or ice. If one picked fire, he will be burnt to death and if one

pick ice, then he will die of coldness hence the dilemma.

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 Another figure of speech I used is personification. Personification is a figure

where human qualities are given to animals, objects or ideas. In other words, it means the

representation of a non-human thing as if it were human. The first personification is in stanza

3 line 18 This spell will surely catch. The verb catch is used with the subject spell and

we all know that spell is just a magical charm or incantation which is basically abstract and it

is impossible for it catch anytime. However the figurative meaning of the line is basically the

charm will help to get the personas beloved back if they really are meant for each other.

Another personification would be in stanza 5 line 36 My love shall not wither, this is a

personification because the verb wither is used on the subject My love. One may asked

how can love wither? The word wither is normally used plant to show that plant is losing

freshness due to natural circle. Thus, the line 36 is basically implying figuratively that the

personas love will not fade off due to natural effects or time. In stanza 6 line 40 , But fate

repeatedly jolts around, it is a personification because the verb jolts is used on fate.

Jolts literally mean push or shake something or someone abruptly and roughly. Fate is an

abstract word which means that it cant shake anyone literally. However, fate can jolt

someone figuratively when one is shocked by the news that was destined to happen.

The intention of it is to make my poem more imaginative. Thus, it could mean

more than one single meaning. Thus making the poem worth studying. Having figurative

language in poetry is to invoke the sense of imagination of readers. Learning to use figurative

language is an important step in developing a mature and rich writing style. From similes and

metaphors to hyperbole and personification, taking words beyond their literal meaning

through the use of figurative language is enjoyable for both the writer and the reader. In fact,

the ability to use figurative language successfully is one of the most effective tools in a

writers skill set. Creative writers use metaphor, analogy, symbols and more to stir the

reader's imagination and bring out the emotion and understanding that can't be expressed by

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the words' dictionary meaning alone. It is the best way to exaggerate and stretch the meaning

of words to get the most extreme meaning possible. The best part of using figurative language

is it does not have to make sense rationally or logically. Reader can easily get the point of the

phrase by reading the whole line.

2.3 Parallelism

Parallelism is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the

same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter. Parallelism examples are

found in literary works as well as in ordinary conversations. This method adds balance and

rhythm to sentences giving ideas a smoother flow and thus can be persuasive because of the

repetition it employs. (http://literarydevices.net/parallelism/)

While composing You and Me, I wanted to make it rhyme a lot to bring the

sound qualities and to show parallelism in poetry. Thus I looked up for the term whimsical,

and according to Merriam-Webster, it means unusual in a playful or amusing way. In stanza

1, line 1, let the object of objection become but a dream , there is assonance. Assonance

means the repetition of vowel sound. It is obvious that the sound of vowel e is so strong in

that line. Another phonological parallelism that I used is the rhyme at the end. This could be

seen in stanza 2 When I called for your name / You shall fell my flame. I end the sentences

with the same vowel e to invoke the sound quality and make it rhyme. Another example of

rhyme that I utilised is in stanza 3 line 17 and 18 If we shall be perfect match / this spell will

surely catch. Notice the last word? match and catch is eye rhyme where the groups of

words has no phonetic rhyme but a graphological parallelism. Another example would be in

stanza 3 line 21 and 22, the word trust and lust have the same end rhyme. There is also

syntactic parallelism. Syntactic parallelism focuses more on grammatical. For example, in

stanza 4 , line 25 to 28 The me in your eyes / The me in your heart / The me who met you. I

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repeated the phrase The me The syntactic parallelism creates convincing tone to the

readers the stress placed on the phrase.

Parallelism is a very effective to break the use of repletion by laying out many

different ways of expressing the same thoughts or idea. It provides structure, order, and

balance in a poem and clarifying the argument or meaning. The reason I used parallelism is to

make the poem more memorable and more musical-inclined. Thus, it will not be bored when

it is read. By making it rhyme, readers will find it interesting to actually remember and

maybe add music into it and make it into a song.

3.0 Conclusion

There are many more linguistic elements that I tried to utilise when composing

the poem. In fact, there many more elements in the poem that I, myself have not discover.

However, I am very sure that the linguistic elements aid the poem to be a greater piece of

literary work. By creating a piece of work with a lot of rhymes and figurative language makes

the work or poem worth studying. Reader could interpret the poet in different point of views

and concepts.

Task 2

What is literature? According to John McRae (1994), the term literature is

distinguished into Literature and literature. As for Literature, the context for this is

basically the classical text such as Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare and many literary

canons. literature stands for text that are more popular such as fictions, fable and song
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lyrics. Many authors, critics and linguists have puzzled over what literature is. Numerous

creators, commentators and language specialists have considered what writing is. One more

extensive clarification of writing says that scholarly messages are items that reflect distinctive

parts of society. They are cultural documents which offer a deeper understanding of a country

or countries (Basnet & Mounfold 1993). Other linguists say that there is no inherent quality

to a literary text that makes a literary text, rather it is the interpretation that the reader gives to

the text (Eagleton 1983). This takes us back to the above definition as in literature is just

literature on the off chance that it is considered as art.

Literature texts are used widely in class in countries like in The United States and

The United Kingdom. The text can be studied in the original form and also the abridged form.

