RHETORICAL DEVICES IN PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S SPEECHES IN ENGLISH POEMS FOR CHILDREN

Poems are a common form of language play in young children andprovide interesting information about their metalinguistic awareness.Therefore, this study deals with analyzing the use of r

TRẦN THỊ ĐINH TRANG

RHETORICAL DEVICES

IN ENGLISH POEMS FOR CHILDREN

Field: English Linguistics Code: 8.22.02.01

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby verify that this master thesis has been written by myself, anddescribes my own work unless otherwise acknowledged in the text Allreferences or sources of information have been specifically acknowledged,and are presented in the References Moreover, verbatim extracts also havebeen quoted in detail This thesis has not been accepted in any previousapplication for other degree or diploma

Binh Dinh, 2019

First of all, I would like to express my deep thanks and appreciation to

my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, who has given memuch great advice and encouragement during the time I managed to completethis thesis I am also indebted to her for spending her time to read mymanuscripts and make the necessary changes

I would like to extend my gratitude to the lectures of this course fortheir valuable lectures, materials, and experiences which have contributed tothe foundation of my thesis

I am very much thankful to my friends for encouraging me andproviding me with needed materials

My warmest thanks are given to my beloved family who always takescare of me and helps me overcome a lot of stress throughout the course aswell as the study of this thesis

Poems are a common form of language play in young children andprovide interesting information about their metalinguistic awareness.Therefore, this study deals with analyzing the use of rhetorical devices inEnglish poems for children applying the theoretical framework of Galperin(1977) and Harris (2013) The basic methods involved in this study are thequalitative and quantitative method After 50 poems were analyzed, thefindings show that 13 rhetorical devices in three categories are used withdifferent percentages And, there is also a difference between the frequencies

of occurrence of three types of rhetorical devices Phonetic rhetorical devicesare significantly used more often than lexical and syntactical rhetoricaldevices The rate of rhyme is the greatest in total in all rhetorical devices.Simile, which appreciably contributes to the total of the second ranking group– lexical rhetorical devices, is the second popular rhetorical devices afterrhyme The devices in the last group such as antithesis, rhetorical questions,stylistic inversion, and enumeration are quite complicated for children, sothey are used with a tiny number

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Language is one of the indispensable material sources in poetry and inother literature creativity processes Poetry is considered as a stable andvarious sources thanks to which we can see the people, country and culture.Besides, sincere emotions and profound minds of the poets are shown throughverses of poems It cannot be denied that poetry plays an important role in ourlife

In addition, rhetorical devices are considered as magical tools If a poetwants to add a musical effect, he can create rhyme, assonance or alliteration inhis poems Vivid and graphic mental images can be created by usingpersonification, or simile Stylistic inversion or rhetorical question can helpthe poet emphasize and highlight an attitude or opinion With various types,rhetorical devices have great expressive value Therefore, they have attractedmuch attention of many writers, poets, and linguists so far

With their wonderful effectiveness, there is a range of studies analyzingrhetorical devices in different terms To clarify, Khodabandeh (2007) made acomparison of rhetorical figures used in English and Persian advertisements.Farrokhi and Nazemi (2015) conduct a study focusing on rhetorical devices intwo newspapers - New York Times and The Australian - with differentgeographical locations Taping et al (2017) analyzed rhetorical devices whichHillary Clinton used in her amazing and encouraging concession speech.Monsefi and Mahadi (2017) included a taxonomy of different types ofwordplay to investigate the rhetorical features of Persian news headlines In

2018, Thwala, Mthethwa, and Lusenga made an analysis of rhetorical devices

inSiswati proverbs However, there are not many studies carried out heto ic l devices in child en‟s poems.

In terms of poem analysis, there are also many analyses of poems made.Cook (2000) presented a new conception of the poetic created by GloriaFuertes Pinto and Roazzi (1998) conducted a cross-cultural study onphonologic l nd sem ntic devices in ve y young child en‟s poems Mo eove ,based on Charles Sanders Pierce‟s theory, Hermawan (2011) found out the use

of symbol in three poems of Kim Addonizio Nofal (2011) also investigatedsyntactic aspects of poetry in the light of pragmatic theory All of these studieshave investigated different aspects of poems in English However, there is not

a considerable in-depth study of English poems for children in terms ofrhetorical devices

For all above reasons, I would like to choose Rhetorical Devices in

English Poems for Children for the thesis topic in order to obtain a more

overall look on this topic and to draw out the common rhetorical devices used

in child en‟s poems in English, with the hope that the theory can give aninsight into our way of teaching and learning English as a foreign language

1.2 Aim and Objectives

1.2.1 Aim of the Study

The study aims to investigate the rhetorical devices and their functions

in English poems for children to help English learners know more how apoem is composed basing on phonetic, lexical and syntactical rhetoricaldevices

1.2.2 Objectives of the Study

To reach the aim above, the study will focus on the objectives asfollows:

- To identify and classify the rhetorical devices commonly used

in English poems for children

- To analyze the frequencies of occurrence of these rhetoricaldevices in terms of phonetic, lexical and syntactical rhetoricaldevices to reveal linguistic features of this genre

1.3 Research questions

To achieve the aim and objectives mentioned above, the research

questions are correspondingly focused on

1 What rhetorical devices are used in English poems for children?

2 What are the frequencies of occurrence of these devices?

3 What are the basic usage patterns of these rhetorical devices possibly employed for?

1.4 Scope of the Study

In the present paper, the randomly selected data are fifty English poemsfor children from below-cited learning English websites on the Internet inrecent years

phonetic rhetorical devices, lexical rhetorical devices, and syntacticalrhetorical devices.

