DISCOURSE

STRUCTURE

By Linh Nguyen – ED – VNU

The linearization of discourse

• Problem of linearization: first-mentioned influences second-mentioned. – I can’t stand Sally. She’s tall and thin and

walks like a crane.

– I really admire Sally. She’s tall and thin and walks like a crane.

– She married and became pregnant.

– She became pregnant and married.

Thematic organization of the sentence

• Theme: • the left-most constituent of the

sentence, • the starting point of the utterance

• Rheme: • What the speaker states about, or in

regard to, the starting point of the utterance.

John kissed Mary

Mary was kissed by John

It was John who kissed Mary

It was Mary who was kissed by John

What John did was kiss Mary

Who John kissed was Mary

Mary, John kissed her

=> The more marked the construction, the more likely an implicated meaning will be expressed

Identify the theme in these sentences

• Now I would like to move on to the next issue

• Very carefully she put him back on his feet again.

• Back in the mid sixties, I was one of those republicans who opposed Medicare

• Without saying a word, she left the room.• Where are you going?• Stand up, please.

Eg: 1. The Prime Minister stepped of the plane.

2. Journalists immediately surrounded her.

or

3. She was immediately surrounded by journalists.

Two functions of theme

- To connect back and link into the

previous discourse, maintaining a

coherent point of view

- To serve as a point of departure for

further development of the discourse

Thematisation/ Staging

• Theme as main character/ topic

entity. E.g: “Jane Eyre”

• Titles and thematisation

• Thematic structure

Titles and thematisation

• The title of discourse: Should be regarded as one possible expression of the topic, but not equated with the “topic”.

• Functions: Provide a starting point around which the discourse that follows is structured and constraints our interpretation of what follows.

A prisoner plans his escape

• Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape. He hesitated a moment and thought. Things were not going well. What bothered him most was being held, especially since the charge against him had been weak. He considered his present situation. The lock that held him was strong but he thought he could break it.

A wrestler in a tight corner

• Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape. He hesitated a moment and thought. Things were not going well. What bothered him most was being held, especially since the charge against him had been weak. He considered his present situation. The lock that held him was strong but he thought he could break it.

Identify the theme

• Dear John:

• I’m sitting here at my desk writing to you. Outside my window is a big lawn surrounded by trees, and in the middle of the lawn is a flower bed. It was full of daffodils and tulips in the spring. You’d love it here. You must come and stay sometimes; we’ve got plenty of room.

theme (topic) rheme (comment)

I ‘m sitting here

Outside my window is a big lawn

In the middle of the lawn is a flower bed

This bed was full of daffodils

You ‘d love it here

You must come and stay

We ‘ve got plenty of room

Thematic Progression

=> the topic framework is organized around the themes of the constituent sentences.

Discourse organization

• General – Whole• Whole – Part• Set – Subject – Element• Including – Included• Large – Small • Outside – Inside• Possessor - Possessed

DISCOURSE ORGANIZATION 1

In her late eighties, my grandmother looks much

younger then her age (1). As time goes by, her gait

is not agile anymore but still remains graceful and

dignified (2). Her figure has changed a lot but some

special features about her face suggest that at one

time she might have been very beautiful and

attractive (3).

Her face tells you at a glance that she is a woman

with strong will (4). There’s a determined look in her

dark clear eyes, which give me a feeling of security

whenever she is around (5). In those very firm eyes

sometimes I see a flicker of limitless love she has for

us (6).

whole-part, set-element, outside-inside, large-

small Sentence 1 describes the general, whole, outside.

In her late eighties, my grandmother looks much younger then

her age (1).

Sentence 2 moves to her gait more specific

(…) her gait is not agile anymore but still remains graceful

and dignified (2).

Sentence 3 describes her figure, then face

Her figure has changed a lot but some special features

about her face suggest that … (3).

DISCOURSE ORGANIZATION 1

Sentence 4,5, and 6 come to describe in more

details about face and eyes

Her face tells you at a glance that she is a

woman with strong will (4). There’s a

determined look in her dark clear eyes, which

give me a feeling of security whenever she is

around (5). In those very firm eyes sometimes I

see a flicker of limitless love she has for us (6).

DISCOURSE ORGANIZATION 1

DISCOURSE ORGANIZATION 2Outwardly, she appears calm (1). Only her close friends are aware of the turmoil below the surface (2). Frugal with words, she saved them for important occasions (3). She was difficult to befriended, seemingly cold and disinterested (4). But underneath this reserve,

she was warm and considerate(5) . She had

few friends and on those few she depended

greatly(6). She worked steadily and was

not known to break her routine of working five

nights a week at the film-processing laboratories (7).

