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โครงการรวบรวมและจัดทําเอกสารวารสารอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์

วารสารมนุษยศาสตร์ ปีที่ 21 ฉบับที่ 1 (มกราคม-มิถุนายน 2557) 201

2. Literature Review
Figurative Language
Figurative language is a significant device in literature. It is an

efficient linguistic device that conveys imagery meanings and helps complete
literary interaction (Pickering and Hoeper, 1994 and Perrine and Arp, 1993).
Figurative language comprises two main features, imagery and comparison,
in various ways to stimulate the reader’s imagination.

Various experts have introduced lists of figures of speech. However,
the preliminary investigation of the data suggests that the list introduced by
Pickering and Hoeper (1994) seems to be suited well with this study since
their work directly relates to the literary genre. Based on this framework,
eighteen types of figurative language were chosen to guide this study as

follows: 1) Metaphor 2) Simile 3) Synecdoche 4) Metonymy 5) Symbol 6)
Personification 7) Allegory 8) Irony 9) Hyperbole 10) Allusion 11) Ambiguity
12) Apostrophe 13) Paradox 14) Animism 15) Repetition 16) Juxtaposition
17) Pun 18) Incongruity

Nevertheless, due to the limited space here, only definitions of the
five types of figurative language most commonly found in this study will be
presented. ‘Metaphor’ refers to the implicit comparison based on shared
background knowledge between the author and the audience. ‘Hyperbole’ is

the exaggeration or overstatement used for emphasizing strong meaning of
the intended messages. ‘Personification’ is giving human qualities to non-
living things, namely an object or idea. ‘Irony’ refers to a device of using
literal meaning to contradict the actual or intended meaning. Lastly,
‘Repetition’ is the form of repetition of a word or phrases, mainly for
establishing a prominent message. The use of these five devices will be
discussed later in the findings.