1.5 Significance of the Study

Regarding theoretical values, the study is expected to contribute to notonly knowledge of English poems for children in terms of rhetorical devicesbut also a foundation for further researches related to these terms In addition,this study is also carried out with the hope to make a significant contribution

in practice Through the frequency of occurrence as well as the effectiveness

of rhetorical devices used, the study will help English teachers withdraw theeffective experience of using rhetorical devices in their teaching It is hopefulthat learners will improve their writing skills as well

1.6 Design of the study

The thesis is organized into five chapters:

Chapter 1 is the Introduction of the study where the rationale, aims

and objectives, research questions, the scope, the significance and thestructure of the study are stated

Chapter 2 presents Literature review including theoretical

backgrounds and a review of some previous studies related to this study

Chapter 3 explains the methods and procedures of the study There,

methods to carry out the paper, as well as all steps of collecting and analyzingdata, are clearly explained

Chapter 4 states Findings and Discussion In this chapter, the findings

of the study are stated and the discussion is also made based on the researchresults

Chapter 5 summarizes the main findings of the study, provides some

implications for learning and teaching, and offers the suggestions for furtherstudies

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter is concerned with the definition of the terms which aredirectly related to the thesis and the detailed classification of rhetoricaldevices Then, some previous researches which provide the scholarly setting

in the study are also reviewed

2.1 Definition of the terms

2.1.1 Poetry

Poetry is a special form of literature which reflects what the poet isthinking, what he is feeling or what lessons he wants to convey Poetry canmake readers laugh or cry It also inspires them to do this or that We canconsider these emotions as the effect of poetry According to Morris et al(1978), the effect is created by the choice of words which suggests not onlywords of emotional attitudes but also words of sensory experience Therefore,poetry might be defined as a special kind of language that expresses moreintensely than the ordinary verbal language does (Perrine & Arp, 1992)

Besides, poetry can give readers something to visualize The readers donot just get information They are able to imaginatively ente the poet‟sfeeling or to share his sense Russell (2005, pp 176-177) states ―poetry is the

most emotionally charged means of written expression and it consists of words arranged in patterns of sound and imagery to spark an emotional, and intellectual, response from us… Poetry is the language of the imagination, of feelings, of emotional self-expression, of high art.‖

In the article of Mulyono et al (2018, p 230), the elements of childrenpoetry are mentioned Children poetry includes sounds, words, means of

rhetoric, and themes Poetry contains the element of sound The meaning ofsound here is primarily the various forms of sound financing such asalliteration, assonance, anaphora, epistrophe, and rhyme To produce thedesired meaning and rhyme, the poet needs to focus on word choice.Moreover, the choice of words actually also offers the reader or hearer theright materials for imagination As for the theme of poems for children, thereare some limits on selecting themes for the poetry of children Themes likemarriage, divorce, etc are not worth writing for children to read Thus, thethemes that are generally written for children's poetry might relate to thetopics of parents and teachers, animals and the natural and religiousenvironment.

In general, the language of children's poetry is usually straightforward.Its meaning is easily understood This is due to the target readers, the children,who still have simple minds and thoughts

2.1.2 Poem

A poem is generally defined in Cambridge dictionary as a piece ofwriting in which words are arranged in separate lines that often end in rhyme.The words are chosen based on their sounds as well as the images and ideasthey suggest According to Tizhoosh, Sahba, and Dara (2008, p 25), a poemcan “come in different shapes and forms, suggesting a large extent ofvariability within the poem document domain”

In other words, a poem is a collection of words that can express ideas oremotions in a powerfully vivid and imaginative style by using rhetoricaldevices They are essential techniques to transform what the writers think andhow they feel into something much more enjoyable, memorable and evocative

2.1.3 Rhetorical devices and Functions of rhetorical devices

The rhetorical theory has existed for hund eds of ye s t is “the sto y of along struggle to understand the relationship between discourse andknowledge, communic tion nd its effects, l ngu ge nd expe ience” (P Bizzelland B Herzberg, cited in Vernon, 2013, p 31) A rhetorical device is atechnique that helps an author or a speaker achieve a particular purpose such

as generating emotions, expressing beauty, making spiritual significance aswell as persuading the readers or listeners Aristotle, a rhetorician in 5thcentury B.C., defines heto ic s “ n bility, in e ch p ticular case, to see the

v il ble me ns of pe su sion” (cited in Doxtader, 2013, p 231)

According to Galperin (1977, p 30), heto ic l devices look like “ nbst ct p tte n, mould into which ny content c n be pou ed” t de ls withthe esult of the communic tion‟s ct

Rhetorical devices e “much more comprehensive art.” (Yoos, cited inStaugaite, 2014, p 13) If it is used appropriately in literary writings, thewritings‟ v lue c n be t nsfo med f om o din y ones into memo ble ones, fromlackluster ones into realistic and enjoyable ones It is also a bridge to help thereaders understand the uniqueness and depth of the text as well as the trulyimportant tool to use language more effectively

