2. In this paper, the writer tries to analyze a poem,
entitled “Good Times” written by Lucille Clifton. The
purpose of this writing is to analyze the using of the theory
of imagery and figurative language in the poem. From
analyzing the poem, the writer also wants to share the
family element that is contained in the poem. The poem will
be easier to understand by knowing the theory of imagery,
figurative language, and family extrinsic inside the poem.
Keywords: Imagery, Figurative Language, Family
3. Poetry is an art of human expression and
experience which made of words that combines meaning,
emotion, language, and image. It also contains rhythm and
sound with sight and ideas. All at once it appeals to the
senses, feelings and the mind. According to Chris Baldick
in Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms (2001:198),
poetry is “language sung, chanted, spoken, or written
according to some pattern of recurrence that emphasizes
the relationships between words on basis of sound as well
as sense”. Thus, the writer has chosen the poem entitled
“Good Times” to be analyzed as the object of the study.
4.
5. Lucille Clifton was born in Depew, New York, on June 27,
1936. Her first book of poems, Good Times, was rated one
of the best books of the year by the New York Times in
1969. Clifton remained employed in state and federal
government positions until 1971, when she became a writer
in residence at Coppin State College in Baltimore,
Maryland, where she completed two collections: Good
News About the Earth (Random House, 1972) and An
Ordinary Woman (1974).
6. my daddy has paid the
rent
and the insurance man is
gone
and the lights is back on
and my uncle brud has hit
for one dollar straight
and they is good times
good times
good times
my mama has made
bread
and grampaw has come
and everybody is drunk
and dancing in the kitchen
and singing in the kitchen
of these is good times
good times
good times
oh children think about
the
good times
7.
8. Good Times written by Lucille Clifton tells about the
situations faced by the speaker’s family. According to
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, family means "all
of the people living in the house; household.”. In the past,
many family consist of not only parents and children but
also uncles, aunts, and grandparents. They live together in
the same house, sharing everything together like food,
work, and money. When they have to face some situations,
they will face them together. Like if they are facing some
happy moments then they all will be happy without leaving
anyone behind.
9. Meanwhile, according to Psikologi Keluarga (Family
Psychology), family means:
“Keluarga adalah rumah tangga yang memiliki hubungan
darah atau perkawinan atau menyediakan
terselenggaranya fungsi-fungsi instrumental mendasar dan
fungsi-fungsi ekspresif keluarga bagi para anggotanya
yang berada dalam suatu jaringan.”
“Family is a household which has blood relations or
marriage or provides the instrumental basic functions and
expressive functions of the family for the members who are
in a network.”
10.
11. Lucille Clifton’s poem Good Times tells about the
good times, the happy moments which were happening in
the speaker’s family. The poem also tells about how they
faced bad times and then turned it into good times by
partying with all of the members of the family. In this
section, the writer will discuss about the happy moments
which were happening in the family.
He, as the speaker in this poem, uses many kinds of
imagery, such as visual imagery, kinesthetic imagery, and
auditory imagery to picture the happy moments that
happen in the speaker’s family.
12. Visual imagery can be seen on page 10 on the first stanza
of the poem line 1 through 5;
my daddy has paid the rent
and the insurance man is gone
and the lights is back on
and my uncle brud has hit
for one dollar straight
The words ‘gone’, ‘back on’, and ‘has hit’ are used
by the speaker to picture the happy moments which come
right after his dad paid the rent and when the electricity is
running again and also when his uncle reached one dollar
straight on playing black jack. The speaker’s family still
happy even after they had to pay some rent and electricity
bill which were occured in the past on the poor family.
13. Another visual imagery can also be seen on page 10 on the
second stanza of the poem line 1 through 5;
my mama has made bread
and grampaw has come
and everybody is drunk
and dancing in the kitchen
and singing in the kitchen
The words ‘has made’, ‘drunk’, ‘dancing’, and
‘singing’ are used by the speaker to express his joyness
that he felt when he saw his mother baked a cake for
everyone and saw his family members getting drunk and
dancing and singing in the kitchen after his grandfather
come to join the party.
14. There is no clear statement which shows that the speaker’s
family is poor. Instead, we found the hint from the symbols
which are used by the speaker to picture the economic
circumstance in the family. We can see on page 11 and 12;
and the insurance man is gone
and the lights is back on
The symbols that are used by the speaker such as, ‘the
insurance man’ and ‘the lights’ on the first stanza of the poem
line 2 and 3 are become the hint that the family is poor and
they have to struggle to pay the expenses. Eventhough they
live with so much expenses, they still can partying with all the
members of the family in the kitchen as we can see on the
second stanza of the poem line 4 and 5;
and dancing in the kitchen
and singing in the kitchen
15. The symbol ‘kitchen’ that used by the speaker is to show
that it is in the kitchen where the speaker’s family getting
drunk and then dance and sing in the kitchen and eat the
bread which baked by the speaker’s mother. The kitchen
gave the feeling of warmness, and it is inviting and
obviously a perfect place for good times to be happen after
they had bad times.
They do not care about the difficulties that they have
to face as long as they have one each other, they will face
it and turn the bad times into good times where all can be
happy and even the children will only think about the good,
happy moments they have without worrying the bad times
as stated by the speaker in the last stanza of the poem, “oh
children think about the good times”.
16. Based on the discussion above, the writer can get two
conclusions. First conclusion is that we can learn about
how we can have good times even in the hardest situation.
In this poem, simple pleasures are what matter, especially
when money is hard to come by and we are struggling to
stay afloat. Sometimes we may take ordinary things like
electricity and food for granted, but when those things
aren't always so easy to get, good times tend to feel even
better. By the end the speaker reminds all children to think
about good times like these especially when times are
tough.
17. The second conclusion is that this poem is made to make
the readers understand the poem clearly, Clifton uses
visual, kinesthetic, and auditory imagery to give a complete
image of the good, happy moments in the speaker’s family.
Clifton also uses figurative language, such as symbol and
repetition aspect to describe the life that the speaker’s
family has to face.
18. Lestari, Sri. 2012. Psikologi Keluarga (Family Psychology).
Jakarta. Kencana, Prenadamedia Group; 1st Edition.
Literary Devices. Repetition. http://literarydevices.net/repetition/
Meyer, Michael. 2010. Literature to Go. Bedford/St. Martin’s; 1st
Edition.
Oliver, Mary. 1994. A Poetry Handbook. Mariner Books; 1st
Edition.
Perrine, Laurence. 1963. Sound and Sense : An Introduction
to Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace World; 2nd Edition.
Quinn, Edward. 2006. A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic
Terms. Checkmark Books; 2nd Edition.
Webster, Merriam. 2004. Webster’s New World College
Dictionary. Webster’s New World; 4th Edition.
