Why and how do writers of English Literary and playful texts “break the rules of” English?

After having defined the terms â€Å"playful and literary†, I will then look briefly at foregrounding and the classification of the English Language. Then rhyme, rhythm and repletion would be examined followed by how writers break syntactic rules to show thought process. This will be followed by literary usage of the metaphor, collocation and iconicity. Then I will examine playful text in relation to graffiti, newspapers and advertising. Literary and playful usage of language is different from that of everyday language in that it draws attention to the language itself. Writers achieve this by being creative, original and imaginative. Moreover, by â€Å"skilfully manipulating language to create patterns and usage† to express ideas, which draws the readers giving them an original insight into the world of the writer. (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 198) Writers of literary and playful text use language to draw attention to it by way of surprising the reader into an original perception of the language and the subject matter. This according to the Russian formalists is foregrounding (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 163). Foregrounding is achieved, by breaking the rules of language, that is sound, grammar and meaning to place the reader in the text. Thus, the reader is surprised into seeing the image, hearing the sounds and feeling the emotions. The English Language is classified according to the way words are arranged in sequence and it is referred to as a subject verb object or SVO language. This is because the subject always comes before the verb and the object that is being referred to follows the verb. (Graddol etal. , 1994, p. 5) Looking first at rhyme, rhythm and repetition in literary usage, writers especially poets use this as a form of foregrounding. They use rhyme, rhythm and repetition in to make original observations. As in William Blake's poem â€Å"The Tyger†, one can see that there is an end rhyme with the first line rhyming with the second, and the third with the fourth in an aabb pattern. This is not something is common in normal speech or text. Therefore, Blake, whilst following the tradition of writing poetry in end rhymes is breaking the rules of English. Blake does this because he is not only foregrounding the symmetrical pattern of the verse in its aabb rhymes pattern, but he is also highlighting the eye symmetry of the text. This is done in the first and last stanza where both stanzas are symmetrical apart from one word. Thus, there is a sense of closure and we understand that we have arrived at an end, but because of the aabb pattern, there is also continuity and the idea of the circle of life. Blake also uses rhythm, with each line consisting of four alternating stressed and unstressed words, is used to emphasis the beat of not only the tread of the Tyger but also the rhythmical beating of the hammer on the anvil. The creator of the Tyger and the creator of the poem also use repetition and alliteration to foreground the symmetry of the design. (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 165) Authors also use rule breaking to foreground their characters thought processes. William Faulkner In his novel â€Å"The Sound and the Fury† manipulates the language and surprises the readers into the thought process of the narrator Benjy, who thinks and voices his thoughts, as would a child. He achieves this flow of thought process by omitting the object after the verb. Thus, the reader is uncomfortable with the language, which is limited, showing and creating a sense of incompleteness. This is exactly what Faulkner is aiming for, because Benjy although being thirty-three, is incomplete and exhibits the thought and language process that of a child. Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 167) The Charles Dickens also breaks the rules governing the syntactic relationship between words. In his novel The Bleak House Dickens does not, use the verb â€Å"is† after the subject, which is the fog and the object, which is everywhere and everything. By doing this, he foregrounds the reader into an innovative outlook and the reader receives the impression that there is no escaping from the fog; it is all invasive invading the countryside, the social, cultural and political environment. (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 167) Another distinctive feature of literary usage is the metaphor and collocation. Metaphors are comparisons that are not made explicit. They exploit the meanings of words and â€Å"are slipped into â€Å"the sentence (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 165). The rules of English are broken by the metaphor by playing on the various meanings of a word and the paradigmatic relationship of a word. As in the use of â€Å"burning† and â€Å"burnt† in Blake's The Tyger the words not only refer to the eyes of the Tyger but also to the furnace and the stars when speared are also burning too such an extent that they water the heaven with their tears. Collocation refers to the combining tendencies of words† (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 169) that is, the relationship words have with each other, the meanings that are associated with words and in the context that they are normally used. When this rule is broken, the writers are able to utilise our sense of word collocation to foreground â€Å"unusual and striking association of meaning† (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 169). In Carol Ann Duffy's poem ‘Litany' metaphors and collocation is used when she writes â€Å"The terrible marriages crackled cellophane round polyester shirts†. Marriages do not crackle. The word crackle is usually associated with dry inanimate objects; it is this association, which surprises the reader into looking at the marriage in a new light. The metaphor of the cellophane and polyester shirts continue this theme of inanimateness, dead and lifeless as opposed to the marriage being alive and thriving. Collocation is also associated with playful usage of English as in Punning. This occurs when the different meanings of the words are exploited, as in â€Å"My Children! My Africa! Here the Playwright plays on the word ‘riot' to emphasis the difference in culture and explores the difference in meaning associated to a word by differing social groups. (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 171) Another feature of literary usage is the iconic â€Å"where the sounds and shapes of words and phrases imitate particular objects or process† (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 172) writers use this device in order for the reader to experience and hear the sounds being described. Wordsworth in ‘The Prelude' uses it to call upon the simple childhood pleasure of making oneself dizzy. He does this by having a long sentence where the subject and verb occur late in the passage. This achieves the effect of rushing and spinning to an abrupt stop. In addition, one can almost imagine that even though we have stopped the â€Å"solitary cliffs Wheeled by†¦ the earth rolled†¦ † (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 172) e e cummings uses this technique in his poem I (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 202) He relies on the visual effect of the poem to emphasis the falling of one leaf and its oneness. Playful text also uses language to draw attention to it this is achieved, by breaking the rules of language, that is sound, grammar and meaning Just like in literary usage. Graffiti although regarded as being antisocial and illegal is an area where English is used in a playful and entertaining way to highlight a particular comment on social issues or give voice to those sub groups that have been denied access to mainstream. Because of the very nature of graffiti, it tends to be short and succinct. The Graffiti â€Å"Glory to God in the High St† (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 10) by deleting a single letter from the angel's message to the Shepard's, the graffiti satirises the original Christmas message and reflects the commercialization of Christmas. This is achieved by playing on the sounds and the meaning of the two words Highest and High St. An example of iconic graffiti that is a thought process would be â€Å"Dsylexia rules KO† The popular press also use puns and word play in their headlines e. g. â€Å"Belly Nice (model Naomi Campbell with bare stomach), Wedding Prez (President Clinton unexpectedly attends a wedding)† (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p. 17). They by virtue of being tabloid newspapers need to capture the readers' attention quickly and be able to express in a short headline the nature of the article. Therefore, by using headlines like â€Å"Belly Nice† they play on the phrase â€Å"very nice† in referring to the bare stomach and associating it to her second name Campbell. Another area that breaks the rules of English in a playful way is advertising. Advertising uses all the literary techniques of foregrounding to sell the product, image or idea. In the P&O advertisement, the text is simple; it has rhyme, rhythm and repetition, and seems at first glance to be a simple, child's first reader. However, each line does not have the object. It is only at the end that one realises that the last word is the object of the previous lines. In conclusion after having looked at the various distinctive features of literary and playful usage of text one can see that writers, poets, graffiti writers, journalist and the advertisers use and break the rules of English to foreground there ideas in a creative, original and imaginative way.