So far, there are various ways to define rhetorical devices However, wecan simply understand that rhetorical devices are defined as the ability towrite correctly, vividly and to directly interest the readers

Each type of rhetorical devices is a technique which writers use for aparticular effect Therefore, rhetorical devices are always believed to keep apowerful role in literature The function of rhetorical devices is mostcomprehensively explained by V M Zirmunsky:

The justification of and the sense of each device lies in the wholeness of the artistic impression which the work of art as a self-contained thing produces on

us Each separate aesthetic fact, each poetical device finds its place in the system, the sounds and sense of the words, the syntactical structures, the scheme of the plot, the compositional purport- all in equal degree express this wholeness and find justification (cited in Galperin, 1977, p 25)

According to Burke, rhetoric b sic lly functions s “the use of words byhuman agents to form attitudes or to introduce actions in other human agents”(cited in Zhong, 2017, p 68) Rhetoric devices can be understood as aninstrument to use languages more effectively

In other words, the function of rhetorical devices is to emphasize andhighlight the attitude or opinion; to ouse the udience‟s interest and to catchthe attention; to make the remark and statement vivid and unforgettable; tomake a train of thought more obvious to the audience; to create vivid andgraphic mental images; to amuse or entertain the readers; or to criticize orsatirize

2.2 Classification of rhetorical devices

The number of rhetorical devices is quite imposing For example,Corbett (1990), in his book, mentions that the long list of rhetorical devices isactually a various form of about 40 general types As McGuigan (2008)argues, rhetorical devices have hundreds of devices that range from zeugma toanadiplosis Therefore, there are also quite diverse ways to classify rhetoricaldevices

Aristotle (cited in Griffin, 2012) defines what is known as rhetoric, andclarifies its use as a means of persuasion Therefore, he divides rhetoric into

three kinds of proof: logos, pathos, and ethos Logos is a rhetorical device

which appeals based on logic or reasoning Pathos is the emotional proof ormotivational appeals to an audience in an argument Ethos is a rhetoricalappeal to an audience based on the speaker or writer's credibility.

Scholars of classical western rhetoric like Leech (1969) and Leigh

(1994) classify the figures of speech into two main types of schemes and

tropes Schemes are a deviation from the ordinary pattern or arrangement of

words On the other hand, tropes are figures which change the typical

meaning of a word or words

Galperin (1977) states the following subdivision of expressive means

and stylistic devices based on the three level-oriented approaches: phonetic,

lexical, and syntactical rhetorical devices He also lists twenty rhetorical

devices in three level-oriented approaches

Harris (2013) groups sixty rhetorical devices in three categories: thoseinvolving emphasis, association, clarification, and focus; those involvingphysical organization, transition, and disposition or arrangement; and thoseinvolving decoration and variety

Generally, different scholars have their own way to divide rhetoricaldevices In this thesis, the classification of rhetorical devices is adapted fromthe theoretical background of Galperin (1977) and Harris (2013) because theyare simply organized, very detailed and suitable with the analysis of poemlanguage

2.2.1 Phonetic rhetorical devices

With structure and sense, the sound of words plays an important role inthe stylistic approach Galperin (1977, p 124) states th t “ It is rash to denythe existence of unive s l, o widesp e d, types of sound symbolism” When thesound of words is combined together, it can make an effect desired or

create aesthetic values Especi lly in poet y, the ngement of wo ds‟ sound

produces not only the aesthetic function but also the musical function Withthese functions, phonetic rhetorical devices consist of the four following sub-types.

2.2.1.1 Onomatopoeia

Harris (2013, p 44) defines “Onomatopoeia is the use of words whose

p onunci tion imit tes the sound the wo d desc ibes” t c n imit te nume oustypes of sounds, such as sounds in nature (wind, thunde , etc.), people‟ssounds (laughter, sighing, etc.), nim ls‟ sounds, etc

According to Galperin (1977), onomatopoeia is classified into two

varieties: direct and indirect If a word imitates a natural sound by itself, it is called direct onomatopoeia The sounds like bang, buzz, sizzle, snap, roar, zip,

tick, click, crackle, pop, etc (Harris, 2013, pp 44, 45) belong to this group.

Besides, indirect onomatopoeia is a combination of sounds to make the sound

of utterance an echo of its sense For example,

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

(E A Poe, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 125) The repetition of the sound

/s/ actually produces the sound of the

rustling of the curtain

In another poem - Windy nights - the sound of the wind is produced by

repeating the sound /w/.

Whenever the moon and stars are set,

Whenever the wind is high,

All night long in the dark and wet,

A man goes riding by.

(R S Stevenson, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 125)

2.2.1.2 Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds placed near

each other In other words, Abrams and Harpham (2009) define it is therepetition of speech sounds in a sequence of nearby words when the recurrentsound occurs in a conspicuous position at the beginning of a word or of astressed syllable within a word For example,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before (E

A Poe, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 126)

Here, the sound /d/ is repeated by Poe to create the feeling of anxiety,

fear, horror, anguish

Galperin (1977, p 126) argues that the aim of alliteration is “imparting

melodic effect to the utte nce” he efo e, poet y is usu lly filled withalliteration because of the natural effect to the tone, some vague emotionalatmosphere, and musicality of the poetry

Alliteration can be seen in the poem "The Lotus Eaters" by Tennyson

who used the repetition of the sound /m/ to give a somnolent effect.

