THESIS
Submitted as a partial fulfillment of requirements for the Sarjana Sastra Degree of the English Department Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University
BY: TINA STYANTI
C1307511
ENGLISH DEPARTEMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
ii By: Tina Styanti
C1307511
Approved to be examined before the Board of Examiners Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts
Sebelas Maret University
Thesis Supervisor
Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS, M.CALL NIP 19740818200012 1 001
The Head of Non Regular English Department
iii Tina Styanti
C1307511
Accepted and approved by the Board of Examiners Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts
Sebelas Maret University
The Board of Examiners June, 2nd 2010
Position Name Signature Chairman Drs. Budi Waskito, MPd ( )
NIP.195211081983031001
Secretary Dr. Djatmika, MA ( ) NIP. 196707261993021001
First Examiner Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS. M.CALL ( ) NIP.197408182000121001
Second Examiner Dr. Tri Wiratno, MA ( ) NIP.196109141987031001
Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University
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I hereby state that I myself write this thesis entitled “Compliments in the novel entitled P.S I Love You”. It is not a plagiarism, nor made by others. The belongings related to other people’s work are written in quotations and included
within the bibliography.
If it is subsequently proved that I cheat, I am ready to take the responsibility, including the withdrawal of my academic degree.
Surakarta, June 2010
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Motto
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I wholeheartedly dedicate this thesis to: My beloved parents
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Praise and worship to the name of Jesus Christ, Almighty Father in heaven and Holy Spirit. This accomplishment is absolutely nothing without the blessing of God and His guidance. Finally, one of my dreams comes true. It was a challenging task for me to complete this thesis. It took a lot of time, energy, and patience. I realize that without supports from people surround me, I might not able to accomplish this thesis. Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to all people as follow:
1. Drs. Sudarno, M.A as the dean of faculty of Letters and Fine Arts of Sebelas Maret University for approving this thesis.
2. Drs. S. Budi Waskita, M. Pd. as the head of English Department of Sebelas Maret for providing the opportunity to write this thesis.
3. Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS, M.CALL as my thesis consultant for his concern, guidance, and critical advice.
4. Dra. Endang Sri Astuti, MSi as my academic consultant for the advice and guidance during my study in Sebelas Maret University.
5. All the lecturers for the knowledge given through the lectures.
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9. Rocky Ryandra for always supporting me to finish this thesis.
10.Naomi, Juli and Dewi for sharing the greatest and the craziest moments with me during the lectures and for always motivating me to finish this thesis.
11.All my friends of English Non-regular, especially in linguistics’07 Yetti, Budi, Supri, Rina, Pratama, Niken, Wening, Amy and Ehud thanks for the support and the friendship for the nice three years.
12.All people who have helped me in completing this thesis.
Finally, I realize that this thesis is still far for being perfect but I hope this thesis can be beneficial for all.
Surakarta, June 2010
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APPROVAL BY THESIS CONSULTANT……….. iii
APPROVAL BY THESIS BOARD OF EXAMINERS……… iv
PRONOUNCEMENT………. v
3. The Functions of Compliment………. 17
F. The Politeness Principles………... . 20
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C. Research Design………. 32
D. Technique of Collecting Data……… 32 E. Technique of Analyzing Data……… 32 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS
A. Introduction……….... 33
B. Data Analysis………... 33
C. Discussion……….. 65
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion………. 75
B. Suggestion………... 76
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Letters and Fine Arts. Sebelas Maret University.
This research was conducted to describe the types of topics of compliment employed by the characters in the novel entitled P.S I Love You, and the politeness strategy applied in the compliment expressions in this novel. I classified the type of topics of compliment based on Wolfson’s classification. Further, Geoffrey Leech’s Politeness Principles were used as the framework in analyzing the politeness strategy.
To achieve the goal, I applied library research in the form of descriptive qualitative research. This research was focused only on the dialogue that contained compliment expressions.
From the result of analysis, 4 types of topic of compliments are found in this novel. They are personal appearance, possession, general ability, and specific-act ability.
Topic of personal appearance is used in 5 data; topic of possession is used in 6 data. Compliments on general ability are found in 8 data and topic of specific act ability is used in 3 data. It is found that the characters perform the compliments expression in various ways. From the politeness strategy, there are three politeness principle strategy found in the compliments expression: Tact Maxim, Approbation Maxim and Generosity Maxim. In delivering the compliments, the speakers already obey the maxim. From the data obtained, 20 data obey the approbation maxim, 1 data obeys the tact maxim and 1 data obeys the generosity maxim.
ABSTRAK
2010. Skripsi: Jurusan Sastra Inggris Program Non Reguler Fakultas Sastra dan Seni Rupa Universitas Sebelas Maret.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan tipe-tipe topik yang terdapat di dalam pujian yang digunakan oleh tokoh-tokoh dalam novel berjudul PS I Love You dan mengungkapkan strategi kesopanan yang diterapkan di dalam ungkapan-ungkapan pujian didalam novel ini. Saya mengklasifikasikan tipe-tipe topik pujian berdasarkan klasifikasi Wolfson. Selanjutnya, prinsip-prinsip kesopanan dari Geoffrey Leech digunakan sebagai acuan dalam menganalisa strategi kesopanan.
Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Penelitian ini difokuskan hanya pada dialog yang mengandung ungkapan pujian.
Dari hasil analisa ditemukan 4 tipe topik pujian yang digunakan dalam novel ini. Topik-topik tersebut yaitu penampilan personal, kepemilikan, kemampuan umum dan kemampuan tindakan khusus. Topik penampilan personal digunakan dalan 5 data, topik kepemilikan digunakan dalam 6 data. Pujian terhadap kemampuan umum ditemukan pada 8 data dan topik kemempuan tindakan khusus ditemukan alam 3 data. Tokoh-tokoh mengungkapkan pujian dengan berbagai cara. Berdasarkan strategi kesopanan yang digunakan, terdapat 3 prinsip strategi kesopanan yang ditemukan dalam ungkapan pujian, yaitu maksim kebijaksanaan, maksim pujian dan maksim kedermawanan. Dalam menyampaikan pujian, penutur sudah mematuhi maksim-maksim tersebut. Dari data-data yang diperoleh, 20 data mematuhi prinsip maksim pujian, 1 data
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Mahasiswa Jurusan Sastra Inggris dengan NIM C1307511
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Dosen Pembimbing
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A. Research Background
Within an interaction, people need the concept of politeness. Politeness becomes a major concern in pragmatics since it is very important in an interaction. Leech (1983) defines politeness as forms of behavior that establish and maintain comity. It is the ability of the participants in a social interaction to engage in interaction in an atmosphere of relative harmony. Politeness is a system of interpersonal relation designed to facilitate interaction by minimizing the potential for conflict and confrontation inherent in all human interchange. There are several ways to think of politeness. These may involve ideas like being tactful, modest and nice to other people.
