THEME AND RHEME IN JANE AUSTEN’S
CHARACTERIZATION OF EMMA
THESIS
by
Trisnawati Marpaung
Registration Number 8106112021
ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS STUDY PROGRAM
POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
Marpaung, Trisnawati. 2014. Theme and Rheme in Jane Austen’s Characterization of Emma. A Thesis, Linguistic Applied – State University of Medan.
A B S T R A C T
This thesis explores Theme and Rheme of an English classic novel, Emma. The main
problems are 1. what patterns of Theme and Rheme development are used in Jane Austen’s
Emma?, 2. How is the thematic structure of Jane Austen’s Emma be used?, and 3. why does the thematic structure flow as it does?. The objectives of this study are 1. to describe what
patterns of Theme and Rheme development are used in Jane Austen’s Emma, 2. to describe
how is the thematic structure of Jane Austen’s Emma, and 3. to explain why does the thematic structure flow as it does. This is a qualitative research which is based on the library observation. The data were obtained from Jane Austen’s novel Emma and were analyzed by using 5 parts of plot in literature. There were 133 conversations as the data source were taken from Emma which are realized into 790 clauses. The data analysis revealed that Climax was 37.59%. It took the main part of the conversations, as the reflected of pride character, Emma, that put her into some unexpected situation. Unmarked Theme, Simple Theme and Topical Theme, were dominantly used. As the result, Unmarked Theme (UT) was 35.44%. and Simple Theme (ST) was 63.40%. It was found that Topical Theme reflected the pride character of Emma.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The writer’s endless gratitude is primarily expressed to God, the Almighty for
His forever blessing that has given her the ability, health, and safety to finish this thesis to fulfill one of the requirements to obtain the degree of Master of Humanism in Linguistics at English Applied Linguistics of Postgraduate School in State University of Medan.
. On this occasion, the writer would like to record her gratefully acknowledge to Prof. Amrin Saragih, M. A, Ph. D, being her first advisor and Prof. Silvana Sinar, M. A, Ph. D, being her second advisor who have kindly assisted her in guiding, directing, revising and correcting the systematic of concept of this thesis. Without their help, my thesis would never have been completed. May God bless them in their live.
In completing this thesis the writer would like to express her gratitude to the reviewers and examiners in examinations, Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M. Pd as the Head of English Applied Linguistics in State University of Medan, Prof. Dr. Berlin Sibarani, M.Pd and Dr. Sri Minda Murni, M.S for their valuable inputs completing her thesis.
The writer deep appreciate would also express to all lecturers and tutors for giving her the valuable knowledge during the study. The classmates belonging to grade 18 of Executive Class and the colleagues at Perguruan Kristen Methodist Indonesia Lubuk Pakam that always support her during the study and completing the thesis.
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THEME AND RHEME IN JANE AUSTEN’S
CHARACTERIZATION OF EMMA
THESIS
by
Trisnawati Marpaung
Registration Number 8106112021
ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS STUDY PROGRAM
POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER II : REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Text and Context………... 9
2.1.1 The context –Text Connection………. 9
2.1.2 Understanding Texts – Reconstructing the Context.. 10
2.3.3.2 Theme in Interrogative Clause……… 21
2.3.3.3Theme in Imperative Clause……… 23
2.3.3.4Clauses as Theme……… 24
2.3.3.5Multiple Themes………. 24
2.3.4 Theme and Text……… 25
2.4.4Theme and New Information……….. . 26
2.5 Theme Patterns……… 28
3.3 The Instrument of Data Collection……….... .42
4.3 Discussion………. 73
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 The Conclusions……… 74
5.2 Suggestions……… 74
5.2.1 The Implication for Teaching……… 75
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
2. Five Essential of Plot………37 4.1.1. Distribution of Clauses in Percentage…..………51
4.1.1a Distribution of Unmarked Themes and Marked Themes
in Percentage………..…...57 4.1.1b Distribution of Simple Themes and Multiple
Themes….………...64
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LIST OF ABBRIVIATION
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1The Background of The Research
Most of human‟s knowledge and culture stored and transmitted through language. Language is a systematic resource for expressing meaning in context and linguistics. It has various functions in social interactions to fulfill the human‟s needs, such as, to express ideas, feelings and desire. People use language not only as a social instrument to show the language users identity in a society but it is also used to insult, to promise, to agree, to criticize, to persuade or to influence beliefs or attitudes towards the others.