How sweet it were,

To lend our hearts and spirits wholly

To the music of mild-minded melancholy;

To muse and brood and live again in memory

(cited in Galperin, 1977, p 126)Basing on the position of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

in the lines, alliteration can be divided into two subtypes, non-immediate

juxtaposition alliteration and immediate juxtaposition one First, when the

second consonant sound follows right after the first, we can call immediate

juxtaposition alliteration Meanwhile, non-immediate juxtaposition alliteration occurs if the consonants are in non-adjacent words.

2.2.1.3 Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words put near each

other, usually on the same or adjacent lines In other words, assonance issimilar to vowel sounds repeated in successive or proximate words containingdifferent consonants (Harris, 2013)

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

(Matthew 5:16 (KJV), cited in Harris, 2013, p 50)

In this example, the sound /aɪ/ in light and shine would be assonant as well as the sound /ɪ/ in glorify, which, is, and in.

2.2.1.4 Rhyme

Rhyme is a common device in poetry It has different beginning sound

but similar ending sound, including the final vowel sound and everythingfollowing it According to Galperin (1977, p 128), rhyme “is the epetition of

identical or similar terminal sound combinations of words Rhyming wordsare generally placed at a regular distance from each other In verse, they areusually placed at the end of the corresponding lines” as illustrated in thefollowing sentence

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers.

(Shelley, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 128) Rhyme may be classified into

4 sub-types basing on their positions

When rhyme occurs in the final syllable of a line or verse, it is called tail

rhyme which is the most common type of rhyme in the poem Internal rhyme

is a type of rhyme in which a word at the end of a verse rhymes with another word in the same line Next, cross rhyme refers to matching sounds at the

ends of intervening lines Finally, holo-rhyme is a type of rhyme in which all

the words of two entire lines rhyme

2.2.2 Lexical rhetorical devices

According to Galperin (1977), besides the lexical meanings indictionaries, words also have the lexical meanings in the context which do notfix in dictionaries but fix in a specific context Therefore, there is a relationbetween the dictionary meaning and conceptual meaning The conceptualmeaning will always depend on the dictionary one When there is a deviationfrom the dictionary meaning that causes an unexpected turn in the recognizedlogical meanings, we register lexical rhetorical devices There are foursubtypes of lexical rhetorical devices, namely personification, epithet, simile,and hyperbole They are presented in detail in the following sections

2.2.2.1 Personification

n H is‟s book (2013, p 38), personification metaphorically represents

an animal or inanimate object as having human attributes - attributes of form,character, feelings, behavior, and so on It means the attribution of humancharacteristics to an inanimate object or abstract idea The non-human objectsare portrayed in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act likehuman beings

The purpose of personification is to help a human understand andinterpret the actions of animate or inanimate objects, concepts, and things byrelating to our own range of emotions This attribution of personal qualitieshelps us identify with the reasons for natural processes and the actions ofother living and non-living things

In an example below, the reader cannot receive much pleasure from anoverwrought vision

The angry clouds in the hateful sky cruelly spat down on the poor man who had forgotten his umbrella

(cited in Harris, 2013, p 39)

However, we can understand or arrange the world in our own termsthrough humanizing a cold abstraction or even some natural phenomenon, sothat we can further comprehend it

Inanimate objects or abstract idea can be brought to life throughpersonification by different part of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives oradverbs

2.2.2.2 Epithet

Epithet is a descriptive device because its function is describing a place,

a thing, or a person as more prominent It is an adjective or adjectival phrasewhich can be used in a positive or negative way that benefits the user

For the orators, it is powerful to use it to persuade everyone BryanShort (2000, p 256) states in his article "The New Rhetoric derives itsempiricist flavor from pervasive respect for clarity and directness oflanguage." Knowledge along with descriptive words or phrases can be apowerful tool or leverage in one's arguments

Also, epithet is a popular device used in literary works, especially in

the poems Galperin (1977, p 157) affirms „epithet makes a strong impact on

the e de ‟

In his book, epithet is classified from different points: semantic and

structural In this study, we just follow the second point Structurally, epithetscan be viewed from the angle of composition and distribution There are some

sub-types of epithet in each.

In the compositional structure, epithets may be divided into simple,

compound, phrase and reversed epithets Simple epithets are ordinary

adjectives Compound epithets are built like compound adjectives For

example,

A little curly-headed, good-for-nothing,

And mischief-making monkey from his

Reversed epithets are composed of two nouns linked in an of-phrase.

The subjective, evaluating, emotional element is embodied not in the nounattribute but in the noun structurally described For example,

the shadow of a smile, a devil of a job (Maugham), he smiled brightly, neatly, efficiently, a military abbreviation of a smile (Graham Green)

(cited in Galperin, 1977, p 160)

In the distributional structure, there are two sub-types of epithet, string and transferred String of epithets gives an ascending order of emotive elements in a many-sided depiction of the object For example, a plump rosy-

cheeked wholesome apple-faced young woman (Dickens) (cited in Galperin,

1977, p 162)

Transferred epithet are ordinary logical attributes generally describing

the state of a human being, but made to refer to an inanimate object, for

example, sick chamber, sleepless pillow, restless pace, breathless eagerness,

merry hours, a disapproving finger, etc.

