英语毕业论文范文
太阳qq号码-西洲曲
英语毕业论文范文
Abstract: On the base of
the definition of stylistics, this thesis gives a
detailed
analysis of some the of stylistic
devices used in the famous speech by the
well-
known American civil rights movement leader Martin
Luther King, Jr., and
then probes into the
stylistic characteristics of speech as a style.
Key words: Stylistics, Stylistic devices,
analysis, speech.
马丁. 路德.金 《我有一个梦》的文体分析
摘 要:本文首先阐述了文体学的定义,并在此基础上对对美国着名黑人领袖马丁. 路德.<
br>金的着名演讲《我有一个梦》中所使用的文体手段进行了详尽的分析,进而对演讲文体的风
格进行
了简要的论述。
关键词:文体学;文体手段;分析;演讲
As an
interdisciplinary field of study, stylistics
promises to offer useful
insights into
literary criticism and the teaching of literature
with its explicit aims
and effective
techniques. It is very useful in the analysis of
various styles of
writing. In this thesis, the
author tries to offer a stylistic analysis of the
famous
speech by Martin Luther king, Jr. I
Have a Dream.
1. Introduction: Definition
of Stylistics and Stylistic Analysis
As
far as the definition of stylistics is concerned
different scholars define the
branch of study
in different ways. Wales defines stylistics simply
as “ the study of
style” (1989:437), while
Widdowson provides a more informative definition
as
“the study of literary discourse from a
linguistic orientation” and takes “a view
that
what distinguishes stylistics from literary
criticism on the one hand and
linguistics on the other is that it is
essentially a means of linking the two”
(1975:3). Leech holds a similar view. He
defines stylistics as the “study of the use
of
language in literature” (1969:1) and considers
stylistics a “meeting-ground of
linguistics
and literary study”(1969:2). From what Widdowson
and Leech say, we
can see that stylistics is
an area of study that straddles two disciplines:
literary
criticism and linguistics. It takes
literary discourse (text) as its object of study
and uses linguistics as a means to that end.
Stylistic analysis is generally concerned
with the uniqueness of a text; that is,
what
it is that is peculiar to the uses of language in
a literary text for delivering
the message.
This naturally involves comparisons of the
language of the text
with that used in
conventional types of discourse. Stylisticians may
also wish to
characterize the style of a
literary text by Systematically comparing the
language
uses in that text with those in
another. Halliday points out, “The text may be
seen
as „this‟ in contrast with „that‟, with
another poem or another novel; stylistics
studies are essentially comparative in
nature…”(1971:341). On this points,
Widdowson
is of the same opinion as Halliday. He says:“All
literary appreciation
is comparative, as
indeed is a recognition of styles in general”
(1975:84). Thus,
we may conclude that
stylistic analysis is an activity that is highly
comparative in
nature.
2. Related
Information of the Speech I HAVE A DREAM and Its
Author
Martin Luther King, jr. was born on
January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, the
son
of a clergyman and the grandson of a slave. After
attending several colleges
he received
his Ph. D. in theology from Boston University in
1955. He led the bus
boycott in Montgomery,
Alabama in 1955-1956. As president of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, he then led
civil rights demonstrations in many
cities. In
1963 he helped organize the march on Washington,
which brought
together more than 200,000
people. A leader in establishing a nonviolent
civil
rights movement, King was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize for 1964. King was
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968,
shortly before his fortieth
birthday. Since
then, he has become an American folk hero, and on
November 2,
1983, a law honoring Dr. King was
signed by President Rigan, effective January
1986, making the third Monday of January a
national holiday. He is the only U. S.
citizen
other than George Washington to be recognized in
this way.
In 1863 President Abraham
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation
freeing all slaves in the United States. One
hundred years after this decree was
signed,
however, the life of blacks was still “sadly
crippled by the manacles of
seGREgation and
the Chains discrimination.” On August 28, 1963, a
quarter of
million people of all races came to
Washington, D. C., to show their support for
freedom and justice for all Americans, and for
black people in particular. At that
demonstration, Martin Luther King, jr.
delivered this famous speech I HAVE A
DREAM,
widely regarded as the most eloquent statement of
the black people‟s
dreams and aspirations ever
made. In his speech, Dr. King told the world, “I
have
a dream” that equality would come “to all
of God‟s children.” He said he wanted
everyone
to be able to “join hands and sing in the words of
the old Negro
spiritual, „Free at last!