Compliment can be one of the simple ways for the people to show their politeness when they communicate to one another. Besides, it can be used to maintain the relationship between them. It can be parents who compliment their children on their good behavior. The expression of compliment such as “You‟re a good boy” shows that the parents appreciate the children attitude and it will
encourage the children to keep on behaving in good way. Companions often exchange compliment when they meet each other by saying “You always look beautiful” or give compliment on their new belonging. These simple expressions
Compliment is formulaic in English; it represents a social strategy in that the speaker attempts to create or maintain rapport with the addressee by expressing admiration or approval Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983). Moreover, Holmes (2003 : 177) defines a compliment as a speech act which explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person addressed for some “good” (possesion, characteristic, skill, etc) which
is positively valued by the speaker and the hearer. Compliments are intended to make the addresses feel good, but it may serve other function too in different interactions. Even in some contexts, compliment may be experienced negatively.
Since compliment has many variations, it is important for the people to know on what case people give compliment. Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983) points out that what members of particular cultural groups thank or apologize for, or compliment on, usually reflects values because, in performing these speech acts, people are often implicitly assessing the behavior, possessions, accomplishments, character, or appearance of others. Moreover, specific relationship between the speaker and the addressee also affects the choice of type of compliment considered appropriate. It can be said that there is a basis for the people to deliver compliment, it may be base on the appearance, possessions, etc.
used by the characters. To give a clearer understanding, this following example is included as follows:
„Wow!’ Daniel said, his mouth dropping open. ‘You look fabulous, Holly.‟
„I look like -,‟ Holly started to grumble and Sharon shot her a look. „But, thanks,‟ she quickly added.
The conversation above occurs in Holly‟s house between Daniel and Holly. Daniel picks Holly; he will be Holly‟s partner in the ball because Holly does not want to go there alone. Daniel is surprised to see how Holly is beautiful in her simple black dress. As someone having close relationship to Holly, Daniel gives compliment to show his admiration on Holly‟s appearance, he is amazed with Holly‟s appearance and he says that Holly looks fabulous. Therefore, it can
be categorized that the compliment has topic of personal appearance because Daniel gives compliment based on Holly‟s appearance.
The approbation maxim is employed in the utterance ‘Wow!’ ‘You look
fabulous Holly’ because Daniel, as the speaker maximizes the praise to Holly. His
simple word ‘Wow’ and his facial expression when saying it show that he is really impressed by Holly‟s appearance. Holly, as the addressee seems to say something
contrasts with the compliment. She does not continue her response ‘I look like -,’ because Sharon shoots a look at her and then Holly says ‘Thanks’.Saying „Thank You‟ can be identified as the way to show politeness.
B. Problem Statements
Based on the research background, the research is conducted to cover several problems as formulated below:
1. What are the types of topics of compliments employed by the characters in the novel P.S I Love You?
2. What politeness strategies are applied in the compliments in the novel P.S I Love You?
C. Scope of Research
There are many kinds of speech acts found in the novel entitled P.S I Love You. However, the research is only focused on the speech act of compliment. This
research is also limited on the topics of compliment and the using of politeness strategies in delivering the compliments.
D. Research Objectives
Related to the problem statements, the objectives of the research are: 1. To describe the types of topics of compliments employed by the characters
in the novel P.S I Love you.
E. Research Benefits
This research is expected to give contribution as follows: 1. The readers
I hope that this research will give an understanding to the readers about the types of topics of compliments that they can use in complimenting others. Besides, it can help the readers to know about the employment of politeness strategy in the compliments. Since compliments are not only common in our society but occur in a wide variety of speech situation this research is important in order that people are capable in issuing the appropriate compliment to others because sometimes compliment may become an insult and hurt others‟ feel if it is not relevant
with the certain condition. 2. Other researchers
This research is expected to be a reference for other researchers to conduct further research about the employment of politeness strategy in compliments.
F. Research Methodology
G. Thesis Organization The thesis organization is arranged as follows:
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION consists of Research Background, Problem Statement, Scope of Research, Research Objectives, Research Benefits, Research Methodology, and Thesis Organization.
CHAPTER II : LITERATURE REVIEW consists of Pragmatics, Speech Acts, Direct and Indirect Speech Act, Ethnography of Speaking, Compliment, The Politeness Principles, Synopsis of the Novel, and Review of Related Study.
CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY consists of Type of Research, Data and Source of Data, Research Design, Technique of Collecting Data, and Technique of Analyzing Data.
CHAPTER IV : ANALYSIS.
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A. Pragmatics
Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics study that focuses on meaning of utterances. Levinson (1997: 24) defines that pragmatics is the study of the role of context that focuses on meaning of utterances. Meanwhile, Thomas, (1995: 1) states that pragmatics deals with meaning in use or meaning in context.
According to Yule, pragmatics is the study of the relationship between linguistic forms and the users of those forms. Pragmatics allows humans into the analysis. The advantage of studying language via pragmatics is that one can talk about people‟s intended meanings, their assumptions, their purposes or goal, and
the kinds of the actions that they are performing when they speak (1996: 4)
From the definitions above, pragmatics can be defined as a study which understands the utterances meanings of the speaker based on the situation when the utterances happened.
B. Speech Acts
According to Searle (1976: 16), speaking a language is performing speech acts, acts such as making statements, giving commands, asking questions, and making promises. While, Yule (1996: 47) defines speech acts as action performed via utterances such as apology, complaint, invitation, promise or request.
Austin (1962) divides three kinds of acts that are performed in which in saying something someone is doing something.
a. Locutionary act is the literal meaning of the utterance. It is the basic act of utterance.
b. Illocutionary act is the act of getting the audience to recognize the speaker‟s meaning.
c. Perlocutionary act is the bringing about of effect on the audience by means of uttering the sentence, such effect being special to the circumstances of utterance.
In simple way, locutionary act is the act of saying something, illocutionary act is what is done in the act of saying something, and perlocutionary act is the effect produced by saying something. The example below will give clear understanding of it.
A: You look beautiful tonight. B: Thank you.
The act of saying „You look beautiful tonight‟ is the locutionary act. A
Searle in Leech (1983) provides classification of speech acts in which he calls as five macro-classes of illucotionary acts. They are:
1. Declarations are illocution whose „successful performance brings about the correspondence between the propositional content and reality‟; e.g.
resigning, christening, naming, appointing, etc. It consists of acts which affect immediate changes in the institutional state of affairs.
