Figurative Strategies 1

RWS 600, October 14, 2013

First, abolish the death penalty – Los Angeles Times

An editorial, First, abolish the death penalty, was appeared in the Los Angeles Times on March 12, 2012. The author insisted the abolition of the death penalty through this editorial. He also mentioned that November’s ballot measure in 2012 is the way to accomplish that goal. However, in fact, the attempt to remove the death penalty in 2012 was defeated with 53% of the vote against it. In this assignment, I will discuss the figurative strategies included in the aforementioned editorial. A few figurative devices and their function will be analyzed.

Metonymy

A really good example of “Metonymy” can be found in the text as follows: “. . . this kind of ballot-box budgeting is one cause of California’s annual budget nightmare, imposing a straitjacket on lawmakers when revenues fall and making it impossible for them to set reasonable funding priorities because money is legally committed to specific programs.” The dictionary definition of “Straitjacket” is a piece of clothing like a jacket with long arms which are tied to prevent the person wearing it from behaving violently (Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary). It symbolizes anything that severely confines, constricts, or hinders. It is a form of metaphor, especially “Metonymy.” It substitutes a certain action with an object to perform such an action. This transfers meaning of language in context more vividly to the audience. "Straitjacket” has a more graphic, physical, and pictorial effect than "Restriction” or “Restraint.” It can be used with “Shackle” or “Yoke” instead of “Straitjacket.”

Personification

The author applies a “Personification” strategy in some places as follows: “Meanwhile, executions in California and other states have been stalled for years as courts wrestle with the question of whether lethal-injection methods represent unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.” And “Then there is the feeling of closure that citizens, and especially the families of murder victims, derive when ultimate retribution is visited upon killers.” In general, “Personification” metaphorically represents an animal or inanimate object as having human attributes. It often serves to make an abstraction clearer and more real to the audience by explaining the concept in terms of human action. For example, we can understand that executions were not only done, but also there were some circumstances that kept executions from being done through “executions . . . have been stalled.” “Courts wrestle with the question . . .” shows that courts have much difficulty in dealing with the question. The audience can figure out situation more vividly in context by personified expression such as “ultimate retribution is visited.”

Repetition

On the other hand, the author makes use of “Repetition” for emphasis on his explanation, stating, “. . . why capital punishment is bad for American justice, bad for minorities, bad for respecters of the Constitution, bad for this country’s international image and bad for every taxpayer in California.” This is especially an “Anaphora” which is the repetition of the same words at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses. The author’s claim that Capital punishment, in other word, death penalty is bad for most people is emphasized by a repeated pattern of “bad for.” This is a good figurative strategy which lets the audience feel climax and makes the author’s claim persuasive. “Repetition” can be found in the following text: “. . . including a 2005 study in California that found that homicides involving white victims were 3.7 times more likely to result in a death sentence than cases involving black victims, and 4.7 times likelier than cases with Latino victims.” This is a ground of the author’s argument which is death-penalty cases are related to the issue of race. The author repeatedly uses the comparative phrases to emphasize race effects on death-penalty cases. This figurative strategy plays a role in making the author’s claim impressive to the audience.