Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Woman Work”

Arina Isti'anah; Caecilia Riris Krismarini; Elisabet Ayu Pramesthi Lebdo Putri

doi:10.29240/ef.v4i1.1460

Stylistic Analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Woman Work”

Arina Isti'anah, Caecilia Riris Krismarini, Elisabet Ayu Pramesthi Lebdo Putri

Abstract

This paper presented the stylistic analysis of a poem by Maya Angelou, “Woman Work”. This stylistic analysis focused on analyzing two language levels, phonology and syntax, covering the study of sound repetition, transitivity, and pronoun. The phonological features employed in the poem were assonance and consonance. On the other hand, the syntactic features were in the form of material processes that described the works of a woman. The employment of pronoun referred to the poet and nature. This analysis found that Angelou positioned nature as an essential part of a woman's life as it helped her to provide a living to her family. Further, nature was placed as an Actor that helped her face her world as a woman. This paper concludes that stylistics is applicable to analyse literary works in an objective way as it provides the hard data.

Keywords: stylistics, poem, woman, Angelou

Keywords

stylistics; poem; woman; Angelou

Full Text:

PDF

References

Barry, P. (2002). Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchaster: Manchaster University Press.

Budiharto, R. A. (2014). Stylistic Value of Deixis in Some Selected Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. In 3rd ELTLT International Conference Proceedings (pp. 629–636).

Cunanan, B. T. (2011). Using Transitivity as a Framework in a Stylistic Analysis of Virginia Woolf’s Old Mrs. Grey. Asian EFL Journal, 54, 69–79.

Hama, B. S. (2017). Self-Presentation in Selected Poems of Maya Angelou. International Review of Social Sciences, 5(2), 123–128.

Hameed, A. M., & Al-Sa’doon, S. (2015). A Study of Stylistic Deviation in Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise. European Academic Research, III(6), 6563–6586.

Isti’anah, A. (2018). Mental Processes of the Main Character in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies. Language Circle, 12(2), 213–226. https://doi.org/10.15294/lc.v12i2.14180

Khan, A. B., & Khan, M. Y. (2016). Stylistic Analysis of the Poem “Woman Work” by Maya Angelou. International Journal of Institutional & Industrial Research, 1(2), 10–14.

Leech, G., & Short, M. (2007). Style in Fiction. Harlow: Pearson.

Li, F., & Tao, R. (2018). Transitivity Analysis of J. K. Rowling‘s Commencement Address at Harvard University. International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, 4(3), 208–225. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijlll.2018.4.3.176

Mukhtar, K. (2017). Stylistic Analysis of Ted Hughes’ Poem: “The Casualty". Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL), 5(4), 394–401.

Verdonk, P. (2002). Stylistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press Inc.

Yuqiong, Z., & Li, F. (2018). Transitivity Analysis of David Cameron’s Speech in Retaining Scotland. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 6(3), 70–79. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180603.13

Yustisiana, R. A. (2018). Elements of Nature as the Object of Escapism in Maya Angelou’s “Woman Work.” Journal of Language and Literature, 18(2), 158–167.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.29240/ef.v4i1.1460