Free at last!…‟”
3. A Stylistic Analysis
of the Speech (An analysis of some of the
stylistic
devices used in the speech)
Martin Luther King‟s speech of August 28, 1963 is
widely regarded as one of
the most powerful
ever delivered in the United States. Although this
address was
delivered orally, it was read from
a written text composed with GREat care. It is
an example of formal English with a convincing
style. Here are some of the
stylistic devices
(which maybe considered traditionally as
rhetorical devices)
used by Dr King to inspire
and persuade.
3.1 Repetition:
Throughout the speech, Dr. King repeats words and
sentence. This is a very
outstanding feature
in this speech called repetition. It belongs to
the stylistic
device of syntactic over-
regularity. The term repetition is restricted to
mean the
case of exact copying of a certain
previous unit in a text such as a word, phrase
or even a sentence (Leech, 1969), because all
the over-regular features in
literature are in
some sense repetitious. Used in speech, repetition
not only
makes it easy for the audience to
follow what the speaker is saying, but also
gives a strong rhythmic quality to the speech
and makes it more memorable. In
paragraphs 8
through 16, for example, King uses the words “I
have a dream” nine
times. This repetition
helps to achieve the function of coherence in
discourse and
the function of reinforcement in
mood and emotion, expressing the speaker‟s
strong emotion of longing for freedom,
justice, righteousness and a much more
united nation of all of God‟s children.
If we study the whole speech more
carefully, it is easy for us to find many
other examples of repetition used.
①
But one hundred years later, we must face the
tragic fact that the Negro is
still not free.
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro.
② is still sadly crippled by the manacles
of seGREgation and the chains of
discrimination. One hundred years later, the
Negro lives on a lonely island of
poverty in
the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.
One hundred years
later, the Negro is still
languishing in the corners of American society and
finds
himself an exile in his own land.
Here the phrase “one hundred years later” has been
repeated three times,
seemingly indicating
that it is really a long time for the Negro to
wait for the
coming of the time of justice and
righteousness.
②But we refuse to believe
that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to
believe that there are insufficient funds in
the GREat vaults of opportunity of this
nation. (Par.4)
the phrase “we refuse
to believe that…” has been used twice to indicate
the
speaker‟s good hope.
③ Now is the
time to make real the promises of democracy. Now
is the time
to rise from the dark and desolate
valley of seGREgation to the sunlit path of
racial justice. Now is the time to open the
doors of opportunity to all of God‟s
Children.
Now is the time to lift our nation from the
quicksands of racial injustice
to the
solid rock of brotherhood. (Par.4)
In this
short passage, the clause “Now is the time to…”
has been used four
times to emphasize the
fierce urgency of “NOW” and to encourage and
persuade
the blacks to take immediate action
to rise above and gain their own rights and
freedom.
Other examples of repetition
can still be easily found throughout the speech.
In par. 7, the words “we can nevercannot be
satisfied as long as…” has been
used as many
as five times to show the determination and
persistence of the
black people; in par. 17,
the words “with the faith we will be able to…” has
been
repeated twice for the purpose of showing
how strong the faith of the black
people is to
struggle for the brotherhood of “all of God‟s
children”, and how
strong the faith of the
black people is to believe that they “will be free
one day”.
Now let‟s enjoy another example.
④And if America is to be a GREat nation
this must become true. So let
freedom ring
from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire! Let
freedom ring
from the heightening Alleghenies
of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the
snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let
freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of
California!
But not only that; let freedom
ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let
freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and
molehill of Mississippi. From every
mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from
every village and every
hamlet, from every
state and every city… (Paragraphs 19 through 25)
the words “Let Freedom ring…” has been
repeated as many as nine times to
indicate
that it is the whole of the United States rather
than any part of it that
should be bathed in
the sunshine of freedom.
3.2 Use of
Parallelism
Parallelism is another
syntactic over-regularity. It means exact
repetition in
equivalent positions. It differs
from simple repetition in that the identity does
not
extend to absolute duplication, it
“requires some variable feature of the
pattern-some contrasting elements which are
„parallel‟ with respect to their
position in
the pattern”(Leech, 1969:66). To put it simply,
parallelism means the
balancing of sentence
elements that are grammatically equal. To take
them
parallel, balance nouns with nouns, verbs
with verbs, prepositional phrases with
prepositional phrases, clauses with clauses,
and so forth.