For example: Priest: I baptize you….
I pronounce you husband and wife. I name this baby “David”.
2. Assertives commit someone to the truth of the expressed proposition: e.g. stating, suggesting, boasting, complaining, claiming, and reporting. The point is expressing a belief, making words fit the words, and committing the speaker to the truth of what is asserted.
For example: a. The earth is flat. b. Today is cool.
c. Sophie is a beautiful girl.
3. Expressives are statements of psychological condition. It means that the speaker expresses his feeling; it can be statements of pleasure, pain, like and dislike. The examples of the speech act included in expressives are compliment, congratulating, thinking, apologizing, refusing, etc.
4. Directives are all attempts done by the speaker to get the hearer to do something. Directives cover command, order, request, suggestion, etc. For example: a. Open the door, please!
b. Could you take me a drink, please? c. Don‟t throw the rubbish to the river!
5. Commisives are all expressing an intention as a commitment for the speaker to engage in future course of action. The examples of speech act included in commisives are promise, threat, and pledge.
For example: a. I‟ll be back.
b. I will finish my homework tomorrow. c. I promise him I would come.
C. Direct and Indirect Speech Act
Direct and indirect speech act are concerned with the way the speaker uses various linguistic form with certain functions.
a. Direct Speech Act
It occurs when there is a direct relationship between a structure and a function.
In (a) the speaker states that the hearer wears a black shirt. In (b) the speaker ask a question to the hearer whether the speaker wear a black shirt or not. In (c) the speaker commands the hearer to wear a black shirt.
Thus, a declarative used to make statement, an interrogative used to make question and an imperative used to make a command are direct speech acts. b. Indirect Speech Act
It occurs when there is an indirect relationship between a structure and a function. Thomas states that indirectness occurs when there is a mismatch between the expressed meaning by the words and the implied meaning (1995: 119).
Example: a) Don‟t be noisy!
b) Do you have to be so noisy? c) You are so noisy.
The sentences above have different structure but accomplish the same basic function that is a command. The speakers of all the utterances above want the hearer to be quiet. The interrogative structure in (b) and the declarative structure in (c) represent the indirect speech act of formulas.
D. Ethnography of Speaking
concerned with the situations and uses, the patterns and functions, of speaking as an activity in its own right‟.
The way of speaking can vary substantially from one culture to another. In order to study communicative behavior within a speech community – the group to which a particular ethnographic description applies – it is necessary to work with a nested hierarchy of units called the speech situation, speech event and speech act. Speech acts are part of speech events which are, in turn, part of speech situation. Hymes describes speech situation as situations associated with (or marked by the absence of) speech. The examples given are ceremonies, fights or hunts. Speech situation may be composed of both communicative and other kinds of events.
Speech events are both communicative and governed by rules for the use of speech. A speech event is composed of one or more speech acts. The example is joke. It might be a speech act that is part of a conversation (a speech event) which takes place in a party (a speech situation).
Hymes in Wardhaugh (1998) proposes an ethnographic framework which takes into account the varios factors that are involved in speaking. Hymes uses the word SPEAKING as an acronym for the various factors he deems to be relevant: a. Situation (S)
example, the seating arrangement of a meeting room, whether it is in straight rows or in a circle, may signal the appropriate level of formality.
b. Participant (P)
The participants include combinations of speaker-listener, addresser-addressee, or sender-receiver. They generally fill certain specific roles. It deals with who is speaking and who are they are speaking to. Their presence in communicative event may influence on what is said and how it is said. Each of them has his/her own behavior toward language and language choice according to the social and culture factor.
The description of participants includes not only their characteristics, but also their background information such as age, gender, social class, status, background, etc. The style of dress of participants may also be a determiner of their communicative behavior. For example, people will talk more formally to one wearing a formal dress than to one in a sporty dress.
c. Ends (E)
Ends of a speech event are divided into outcome and goal. Outcome refers to the purpose of the event from a cultural point of view, e.g. trade, business, contract, interview, etc. Meanwhile, goal refers to the purpose of the individual participants. For example, the goal of seller in bargaining event is to maximize the price, while the customers want to minimize it.
d. Act Sequence (A)
participants. Meanwhile, message content deals with what participants talk about; it is simply called as topic of a conversation.
Furthermore, the topic of a conversation can determine how close the participants to each other. For example, individual does not normally ask strangers their age, marital status or salary in the first meeting in America or English.
Both message form and message content involved communicative skills that vary from one culture to another. Speakers should know how to formulate speech events and speech acts in their culture appropriately.
e. Key (K)
Key refers to the tone, manner, or spirit in which a speech act is performed, whether it is serious, mocking, sarcastic, and so on. Key also refers to the feeling, atmosphere, and attitude. Furthermore, the key may be marked by non-verbal action such as wink, smile, gesture, or posture.
Key plays an important part in affecting the use of language. For example, one might show his/her annoyance by speaking with rude words in a high tone and bad manner.
The aspect of key is as follows:
1. Tone refers to the general spirit of the scene such as angry, afraid, brave, etc.
2. Manner refers to the participant‟s way of behaving toward others, whether it is polite, impolite, formal, informal, serious, mocking, etc.
4. Atmosphere refers to the feeling that affects the mind in a place or condition, such as good, evil, etc.
5. Attitude refers to the participants‟ ways of thinking and behaving toward a situation whether it is sympathetic, pessimistic, etc.
f. Instrumentalities (I)
Instrumentalities refer to channel and form of speech. Channel means the way a message travels from one person to another whether by oral or written. Message can also be transmitted by such means as telegraph, semaphore, smoke signal, or drumming. Meanwhile, the form of speech refers to language and their subdivision, dialect, codes, varieties, and register.
g. Norms (N)
Norms include norms of interaction and norms of interpretation. Norms of interaction refer to non-linguistic rules of when, how, and how often speech occurs in the community. Norms of interaction are determined by the culture of the community. Norms of interpretation involves trying to implicate the belief system of a community. Interpretation involves trying to understand what is being conveyed beyond what is in the actual words used.
h. Genre (G)
students as the participants may be involved in serious or humorous effect in other situation.
E. Compliment 1. Definition of Compliment
Compliment as speech act, is classified as expressive expression of approval. It deals with taking account of the feeling of other people and making them comfortable. Compliment is typically a positive comment given to someone else. This positive comment can address different values such as possession, appearance, abilities, and skill as well as a combination of these. (http://www.carla.umn.edu/speechacts/spa-pragmatics/compliments/compliments-home.html).