2.2.2.3 Simile

Simile is a kind of comparison but it compares two dissimilar things.

The comparison is directly stated connective words such as like, as, seem, etc.

According to Galperin (1977), simile is the comparison between two objects

of different kinds which have at least one point in common, that is, comparing

two or more unlike things using like, as, as if, as though, as…as, etc.

Similes are used by authors and speakers in many different contexts in

order to make descriptions more emphatic or vivid

For example,

―Maidens, like moths, are ever caught by glare"

(Byron, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 167) The author used a simile in this

sentence “Maidens and moths belong to heterogeneous classes of objects and

Byron has found the concept moth toindicate one of the secondary features of the concept maiden, i.e being easilylured.”

Basing on the markers, simile can be divided into three small groups If the markers include some words such as like, as, resemble, similar to, as … as they are grouped in the type Equational comparison Differentiation, other sub-types of simile, include the makers such as become, be called, be named,

seem, as though, as if, create The last group – Comparative structure –

includes comparative words such as more than, less than, etc.

essential‟ Helso cl imes „ n its ext eme fo m, this exaggeration is carried to nillogic l deg ee, sometimes d bsu dum.‟

For example, to illustrate the width of the river, Dnieper Gogol uses thefollowing hyperbole:

It's a rare bird that can fly to the middle of the Dnieper.

(cited in Galperin, 1977, p 176)

When people say ―I‘ve told you fifty times‖, according to Galperin

(1977), they do not mean the action of telling has happened 50 times, but theyactually mean that they have performed this action very often

Galperin also shows out the function of hyperbole which „sh pens the

reader's ability to make a logical assessment of the utterance This is achieved,

as is the case with other devices, by awakening the dichotomy of thought andfeeling where thought takes the upper hand though not to the detriment offeeling.‟ (Galperin, 1977, p 175) Rather, in poems, hyperbole has a

humorous effect created by an overstatement

2.2.3 Syntactical rhetorical devices

Syntactical rhetorical device is one of the crucial issues in stylisticanalysis Galperin (1977, p.202) claims that to have a definite impact on thereaders, syntactical rhetorical devices are perceived as elaborate designs.There are five subtypes of syntactical rhetorical devices

2.2.3.1 Stylistic inversion

According to Galperin (1977, p 204), the juxtaposition of the members

in the sentence change can be called stylistic inversion However, it does not

indicate structural meaning but has some superstructural function

He also gives some patterns of stylistic inversion which are most

frequently met in English poetry Here are the patterns in detail and theirexamples which are cited in Galperin‟s book (1977, p 205)

First, the object is placed at the beginning of the sentence, for example:

Time he has, desire to study he hasn‘t.

Second, the attribute is placed after the word it modifies (postposition

of the attribute), for instance:

Once upon a midnight dreary

Next, the predicative is placed before the subject, as in the example:

A good generous prayer it was.

or the predicative stands before the link-verb and both are placed beforethe subject, as in:

Rude am I in my speech

Then, the adverbial modifier is placed at the beginning of the sentence,for example:

Eagerly I wished the morrow.

A tone of most extraordinary comparison Miss Tox said it in.

Repetition is a rhetorical device that repeats the same words or phrases

a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable It could be a word,

a phrase, or a full sentence, or a poetical line repeated to emphasize its

significance in the entire text

There are several types of repetition which Galperin classifies

according to compositional patterns First, the repetition of words at the start

of clauses or verses is called anaphora, as in:

For that was it! Ignorant of the long and stealthy march of passion, and

of the state to which it had reduced Fleur; ignorant of how Soames had watched her, ignorant of Fleur's reckless desperation — ignorant of all this, everybody felt aggrieved.

(Galsworthy, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 211)Next, the repetition of the same word at the end of each clause is called

epiphora.

I am exactly the man to be placed in a superior position in such a case

as that I am above the rest of mankind, in such a case as that I can act with philosophy in such a case as that.

(Dickens, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 211)

Then, anadiplosis repeats the last word of one phrase, clause, or

sentence at or very near the beginning of the next

This treatment plant has a record of uncommon reliability, a reliability envied by every other water treatment facility on the coast.

(cited in Harris, 2013, p 19)

Another type is diacope which is the repetition of words broken by

some other words

We will do it, I tell you; we will do it.

(cited in Harris, 2013, p 48)Repetition may also be arranged in the form of a frame: the initial parts

of a syntactical unit are repeated at the end of it This case is called framing,

as in:

Poor doll‘s dressmaker! How often so dragged down by hands that should have raised her up; how often so misdirected when losing her way on the eternal road and asking guidance Poor, little doll's dressmaker.

(Dickens, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 212)

Last composition pattern of repetition is chain repetition Sometimes a

writer may use the linking device several times in one utterance, for example:

For glances beget ogles, ogles sighs, sighs wihes, wishes words, and words a letter.

(Byron, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 212)

2.2.3.3 Enumeration

Enumeration names separate things, actions, objects, etc one by one so

that it makes a link of which, being syntactically in the same position Harris

(2013, p 48) briefly explains that enumeration is detailing parts, causes,

effects, or consequences to make a point more forcibly, as in:

I love her eyes, her hair, her nose, her cheeks, her lips[etc.].

