Discourse Analysis of A Day's Wait

【Abstract】One of the purposes of Halliday's Functional Grammar construct is to provide an analytical framework discourse Studies. It is rare to analyze literary works with linguistic theory of Functional Grammar in particular. This paper attempts function of discourse analysis of “A day's wait” to reveal the theme of the novel and Hemingway's writing style. And through this discussion， analysis， further giving evidence of functional linguistics is not only a powerful tool， but also application linguistic theories in teaching are validated and of great benefit.

【Key words】functional grammar； discourse analysis； discourse function；“A Day's Wait”

【摘要】韩礼德建构系统功能语法的目的之一是为语篇研究提供一个分析框架。国内用语言学理论特别是系统功能语法理论来分析文学作品还不多见。本文尝试对海明威的一个短篇小说《A day’s wait》进行语篇功能分析，旨在揭示小说主题，再现海明威写作之特点，而通过本文的讨论、分析，进一步证明系统功能语言学不仅为文学文体学的研究提供了一个有力的工具，而且为我们欣赏和理解文学作品提供了新的视角。

【关键词】系统功能语法 语篇分析 语篇功能 《A day’s wait》

1.Introduction

The representative writer of “Lost Generation”， Ernest Hemingway， known as the United States， half of the twentieth century's most talented “gifted novelist”，we have quite a bit analysis of his works， but most works of literature from the general analysis methods - Appreciation of literature or literary criticism theory. This paper attempts to use the Functional Grammar to analyses the feature of discourse in Hemmingway’s short story “a Day’s Wait”， by discussing its thematic structure and cohesion to reveal mental activities of the people and the relationship between them； reproduction of Hemingway's writing style； then digging up the theme of the novel and deeper things. Also hopes it is operation that through this discussion， analysis， and inspection of Functional Grammar in literary works analysis.

2.The Functional Grammar

In Hallidayan functional grammar， it refers to these broad functions as metafunctions. The labels for each of the metafunctions are experiential， interpersonal and the textual.

（1） The experiential metafunction. We use language to talk about our experience of the world， including the worlds in our own minds， to describe events and states and the entities involved in them. We can express what we have said about the ‘content’ of clauses in terms of process involving participants in certain circumstances.

（2） Interpersonal metafunctions. We also use language to interact with other people， to establish and maintain relations with them， to influence their behavior， to express our own viewpoint on things in the world， and to elicit or change theirs. Interpersonal function includes mainly as mood and modality

（3） the textual metafunctions. We organize our messages in ways that indicate how they fit in with the other messages around them and with the wider context in which we are talking or writing

In short， the three matafunctions are independent， but also acting on the text， providing a theoretical basis for discourse analysis. Here is the analysis from discourse functional aspects for “A day’s wait”.

3. On A Day’s Wait

Hemingway's short story “A Day's Wait” is about something happened between a father and his son. In this short story， Hemingway describes a terrifying day the year-old boy experienced. Because the boy does not understand the difference in the Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature， he mistakes that he'll be dead when he has 102 degrees Fahrenheit， so all day faced the imaginary death， he is not afraid but just like a man under control of their own feelings. Until the father opened the mystery at the end of this terrible day， the boy stops waiting for the day of death. His courage in the face of death is admirable. Shaftsbury said：“True courage is cool and calm.” facing of death， the one always a bit of fear， let alone a child to face his own death？ The boy remained calm in the face of death is just how brave and self-restraint. “Grace under Press” is Hemingway's definition of courage， this character is discussing in many of his works. Hemingway defined courage and the writing style and his tough-guy complex fully is brought out in this novel.

4. Analysis of Discourse Features for A Day's Wait

Textual metafunctions mainly include thematic and cohesion structure. The thematic structure involves Theme and Rheme. What we have done in each case is to start the message from a different point； that is， to choose a different Theme for the clause. Theme is the first constituent of the clause. All the rest of the clause is simply labeled the Rheme.

For example：

（1） When I came down stairs he was dressed， sitting by the fire， looking a very sick Theme / known information Rheme / unknown information and miserable boy of nine years. （L 9-L 10）

（2） When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever. （L 10-L 11）

Theme / known information Rheme / unknown information

（3） When the doctor came he took the boy's temperature. （L 14）

Theme / known information Rheme / unknown information

The three“when”clauses leads to the parallelism， not only to create a balance of beauty， but also increase the semantic layers， development of plot from the time promoted. Similar examples are：

（4） Down stair， the doctor left three different medicines…（L 17―L 18）

Theme / information known Rheme/ unknown information

（5） Back in the room I wrote the boy's temperature down ... （L 24-L 25）

Theme / information known Rheme / unknown information

（6） At the house they said he boy had refused ... （L 60-L 61）

Theme / information known Rheme / unknown information

Observing those examples， theme is the narrative point of departure of the message； rhyme is the core narrative. Although Rheme contributed much in terms of value to state the position， but Theme is an important means of discourse. Readers can easily find the whole day made a brief span just a few of the pre-adverbial sentence description. And the way played a finishing touch， by revealing the entire discourse in the particular context of the internal links for rapid deployment story.

Lexical Cohesion （Lexical cohesion） is also one important means to move the plot in the discourse analysis. For example， the words on Body temperature “one hundred and two”， is the “son” misunderstanding that has become the crux of extreme tension. Writer repeats it in the novel total five times （L 16， L 70， L 87， L 88， L 91）， each repetition， which makes the story more in-depth level. It is worth mentioning that some of the text synonyms repetitions not only make the sentence perfect convergence， but also a certain degree of stylistic effect. For example：

But it was difficult to stand or walk on the glassy surface and the red dog slipped and slithered and I fell twice， hard， once dropping my gun and having it slide away over the ice. （L 49-L 50）

5.Conclusion

The above is an attempt to analyze discourse “A Day's Wait”. It must be inevitable error， but through discourse analysis of the sentence in different linguistic context we can analyze the different roles and communicative function； by studying the sentences in the role of discourse， we also can explain how people construct and understand all variety of coherent discourse. Furthermore， due to language research and language teaching has always been complementary to each other， so the text of discourse analysis， and application linguistic theories in teaching are validated and of great benefit.

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