In most speech communities, the speech act of complimenting is intended to make others feel good. A compliment is a speech act which explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person addressed, for some „good‟ (possession, characteristic, skill, etc) which is
2. Types of Topics of Compliment
Wolfson ( in Wolfson and Judd, 1983:90) divides the topics of compliment into two major categories, namely appearance and ability.
a. Topic of Appearance. The topic of compliments is divided into two types: 1. Personal appearance
The type of topic compliment on personal appearance usually deals with apparel
Example: That‟s a very elegant dress. Did you just get it? I love that blouse.
There is also expression on other aspects of personal appearance other than apparel.
2. Possession
The type of compliment on possession usually deals with material possession.
Example: The living room looks good. I haven‟t seen it this way.
I think your apartment is fantastic.
There are also favorable comments on something that appear to parallel comments concerning possession.
Example: Your baby is adorable.
Your husband is such a nice guy.
The general ability includes categorical reference to skill, talent, personal qualities, and taste.
Example: You‟re so honest and you explain things so beautifully
You do this kind of writing so well. You have good taste.
2. Specific- act ability
Specific-act ability contains all compliments which are specific-act. Example: You‟re being so nice about this.
You are really did a good job. This is really nice.
3. The Function of Compliment
addressee as well as to let them know that they are appreciated and they should keep up good works.
Compliments are kinds of flattery given in all attempts to gain some advantages for the speakers. In this case, the statuses of the participants are unequal. The person of lower status tends to make use of a compliment for the purpose of manipulating the addresses. However, the great majority of compliments which occur in interaction between unequal statuses are given by the person in higher position. For example, the boss gives a compliment on his employee‟s ability in order to encourage them to keep the good work. This type of
topics of compliment is used to make the addressee in workplace. Meanwhile, a true compliment generally has a great deal with apparel or appearance. In this case, women are far more likely to be the recipients of compliments than men. For example, the speaker gives a compliment on the addressee‟s appearance when the
addressee wears an elegant dress.
In interaction between sexes where the setting is the workplace, women are most likely to be inferior in status to the men with whom they interact. The compliment from person of upper to those who are in some sense their inferiors tends to be related to ability or performance more often than to appearance. For example, a boss gives a compliment on his employee‟s good work when the addressee does his/ her job well.
relationship and hence solidarity and sympathy among people in a wide range of situations. The objects or actions complimented must be one which any member of the speech community will recognize as positive.
In particular occasion, a compliment may have social function to replace or to strengthen other speech act formulas, for instance, apologies, thanks, greetings, etc. They are often accompanied by a compliment. For examples:
1. “Thanks for the flowers. We really like them.” 2. “Great dinner. Thanks for having us.”
It can be seen as parts of expression gratitude.
Compliment can also be a means to soften criticism, particularly when the participants are in the relationship still want to continue and to maintain a social harmony. This compliment is usually combined with but or though. This compliment such as “You‟re doing good job, but you put much time on it.” In this
case, the criticism is uttered in polite manner, since it is combined with the compliment. It indicates that the speaker wants to minimize the irritating effect of the speaker‟s criticism.
The other function of compliment is as a spontaneous expression of admiration and/ or approval. The spontaneity and the newness are usually linked with the originality of expression.
A compliment may serve more than one function. It depends on many aspects. The types of compliments, status, age, sex of the participants, and the context or setting are some factors influencing the interpretation of compliments function. For example, the utterance “You are so kind”, this compliment may be
interpreted as admiration and as an expression of gratitude of the speaker.
F. The Politeness Principles
The politeness principle is a series of maxims. Geoffrey Leech (1983) has proposed as a way of explaining how politeness operates in conversational exchanges. Leech defines politeness as forms of behavior that establish and maintain feelings of comity within the social group, that is the ability of the participants in a social interaction to engage the interaction in an atmosphere of relative harmony. It can be expressed by certain polite formulaic utterances like please, thank you, excuse me, sorry, etc.
The politeness principles divided into six maxims, namely tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim and sympathy maxim. Below are the descriptions and the samples analysis of the six maxims occupied from the novel and other resources as Leech formulates them based on his assumption of politeness principles.
a. Tact Maxim
Tact is the first maxim of the politeness principles. It requires the participants to minimize cost to other and maximize benefit to other. This maxim is implemented by directive/ impossitive and commissive utterances.
Example:
Leo : „Ciara home?‟
Holly : „Yeah, her and her pink hair.‟
Leo : „Merciful hour! She‟ll stay away from me if she knows what‟s good for her. Right, missus, you look fab, you‟ll be
the belle of the ball - have fun!‟
Leo is Holly‟s hairdresser; he makes a new hairdo for Holly because Holly
compliment above obeys the tact maxim because Leo, the speaker, maximizes the benefit and minimizes the cost to Holly.
b. Generosity Maxim
Generosity maxim requires the participants to minimize the benefit to self and maximize cost to self. This maxim, like the tact maxim, is also expressed by the directive/ impossitive and commissive utterances. However, this maxim is self-centered maxim.
Example:
Steve : „Can I buy you a drink, Holly?‟ Holly : „No thanks, I have one here.‟
Steve : „OK, well, I‟m just going to bring these drinks down to my table and then I‟ll be back to buy the lovely Holly a drink.’ He smiled at her creepily as he walked away.
At first, Steve offers Holly some drinks but Holly refuses it. In his utterance, „I‟ll be back to buy the lovely Holly drink.‟ it can be seen that Steve admires Holly so much so that he forces to buy a drink for her. Steve gives Holly compliments by saying that Holly is lovely. In this compliment, Steve obeys generosity maxim because he will be someone who bears the cost by buying the drink for Holly. Steve minimizes the benefit and maximizes the cost of himself.
Leech defines that approbation maxim requires the speaker to minimize dispraise to other. On the contrary, he must maximize praise to other. This maxim requires the speaker to avoid everything which hurts others, especially the addressee. This maxim is expressed by the expressive and assertive utterances. Example:
Patrick : „You‟re looking as lovely as always.‟ Holly : „Thank you.‟
In this conversation, Pattrick gives a good comment about Holly‟s
appearance in the Christmas Ball. The utterance uttered by Pattrick shows the expression of admiration. He maximizes the praise to Holly. Therefore, it can be categorized as the approbation maxim.
d. Modesty Maxim
This modesty maxim requires the speaker to minimize praise of self and he must maximize dispraise of self. Like generosity maxim, this maxim is also expressed by the expressive and assertive utterances.
