AN ANALYSIS OF POLITENESS PRINCIPLES IN OBAMA’S SPEECHES
A THESIS
BY
MELITA FRESIA PANGGABEAN
REG. NO. 080705034
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA
AN ANALYSIS OF POLITENESS PRINCIPLES IN OBAMA’S SPEECHES
A THESIS
BY
MELITA FRESIA PANGGABEAN
REG. NO. 080705034
SUPERVISOR CO-SUPERVISOR
(Dr. Eddy Setia, M.Ed.TESP) (Dr. Hj. Nurlela, M.Hum)
Submitted to Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara Medan in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra from Department of English
FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA
MEDAN 2012
DEPARTMENT’S APPROVAL SHEET
Approved by the Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara (USU) Medan as thesis for The Sarjana Sastra Examination.
Head, Secretary,
Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra from the Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University of
Sumatera Utara, Medan.
The examination is held in Department of English Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara on ………..
Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies
University of Sumatera Utara
Dr. H. Syahron Lubis, MA
NIP. 19511013 197603 1 001
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION
I, MELITA FRESIA PANGGABEAN DECLARE THAT I AM THE SOLE AUTHOR OF THIS THESIS EXCEPT WHERE REFERENCE IS MADE IN THE TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS COONTAINS NO MATERIAL PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE OR EXTRACTED IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM A THESIS BY WHICH I HAVE
QUALIFIED FOR OR AWARDED ANOTHER DEGREE. NO OTHER PERSON’S WORK HAS BEEN USED WITHOUT DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN THE MAIN TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF ANOTHER DEGREE IN ANY TERTIARY EDUCATION.
Signed :
COPYRIGHT DECLARATION
NAME : MELITA FRESIA PANGGABEAN
TITLE OF THESIS : AN ANALYSIS OF POLITENESS PRINSIPLES IN OBAMA’S
SPEECHES
QUALIFICATION : S-1/ SARJANA SASTRA
DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH
I AM WILLING THAT MY THESIS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR REPRODUCTION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LIBRARIAN OF DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT USERS ARE MADE AWARE OF THEIR
OBLIGATION UNDER THE LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA.
Signed :
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Time is like a river, we cannot repeat its stream twice and so is time. Time is golden, time
is life. And in this worthy time of part of my life, first of all, I would like to say my greatest
gratitude to my only Superhero and my Survivor and to my Time-setter, my God, Jesus Christ in
accomplishing and completion of this project. I do realize in working on this thesis is such a
miracle for me myself, without God’s hand through every single help and through people around
me, I cannot finish this project. All praises goes to God, the Almighty. All of these have added
valuable lessons to me since it is hardly possible to have this project done without many supports
from many parties.
It is an affection and appreciation that I acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. Eddy Setia,
M.ed.TESP, who initiated me into the science of Linguistics and to be my Supervisor as well. I
would like to express my sincere gratitude for his patience, understanding, enthusiasm, and
immense knowledge. I am deeply grateful to my Co-supervisor, Dr. Hj. Nurlela, M.Hum for her
help, advice, for her detailed and constructive comments, encouraging, for carefully and
critically reading the manuscript, and for her important support throughout this project of
research. Their wide knowledge and their logical way of thinking have been a great value for me,
so this thesis finally comes to its completion.
My strong appreciation goes to the Dean of Faculty of Cultural Science, Dr. Syahron
Lubis, to the Head and the Secretary of Department of English, Dr.Muhizar Muchtar, MS and the
Secretary, Dr. Hj. Nurlela, M.Hum who have rendered their assistance during my study in this
department. My sincere thanks also goes to Bang Am, as the administrator of Department of
English for his help and contribution during my study here. My project of research has been
made easier by the efficient and friendly officer of Department of English.
Words fail me to express my grateful and my extremely indebtedness to the love of my
life, my superman and my superwoman, my parents: to my Father, Herlo Melanda Panggabean
and to my Mother, Rita Klara Silalahi. Thank you for your endless love, thank you for every
single moment with you, pray, constant motivation, inspiration, encouragement, invaluable
sacrifice, thanks for giving birth to me and supporting me spiritually and materially. Thanks for
brother, Welfrin C.Panggabean, SE for his on-going support, motivation, wisdom, and maturity
and who has been always there to teach me life and struggle, and for my younger brother and my
sweetest sister, Evi Ria Natasya Panggabean and Hans Ferdian P. thanks for never-ending
togetherness and constant support. Thanks for being with me in my up and down. This world is
wonderful because of you my big family. Thank you.
