Definition of Accumulation
“Accumulation is a literary device that is defined as a list of words which embody similar abstract or physical qualities or meanings, with the intention to emphasize qualities of that word. It is also an act of accumulating the scattered points”.
Etymology of Accumulation
Accumulation is derived from Latin which means “to pile-up” or ‘’to amass”.
Explanation of Accumulation
Accumulation is a figure of speech in rhetoric. It gathers scattered concepts in a manner that highlights the key point. This listing of words in rhetoric is a method to further explain the subject of a script. There is often repetition in the accumulation, but it must include the notion of adding to a group or list, not repeating the thing over and over again.
Usage of Accumulation
Accumulation is a stylistic device that refers to a list of words or expressions having similar, if not identical meanings. In any piece of writing, words are listed in a grouped form to emphasize the common properties of that word. When words are listed together, the importance is very obvious and effective. It is also an act of collecting scattered ideas to reveal a deeper meaning.
The technique of accumulation is found in large numbers in older pieces of literature. It was used to condense and beautify the depth of the language. The modernist movement changed this view and people used fewer words to say meaningful things, to convey their message in a meaningful way. Nowadays, it is rare for writers to deliberately create lists of phrases or words with enthusiasm to define something that is easy to explain in simple words.
Examples of Accumulation in Literature
1.
“I will not excuse you; you shall not be excused; excuses shall not be admitted; there is no excuse shall serve; you shall not be excused.”
(Henry the Fourth by William Shakespeare)
No excuse will be given is said in five different styles that shows the stress that the author wants to exert on this sentence
2.
“… 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 …:”
(A modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift)
Jonathan Swift gives advice on how to get rid of poverty. He presented several ideas for solving the problems in the form of a list.
3.
“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 Little Virtues by Natalia Ginzburg)
The author used denial in the sentences above. The accumulation technique is used in all lines. Dispersed points are grouped together to represent them in a paragraph.
4.
“Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salibury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.”
(Henry V by William Shakespeare)
In the above fragment, Shakespeare has used multiple words having similar meanings for the description of King Harry.
5.
“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…”
(Ulysses by James Joyce)
James Joyce makes the perfect use of accumulation in this passage. In the start, there is a list of vegetables and flowers. These consist of, “Rangoon beans, strikes of tomatoes, drums figs”. Different colours are also grouped together, for example, “red green yellow brown russet”.