Example:
William : „Hi.‟ Anna : „Hello.‟
William : „I brought these, but clearly..there are lots flowers in the room.‟
After greeting, William gives some flowers to Anna. William is afraid that Anna does not like the flowers because there are many great flowers in her room. Anna appreciates what William gives to her by delivering a compliment. In her compliment, Anna shows her modesty by saying „Oh no, ho…these are great.‟
She does not think that her flowers are more beautiful than the flowers from William, and she says that William‟s flowers are also great. Anna minimizes the
praise of herself in the compliment, therefore it can be identified that the compliment obeys the modesty maxim.
e. Agreement Maxim
There is a tendency to increase an agreement and to minimize a disagreement by declaring regret or partial agreement when someone speaks with other. The partial agreement is an agreement followed by a partial disagreement implicating the speaker‟s disagreement toward the addressee.
Example:
Rob : „Josie, you look so…..‟ Josie : „Rufus?‟
Rob : „Yes. Exactly. Major Rufus.‟
Rob is amazed by Josie who is wearing a lovely Elizabethan gown for the prom night. Rob‟s expression suggests that he is surprised because Josie looks
Then Josie helps him by suggesting the slang word Rufus. The word Rufus is used to express something that is considered to be great. When Josie utters the word Rufus, Rob shows his agreement. Moreover, he upgrades the compliment by
saying that Josie looks major rufus. Therefore, it can be said that Rob obeys the agreement maxim when he says the compliment because he shows his agreement to Josie.
f. Sympathy Maxim
Sympathy maxim requires a speaker and a hearer to maximize sympathy and minimize antipathy between them. The obedience of this maxim is required for everyone who needs sympathizing to the achievement being reached or calamity happened to other. The achievement being reached by other must be given congratulation. Meanwhile, the calamity happened to other must be given sympathy or condolences if one of his families or relatives died.
Example:
Bernie : „Well, obviously it‟s me, isn‟t it… I work in the city in a job I
don‟t understand and everyone keeps getting promoted above
me. I haven‟t had a girlfriend since.. puberty and, well, the long
and short of it is, nobody fancies me, and if these cheeks get any chubbier, they never will.‟
Bernie confesses his bitterness of life to all his friends and the family. He says the worst thing of his life is nobody fancies him. Honey feels sorry to hear that. Then, she delivers her compliment in order to achieve solidarity and to show her sympathy. Honey feels that it is not right if Bernie says that nobody fancies him because she actually fancies Bernie. Honey knows who Bernie really is because they already know each other since they were children. Bernie is a professional worker; he just never has enough time for getting along with the family and friends. Honey‟s compliment obeys the maxim of sympathy because
she maximizes her sympathy to Bernie.
G. Synopsis of the Novel ‘P.S I Love You’
P.S. I Love You is a novel written by Cecilia Ahern. It tells about a life of a young widow, Holly Kennedy living in Ireland society. Holly Kennedy is beautiful, smart and married to the love of her life, an Irishman named Gerry. Unfortunately, Gerry‟s life is taken away by an illness and it takes the life out of Holly. The only one who can help her is the person who is no longer there. Nobody knows Holly better than Gerry, so it‟s a good thing he planned ahead.
Before he died, Gerry wrote Holly a series of 10 letters that will guide her, not only through her grief but in rediscovering herself. The messages are Gerry‟s way
In the first letter Gerry asks Holly to be brave and be strong in facing her new life without him and he also tells her that he has some list for her. It must be opened exactly when labeled and must be obeyed. The second letter which must be opened in April, tells Holly to go shopping for an outfit as she‟ll need it for
next month. The third letter lets Holly know why she must buy an outfit because Gerry asks Holly to join a karaoke contest at Club Diva in May. Gerry knows that his wife is hate and fear of karaoke so he enlists her name in the contest in order to make her braver. In June, Holly opened the fourth letter. Gerry tells her that she doesn‟t need his belongings to remember him, she doesn‟t need to keep them as a
proof that he still exists in her mind. Gerry asks Holly to empty out his wardrobes. The next letter is opened in July in which Gerry just says “Have a good Holly day!” In this month, by the help of a travel agent, Gerry already arranges a
holyday for Holly and her two best friends, Sharon and Denise. Gerry books the tickets and hotel for them in Lazaronte, Spain for two weeks.
At the edge of the beach in August, Holly opens the sixth letter. Gerry knows that Holly loves dolphins; he asks her to go to the lighthouse to see them. Not many people know that it is where the dolphins gather. In the seventh later, Gerry asks Holly to find a job that she loves. In September, Holly starts to make a list of possible jobs and hunts for the job. The beginning of October is the time to open the eighth letter. This time, Gerry asks Holly to plant some more sunflowers to brighten the dark October days she hate so much. He also asks her to pass a birthday card to their best friend, John, Sharon‟s husband. In the ninth letter,
of November. In his last letter, Gerry tells Holly not to be afraid to fall in love again. He asks Holly to open her heart for the other man.
Holly‟s mother and best friends, Sharon and Denise, begin to worry that
Gerry‟s letters are keeping Holly tied to the past, but, in fact, each letter is pushing
her further into a new future. With Gerry‟s words as her guide, Holly embarks on a journey of rediscovery in a story about marriage, friendship and how a love so strong can turn the finality of death into a new beginning for life.
H. Review of Related Study
A study about compliment has been done by previous researcher. This has been done by Galih Endah Nurharjanti (2005) in her thesis entitled The Use of Compliments as Positive Politeness Strategy in Speeches of Men and Women
Characters in the Film “Notting Hill”. This research is intended to describe the compliments of women and men, to show the topics of compliments expression and to describe the function of compliments as positive politeness strategy.
to express positive evaluation/ admiration and to replace other speech act formulas.
The other research about politeness has been done by Eka Nurdianingsih (2006) in her thesis entitled An Analysis of Tact and Approbation Maxim Based on Leech Politeness Principles in the Movie “Maid in Manhattan”. It describes how tact and approbation maxims employed in the conversation of the movie and describes the aspect that make the utterances of the participants less or more polite.