In his speech, Martin Luther
King uses parallelism to create a strong rhythm to
help the audience line up his ideas. Here are
few examples:
⑤„by the manacles of
seGREgation and the chains of
discrimination…(Par.2,
two parallel noun
phrases)
⑥“This is no time to engage in
the luxury of cooling off or to take the
tranquilizing drag of gradualism.” (Par.4, two
parallel infinitive phrases: “to
engage…to
take…”)
⑦“there will be neither rest nor
tranquility in America„”(Par. 5, two parallel
nouns joined with “neither…nor”)
⑧“We shall never be satisfied as long as our
children are stripped of their
selfhood and
robbed of their dignity…”(Par. 7, two parallel
verb phrases)
It is traditionally believed
that parallelism is used for the purpose of
emphasizing and enhancing, esp. in speech, the
ideas expressed by the speaker
(or author in
written versions), thus always encouraging and
inspiring the
audience. We need not to be very
carefully to find out many more examples of
parallelism used in King‟s speech and
classified as is followed:
3.2.1 parallel
nouns:
⑨This not was a promise that all
men would be guaranteed the inalienable
rights
of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
(Par. 3, three parallel nouns as
attributive)
⑩1963 is not an end, but a beginning (Par.
5, two parallel nouns joined with
“not…but…”)
⑾Again and again we must rise to the
majestic heights of meeting physical
force
with soul force. (Par. 6)
⑿„have come to
realize that their destiny is tied up with our
destiny and
their freedom is inextricably
bound to our freedom. (Par. 6, two pairs of
parallel
nouns).
⒀I say to you today,
my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and
frustrations of the moment…(Par. 8)
⒁„a desert state sweltering with the heat of
injustice and oppression, will be
transformed into an oasis of freedom
and justice. (Par. 11, two pairs of parallel
nouns).
3.2.2 Parallel noun phrases:
⒂So we have to came to cash this check-a
check that will give as upon
demand the riches
of freedom and The security of justice. (Par. 4)
⒃I have a dream that one day on the red
hills of Georgia the sons of former
slaves and
the sons of former slave-owners will be able to
sit down together at
the table of brother hood
(Par. 10)
3.2.3 Parallel infinitive
phrases:
⒄It would be fetal for the nation
to overlook the urgency of the moment and
to
underestimate the determination of the Negro.
(Par.5, two parallel infinitive
phrases)
⒅With this faith, we will be able to work
together, to pray together, to
straggle
together, to go to jail together, to stand up for
freedom together,
knowing that we will be free
one day. (Par. 7, five parallel infinitive
phrases).
3.2.4 Parallel prepositional
phrases
⒆I have a dream that my four
little children will one day live in a nation
where
they will not be judged by the color of
their skin but by the content of their
character. (Par. 12)
⒇„, when we let
it ring from every village and every hamlet, from
every state
and every city, … (Par. 25)
E. Parallel clauses:
(21) …, have
come to realize that their destiny is tied up with
our destiny and
(that) their freedom is
inextricably bound t our freedom. (Par. 6, two
parallel
objective clause)
(22) I have
a dream that one day every valley shall be
exalted, every hill and
mountain shall be made
low, the rough place will be made plain, and the
crooked
places will be made straight, and the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
flesh shall see it together. (Par. 6, six
parallel clauses used as appositions of the
noun “dream”).
3.3 Use of Similes and
Metaphors
As two very important types of
meaning transference in literature, similes and
metaphors are comparisons that show
similarities in things that are basically
different, which can be used to add vividness
and vitality to writing. As Leech
points out,
metaphor is associated with a particular rule of
transference which
may be called the
“metaphoric rule” (1969: 151). That is, the
figurative meaning
is derived from the literal
meaning or it is, as it were, the literal meaning.
Throughout the speech, King makes
extensive use of similes and metaphors.
In
paragraph 1, for example, King compares The
Emancipation Proclamation to
two forms of
brilliant light cutting through darkness. The
first-“a joyous
daybreak”-compares it to the
sunrise, which (in this case) ends “the long night
of
captivity”. In paragraph 2, he speaks of
“the manacles of seGREgation and the
chains of
discrimination,” comparing segregation and
discrimination under
which the Negro people
live to the manacles and chains once used on
slaves.
Therefore, it is very clear
that the using of similes and metaphors can
definitely
add vividness and vitality to
writing and make it easy for the readers or
audience
to understand.
Now let‟s cite
some of the similes and metaphors used in King‟s
speech.