There are some kinds of relation to combine notions together, such ascause and result, likeness, dissimilarity, sequence, experience (personal and/orsocial), proximity, dependence, etc

Fruit, foliage, crag, wood, cornfield, mountain, vine

(Byron, cited in Galperin, 1977, p 213): The enumeration in the aboveexample expresses natural scenery without nothing specially However,the readers can have immediate perception because each word is closely

associated semantically with thefollowing

2.2.3.4 Antithesis

Antithesis is a contrast in the meanings of contiguous phrases or clauses.

Harris (2013, p.16) states that antithesis establishes a clear, contrasting

relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them,often in parallel structure For example,

A saint abroad , and a devil at home.

(Bunyan, cited in Galperin, 1977, 218)

or, Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.

(Milton, cited in Galperin, 1977, 218) In these examples, saint - devil,

abroad - at home, reign - serve, and hell - heaven are the contrast pairs of words.

Galperin mentions some basic functions of antithesis including

rhythm-forming, copulative, dissevering, comparative He defines „these functionsoften go together and intermingle in their own peculiar manner But as a rule,antithesis displays one of the functions more clearly than the others This pticul function will then be the le ding one in the given utte nce.‟ (Galperin,

1977, p 219)

2.2.3.5 Rhetorical question

Rhetorical question is a question which does not require a suitable

answer Its function is making an emphasis stronger than a direct statement.Galperin (1977, p 244) states “rhetorical questions is no longer a question but

a statement expressed in the form of an interrogative sentence” Its aim iseffecting, emphasizing, or drawing a conclusionary statement from the facts athand

- Is there - is there balm in Gilead?! Tell me - tell me - I implore! – (Poe, cited in Galperin,

1977, p 245)The degree of emotiveness increases and the particular shade of

meaning, which is the despair, in this case, become more apparent

2.3 Previous related studies

Poetry, a form of literature, is an interesting topic which attracts theattention of many scholars in the world Therefore, there is a range of studiesfrom different points of view published

Cook (2000), in the article The Humanization of Poetry: An Appraisal

of Gloria Fuertes, presents a new conception of the poetic created by Gloria

Fuertes who is regarded as a leader in contemporary peninsular poetry.Fuertes creates a new poetics by making fun of the intellectual academicpoetic discourse, by emphasizing the fun of playing with words, and byridiculing the exaggerated self-important role that poets have constructed forthemselves Her goal is to humanize poetry, to bring it back to the center ofour lives To achieve the goal, she has put the emotions of ordinary persons atthe center of her poems and used their everyday language

Pinto and Roazzi (1998) conduct a cross-cultural study on phonological

nd sem ntic devices in ve y young child en‟s poems n this study, the d t

is the poem production of many children coming from five countries England,France, Italy, Poland, and Brazil The finding shows that phonological devices(rhyme and alliteration) are significantly used by all the groups, but there arealso some differences between them Italian and Polish children use thesedevices in the highest proportion of their poems English children, in turn, usethem more often than French or Brazilian children Therefore, the relativefrequency of phonological devices also varies with culture Semantic devicesare produced fewer than phonological ones There are two language groupsusing simile and metaphor in their poems

From the Semiotic Theory by Charles Sanders Pierce, Hermawan (2011)

finds out the use of symbol in three poems of Kim Addonizio, Verities, First

Poem For You, and What Do Women Want After analyzing the symbol, this

study emphasizes that there are different symbols with different meanings andfunctions in each poem Through these differences, the author wants toconvey the different ideas in her poems, such as sadness of the world, love,and the power of sexuality, freedom, and equality

Nofal (2011) investigates syntactic aspects of poetry in the light ofPragmatic Theory The results indicate the fact that the rules of poeticgrammars are completely different from the grammar of the ordinary languageand any literary genre because of various reasons The syntax of poetry isloose and illogical because of the influence of spoken language The c e tion

of im ge y o the p oduction of the sound‟s effect called rhetoric is animportant feature of poetry which is much more meaningful than the correctsyntax or the logical arrangement Therefore, the use of rhetoric alwaysappears and the strict norm or English grammar usually disappears

All of these studies on poems indicate that despite using differenttheories with different purposes, these studies all make features of poemsoutstanding That is to say, poems are the place to express emotions, daily life,cultures directly or indirectly through rhetorical devices Moreover, they arealso open space to create and produce without strict rules of grammar

In addition, we cannot deny the wide appearance as well as theimportant role of rhetorical devices in a variety of fields like advertisement,literature, political speeches, entertainment, news, etc

Khodabandeh (2007) analyzes and makes a comparison of rhetoricalfigures used in English and Persian advertisements The results show thatvarious figures of rhetoric used in both languages make advertising headlinesvivid, impressive, conspicuous, and high readability However, there are alsosome differences between using types of rhetorical figures in English and

Persian In the Persian advertisements, figures are used more such as jargon,logo, metonymy, personification, and repetition On the other side,colloquialism, balanced sentence, ellipsis, exclamatory, hyperbole, imperative,rhyme, and rhetorical question are used more in English advertisements.