The findings of the research show that the employment of tact maxim emphasizes cost and benefit of other, while the employment of approbation maxim emphasizes the praise or dispraise of other. Approbation maxim requires speaker to maximize praise to other. There are many aspects which make the utterances of the participants less or more polite. For instance, it is influenced by the scales of social relationship between participants including the social status/ authority scale and the social distance scale, for example, in the utterance “Lavender! You‟re very creative Marissa.” Mrs. Burns as the superior gives the
compliment directly to Marissa as the subordinate. There is a social distance between them since they are boss and maid but it is regard to be polite for Mrs. Burns to deliver the compliment to her maid. In her utterance, Mrs. Burns employs the approbation maxim because she maximizes the praise to Marissa by giving a good comment about Marissa‟s appearance in presenting a bundle of
the degree of optionality, and the way they are speaking by seeing the context of situation. For example, in the utterance uttered by Marissa to her friend Stephanie “Can I finish getting dressed, please? Thank you.” Marissa employs tact maxim in
her utterance since she minimizes the cost to Stephanie. It can be proved by seeing the indirect utterance used by Marissa to Stephanie. This indirect utterance shows that Marissa wants Stephanie to help her, but she makes an utterance as if she does not ask Stephanie to help her wearing the uniform. It seems that she just wants Stephanie to give more time to her to finish her dressing by herself. Marissa‟s utterance is not force Stephanie to help her friend. It shows that Marissa
is being tactful in delivering a request to Stephanie.
33
A. Type of Research
In this research, the researcher applies a descriptive qualitative method, since this research is objected to collect the data, to analyze the data and to draw conclusion. This is stated by Surakhmad that a descriptive method is a kind of research method using technique of searching, collecting, classifying, analyzing the data, interpreting them, and finally drawing the conclusion (Surakhmad, 1994: 147). Furthermore, in a descriptive method, the collected data are in the form of words and/ or pictures, not numbers.
B. Data and Source of Data
Arikunto (1998) defines “Data are all facts and numbers which can be
made into materials to find information, and source of data is the subject in which data can be obtained”. Data can be in the forms of discourse, sentence, clause, phrase or word which can be obtained from printed media or electronic media, such as magazine, newspaper, book, television, radio or film. The data in this research are the conversations containing compliments expressed by the characters in the novel P.S I Love You.
source of data refers to the object from which the data are obtained. The source of data of this research is the novel entitled P.S I Love You
C. Research Design
This research is conducted based on several steps as follows:
a. Collecting the data, i.e. the conversations containing compliments in the novel P.S I Love You.
b. Analyzing the data. c. Drawing conclusion.
D. Technique of Collecting Data
The data of the research are collected by complementing the following steps:
a. Reading the novel entitled P.S I Love You. Written by Cecilia Ahern. b. Identifying the conversations containing compliments by giving marks. c. Classifying the data based on the types of topic of compliment.
E. Technique of Analyzing Data
The collected data are analyzed by conducting the following steps: a. Analyzing the context of situation in which the compliment is used in the
b. Interpreting the intentions of the speakers in expressing certain compliments in the conversations of the novel P.S I Love You.
c. Describing the distribution of the compliments based on Leech’s Politeness Principles.
36
A. Introduction
The most important part of the research is data analysis. The analysis of this research is aimed to reveal the use of compliments by the characters in the novel P.S I Love You. The analysis conducted in three subchapters. They are introduction, analysis of data and discussion.
B. Analysis of Data
This subchapter contains the analysis of type of topic of compliment. In analyzing the data, Wolfson‟s classification of topic of compliment is used to
classify the types of topic of compliment expressed by the characters in the novel. It is also describes the analysis of Politeness Principle which is applied in the compliment expressions.
1. Topic of Appearance a. Personal Appearance Data 2
The conversation happens in Kennedy‟s house. Holly and Ciara are sisters; they don‟t meet each other for long time because Ciara lives in Australia. When
Ciara comes home, the whole family gathers in their house.
„You like it?‟
„Yeah, pink is really your colour.‟
Ciara looked satisfied. „That‟s what I tried to tell them,‟ she said, squinting at Richard and Meredith. „So how‟s my big sis?‟ Ciara asked softly, rubbing Holly‟s arm affectionately.
When Holly sees Ciara for the first time, there is something that makes Holly interested, she looks at Ciara‟s pink hair and then she spontaneously
delivers a compliment to Ciara‟s new hair style. Holly directly says “Nicehair” to Ciara, she knows that her sister is an eccentric girl, who always wants to be up-to-date and looks different from others. Before having pink hair, Ciara had ever dyed her hair with blue color. Unlike her brother Richard and his wife Meredith, Holly can understand Ciara so that it is not a big deal for her to see Ciara‟s pink hair. In
this case, the compliment has the topic of appearance, especially personal appearance because the compliment is intended to Ciara‟s new appearance.
Besides, the compliment functions as a spontaneous expression on Ciara‟s appearance.
Holly employs the approbation maxim in the utterances above since she maximizes the compliment to Ciara. She chooses a positive adjective (nice) to express her positive intention. Moreover, the utterance “Yeah, pink is really your
colour” means that Holly‟s compliment is appropriate with the condition that the
color „pink‟ is match with her sister.
As the addressee, Ciara gives a verbal response to the compliments. The first response “You like it?” disobeys the maxim of modesty because the utterance
pink hair is good on her, she says “That‟s what I tried to tell them” in this
utterance, Ciara also gives maximal praise to herself again. She feels confident to tell Richard and Meredith about her appearance. Ciara breaks the modesty maxim because this maxim requires the speaker to minimize praise of self and to maximize dispraise of self. In contrast, Ciara does not maximize the dispraise of herself but she maximizes the praise of herself. She tries to say to Richard and Meredith that she has nice pink hair. She does it because she knows that Richard and Meredith are a kind of old-fashioned people. They have very different point of view about hair style and fashion. Ciara wants to open their mind and convince them that having pink hair is not something weird. It is nice as long as it is match with her. Moreover, Ciara is still young and she likes to up date her style.
Data 14
After having the job interview, Holly decides to go to Hogan‟s pub. She wants
to have lunch and also to meet Ciara who works there. The pub is packed with people dressed smartly on their lunch breaks from work. Holly finds a small table in the corner and settles down. Holly also meet his friend, Daniel, who is also the owner of the pub and the have a chat there.
‘You are looking very smart today,‟ Daniel said, studying her outfit. „Yes, that was the impression I was trying to give. I was just at a job interview,‟ Holly said, and winced at the thought of it.
is black with light blue lines going through it and she matches it with a light blue top underneath. Seeing Holly‟s appearance, Daniel gives her compliment by saying that Holly looks very smart. Since the complimented object is Holly‟s
appearance, it can be concluded that this compliment has the topic of appearance, especially personal appearance.
Daniel‟s utterance obeys the approbation maxim where he maximizes the
praise to Holly and says something that makes her pleased. They have close relationship and in this case Daniel‟s compliment can be one of polite ways to
maintain their relationship.
