The Yearling Figurative Language Analysis

A Pulitzer Prize is an award for an achievement in American journalism, literature, or music. Paul Gigot, chairman of the Pulitzer Prize board, described the award as a “proud and robust tradition”. How does one carry on this robust tradition? By mastery of skilled writing technique, one can be considered for the awarding of this prize. Since its creation in 1917, 13 have been awarded annually, one of which, in 1939, was given to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings for her novel, The Yearling. Rawlings is an American author from Florida known for writing rural themed novels. Consequently, The Yearling is about a boy living on a farm who adopts an orphaned fawn. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings procured a prestigious Pulitzer Prize for her effectual use of figurative language, sensory details, and syntax.

One main reason Marjorie K.

Rawlings was given a Pulitzer Prize for The Yearling is her splendid use of figurative language. An infinite amount of similes, metaphors, and personification examples are present. On page 7, for instance, Rawlings wrote, “He lay absorbing the fine-dropped rain like a young plant”. This simile is especially strong due to its comparison with an aspect of nature, which the setting revolves around. Metaphors are also used throughout, including on page 225- “The rain was a solid wall, from sky to earth.” This metaphor gives the word “wall” a weather-related connotation that it normally would not have out of context. Moreover, on page 225, personification is also used. In regards to the wind, Rawlings wrote, “It reached down his shirt and into his mouth and eyes and ears and tried to strangle him.” Personifying the weather’s actions is a very powerful way to describe the treacherous conditions. Also found in this quote is a polysyndeton that enumerates the list of places the wind reached using excessive conjunctions. Marjorie K. Rawlings’ use of figurative language undoubtedly contributed to her Pulitzer Prize

awarding.

In addition to figurative language sensory details are used throughout the novel,, making it Pulitzer Prize-worthy. On page 7, Rawlings stated, “The mist tickled his skin. It was scarcely wet. It was at once warm and cool.” This clear feeling details are accentuated by use of personification and anaphora as well. The author gave lifelike traits to the mist along with repeating the words “it was” to describe the mist in multiple ways. Along with feeling details, sound details are used as well. For example, on page 6, she wrote, “The water made a sound like kittens lapping. A frog sang a moment and then was still.” These sounds are relatable or have been heard by many, therefore creating relatable sensations that add details to the forest setting. Not only were feeling and sound details included, but also smell. “The dry, sweet scented air was close and thick. He felt stifled.” The words “sweet-scented” arouse the scents and describe yet another aspect of the scene. These various sensory details increase the quality of writing and makes this novel vividly detailed.

Although more often overlooked than figurative language and sensory details, syntax, or the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences, is a key component in the success of a writing. Therefore, the sentence structures contributes heavily to the awarding of the Pulitzer Prize for The Yearling. Marjorie's sentence structure is concise, parallel, and descriptive. After describing in great detail the many things occurring in nature around the boy in paragraph 3 of page 6, Rawlings ended the paragraph with a two word sentence, “He slept”. This terse sentence cuts off the descriptions, much like sleep cuts of what is going on around us. This syntax choice is a very effective way to put the character to sleep. On the other hand, the introduction of this same paragraph contained a 26 letter word sentence. The juxtaposition of these contrasting sentence lengths leads to a far more dynamic paragraph. In paragraph 2, Rawlings also used syntax to effectively describe the motions of a flutter mill. She wrote, “Up, over, down, up, over, down….” This syntax is more powerful than simply stating that the flutter mill moved. In addition, on page 7, Rawlings syntax mimics the actions of the character, Jody. “He stops short”, much like the author stops short in her sentence structure. Moreover, the syntax used in The Yearling attributed immensely to the success of the writing.

The Yearling is a well written novel chosen to carry on this proud and robust tradition. Figurative language, sensory details, syntax; all effectively used to form a well constructed novel worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. Rawlings’ writing is skilled, Rawlings’ writing is effective, and most importantly, Rawlings’ writing is award winning.