According to Halliday (1975 : 17 ), language has developed in response to three kinds of social-functional 'needs.' The first is to be able to construe experience in terms of what is going on around us and inside us. The second is to interact with the social world by negotiating social roles and attitudes. The third
and final need is to be able to create messages with which we can package our meanings in terms of what is New or Given, and in terms of what the starting point for our message is, commonly referred to as the Theme. Halliday calls these language functions metafunctions, and refers to them as ideational, interpersonal
and textual respectively.
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societal members in the context of situation. Halliday‟s notion of texts encompasses the traditional and the spontaneous, both literary and conversational.
Theme and Rheme are two terms which represent the way in which information is distributed in a sentence. The definition of Theme given by
Halliday (1985, p.38) is that Theme is given information serving as “the point of departure” of a message. The given information is the information which has
already been mentioned somewhere in the text, or it is shared or mutual knowledge from the immediate context. In other words, Theme typically contains familiar, old or given information. Theme provides the settings for the remainder of the sentence – Rheme. Rheme is the remainder of the message in a clause in which Theme is developed, that is to say, Rheme typically contains unfamiliar or new information. New information is knowledge that a writer assumes the reader does not know, but needs to have in order to follow the progression of the argument. The boundary between Theme and Rheme is simple: Theme is the first element occurring in a clause; the remainder clause is Rheme. For example:
Theme Rheme
From the above division of Themes and Rhemes in the sentences, we can see that Theme is not equated with the subject of a sentence; nor is Rheme equated with the predicate. However, in the example given above, two sentences e.g. in the first
and fourth sentence, it happens that the Theme „The lion‟ overlaps with the
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prepositional phrases, for example „All around the town‟ is Theme in sentence 2
above. From the above sample, we could conclude that Theme may be realized by a nominal group, verbal group, adverbial group, prepositional phrase or a dependent clause. The characteristic of these elements is that they appear first in a
clause and represent „given‟ information. All the rest of a clause is Rheme
representing „new‟ information. Knowing where to place the Theme-Rheme
boundary in a more complex sentence requires a careful reading of the sentence in context to understand the meaning a writer is communicating. In a study of spoken data conducted by Lovejoy and Lance in1991, they found that there was a noticeable pitch drop at the end of Theme, and near the beginning of Rheme, often on the first word, an abrupt peak in pitch level. The initial place has an enormous importance in a clause. Whatever is chosen to be in the first place will influence a
reader‟s interpretation of everything that comes next.
Accordingly, in cohesive writing, „given‟ information in a clause needs be
presented in Theme position, which acts like a signpost signaling a reader where the meanings have come from and where they are going to. The new information needs to be located in Rheme position. The balance and movement of a clause between Theme and Rheme is an essential component in composing a cohesive text. If a writer fails to control the flow of information from Theme to Rheme, his or her text is difficult for a reader to follow, because there is no clear signpost directing the reader, who therefore cannot easily follow the progression of an idea or argument.
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they do. The other aim of the study is, by analyzing Theme and Rheme in a text, the students can learn to perform the same analysis in their own writings, especially in literature works, and thus improve cohesion in their own work. Applying this concept of Theme, the typical and expected patterns can be separated from the typical and unexpected. Marked Theme is a way of seeing the
purpose behind the speakers‟ patterning; it may be to draw the addresses‟
attention to a particular group or phrase; more often it is to build a coherent text which is easy to follow.
Further, Butt, at all ( 1995 : 93 ) asserts being unmarked means the most
expected, common and remarkable case. Whereas being marked means that it is unusual and should be noticed because of the way it stands out.
In this study, the writer is concerned to the use of Theme and Rheme in the classic novel Emma. There are some reasons why the use of Theme and Rheme made as the focus of this research. Theme and Rheme are common used in every text, but how to identify Theme and Rheme in a clause, how to label the elements of clause with references and how to analyze complex Theme in the texts will be discussed in this study. Through this study, the writer wants to assure if the development of using Theme and Rheme in literary work could reveal the characterization of the main character in Emma.
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The study of literature is not like the study of math or science or even history, because those disciplines are based largely upon fact while the study of literature is mostly based upon imagination, and it needs interpretation and analysis in order to understand literary works. But each person usually brings a different set of values and a different background to the reading. Reading novel is an experience, and a cultural one at that. It is an integration of reader and text in which they both have inherent characteristics and qualities that create an individualistic and distinct outcome when combined ( Tompkin, 1980 ).
Understanding a literary work, such as a novel, is not as easy as one may think. The readers need to understand the text of the literary work and some disciplines of knowledge that are related to it. It, therefore, becomes more complicated if an author mates use a discipline of knowledge, such as philosophy or psychology in his literary work. Even though, it makes the literary work more interesting because readers have to think the content deeply.
