Literary
Terms
Accumulation
Accumulation
is a Latin word which means “pile up.” It is a device that is defined as a list
of words which embody similar abstract or physical qualities or meanings, with
the intention to emphasize the common qualities that words hold.
Accumulation
is used in literature, poetry and all types of rhetorical writing. The basic
function is to make language livelier and contribute to the meanings of the
words. Also, it describes the qualities of an object through different
explanations, if otherwise it would be left vague or ambiguous.
Examples:
Henry
V (by William Shakespeare)
“Then
shall our names,
Familiar
in his mouth as household words,
Harry
the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick
and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be
in their flowing cups freshly remembered.”
In
this excerpt, Shakespeare has gathered similar words to describe King Harry.
Ulysses
(by James Joyce)
“What
syllabus of intellectual pursuits was simultaneously possible? Snapshot
photography, comparative study of religions, folklore relative to various
amatory and superstitious practices, contemplation of celestial
constellations….”
Here,
Joyce has accumulated similar and related words in the form of a list. There
are options given between different intellectual careers. These include
“snapshot photography, comparative study of religions, superstitious
practices.”
The
Little Virtues (by Natalia Ginzburg)
“I
don’t know how to manage my time; he does.
I
don’t know how to dance and he does.
I
don’t know how to type and he does.
I
don’t know how to drive … ”
The
writer has used negation in the given sentences. All four lines are written in
accumulated form, and the scattered points are listed together.
A
Modest Proposal (by Jonathan Swift)
“…
having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our
trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to
the rich … ”
This
is a good example of accumulation wherein Swift gives suggestions on how to get
rid of poverty. He has listed various motives and ways to resolve the problems,
adding and contributing to the meaning of the sentences.
When
Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops (by George Carlin)
I’m
a modern man, digital and smoke-free;
a
man for the millennium.
A
diversified, multi-cultural, post-modern deconstructionist;
politically,
anatomically and ecologically incorrect.
I’ve
been uplinked and downloaded,
I’ve
been inputted and outsourced.
I
know the upside of downsizing,
I
know the downside of upgrading.”
Here,
George Carlin has used three categories of accumulation. In the first two
lines, “a modern man” is described as “digital and smoke-free,” and as “a man
for the millennium.” In the following two lines, he added, “a diversified,
multi-cultural … politically … incorrect.”
Holy
Thursday (by William Blake)
“Is
this a holy thing to see
In a
rich and fruitful land,
Babes
reduced to misery,
Fed
with cold and usurous hand?
Is
that trembling cry a song?
Can
it be a song of joy?
And
so many children poor?
And
their fields are bleak and bare,
And
their ways are filled with thorns.”
Here
is the accumulation of three questions that induce a resentful response.
Similarly, three assertions come in the third stanza in a similar grammatical
pattern. These are: “And their son does never shine,” “And their fields are
bleak and bare,” and “And their ways are filled …”
Ulysses
(by James Joyce)
“Rangoon
beans, strikes of tomatoes, drums of figs, drills of Swedes, spherical potatoes
and tallies of iridescent kale, York and Savoy, and trays of onions, pearls of
the earth, and punnets of mushrooms and custard marrows……and rape and red green
yellow brown russet sweet big bitter ripe pomellated apples and chips of
strawberries and sieves of gooseberries, pulpy and pelurious, and strawberries
fit for princes and raspberries from their canes… “
This
is a perfect example of accumulation. In the beginning, there is a listing of
flowers and vegetables. These include “Rangoon beans, strikes of tomatoes,
drums of figs,” and again an accumulation of different colors, such as “red
green yellow brown russet.”
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