小论文A Brief Stylistic Analysis of What Adults Can Learn from Kids Delivered by Adora Svitak.docx

小论文A Brief Stylistic Analysis of What Adults Can Learn from Kids Delivered by Adora Svitak.docx

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小论文ABriefStylisticAnalysisofWhatAdultsCanLearnfromKidsDeliveredbyAdoraSvitak

文体与修辞课程论文

ABriefStylisticAnalysisof“WhatAdultsCanLearnfromKids”DeliveredbyAdoraSvitak

姓名***

班级10级英语1班

学号***********

摘要

公众演讲是指在公共场所发表的演说，例如大学里的公开课或者研讨会，教堂里的宗教讲道，领导在会议及大会上发表的讲话以及总统选举发表的就职演说等。

本文主要研究的是公众演讲中的语言文体特征，本文的研究素材属于公众演讲中的介绍性演讲，简洁明了且目的明确；是选自美国华裔女童邹奇奇——在TED所演讲的“成年人能从孩子身上学到什么”。

本文运用实用文体学理论，从语音特征、语相特征、词汇特征、句法特征以及语义特征等四个不同的方面对邹奇奇的演讲进行了细致的文体分析。

本文对公众演讲的实际分析不仅使我们更全面的了解公众演讲的文体特征和结构特征，并且更好的欣赏并学习演讲者为达到演讲的最终目的而采取的各种演讲技巧。

关键词：

公众演讲、邹奇奇、文体分析、文体特征

Abstract

Publicspeechesarespeechesdeliveredinpublicforaspecialpurpose,suchasopen-classlecturesorseminarsinauniversity,religiouspreachesinthechurch,speechesdeliveredatameetingorconference,andtheinauguraladdressofthepresidentelect,etc.Thispaperismainlytostudythestylesoflanguageusedinthepublicspeeches,anditsresearchmaterialbelongstotheinformativespeech,itsremarkablecharacteristicsareclarityandsimplicity.Thespeech--WhatAdultsCanLearnfromKids,isselectedfromtheTED,whichisdeliveredbyaChineseAmericangirlAdoraSvitak.

Thisthesisisanattempttoapplythetheoriesofpracticalstylisticstoanalyzethestyleofthepublicspeeches.Inthisarticle,AdoraSvitak’sspeechwillmainlybeanalyzedfromfouraspects,namely,phonological,lexical,syntactic,andsemanticlevels.Bythepracticalstudyofthispublicspeaking,wecannotonlycomprehendthestylefeaturesofpublicspeechbutalsoappreciateandlearnthespeaker’sskillsofachievingthepurposeofthespeaking.

KeyWords:

publicspeech,AdoraSvitak,stylisticanalysis,stylisticfeatures

1.Introduction

“WhatAdultsCanLearnfromKids”,whichisdeliveredbyAdoraSvitak,aChineseAmericangirlhasbeencalledthemostclevergirlintheworld,onFebruary2010onthestageofTEDinLongBeach.Theaudienceincludingmanyacademicelitesindifferentfieldsandthemajorityofthemareadults,whilethespeakerisjustathirteen-year-oldgirl.AndthelittlegirlAdoraSvitaksaystheworldneeds“childish”thinking:

boldideas,wildcreativityandoptimism.Kid’sbigdreamsdeservehighexpectations,andshesays,startingwithgrownups’willingnesstolearnfromchildrenasmuchastoteach.Reviewingthewholespeechinsuchcontext,wefindoutmanystylisticfeaturesinthisspeechanditreallydeservesourexplorationtoexhibitwhatthestylisticcharacteristicsofinformativespeechare.Theexaminationwillbecarriedoutinfourperspectives,namely,phonological,lexical,syntacticalandsemanticanalyses.

2.AStylisticAnalysisofSpeech

2.1PhonologicalFeatures

Phonologicaldevicesplayaveryimportantroleinpublicspeeches,sincetheyaredeliveredorally.Therefore,skillfuluseandcontrolofvoice,pitch,pause,tempoandtheemploymentofvariousphoneticfiguresofspeechsuchasalliteration,assonance,consonanceshouldbeessentialtothesuccessofthedelivery.Here,themainfocusisputonstress,rhymeandtempo.

2.1.1Stress

Stressisdefinedastheprominenceofsounds.Itistheresultofextraforceusedinpronouncingaparticularwordorasyllable.Itisaveryimportantwayofexpressingdifferentfeelingsorimplyingdifferentmeaningsinoralcommunication.Inordertoexpressheremotionandideasmoreeffectively,Adorauseslotsofstressinherspeech,sowecaneasilyfindstressinthisspeaking,forinstance,thelastsentenceinthefirstparagraph,“Askyourself:

Who'sresponsible?

”Adults.Inthissentence,both“Who”and“Adults”arestressed,whichshowthespeaker’ssurpriseanddoubttothequestionandtheanswer.

2.1.2Rhyme

Rhymeistherepetitionofidenticalendsounds.Anditincludesalliteration,assonanceandconsonance.RhymeisoneofthekeypointstomakeyourspeechsoundsmorerhythmicallyandinAdora’sspeech,wecanfindsomealliteration,suchas“irresponsibilityandirrationalthinking”inthesecondparagraphand“broken-heartedsnakesandbaconboys”inthefourthparagraph.Andtherearealsosomeparallelisminthespeech,theparalleledwordsorsyntacticalstructuresfosteraflexibletensionbetweenstressedandunstressedsyllables,acceleratedanddeceleratedpaceofspeakingandproducedaconsistentrhythmicalcadence.AndallofthesemakeAdora’sspeakingmoreencouragingandmotivational.Adoraeffectivelyactivatedinthemindsofaudienceacreativeandambitiousgeneration.