As the addressee, Holly gives response to the compliment by saying „Yes, that was the impression I was trying to give. I was just at a job interview.‟ It obeys the maxim of agreement because the response shows that Holly agrees with Daniel. She realizes that she looks different than usual because she has a job interview. Holly tries to give her best impression in the interview.
Data 17
Still in the bar, the conversation below is between Holly and Steve. After introducing himself to Holly, Steve tries to break the ice by offering her a drink.
„Can I buy you a drink, Holly?‟ Steve asked smoothly. „No thanks, I have one here.‟ She sipped on her water again.
„OK, well, I‟m just going to bring these drinks down to my table and then I’ll be back to buy the lovely Holly a drink.’ He smiled at her creepily as he walked away.
Since Holly says nothing after mentioning her name, Steve tries to break the ice by offering Holly to have a drink. It succeeds to make Holly speaks up because somehow Holly has to answer to Steve‟s offer. Apparently, Holly refuses the
drink from Steve because she still has her own drink. She says no and says thank you to Steve for offering her the drink. Steve does not give up; he says „I‟ll be
back to buy the lovely Holly a drink‟. In this utterance, it can be seen that Steve
gives compliment to Holly when he forces himself to buy her a drink. The word
„lovely‟ is used to show his admiration to Holly. Holly is a lovely woman and that
is why he wants to know her.
The compliment above has the topic of personal appearance because Steve says that Holly is lovely. It means that she is a beautiful woman; and he admires her. It can be seen when Steve forces himself to bring Holly the drink although Holly already refuses it. By doing this, he wants to show that he really likes her
In this compliment, Steve employs generosity maxim when he delivers the compliment. The utterance „I‟ll be back to buy the lovely Holly a drink‟ shows that Steve will be someone who bear the cost by buying the drink for Holly. Therefore, it can be indicated into generosity maxim since the speaker, Steve minimizes the benefit and maximizes the cost of himself.
Data 18
goes into Holly‟s room while her husband and Daniel wait them downstairs. After
Holly finishes dressing up, Holly and Sharon go downstairs to join the men.
„Wow!’ Daniel said, his mouth dropping open. ‘You look fabulous, Holly.‟
„I look like -,‟ Holly started to grumble and Sharon shot her a look. „But, thanks,‟ she quickly added.
Actually, Holly prefers to stay at home rather than go to the Ball which is held annually in the end of November because she wants to open Gerry‟s last
message. But she remembers Gerry‟s message “Cinderella must go to the ball this
month. And she will look glamorous and beautiful and have the time of her life
just like always…But no white dresses this year…P.S I Love You” it gives her
spirit to go. Then, Holly decides to go to the ball with her friends. Holly does what Gerry has told her that she should not wear white dress but she wears a simple black halter-neck dress, with a split to the thigh up the middle.
Daniel is surprised to see how Holly is beautiful in her simple black dress. As someone having close relationship to Holly, Daniel gives a compliment to show his admiration on Holly‟s appearance by saying „Wow, you look fabulous,
Holly‟. Daniel never sees Holly in her gown before and it is surprised him much
to see her looks very beautiful and different. Therefore, it can be categorized that the compliment has the topic of personal appearance because Daniel gives a compliment based on Holly‟s appearance.
expression (his mouth dropping open) when saying it show that he is really impressed by Holly‟s appearance. Holly, as the addressee seems to say something
contrasts with the compliment. She does not continue her response „I look like -,‟ because Sharon shoots a look at her and then Holly says „Thanks‟. Saying „Thank You‟ can be identified as the way to show politeness.
Data 19
In the Christmas ball, Holly meets many people; and the conversation below takes place in the bar between Holly and Patrick. Patrick is a large businessman who sponsors the charity and one of the successful businessmen in Ireland.
‘You’re looking as lovely as always.‟ He gave her a kiss on the cheek. „Can I get you a drink?‟ he asked, holding his hand up to attract the barman‟s attention.
„Oh, no, thanks,‟ she smiled.
„Ah, let me,‟ he said, taking his bulging wallet out of his pocket. What‟ll you have?‟
Holly gave in. „A white wine then, please, if you insist,‟ she smiled.
Holly does not know Patrick very well; he is just one of the people she knows from being at the ball every year. Patrick greets Holly when he meets her in the bar. He also gives her a kiss on the cheek and says that Holly looks as lovely as always. He gives a compliment based on Holly‟s appearance. The
utterance “You‟re looking as lovely as always” shows how Patrick is amazed with Holly‟s appearance that‟s why he shows his admiration by giving her a
is regarded to be polite way to maintain their relationship. In this compliment, Patrick obeys the approbation maxim where he maximizes the praise to the addressee, Holly. He says something positive about Holly and it is pleased for Holly. His compliment is followed by an offering for a drink for Holly. In this case, Patrick obeys the modesty maxim since he minimizes the benefit and maximizes the cost of himself. He should pay the cost caused by buying Holly a drink.
As the addressee, Holly does not respond to the compliment but she just respond to Patrick‟s offering for getting her a drink. She responds it in polite way by saying „Oh no, thank‟ and smile to him.
b. Possession Data 4
The conversation happens in Holly‟s house. Ciara, Sharon, Denise, Abbey
and Declan come to Holly‟s house to celebrate Holly‟s 30th
birthday party. Actually, this is a „girls only‟ party but Declan joins them because he wants to
make a documentary of Holly‟s party. It is a special day for Holly, the girls ask
Holly to wear a tiara because she will be the princess for the night. They help Holly to put on the sparkling tiara that goes perfectly with her glittery corset. Surrounded by her friends, Holly really feels like a princess. They give presents for Holly, open the champagne and make a toast for her.
„Well, I would worry if Jack gave me something like that,‟ Holly said, opening it. „Oh, Abbey, it’s beautiful!‟ Holly said, holding up the sterling silver-covered photo album.
„For your new memories,‟ Abbey said softly.
Everyone wants her presents to be the first opened by Holly. It is because they already prepare the best present for her. Holly decides to open Ciara‟s
present first. All of them laugh when they know that Ciara gives Holly a vibrator. Holly does not give any compliment to Ciara. Then, Holly opens Abbey‟s present.
Abbey gives her a sterling silver-covered photo album to her. Of course, Holly loves it, and to show her appreciation to Abbey she compliment her by saying
“Oh, Abbey, it‟s beautiful!”. The word „beautiful‟ refers to the gift and it indicates
that the compliment has topic of appearance, the photo album from Abbey is beautiful because it is covered by sterling silver so that Holly says that the photo album from Abbey is beautiful one. By this compliment Holly wants to show her respect to Abbey for what she has already done for her. Besides, Holly gives Abbey a compliment again by saying “It‟s perfect”. It shows that Holly, once
again, really appreciates her and she wants to thank her. When Holly says the second compliment, it is followed by the word „Thank You‟. It shows that in this
case, the compliment functions to replace the speech act of thanking.
