Narrative Function of Texts

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Chapter 13

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Narrative Function of Texts

• A text is a combination of a variety of
  communication functions, for example,
  description, narration and argumentation.
• The narrative function is the function of
  communicating dynamic messages such as actions,
  activities and events.

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Narrative Discourse Elements

• Background
• Characters
• Events
• Ending
• Comments
• eg. It was a keen disappointment when I had to
  postpone the visit which I had intended to pay to
  China in January.
• (1) ???????????,???????,???????
• (2)?????,?????????????????????????

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Text

• An English text can be seen as an organic whole
  with sentences inter-connected and meanings
  linked up.
• Sentences not only have ostensive
  glutinosity(?????), but also internal semantic
  and functional unity and reference(?????????).

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Text?

• There was no possibility of a walk that day.
  Income tax rates for 1984 have already been
  announced. What is the defining characteristic of
  regulate? Surely you did not tell her how it
  happened?

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Textuality

• Cohesion(??)
• Coherence(??)

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Cohesion

• The concept of cohesion is a semantic one it
  refers to relations of meaning that exist within
  the text, and that define it as a text.
• (Halliday Hason, Cohesion in English,
  1976)

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Cohesion

• It is the linking up of words the way of
  linking up all parts of discourse.
• It may exist inter-paragraph or
  inter-sentence, and may exist within a sentence
  between different parts.
• It is the tangible network of a text.

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Cohesion 5 Types

• Reference (??)
• Substitution (??)
• Ellipsis (??)
• Conjunction (????)
• Lexical Cohesion (????)
• (Halliday Hason, 1976)

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Cohesion at Work Reference

• Use of pronouns, relative pronouns, etc. to
  achieve semantic reference of one part of the
  text to another
• eg. If you happened to meet the boy, dont tell
  him his mother is in hospital.
• ???????,??????????????

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Cohesion at Work Substitution

• Use of another structure to substitute
  information given to avoid repetition
• eg. Your hat is more expensive than mine.
• ???????????
• Can I have a cup of black coffee with sugar,
  please?
• Give me the same, please.
• ??????????????
• ??????????????

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Cohesion at Work Ellipsis

• Omission of the repetitive structures (nouns,
  verbs, etc.)
• eg. Mr Smith, Have you seen him before?
• I have.
• ?????,????????
• ????
• Reading maketh a full man conference a ready
  man and writing an exact man.
• 
  (F.Bacon,On Studies)
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Cohesion at Work Conjunction

• Use of Connectives to show time, cause and
  effect, concession, conditions, etc.
• eg. Speaking and writing are different in many
  ways. Speech depends on sounds. Writing uses
  written symbols. Speech developed about 500 000
  years ago. Written language is a recent
  development. It was invented only about six
  thousand years ago. Speech is usually informal.
  The word choice of writing is often relatively
  formal. Pronunciation and accent often tell where
  the speaker is from. Pronunciation and accent are
  ignored in writing. A standard diction and
  spelling system prevails in the written language
  of most countries. Speech relies on gesture,
  loudness, and rise and fall of the voice. Writing
  lacks gesture, loudness and the rise and fall of
  the voice. Careful speakers and writers are aware
  of the differences.

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Cohesion at Work Conjunction

• Use of Connectives to show time, cause and
  effect, concession, conditions, etc.
• eg. Speaking and writing are different in many
  ways. Speech depends on sounds writing, on the
  other hand, uses written symbols. Speech was
  developed about 500 000 years ago, but written
  language is a recent development, invented only
  about six thousand years ago. Speech is usually
  informal, while the word choice of writing, by
  contrast, is often relatively formal. Although
  pronunciation and accent often tell where the
  speaker is from, they are ignored in wiring
  because a standard diction and spelling system
  prevails in most countries. Speech relies on
  gesture, loudness, and the rise and fall of the
  voice, but writing lacks these features. Careful
  speakers and writers are aware of these
  differences.

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Cohesion at Work Lexical Cohesion

• Use of other lexical means to show logical
  relations between different parts of a text
• eg. Later on, precisely because of the erroneous
  decision by the U.S. government, tension emerged
  in the Taiwan Straits. Given this fact, it is the
  United States which has to think how they can
  change the situation.
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Exercise

• Please look through a short essay. Mark the
  places where cohesive ties are used to achieve
  ostensive glutinosity. How well does this help
  you understand the concept of cohesion?

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Examples Analysis

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18
Examples Analysis

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  ?????????????????????????,???????????!

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Examples Analysis

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20
Examples Analysis

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  ,????????????,??????,???????????

21
Examples Analysis

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  ??????????????????,????????????,????????????,?????
  ???????????????,?????????????!

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Examples Analysis

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  ?????????????????????

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Examples Analysis

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  ??????100??????,???8???,???????????????????,?????
  ????????,???????????

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Examples Analysis

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  ???????

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Examples Analysis

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  ??????????????????

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Examples Analysis

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