Next special thanks to my beloved friends in group of MarkA and Serenity: Inta Sinaga,
Fenny Samosir, Disa Silaen, Juli A. Siboro (the best of all), and Mia Pratiwi Tarigan. Thanks for
being my friends. Thanks for support and motivation, comments, togetherness, and memories.
We are best friend forever. I would like also to say my appreciation for all of my friends in class
of 2008. My appreciation is also extended to my dear sisters in the ‘Daughter of Zion’: Pince
Sitanggang, Elhainun Situmeang, and Novicentrin Sinaga. Thanks for your love, care, pray,
motivation and attention.
And the last but not the least, I would like to say abundant of thanks to my great family in
Millenium Square for their love, care, pray, understanding, attention and motivation. I’m also
indebtedness to my beautiful aunties, especially my aunty Tiodor Lusiana Silalahi and Maria
Silalahi for guiding and suggesting the better things for me. I love you all. Thank you so much.
There are still many people to whom I am indebtedness and I cannot single out them one
by one in this opportunity. Thank you so much may God bless you all.
Medan, June 30th 2012
The Writer
Melita Fresia Panggabean
ABSTRAK
Skripsi berjudul “An Analysis of Politeness Principles in Obama’s Speeches” merupakan suatu
analisis tentang penerapan prinsip – prinsip kesopanan dalam pidato Obama. Landasan teori
yang digunakan adalah teori Geoffrey Leech (1983) yang menjelaskan tentang kesopanan serta
prinsip – prinsip kesopanan. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode
kepustakaan dengan menerapkan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan
dengan mengunduh data atau pidato dari internet, sedangkan untuk menganalisis data digunakan
metode analisis deskriptif kualitatif. Tujuan dari pembahasan skripsi ini adalah untuk
menemukan prinsip-prinsip kesopanan dalam pidato obama, menemukan prinsip atau maksim
yang paling dominan diterapkan oleh Obama dalam pidatonya, serta membandingkan prinsip
kesopanan yang digunakan Obama dalam pidatonya, sebelum dia terpilih menjadi presiden dan
setelah Obama terpilih menjadi Presiden Amerika Serikat yang ke-44 dan presiden kulit hitam
pertama di Amerika Serikat. Adapun objek kajian dalam pembahasan skripsi ini diambil dari dua
pidato Obama, yaitu pidato kemenangan serta pidato kampanye sebelum terpilih menjadi
presiden. Pidato tersebut dipilih secara acak dari media internet. Setelah menganalisis data, hasil
penemuan dari analisis ini menyatakan bahwa ada enam maksim yang terdapat dalam pidato
Obama, yakni 21 (24,14%) maksim kebijaksanaan, 16 (18,39%) maksim keramahan, 9 (10,34%)
maksim pujian, 9 (10,34%) maksim kerendah-hatian, 8 (9,20%) maksim kemufakatan, dan 24
(27,59%) maksim simpati. Sedangkan maksim yang paling dominan diterapkan adalah maksim
simpati. Kesimpulan akhir dari penelitian ini adalah bahwa maksim yang paling dominan
diterapkan yakni maksim simpati dan maksim kebijaksanaan. Obama juga dapat dijadikan
politisi atau pemimpin teladan dalam kesopanan berbahasanya. Saran dari analisis data ini yakni
baik untuk pengajar dan pelajar terhadap penerapan kesopanan dalam aktivitas komunikasi
secara khususnya, dan umumnya bagi para pengguna bahasa, sebaiknya memperhatikan prinsip
kesopanan dalam komunikasi - interaksi untuk mewujudkan keharmonisan serta kedamaian
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……… i
ABSTRACT ………..… iii
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Pragmatics ……… 9
2.4 Politeness Principles ………. 18
2.4.2 Generosity Maxim ……… 19
CHAPTER III METHOD OF RESEARCH 3.1 Research Design ……….. 31
3.2 Data and Data Source ………. 31
3.3 Data Collecting Method ………. 32
3.4 Data Analyzing Method ……….. 32
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND FINDING 4.1 Data Analysis ……….. 36
4.1.1 The Occurrence of Politeness Principles in Obama’s Victory Speech……….. 36
4.1.2 The Occurrence of Politeness Principles in Obama’s Campaign Speech (The American Promise Acceptance Speech at the Democratic Convention)………. 44