2.1.3Tempo

Temporeferstothespeedofspeaking.Thespeedofspeakingofaparticularpersonisusuallysteady.Butwhenwearemakingapublicspeech,ourtempoisusuallychange.Therearemanydifferentkindsoftemporeflectedinbothmonosyllablesandsentences.Adoraopenedherspeechatapaceof136wordsperminute,thepaceofthemiddlesectionofherspeechreachupto179perminuteandshefinisheditat121.SowecanknowthatthetempoofAdora’sspeechisintheincreasing“accele-rando”firstandtheninthedecreasing“rallentando”.AndthequicktempoinAdora’sspeakingindicatestheherexcitementandenthusiasm.

2.2LexicalFeatures

Lexisreferstothechoiceofwordsandexpressions,andhere,wewillfocusourattentionontheuseofbigwords（wordsmorethan6letters）andthefirstpersonpronounsandthesecondpersonpronouns.

2.2.1UsesofBigWordsandAbstractWords

Publicspeechastheveryformalactivity,itisdevotesparticularcaretothechoiceofwords.Thewordsusedinpublicspeechisobviouslydifficultandcomplicatedthanthedailyconversation.Andcomparatively,therearemorebigwordsandabstractwordsthansimplewords.

Theuseofbigwordsandabstractwordsismoreinformativeandcanevokevividimagesinthehearer’smind.WecanfindmanybigwordsinAdora’sspeechlikefrequent,irrational,exhibit,responsible,abolish,benefit,depleted,scarce,audacity,prevalentlyandsoon.Andontheotherhand,theusesoftheabstractwordsinpublicspeechisthedistinctfeature.Thiskindsofwordsareparticularprominenceinthisspeech,forexample,challenge,behavior,knowledge,childhood,reality,heirloometc.Theusesofthesewordsnotonlyincreasethedifficultyofunderstanding,butalsomakelanguagemoreofficialandserious,increasethecredibilityofthespeech.

2.2.2UsesofPersonPronouns

Theotherlexicalfeaturesofpublicspeechistheusesofthefirstpersonpronouns.Generallyspeaking,thefirstpersonpronouns（I,we）andthesecondpersonpronouns（You）arefrequentlyused,Thethirdpersonpronounsarerarelyused.Theparticularusageofthepersonpronounscanbeseeninthefollowingtable.

Table1:

Theusageofthepersonpronouns

PersonPronouns

Thefirstpersonpronouns

Thesecondpersonpronouns

Thethirdpersonpronouns

Category

we

I

me

our

us

my

you

your

they

their

Quantity

14

14

8

2

4

12

21

4

6

3

Sum

54

25

9

Accordingtotheabovetable,wecanseethattheusageofthefirstpersonpronounsI,me,our,us,we,myandthesecondpersonpronounsyou,yourarefrequent,whilethethirdpersonpronounsthey,theirusedmuchless.ThisisbecausewhenthespeakerAdorareferstoherselforherownopinionshewouldliketousethefirstpersonpronouns,forthefirstpersonpronounsmaketheaudiencefeelintimate.Henceitiseasytowinthesupportoftheaudience.Andinthisspeeches,thefirstpersonpronounsreferstothechildren,whilethesecondpersonpronounsistheadults.ThefrequentusageofweandyouhereistoexpressAdora’sideasaboutyouadultsandwechildren,andshealwayscatchtheattentionofaudience.

2.3SyntacticFeatures

Althoughthepublicspeechismoreseriousthanthedailyconversation,itlessofficialthanthescientificandlegalstyle.Whileinsuchaformalspeech,thecapabilityofthesentencesarefullyextended,thefunctionofthesentencesarefurtherimproved.Thelengthofthesentencesisthepreconditionoflageramountofinformationandimprovingtheexpressionofallkindsoflogicrelations.Sowewillanalyzethesyntacticfeaturesinsentencelengthandtenses.

2.3.1SentenceLength

Thereare64sentencesand1258wordsinAdora’sspeech,andthelengthofaveragesentenceare19.7words,it’slongerthantheaverageEnglishsentencelength--17.6wordspersentence.Andinthisspeech,thelongestsentencewhichhas48wordsinthesixthparagraphandtheshortestsentenceonlyhas1wordinthefirstparagraph.

Table2:

Sentenceslength

SentenceLength

0-10

10-20

21-30

>30

Quantity

16

21

13

14

Percentage

25%

32.9%

20.3%

21.8%

Fromtheabovetable,wecanknowthatthemostofsentencesinAdora’sspeechare10-30words,about53.7%,thesentenceswhichwordslessthan10are25%.Andtheshortsentenceslikethisareterseandforceful.Forinstance,theshortestsentencesinthisspeech,“adults”,theonlywordsentencebringsoutthethemeofAdora’sspeechaccurately.Inaddition,thelongsentencescanexpressthecomparativelycomplexrelationsandshowthegracefulstylisticeffects.

2.3.2Tenses

Tensesusedinpublicspeechesarecomplicated.But,theflexibleusesofthetensesisalsothebasicqualityofbeingapublicspeaker.Generallyspeaking,themaintenseofthepublicspeechisthesimplepresenttense;whilethesimplepasttense,thefutureindefinitetenseandthepresentperfecttensearealsocommonlyusedtensesinpublicspeeches.

Table3:

Thecategoryoftenses

Tense

Simplepresent

Simplepast

Futureindefinite

Presentperfect

Sum

48

10

2

4

Percentage

75%

15.7%

3.1%

6.2%

Wecangainsomethingfromtheabovetable,whichthesimplepresenttenseisthemajortenseinAdora’spub