(23) One hundred years later, the
Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in
the midst of a vast ocean of material
prosperity. (Par. 2, metaphors)
(24) But
we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is
bankrupt. We refuse to
believe that there are
insufficient funds in the GREat vaults of
opportunity for this
nation (Par.4, metaphors)
(25)This is no time … to take the
tranquilizing drag of gradualism. (Par. 4,
metaphor)
(26) This sweltering summer
of the Negro‟s legitimate discontent will not pass
until there is an invigorating autumn of
freedom and equality. (Par. 5, Metaphors)
(27) …we will not be satisfied until justice rolls
down like waters and
righteousness like a
mighty stream. (Par. 7, Similes)
(28) …a
situation where little black boys and black girls
will be able to join
hands with white boys and
white girls and walk together as sisters and
brothers.
(Par. 14, Similes)
3.4 Use
of Contrast
Although maybe a rhetorical
device instead of a stylistic one, contrast has
also
been used effectively, like repetition,
in this speech, achieving the function of
making clear the ideas of the speaker. In
paragraph l, for example, “GREat
beacon
light of hope” is contrasted with “flames of
withering injustice,” and
“joyous daybreak”
with long night of captivity.”
As it is
defined, contrast is used to show the difference
between two things.
Therefore, it is not very
difficult for us to understand why the speaker
king uses
so many contrasts in his speech.
(29) One hundred years later, the Negro
lives on a lonely island of poverty in
the
midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.
(Par. 2)
(30) Now is the time to rise from
the dark and desolate valley of seGREgation
to
the sunlit path of racial justice. (Par. 4)
(31) Now is the time to lift our nation from the
quicksands of racial injustice to
the solid
rock of brotherhood (Par.4)
(32) This
sweltering summer of the Negro‟s legitimate
discontent will not pass
until there is an
invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. (Par.
5)
(33) 1963 is not an end, but a
beginning. (Par. 5)
(34) Again and again
we must rise to the majestic height of meeting
physical
force with soul force. (Par. 6)
(35) And as we walk, we must make the pledge that
we shall always march
ahead. We cannot turn
back. (Par. 7)
(36)…the sons of former
slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be
able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood.(Par. 10)
(37)…a desert state
sweltering with the heat of injustice and
oppression, will
be transformed into an oasis
of freedom and justice. (Par. 11)
(38)…where they will not be judged by the color of
their skin but by the
content of their
character. (Par. 12)
(39) With this faith
we will be able to hew out of the mountain of
despair a
stone of hope. (Par. 17)
(40) With this faith we will be able to transform
the jangling discords of our
nation into a
beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
4.
Conclusion
As we have analyzed above,
stylistic devices are frequently used in the
discourse of literary works especially in
speech, to achieve certain specific
purposes.
Thus making the style of a speech somewhat
particular to the others.
Generally
speaking, a speech may have the following
stylistic characteristics:
To begin with,
it must be very persuasive. Thus the sentence
patterns are very
well-organized, with
repetitions, parallelism and contrasts frequently
used.
Secondly, it should be emotional so
as to be convincing, because the speaker
should face the audience directly and his
words should not only be orderly and
informative but also be expressive and
inspiring. Therefore, the stylistic devices
such as similes and metaphors are often
involved.
Finally, in many cases, written-
conversational style is usually used with not
very formal diction and not very complicated
sentence structure.
Bibliography:
[1]. Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream,
August 28, 1963
[2]. Wang Shouyuan,
Essentials of English Stylistics, Shandong
University
Press, July, 2000
[3]. Pan Shaozhang, English Rhetoric and Writing,
Shanghai Transportation
University Press,
December, 1998
[4]. Widdowson, H. G.
Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature,
Longman,
1975
[5]. Leech, G. N. “
„This bread I break‟ Language and interpretation”.
In D.C.
Freeman. (ed.). Linguistics and
Literature Style. New York:Holt, Rinhart &
Winston.
Acknowledgements:
It
was really a laborious task to accomplish a B.A
thesis. Many people gave me
support and help
in the process of writing the paper. I‟d like
first to give my grate
to my dear teacher,
vice professor Mr. Liu Fagong, who generously gave
me his
kindly help and instructions during the
whole process of my paper-writing. Then
I‟d
like to give my many thanks to my classmates who
helped me a lot with my
information collecting
and paper-polishing. Most important of all, I want
to give
my thanks to my mother university and
all the teachers in the English College,
who
educated and cultivated me to be a qualified
teacher in the future.
A Brief
Introduction to the Author:
Su Zhanghai, a
student in Class One 1988 Grade, majoring in
English
Education, and a well-to-be teacher in
Shandong Agricultural University, who
whole-
heartedly gives his best wishes to all the
teachers in Qufu Normal
University.（）