Farrokhi and Nazemi (2015) conduct a study focusing on rhetoricaldevices in two newspapers - New York Times and The Australian - withdifferent geographical locations The rhetorical devices which are focused onthis study are metonymy, hyperbole, and metaphor Besides showing whichdevices are used, the reasons behind the usage are also pointed out Theresults are introduced as follows: metonymy was the most used and it enabledwriters to use one identity to represent another Example of metonymy wasusing geographical locations like Washington or Moscow when referring tothe government Second most used was the hyperbole Hyperbole was used tomake a claim that was quite impossible or unreal The purpose of hyperbolewas to enhance the importance of something Metaphor was the least useddevice and it was used by the editorial writers to illustrate their own opinions

on the matter in question instead of the reality of the news events

Using H is‟ theo y, ping et l (2017) analyze rhetorical devices whichHillary Clinton uses in her amazing and encouraging concession speech.Based on the specific purposes, Hillary applies thirteen rhetorical devices inthis speech A sentential adverb, alliteration, anaphora, conduplicatio, diacope,and epistrophe are used to emphasis Hillary uses antanagoge, antithesis,metaphor, and parallelism for association rhetorical devices Last, fordecoration rhetorical devices, Hillary utilizes asyndeton, polysyndeton, andsentential Among thirteen devices, emphasis rhetorical devices e the most epetedly used in this speech bec use Hill y‟s pu pose

is emphasizing her point and making the points of the speech distinctly and explicitly.

Monsefi and Mahadi (2017) use Leigh‟s (1994) f mewo k including taxonomy of different types of wordplay to investigate the rhetorical features

of Persian news headlines The results reveal that the Persian news headlines

of Euronews contain one or more clearly defined wordplay types The highest prevalence is tropes, or more specifically metonymies Other wordplays such

as oxymorons, parodies, anthimerias, polysyndetons, anadiploses,

antimetaboles, epistrophes, climaxes, and polyptotons are not presented The discussion also suggests that wordplay makes the headlines more vivid and conspicuous

Thwala, Mthethwa, and Lusenga (2018) make an analysis of rhetoricaldevices in Siswati proverbs Three rhetorical devices – metaphor, simile, andantithesis, are adopted to describe the socio-cultural inclination as well as toreflect the relationship between members of the household, society and thenation in vivid and imaginative ways

In recent years, novice researchers have produced many theses whichare related to rhetorical devices in different sources of data

Nguy n h Ng c nh (2012) investigates the linguistic features of somestylistic devices in English and Vietnamese advertising language This study

mainly focuses on descriptive and contrastive analysis of repetition and

antithesis in advertising language The results of this thesis show that

advertisements, thanks to repetition and antithesis, can be more aesthetic,

effective and energetic That makes a strong impression on customers in order

to arouse their interest in buying products and services Also, there are somedifferences in the proportion of two devices between English advertisinglanguage and Vietnamese one

Nguy n H nh (201 ) proposes a comparative study for thelinguistic description of lexical and phonetic rhetorical devices in English andVietnamese songs fo child en in the light of lpe in‟s nd inh ng

L c‟s theo etic l b ckg ound Among the collected rhetorical devices namely

metaphor, metonymy, simile, personification and repetition, the most popular

one used in child en‟s songs in both l ngu ges is repetition All four lexical

rhetorical devices are more commonly used in Vietnamese than in English

Nguy n h h y ung (201 ) analyzes two kinds of rhetorical devices

(simile and parallelism) in the novel The findings show that the characters are characterized remarkably and created visual images thanks to simile And,

parallelism is used to emphasize the coherence between the phrases, clauses,

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter explains the research methodology employed in this study

At first, the research methods applied in this study are presented briefly Then,the research procedures are provided step by step The data collection, dataanalysis, reliability, and validity are also described in this chapter

3.1 Methods of the study

This research was aimed at investigating some rhetorical devices used

in English poems for children To achieve the aim of the study, a combination

of qualitative and quantitative method was employed

After collecting the data from online websites, each poem wasqualitatively analyzed to find out rhetorical devices of the data In addition,the frequencies of occurrence of these devices were drawn out by thequantitative method then

Detailed descriptions of common rhetorical devices used in thesepoems were qualitatively described

3.2 Procedures of the study

This study followed the following procedure:

- Reviewing theoretical background and related previous studies,

- Randomly collecting samples of poems on four English

websites in terms of written texts:

 http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org ,

 http://storyit.com ,

 https://www.familyfriendpoems.com ,

 https://www.poetryfoundation.org

- Coding these poems from P1 to P50 and also coding lines in each data from line 1 to line n as L1-Ln,

- Identifying common rhetorical devices in English poems,

- Analyzing the frequencies of occurrence of these rhetorical devices in term of phonetic, lexical and syntactical rhetorical

devices,

- Making a comparison of the occurring frequency of rhetorical devices used in English poems,

- Discussing the findings from the analysis,

- Suggesting some implications for teaching and learning

The data selected are of numerous contents which make childrencurious and favorite like the natural world, natural motion, hum n‟s d ily life,interesting games, special days, etc Moreover, these contents must be suitableand close to children – the target readers Besides, the length of each data isvarious: the shortest one just includes 6 lines and the longest one has 32 lines.The last criterion for poem selection is including at least one rhetorical device

