语篇分析 期末论文 theme - rheme pattern and writing

Theme-rheme and its inspiration for English Writing

According to Michael McCarthy, language has three meta-functions, that is, ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function. And the pattern of Thematic Progression is a vital part of the textual function. Concentrating on the themes (or topic) of clauses does not tell us much about the rest of the clause, which may be called the rhemes or comment of the clause. Actually, when we look at themes and rhemes together in connected text ,we see further patterns emerging. In this entry, we learned three kinds of textual options.

Option (a):the rheme of a sentence contains an element which becomes the theme of next sentence. We can take a look at the following example:

Since almost everyone has relatives and friends living far away and he may like to send them something, it is necessary for a person to know how to post a parcel. Firstly of all, different things are packed in different ways. After you have packed the objects, put down your address and that of the addressee on the wrapping of the parcel. Give the parcel to clerk for him to check. He will then give you a form to fill in. Having filled in the form, you give it together with the parcel to the clerk. He will tell you how much you should pay. You pay the money and get a receipt. Be sure to keep your receipt until you are sure that the addressee has received the parcel. [from A hand book of writing page:75]

Repetition of words can be clearly seen in this pattern. the end of the first sentence is “ pack”while the word “pack” is also the beginning of the next sentence( the use of “parcel” ”clerk” ” form” “pay” and“receipt” are the same). The repetition of the words serves as a chain, ensuring the coherence of discourse and semantics.As far as I’m concerned, option(a) is quite suitable for explaining how something is done. As the steps must occur one after another, you usually give a step-by-step description.

Option(b):the theme of a sentence is the same as the theme of the next sentence. Take the following description of Chou En-lai for instance:

Chou had lived abroad; born of a middle-class family in 1898, he had been a brilliant student and had studied and worked in France and German in the 1920s. He had been a leader of the Chinese Communist movement for nearly fifty years,when I met him,He had been on the Long March. He had been the only premier the people’s republic had had-nearly twenty-two years-and for nine of those years he had also been Foreign Minister. Chou had negotiated with General Marshall in the 1940s.He was a figure out of history. He was equally at home in philosophy, reminiscence, historical analysis, tactical probes, humorous repartee.

As we can see above, the writer organized the composition under the same theme all the way. Then , the author introduced Chou （He） in various rhemes, which would provide the reader a more full-scale comprehension of the theme. Therefore, in my perspective, option(b)is a good choice for description of a person, place, object or scene. We can first point out the theme, then add more rhemes to fill in the content. The paragraph is unified when all the sentences in the paragraph are focused on the same theme(one central thought or on a single topic).

As for option(c),it is a hierarchy pattern. The rheme of the sentence contains several elements which are taken up as the themes in the several separate subsequent sentences . One by one, the author made his points very clear as well as his essay was well organized. For example:

There are lots of colors in our daily life, they are: red, orange, yellow, green……

Red, is the color of life, heat, blood and life. People say red is an exciting and active color. They associate red with a strong feeling like anger. Red is also used for signs of danger, such as stop signs and fire engines. Orange is the bright, warm color of leaves in autumn. People say orange is a lively color. They associate orange with happiness. Yellow is the color of sunlight. People say it is a cheerful color. They associate yellow, too, with happiness. Green is the cool color of grass in spring. People say it is a refreshing color.

The essay is well organized. After pointing out the four color, the author naturally began to illustrate those four colors mentioned previously one by one . Usually, the first sentence is the theme of the paragraph. We can easily guess what the writer is going to say in the follow passage. Hence, the paragraph is coherence because it develops naturally and smoothly, and one sentence leads logically to another.

In conclusion, theme-rheme structure is beneficial to writing. It not only helps us to organize our ideas well, but also help to create an united composition. We can try to apply the above three types of theme-rheme pattern in our writing.