Outside - Inside Sentence 1 describes the outside, whole, general look

Outwardly, she appears calm (1).

Sentence (2) and (3) go more deeply inside

Only her close friends are aware of the turmoil below the surface

(2). Frugal with words, she saved them for important occasions (3).

Sentence 4 again tells about characteristics

She was difficult to befriended, seemingly cold and disinterested

(4).

The rest explains her true inside person

But underneath this reserve, she was warm and considerate(5) .

She had few friends and on those few she depended greatly(6). She

worked steadily and was not known to break her routine of

working five nights a week at the film-processing laboratories (7).

DISCOURSE ORGANIZATION 2

DISCOURSE STRUCTURE

• Narrative

• Descriptive

• Procedural

• Argumentative

Genre Purpose Stages

Exposition Persuades by arguing one side of an issue

Thesis ^ Arguments ^ Reinforcement of Thesis

Information report

Classifies and describes the way things are or were

General statement to identify and classify topic ^ Description of features

News story Tells events regarded as newsworthy or of public importance

Lead ^ Key events ^ Quotes

Genre Purpose Stages

Review Assesses a work of literature, art or entertainment

Context ^ Text description ^ judgment

Recount Retells a series of events

Background ^ record of events ^ reorientation

Narrative Tells a story dealing with problematic events in order to entertain or intruct

Orientation ^ Complication ^ Evaluation ^ Resolution

Procedure Instructs how to do something through a sequence of steps

Goal ^ step 1 – n (results)

Hoey’s problem – solution pattern

• situation (within which there is a complication or problem)

• problem (within the situation, requiring a response),

• response (to the problem), • Result/solution (of the response) • Evaluation (of the

response/result/solution).

Hoey (1994): the full problem solution pattern consists of five elements:

Labov’s narrative patternLabov (1972), in analysing narratives of personal experience told in face-to-face conversation, proposed a model with six categories:

1. Abstract: summarizing the whole narrative

2. Orientation: setting the scene: who, what, when, where

3. Complicating action: describing the main events

4. Evaluation: justifying the value of the narrative

5. Result/ Resolution: concluding the sequences of events

6. Coda: signalling the end of the narrative

Longacre’s narrative pattern1. exposition - information about time, place, local

colour, participants;

2. inciting moment - the planned and predictable is broken up in some manner;

3. developing conflict - the situation intensifies or deteriorates;

4. climax - confrontation is inevitable;

5. denouement - a crucial event happens which makes resolution possible;

6. final suspense - details resolution;

7. conclusion - end of story. (1983:21)

The Old Man, the Boy and the Donkey

An old man, a boy & a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey & the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking & the boy was riding. The man & boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy & man said they were probably right, so they decide to carry the donkey.

As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal & he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story?If you try to please everyone, you might as well...kiss your ass good-bye.

Reference• Hoey, M. 1994. Signalling in Discourse: a functional

analysis of a common discourse pattern in written and spoken English. In Coulthard (1994a). 26-45.

• Labov, William. 1972. Language in the Inner City. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.

• Longacre, Robert E. 1983. "Spectrum, profile and constituency structure in text analysis."  In Shiró̱S Hattori and Kazuko Inoue (eds.), Proceedings of the 13th International Congress of Linguists, August 29-September 4, 1982, Tokyo, 1024-27. Tokyo: Comité International Permanent des Linguistes.

Practice

Text 1 We have just the solution for mountains of rubbish. Turn it into heaps of electricity. (1) Weighing in at over 30 million tonnes, the domestic and

commercial rubbish that Britain produces annually is mind-boggling. (2) At present, the vast bulk of it simply goes into holes in the ground. (3) But what will we do when suitable landfill sites no longer exist ? (4) National Power has a solution. (5) Don’t bury, burn. (6) And use the energy created to drive steam turbines and so produce electricity. (7) We’re planning to build one of Britain’s first such Waste-to-Energy plants at Northfleet in Kent. (8) Come 1995, we aim to process 650,000 tonnes of domestic and commercial refuse to produce some 44 megawatts of clean electricity. (9) We are involved in other equally fresh electricity producing ideas too. (10) We’re developing wind power technology at one of the largest wind farms ever built in Britain. (11) And we’re investing in cleaner, more efficient gas-fired power generating stations. (12) Developments such as these will ensure Britain has plenty of electricity at its disposal in decades to come. (13) Not to mention tons less rubbish.

Text 2

Text 2

Questions for final assignment

1. Find an example of narrative discourse

2. Analyze the text in terms of its generic stages. Draw the diagram and work at that