Social criticism in E.E. cumming poems

Arifin, Agus Jaenal (2012) Social criticism in E.E. cumming poems. Diploma thesis, UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung.

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Abstract

The main problem of the research is the analysis social criticism in E.E. Cummings poems. There are six poems explored in this research. The poems are, “mortals”,” if you can’t eat you got to”, “anyone lived in a pretty home town,” “love is more thicker than forget,” “as freedom is a breakfast food”, and “will you teach a.” In exploring the poems, the writer applies semiotic approach. However, as the main approach, the writer uses Riffaterre’s semiotics of poetry. The writer applies the theory because the writer thinks that Riffaterre has been recognized as a specialist in poetry analysis. There are some points that the writer expects by composing this research. Common people think that Cummings’ poems are difficult to understand. However, the writer thinks that this is even the most interesting part to explore. Thus, the writer would like to give a reference on exploring Cummings’ poems. The employed method of this research is structural analysis method that refers to analysis of this study about moral in literature. Structural analysis method is a method that focused on the structure of a literary work itself. This method does not, definitely, concerns to the author’s analysis and views, the reader response, the relevant of the real world; it does also describe sign as the process of communications. Cummings criticizes people’s skepticism in seeing the social condition in the depression era. He asks people why do they do not find the answer to escape from this rhetorical question. They only flow to the direction where the reality takes them. Cummings tells the society not to give up to the condition. Cummings delivers his opinion how people become individualists along their life sequence. In the second chapter of analysis, it is known that Cummings delivers his social criticisms in three ways: The most dominating element in this poem is Cummings’ tendency to use ‘creating meaning’ in most of the lines in his poems. It can be seen on how he uses many syntactic elements that cannot be understood by readers in general. He uses “creating meaning” as the basic way to attract the readers in the first level of understanding. Cummings stimulates readers’ interpretation. It cannot be neglected that Cummings was also a cubist. The typography patterns in Cummings’ poems (that is also the important element in delivering social criticisms) is influenced by the principles of form combination in Cubism Cummings delivers his criticisms through making a contrast between clichés or any characteristics of the conventional poems with his view upon reality. However, the most important thing is that Cummings’ way to deliver social criticisms is mainly based on two main reasons. First, his criticism is an expression of his disagreement on the conventional pattern of poem. Second, it is a reflection of his view that poem is something personal.

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