West Visayas State University

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Luna St., La Paz, Iloilo City 5000
Iloilo, Philippines
* Trunkline: (063) (033) 320-0870 loc 1602 * Telefax No.: (033) 320-0879
* Website: www.wvsu.edu.ph *
Email Address: cas@wvsu.edu.ph

THE IMPACT OF USING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE ON ART DRAMA: A

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Presented to
Dr. Claudette A. Baluran
Professor
West Visayas State University
La Paz, Iloilo City

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
in ELS 210
Language of Literary Texts

By

SHEKINAH NORRIENE P. SOLIDUM

JENEZARIE A. TARRA

Bachelor of Arts in English Language Studies 2-A

 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Luna St., La Paz, Iloilo City 5000
Iloilo, Philippines
* Trunkline: (063) (033) 320-0870 loc 1602 * Telefax No.: (033) 320-0879
* Website: www.wvsu.edu.ph *
Email Address: cas@wvsu.edu.ph

I. RATIONALE FOR THE PROPOSAL

Figurative language refers to words, and groups of words, that exaggerate or

alter the usual meaning in figures of speeches of the component of words. A figure

of speech may be said to occur whenever a speaker or writer, from the sake of

freshness or emphasis, departs from the usual denotations of words (Kennedy, 1983,

p.479). The fundamental reason for this proposal is that knowing the effectiveness and

impact of figurative language used for art drama. If figurative language can be used to

any genre of drama to make it exceptional and knowing the possibilities to use it in

both fictional and non-fictional dramas.

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

According to Harmer (2006) language is used widely for communication between

people who do not share the same first (or even second) language. It means that

language can be a primary necessity in human life. It has a big role for every people in

making good relationship with others. Traditionally figurative language has been

described in terms of categories: simile, metaphor, allusion, personification, and so

forth. According to Perrine (1978:28) Figurative language −language using figures of

 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Luna St., La Paz, Iloilo City 5000
Iloilo, Philippines
* Trunkline: (063) (033) 320-0870 loc 1602 * Telefax No.: (033) 320-0879
* Website: www.wvsu.edu.ph *
Email Address: cas@wvsu.edu.ph

speech −is language than cannot be taken literally (or should not be taken literally

only) Hatch, Evelyn M. (1995:88).

Figurative language is words or expressions that carry more than their literal

meaning (Stanford, 2003: 48). An author conveys a different way to express and

describe something likes idea, theme, and author’s feeling. The author uses the

situation and condition of fact. The author use language to write the literary work. It

can make the reader in positive effect. Figurative language is also used to make the

words or phrases be more beautiful, more interesting, and make more clear the image.

Hyperbole, Metaphor, simile, 3 personification, and irony are kinds of figurative

language that use figures of speech. Figurative Language is not only used in poem, but

also in lyrics, poetries, and screenplays or movie script.

DRAMA

Drama is the form of composition designed for performance in the theater, in

which actors take the roles of the characters, perform the indicated action, and utter

the written dialogue. (The common alternative name for a dramatic composition is a

play.), (Abrams, 1999:69). Peter Brook (b. 1925) ends his well-known book, The Empty

Space, with the enigmatic sentence: A play is play. ‘And play‘ is a good place to begin

(as well as end) any consideration of performance, for play is something we have all

experienced, and it has surprising affinities with drama and theatre. (Leach, 2008:1)
 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Luna St., La Paz, Iloilo City 5000
Iloilo, Philippines
* Trunkline: (063) (033) 320-0870 loc 1602 * Telefax No.: (033) 320-0879
* Website: www.wvsu.edu.ph *
Email Address: cas@wvsu.edu.ph

Movie can be called as play or drama. Because, many people have created,

watched, and participated in play, movie, or Drama. The drama can be fictive and also

realistic. The realistic drama usually was adopted from the realistic life. And the fictive

drama was just the fantastic of the writer of story. So, the writer can imagine the ideas

or emotions into the play or drama Stanford (2003: 67).

DRAMA SCRIPT

In most plays scripts, what first confronts the reader is the list of characters, or

dramatis personae. Sometimes the list explains who the characters are, perhaps their

social position, perhaps their relationships. Readers sometimes want to keep a finger in

the page which lists the characters so that when a new character appears they can

check who she is. Most plays have a protagonist (sometimes a hero) and an antagonist

(sometimes a villain); sometimes the characters are ‘stock types‘, but more often now

they are conceived as individuals, and are more or less quirky, distinctive or

memorable.(Leach, 2008:25)

Movie is the entertainment for the people. Most the people have watched the

movies. There are many kinds of movie, they are horror, romantic, action, and cartoon.

The movie is not only be a source of entertainment, but also it can be a source of

education. Communication, like dialogue is the most important parts in the movie. Sir

John Pollock (1958) assumed that “A play as a work of art composed of work spoken or
 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Luna St., La Paz, Iloilo City 5000
Iloilo, Philippines
* Trunkline: (063) (033) 320-0870 loc 1602 * Telefax No.: (033) 320-0879
* Website: www.wvsu.edu.ph *
Email Address: cas@wvsu.edu.ph

motion performed by imagined characters and having a subject, action, development,

climax, and conclusion”.

Research Objectives

1. How can figurative language make a certain drama exceptional?

2. Is it necessary to include figurative language in fictional or fantasy dramas?

3. What are the effects of figurative language in the art of drama?

Methodology

This chapter will examine the design and procedures that will be taken during

the conduct of the study. It will provide the method used and present the study locale,

sources of data, data gathering instrument, sampling technique, procedure of the

study, statistical treatment, timeline of activities and barriers to success of the study.

Research Design

This study adopted descriptive research design. Descriptive research design

attempts to identify and explain the variables that existed in a given situation and

describe the relationship that exist between these variables in order to provide a picture

of a particular phenomenon (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). Questionnaires will be provided

to know the point of view of respondents regarding the effectiveness of figurative

 West Visayas State University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Luna St., La Paz, Iloilo City 5000
Iloilo, Philippines
* Trunkline: (063) (033) 320-0870 loc 1602 * Telefax No.: (033) 320-0879
* Website: www.wvsu.edu.ph *
Email Address: cas@wvsu.edu.ph

language in dramas. The study sought to establish The Effectiveness Figurative

Language in making a Drama exceptional. Descriptive design was convenient for this

study as it enabled the researcher make inferences on the role of figurative language in

the art of drama.

Study Population and Sample

The study will be conducted to an area where the art of drama is highly

recognized and used. The location of the study will be in West Visayas State University

wherein thirty (30) respondents will be chosen randomly by the researcher.

Research Instrument

This study is made use of a researcher made survey questionnaire on the

Effectiveness of Figurative Language on Dramas. Survey questionnaires will help the

researchers attain the goal of identifying the effectiveness of figurative language in

drama making. The survey questionnaire will be distributed to the respondents as

means of retrieving primary data for the study. It will provide the insights and opinion

of the respondents towards figurative language being involved in drama making.