According to Leech‟s politeness principles, the compliments above in line
Of course, it will be something useful for Holly and she won‟t bear any cost
because of Abbey‟s request.
Data 5
This is the conversation between Holly and her brother, Jack, on the phone. Jack rings Holly to ask her condition after the girls‟ party on her birthday.
„Or maybe it‟s just an evil plan you all hatched so you wouldn‟t have to tell us what you got up to.‟
„I wish it was… Oh, thanks for the pressie by the way,it’s beautiful.‟ „Glad you like it. It took me ages to find the right one.‟
„Liar‟
One day after the girls celebrated Holly‟s birthday, Jack calls Holly to ask
whether she is OK. Jack is curious to know about Holly‟s condition because Abbey, his girlfriend who also joins the party, is still suffering because of the alcohol she drank in the party. Apparently, after they had a toast in Holly‟s house,
they continued the party at Dublin‟s most stylish club, Boudoir. They consumed
too much alcoholic beverage and it made them drunk. Holly feels better when jack calls her because she already spends the days for sleeping.
topic of appearance deal with possession in which Holly praises that Jack‟s present is beautiful. By saying that the present is beautiful, it makes Jack feel pleased because it means that Holly appreciate his gift. Therefore, it can be said that Holly employs the approbation maxim in this compliment because she already says something pleasing to the addressee; she gives maximal praise to Jack‟s present.
In responding to the compliment, Jack says „Glad you like it. It took me
ages to find the right one.‟ It shows his agreement to Holly that the present is
really good one. Jack is happy to know Holly loves the present from him. He makes joke that he needs extra time to find the right present from her. Therefore, Jack‟s response can be indicated that it obeys the maxim of agreement.
Data 8
Holly goes for a stroll in the park which is not far from her house. She accidentally, meets Richards and his two children, Timmy and Emily in the park by chance. Then, they have conversation there.
„I brought the children to see Grandma and Granddad didn‟t I? he said, ruffling Timmy‟s head.
„And we had McDonald‟s,‟ Timmy said excitedly, and Emily cheered. „Oh, yummy!‟ Holly said, licking her lips. „You lucky things. Isn’t your daddy the best?’
Richard looked pleased.
brings the kids to see their Grandma and Granddad and he thinks that it will makes the kids happy to bring them to the playground in the park. Timmy adds that his father also brings them to have meal in McDonald‟s.
Having heard her nephew‟s answer Holly says that he is so lucky to have a very kind father like Richard. Holly delivers a compliment by saying „You lucky
things. Isn‟t your daddy the best?‟ She says to the kids that their father is the best
father. Not only brings the kids to see their grandparents, Richard also shows his love to the kids by bringing them to play in the park and to McDonald‟s. Holly
gives the compliment to show her nephew and niece how lucky they are to have a father like Richard. She also wants to show her appreciation to Richard. She never thinks that her brother can be a nice father for the children. Since Holly says the compliment to Timmy, the topic of the compliment can be identified to the topic of possession. The word your indicates that it deals with Timmy‟s possession.
Politeness also must be shown to the third side, either presented or not. In this case, Holly obeys the politeness principle by giving compliment to Timmy about Richard as the third side in her conversation with Timmy. Holly‟s compliment applies the approbation maxim since she maximizes her praise to Timmy by saying positive thing about his father and it is pleased for Timmy. Holly says that Richard is the best father and Timmy is Lucky to have him. Besides, by the compliment Holly also shows her respect to Richard for what he already done to his children.
The conversation occurs in Holly‟s house. Holly calls her two best friends,
Sharon and Denise to come to her house because she wants to tell something relates to Gerry‟s fifth letter. They gather in the living room and talk about the letter.
„Girls,‟ she said with a smile beginning to spread across her face, „he bought us a holyday!‟
The girls opened a bottle of wine and squealed with excitement.
‘Oh, this is incredible,‟ Denise said after the news had sunk in. ‘Gerry’s such a sweetie.’
Holly nodded, feeling proud of her husband, who had once again managed to surprise them all.
„So you went down to see this Barbara person?‟ Sharon asked.
„Yes and she was the sweetest girl,‟ Holly smiled. „She sat with me for ages telling me about the conversation they had that day. He went in at the end of November.
When Holly opens Gerry‟s fifth letter, she finds a holiday brochure and it
is also written on it the word: „Swords Travel Agent. Attn: Barbara‟. Holly is very
curious to find out about this puzzle. She goes to the travel agent to meet Barbara and asks her to explain about the holiday brochure. Then, Barbara tells Holly that last November Gerry came to her office to book a holiday for Holly. Gerry wanted to give Holly surprise and he asked Barbara not to let Holly know.
Feeling sure that she really will have a holiday with her friends, Holly asks them to come to her house. She wants to tell Sharon and Denise that Gerry booked them a holiday to Lazaronte Spain. The girls are very happy to hear the news. They open a bottle of wine to celebrate it. Then, Denise says „Oh, this is
incredible. Gerry‟s such a sweetie.‟
holiday for his wife but he also gave it to her and Sharon. In this case, the compliment has material possession topic because Denise gives compliment to Holly‟s husband. Denise and Holly are good friend, they have very close
relationship and this compliment functions to maintain the relationship between the participants, Denise and Holly. It shows Denise sympathy to her late friend, Gerry, Holly‟s husband.
Holly gives non verbal response to the compliment by nodding her head. It indicates that the response already apply the maxim of agreement. By nodding her head, Holly shows that she agrees with Denise compliment that Gerry was really a sweet person. He was a very nice and lovely husband.
Data 13
Holly goes to Chris‟s office to have a job interview. Chris is the director of
“X” Magazine. It is the first time for them to meet each other.
„Wow, is that your garden?‟ Holly asked wide-eyed. „It’s beautiful; I presumed it was the Botanical Gardens or somewhere like that.’
„That was Maureen‟s specialty. You can‟t get me out of the office long enough to sort through that mess.‟
Before they talk more about the job, Holly and Chris have a small talk in order to make the situation relaxed. While talking with Chris, Holly looks at a photograph on Chris‟s table. In the photograph, Holly sees three girls sitting down
in a garden. Apparently, the girls are Chris‟s daughters.
