Write 5 page essay on the topic From a short story Barn Burning by William Faulkner.The short story provided several examples pertaining to sound symbolism. According to several authors (Hinton et al.

Write 5 page essay on the topic From a short story Barn Burning by William Faulkner.

The short story provided several examples pertaining to sound symbolism. According to several authors (Hinton et al.. Monaghan et al. 1152. and Nuckolls 228), sound symbolism had been considered to be arbitrary. However, when a sound unit goes beyond its linguistic function to express internal states of being, be it emotional or physical and it provides salient features of objects and activities, it can be considered as symbolic and may have implied meanings. Among the sound symbolic terms and instances in which sound symbolism was used in the story were: the use of sentences with question mark and exclamation points. frequent mention of adjectives and modifiers to stress a point. mention of source of water (spring). and mention of other sound related words such as rang, clocklike sound of a foot, glitter, chopping, hooves sounds, galloping, and the constant indication of the presence of whippoorwills. There are also other symbolisms used such as the comparison of human attitude to that of an animal (wolf). symbolic representation of the man in spectacles. and the symbolic use of food in the story. According to Hinton et al., there are several types of sound symbolism, which are the following: corporeal sound symbolism. vocative sound symbolism. imitative sound symbolism. and meta-linguistic symbolism. Corporeal sound symbolism refers to those sound languages that include an involuntary utterance in which directly reflects internal state of the body and mind. In the story, sound symbolism that suggests corporeal type is when the boy cried that his father did not burn the rug. This instance reflects the true state of the body of mind of the boy, as being confused and the heightened emotion in his desire to protect his father (Hinton et al. 345. Faulkner 8). Vocative sound symbolism refers to the instance in which the speaker aims to get the attention of someone or of a listener (Hinton et al. 345). Instances in the story that reflects this kind of symbolism were those sentences that include question marks and exclamation points. Examples are: (a) But what proofs do you have Mr. Harris? and (b) Barn Burner! (Faulkner 1-2). These sentences tend to get the attention of a listener as well as express the social relationship of the speaker and the other person. Examples of vocative sounds cited in this paper can also be considered as a form of meta-linguistic symbolism since these examples also depicts the elements of intonation patterns and aspects of linguistic structures and functions (Hinton et. Al 346). Imitative sound symbolism on the other hand refers to words or phrases representing environmental sounds. This type of symbolism, though may appeal to senses, must not be tied to emotional and physical state of the person yet it must be considered as important in interpreting meanings (Hinton et al. 345). Environmental sounds reflected in the story such as whirling, sagging steps, savage blow with the peeled willow, spring sound, rang, clocklike sound of a foot, glitter, chopping, hooves sounds, galloping, and the constant indication of presence of whippoorwills suggests imitative sound symbolism. These environmental sounds portray and make a vivid picture of the environment they are into in the context of time and space.