Abstract:
This study aims to find out the language features used in Maya Angelou’s
selected poems and to figure out the meaning in Maya Angelou’s selected poems
through the use of language features.
In this study the writer used qualitative descriptive approach in which this
study described all the data. The theory which was used in this thesis was Geoffrey
Leech’s theory to analyzed level of language. They are phonological level,
grammatical level, lexical level and semantical level.
The results showed that there were four language level found in Maya
Angelou’s selected poems. The first was phonological level, which found in the
poem were alliteration, assonance, consonance, and rhyme scheme. The second was
grammatical level, the writer found the various tenses, there were simple present
tense, simple present perfect tense and simple past tense to see the relation between
tenses and the meaning of the poem. The third was Lexical level were nouns, verbs,
adjectives and pronouns to see the choice of words that Maya Angelou used in her
poem. The semantical level consisted to figurative language were simile, hyperbole,
metaphor, and imagery. For the Phenomenal Woman poem, had a message for all
women to conveyed that radiate your own beauty, without see the other woman
beautiful standard and confidents to themselves. Our Grandmothers poem reveal
that the woman avoided slaved and tell her children the worst that could happen, it
was feeling injustice. Mother, a Cradle to Hold Me poem conveyed the mother love
and speaker love to his mother and his afraid to lost his mother.