There are various elements in a novel, such as theme, characterization, plot, language/style, setting and point of view. Most of the literature works analysis use the various elements of novel above. It seems the interference of linguistics seldom to see in literature works. The writer of this thesis tries to use novel Emma as the data collection in the field of linguistics. Emma tells about the pride of the character that is shown through the conversations. The writer of this thesis is interested in Emma because the author, Jane Austen, describes the problems that occur in daily life. She depicts human natures through the characters and their conversations neatly and clearly in an interesting plot. The writer sees that the difference of social status, which exalts the aristocracy, and the family treatment could be the causes of the using of the language in a gentle, beautiful and bold young woman, Emma. Jane Austen‟s ability to create the character of the novel as the heroine with the strong characterization through the conversations attrack the
readers‟ attention. Most of her novels contain wide, global themes that can be
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people. Usually, it also contains some unique artistic quality, be it a brilliant storyline or an engaging writing style, that sets it apart from other works of literature. Classic novels tend to touch people and to help them define the world around them. Their confrontation of major universal themes makes people think and encourages them to form their own opinions of those themes. Perhaps it is this level of influence more than anything that truly defines a classic work.
The destabilization of the author-text connection, which 20th-century criticism was to propose later on, finally led to experiments with what had been the individual's voice so far – speaking through the author or portrayed by him. These options were to be widened with new concepts of what texts actually were with the beginning of the 20th century.
By analyzing the novel, the thematic structure of the novel can be traced and the result of it would be the complicated theme structure. Why it is said complicated because the selection of a different thematic structure changes the focus of the clause in significant functional ways ( Bloor & Bloor, 1995 : 74 )
1.2 The Problem of The Study
7 1.3The Objectives of Study
The objectives of the analysis in this thesis are :
1. to describe what patterns of Theme and Rheme development are used in
Jane Austen‟s Emma.
2. to describe how is the thematic structure of Jane Austen‟s Emma be used. 3. to explain why does the thematic structure flow as it does.
1.4The Scope of the Study
This study will be limited on the analysis of the structure of Theme and Rheme as the message, various patterns of Theme and Rheme, and reason why the structures of Theme and Rheme is used with reference to social context of the main character in Jane Austen‟s novel.
Characters are living persons which are portrayed imaginatively in the novel. As living persons, they live together both individually and socially. Therefore, their social integrity is embodied by the language they use in their social living ( John Cadden, 1986 : 90 ).
Emma is a love story in a social life of community, that was in England of the eighteenth century. In that time the distinction of classes in the society gradually arose. In this study, the writer merely concentrates on the main character, namely, the heroine Emma Woodhouse. Jane Austen portrays Emma’s unique characterization in an interested plot.
1.5The Significance of the Study
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references and how to analyze complex Theme in the texts will be discussed in this study.
Theoretically, findings of the study are expected to be a contribution to the students who willing to discuss the literary works in linguistics field. This thesis is also aim to be the base investigation for another researcher to deepen the analysis as well as to enrich the literature by using linguistic field. The writer also wants to assure if the development of using Theme and Rheme could be applied in literary work.
CHAPTER V Climax(297), Falling Action(112), and Denouement(98). The dominants clause of parts of plot in the novel is climax which derived the pride character of the main player, Emma. (a.1) Simple Theme is also the characteristics of novel Emma. Simple Theme, (63.40%) is used
dominantly than Multiple ones, (36.41%). Simple Theme is the basic one to show the characteristic of Emma. This is important in other the message is easier to remember, to understand and to reproduce the language of the novel.
(a.2) Unmarked Theme dominates the entire texts at (91.75%) in Jane Austen’s Emma, than Marked Theme, (6.55%). Each of the clause begins with Unmarked Theme which it conveys the most interesting information to attract the readers.
(b) The dominant kind of Thematic employed in the conversations is Topical Themes in Unmarked Simple 361 clauses ( 45.69%).
(c) The thematic structure flows as it does is the novel is mainly due to the nature highest percentage of the novel is the dominant of Unmarked Simple Themes than Unmarked Simple Themes, Marked Simple Themes and Marked Multiple Themes..
5.2 Suggestions
After analyzing Jane Austen’s novel “Emma” in English considering with Theme and
Rheme structures, the following suggestions are addressed.
b) By having a specific study, this study will also be the exploration of more detailed analysis of Theme and Rheme, Thematic Structure and the pattern of language development in English novels specifically, and discourse generally.
c) Teachers of English are advanced to motivate the students to learn more about literary works, especially classic and modern ones.
5.2.1 The Implication for Teaching
Teachers of English would not only familiarize themselves with the types and the position of Theme and Rheme in clauses but also the elliptical linguistic element or semantic unit of Theme and Rheme in clauses ( social context ).
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