The use of literature is a rather popular technique to teach. The circle is consisted in reading,

writing, listening and speaking. As for language area, it is used to teach vocabulary, grammar

and pronunciations. However, it is a pity as literature is abandoned in many countries due to

many challenges faced by the teachers and students. For example, the text selection. This is

major issue arise while using literature component in class. The text chosen must be

appropriate to the age of the students. In Malaysia, the texts chosen for secondary school had

been switched for the third time. This is due to the inappropriate message sent to students

reading them. The second issue faced by the teachers are the culture difficulty, the text chosen

are from worldwide and students find it hard to relate the motive of the write and themselves.

The common genres used by the schools and teachers for teaching is poetries, short stories,

dramas and novellas or abridged novels.

Literature should be used if one wants to improve his/her English. This is because

literary works is consider as an valuable authentic material as it is not fashioned for specific

purpose of teaching a language (Collie & Slater:1997). The characteristics of literature is not

static especially the language used is one of the main reason why literature serves as good

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material to improve ones English. Literature presents different linguistics uses and the

conventions of written styles. For instances, narration. Animal Farm by George Orwell is a

modern narrative example that aims at explaining a writers political views. This is known as

the political satire where it uses animals on a farm to narrate the overthrow of the last the

Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the Communist Revolution of Russia before World War 2. This

allows one to learn the art of writing or recount a story.

The second way how language in literature helps one to improve his/her English is

through the language enrichment in a literary work. Literature provides the learners with a

wide range of individual lexical or syntactic items. One can affirm that a literary piece

through the vocabulary and language features. Students become familiar with many features

of the written language, reading a substantial and contextualized body of text. With that,

students are able to transfer knowledge and make generalization. Through literature, one

would learn about the syntax and discourse function of sentences, the various way to connect

ideas which will develop their composition skills. Through the richness and diversity of the

language, one would be more adventurous and productive with their own potentials. Studying

the language of the literary text would help to integrate the language more closely. One would

be more familiar with the grammatical, lexical or discoursal categories to make aesthetic

judgement of the literary work. Therefore, language in literature improves ones

communicative and cultural competence in the real richness, naturalness of genuine texts.

Language in short stories is one of the methods used to improve ones English

especially in secondary school even in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the short stories used are The

Fruitcake Special by Frank Brennan, QWERTYUIOP by Vivian Alcock, Tanjong Rhu by

Minfong Ho and Leaving by M.G Vassanji. These literature components are used due to the

language and it helps to improve the command of English. The reason short stories are a great

because it provides a great platform for writing. By using short stories, one could learn to

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make outline. They could identify the topic, main, and secondary idea of the story. Besides

that, the organization and layout of the outline, indentation, roman, numerals, numbers dan

letter helps students to visualize how ideas could be related to each other. Later on, students

are able to learn to summarize and paraphrase. Learning how to summarize and paraphrase is

one the ways to improve ones English language. Using short stories to enhance ones English

is a great way because students could express their own ideas to make the story more

interesting. They could also enhance their thinking ability but coming out with the theme of

the stories and if they good enough, they could even critique the story they could make the

current story more interesting by adding new characters and change the plot of the story.

Literature encourages the learner to reflect on their own personal experiences, feelings and

opinions. At the same time of learning English, they become more active, both intellectually

and emotionally. This method is also an excellent stimulus for group work

Another benefit of using the language in literature would be literature could expand

ones language awareness. One of the heated debates revolved around the teaching of

literature in class is the language in literature is pretty much different from the other forms of

discourse. This is simply because in literature , the language often breaks the common rules

of syntax, collocation and cohesion. With the use of literature , the learner would be more

sensitive or aware to some of the overall features of English. For example, Seamus Heaneys

Death of a Naturalist. Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles/Wove a strong gauze of sound

around the smell. The learner would be aware of the personification used by the author. The

learner will know that the verb gargled is used to describe the movement of the bubbles.

One would understand how the language is played and will not take the meaning literally.

Thus making the learner more aware of the colourful use of English language

All in all, the roles of language in literature are significant. Many educators

including teachers realize the importance of the use of the literary work to the students

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because it has broadened the students viewpoint about cultures and world views beside

improve their grasp of the targeted language especially English. However, the teachers styles

as well as the text chosen also plays a undeniable role in arousing the interests of the learner.

With regard to the literary texts selected, it was found that the learner had their own choice of

texts. Simple language with simple issues in the texts and familiarity with the texts were their

first choice. Learning literature actually encourages students to read and in doing so they will

unconsciously improve their vocabulary which is great way to improve the grasp of English

language. The vast vocabulary helps them to write confidently and creatively. Furthermore,

general knowledge and the development of the intellect are involved in the learning of

literature. Students are able to put their thinking caps on. Unfortunately, many factors

contribute towards the successful implementation of the literature in ones learning of English

Language. An experimental study is suggested to be carried out to figure out the effectiveness

of the method currently used pertaining to the teaching of literature in the classroom.

Research could also be conducted on the effectiveness of the training and courses organized

by the education department or the curriculum centre in the effort to inculcate interest of one

to learn literature as part of English Language learning subject and how the interest affects

their passion for the subject.

References

1. "USING LITERARY TEXTS LN THE ESL CLASSROOM." R. Ci. Humanas 1

(2001): 171-78. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <www.cch.ufv.br/revista/pdfs/artigo8vol1-2.pd>.

2. Himanolu, Murat. "Teaching English Through Literature." Journal of Language

and Linguistic Studies 1.1 (2005): 53-66. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.

<www.jlls.org/index.php/jlls/article/viewFile/6/7>.

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3. "Benefits of Literature." Benefits of Literature. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.

<http://www.education.com/reference/article/benefits-literature/>.

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