3.4 Data analysis

The corpus of fifty English poems was selected from online websitesand was coded from P1 to P50 Each line was also coded form L1 to Ln Theneach line was analyzed in the poems in three terms of rhetorical devices Thequalitative approach helped identify common rhetorical devices used inpoems

The statistic figures of common rhetorical devices were converted intopercentages and listed in the tables by the quantitative approach Therefore,the frequencies of occurrence of common rhetorical devices could be foundfrom the most frequent device to the lowest frequent device Then, theconclusion and implication were drawn out as the final stage in the process

3.5 Reliability and validity

The sources of data were taken from the popular official websites, sothey are reliable at the present time Moreover, the study followed thetheoretical background of rhetorical devices in reliable materials ofoutstanding scholars such as Galperin (1977)‟s, Harris (2013)‟s book, andother articles published The data, therefore, guarantee high reliability

Besides, in terms of validity, the thesis followed the researchmethodology and procedure which led to logical and practical conclusions.The methods such as qualitative and quantitative were flexibly employed andsupported each other Therefore, this study is reliable and valid in all aspects

In summary, an overlook at the research methods as well as the datacollection, data analysis and research procedures employed in the study isperformed in this chapter The findings and discussions, therefore, are clearlyreported in the next chapter

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter is concerned with the findings of the study The commonrhetorical devices used in English poems for children are described inpercentage term Also, the possible reasons for the underlying usage of theserhetorical devices are discussed

4.1 The result of the rhetorical devices in English poems for children

After being analyzed and calculated, three main categories of rhetorical devices are presented in Table 4.1 below

Table 4.1 Distribution of Three Main Categories of Rhetorical Devices Category

Phonological rhetorical devices

Lexical rhetorical devices

Syntactical rhetorical devices

From Table 4.1, the phonological rhetorical devices are the mostfrequently used category with 309 times, accounting for nearly 50% Thelexical rhetorical devices have the second highest frequencies of occurrencewith 241 times with the proportions of 38.87% By contrast, syntacticalrhetorical devices are used with a small fraction, taking up only 11.29% intotal

In the total number of 50 English poems, different kinds of rhetoricaldevices in three groups were found, namely onomatopoeia, alliteration,

assonance, rhyme, personification, epithet, simile, hyperbole, stylisticinversion, repetition, enumeration, antithesis, rhetorical question Thefollowing parts will detail each group.

4.2 Phonological rhetorical devices

The analysis indicates that phonological rhetorical devices are dividedinto four different subtypes, including onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance,rhyme The results are presented in Figure 4.1 below

5.83%

8.41%

68.28%

Figure 4.1 Distribution of Phonological Rhetorical Devices

It is clear from Figure 4.1 that there is a big difference between rhymeand the other three subtypes of this group Rhyme has the highest percentagewith 68.28%, which is 4 times higher than assonance with 17.48%

4.2.1 Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is an interesting device because it imitates the natural

sounds of a thing or a person Obviously, onomatopoeia ranks the last out of

four devices of phonological rhetoric with 18 cases (5.83%) It can be said

that onomatopoeia is one of the useful devices for the poets to make a sound

effect that mimics the thing described, or make the description moreexpressive and interesting

In the data, all of the onomatopoeia are direct ones because they just

imitate a natural sound of different objects We group onomatopoeic wordsaccording to reflective objects, such as human, animals, or things Sometypical examples of human‟s sound e s follows:

[E10.L3]

[E.46.L9]

[E.46.L12]

The word reflecting a kind of human voice sound in [E10.L3] is crow.

Crow is the sound of a baby when he is happy In [E.46.L9, 12], we also

easily recognize some common kinds of laugh through some words har har,

hee-haw These are familiar sounds with children in life.

Moreover, a group of words related to different sounds of animals isidentified in some below examples:

[E3.L9-11]

[E27.L5]

[E44.L6]

As can be seen from these examples, each sound imitates a specific

animal To illustrate, in [E3.L9-11], moo is the deep sound made by a cow, a seal hits its flippers together and makes clap, bleat is go t‟s sound, nd

tweet is b by bi d‟s sound In addition, in [E27.L5], the loud and noisy scream

of a cat can be imagined in the word squalling; similarly, the word squeaking

expresses the short high sound of a mouse Also, there is a loud sharp sound –

squawk – made by a gull in [E44.L6].

In the same way, words like ding, buzzed denote different kinds of

sounds of things like the doorbell, the telephone in two following examples:[E10.L8]

[E18.L10]

In the above examples, the use of onomatopoeia gives rhythm to thepoems and makes them livelier and more interesting, which appeals directly

to the senses of the readers Onomatopoeia, at the same time, takes the readers

to the world created by the poet through hearing the sounds created by thewords they reflect Moreover, the use of onomatopoeic words helps createemphasis

4.2.2 Alliteration

Alliteration is a rhetorical device that repeats initial consonant sounds

to create a wonderful melody for the poems This makes a strong impression

on the readers, especially children However, the use of alliteration is low in

the data Based on the phonological principles shown in Chapter 2, 26 cases

of alliteration are found out in 50 chosen poems Two kinds of alliteration

-immediate juxtaposition and non immediate juxtaposition – are distinguishedand their contribution is summarized in Table 4.2

Table 4.2 Distribution of Alliteration Types of Alliteration

Immediate juxtaposition

Non-immediate juxtaposition

Total