3.1 样本与分析方法
本文选取的五篇英文议论文样本如下:The Real Truth About Lies (Randy Fitzgerald,882 字,选自The World Of English,2001.6); Education ( E.B. White,1021字,选自The Hill Reader,135-155); The Art Of SmartGuessing ( Bryan W. Mattimore,1034 字,选自The World English,2001.2); On The Art OfAdvertising ( Samuel Johnson功能语法,995 字,选自 The Hill Reader,453-455); 以及 The Green Frog Skin(John Lame Deer,1166 字,选自The Hill Reader ,332-334).
笔者依据物质,心理,关系,行为,言语和存在六个过程对每篇文章的分句进行了判定,并为进一步的量化分析计算出各分句所占比例。具体分布情况如下表所示:
物质
过程
心理
过程
关系
过程
行为
过程
言语
过程
存在
过程
总计
篇章1
26
13
32
1
25
4
101
篇章2
35
8
29
7
5
8
92
篇章3
26
9
35
2
1
14
87
篇章4
31
13
24
7
7
82
篇章5
42
13
46
10
7
3
121
总计
160
56
166
20
45
36
483
百分比
33%
11.6%
34.4%
4%
9%
7.5%
主句
16
16
40
2
16
7
97
百分比
16.5%
16.5%
41.2%
2%
16.5%
7.2%
附属从句与嵌入式从句
64
22
36
10
9
13
154
百分比
41.56%
14.3%
23.4%
6.5%
6%
8.4%
3.2 分析结果与探讨
从上表可以看出,韩礼德的六个过程模式在英文议论中呈现不均衡分布。从整体来看,物质过程和关系过程所占比例分别为33%和34.4%。这就意味着在英文议论文中,物质和关系过程占据主体地位,二者总体超过总数的三分之二,而其他四个过程仅占不到三分之一。单从主句来看,关系过程以41.2%的比例占据主导地位,同时,我们可以发现一个非常有趣的现象,即物质,心理,言语过程所占比例均为16.5%。在从句的过程分布比例中,物质过程占41.5%,非常接近关系过程在主句中所占的比重。其次是关系过程,所占百分比为23.4。存在过程在整体分句,主句及从句中的分布比例较为稳定。出现比例最小的为行为过程。
结合小句过程模式的分布比例和议论文的特点,笔者的分析如下:
第一,物质过程是摆事实,讲论据的最佳途径。作为质询和决策的方式之一,议论文应当提供充分有力的证据来引领读者挖掘事件的方方面面。论据通常包括常识,例证,事实,数据,引用等等。有效的论据必须能够清楚直接地证明论点cssci期刊目录。一般情况下,人的行为即为已经发生的无可改变的既成事实,而物质过程作为外部经验的表述恰好使其成为了提供论据最为常用的模式。在议论文中,从句通常扮演着为主句提供事实或数据的角色,由此不难解释为何物质过程在从句中占据绝对比例。例如,在复杂句“advertisements are now so numerous that theyare very negligently perused”中,其从句“they are verynegligently perused,”阐述了主句所引发的事实结果。相反地,主观意见和心理活动的论证说明力远不如事实,这也正是心理过程在议论文中所占比重较小的原因。
第二,关系过程在英文议论文中的显著地位源于其对逻辑关系的阐释。逻辑性对议论文至关重要功能语法,议论文的目的就是通过理性说明来赢得读者的认同,而读者对新观点的认同建立在其已认同的事实和原理的基础之上。因此,从本质上来说,议论文是通过良好的逻辑建立和加强共同与合作意识的过程。换言之,所有能够作为论据的事实和原理都必须相互并与结论有逻辑性地联系在一起,任何逻辑错误或推理失误都可能导致读者对整篇文章论点的怀疑。关系过程,表明一项经验与另一项经验之间的关系,恰好能够清楚地阐释读议论文中的逻辑关系。以代表句型“x is a”为例,x与a之间的逻辑关系并非唯一的。a既可作为某项特征表明x的特性,也可作为指代与x进行互换。简而言之,在关系过程中,主句通常是被从句归纳化或概念化的特征或指代。
第三,在英文议论中,看似表达主观观点与意愿的言语过程同样不可或缺。引用权威的语言,观点,评论或表达都常常作为强有力的事实支撑来赞同或反对某一观点,而无论是直接引用还是间接引用,都必须通过言语过程来体现。
第四,其他过程类型在英文议论文中同样占据一席之地并发挥着举足轻重的作用。对议论文而言,描述,叙述,阐释等写作手法的合理利用与相辅相成无疑是锦上添花。正因如此,六个过程在英文议论文中的不同分布比例恰好是议论文客观,有逻辑,严肃及某种程度上带有一定主观色彩的特点等要求的自然结果。
This is a story about a special and unreserved woman who has been exposed to a hostile environment but continuously and fearlessly struggling for her ideal life. The story can be interpreted as a symbol of the independent spirit.
It seems to me that many readers’ English reading experience starts with Jane Eyer. I am of no exception. As we refer to the movie “Jane Eyer”, it is not surprising to find some differences because of its being filmized and retold in a new way, but the spirit of the novel remains----to be an independent person, both physically and mentally.
Jane Eyer was a born resister, whose parents went off when she was very young, and her aunt,the only relative she had,treated her as badly as a ragtag. Since Jane’s education in Lowwood Orphanage began, she didn’t get what she had been expecting——simply being regarded as a common person, just the same as any other girl around. The suffers from being humiliated and devastated teach Jane to be persevering and prize dignity over anything else.As a reward of revolting the ruthless oppression, Jane got a chance to be a tutor in Thornfield Garden. There she made the acquaintance of lovely Adele and that garden’s owner, Rochester, a man with warm heart despite a cold face outside. Jane expected to change the life from then on, but fate had decided otherwise: After Jane and Rochester fell in love with each other and got down to get marry, she unfortunately came to know in fact Rochester had got a legal wife, who seemed to be the shadow following Rochester and led to his moodiness all the time ----Rochester was also a despairing person in need of salvation. Jane did want to give him a hand, however, she made up her mind to leave, because she didn’t want to betray her own principles, because she was Jane Eyer. The film has finally got a symbolist end: Jane inherited a large number of legacies and finally returned. After finding Rochester ’s misfortune brought by his original mad wife, Jane chose to stay with him forever.
I don’t know what others feel, but frankly speaking, I would rather regard the section that Jane began her teaching job in Thornfield as the film’s end----especially when I heard Jane’s words “Never in my life have I been awaken so happily. ” For one thing, this ideal and brand-new beginning of life was what Jane had been imagining for long as a suffering person; for another, this should be what the audiences with my views hoped her to get. But the professional judgment of producing films reminded me to wait for a totally different result: There must be something wrong coming with the excellence----perhaps not only should another section be added to enrich the story, but also we may see from the next transition of Jane’s life that “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you would get.”
What ’s more, this film didn’t end when Jane left Thornfield. For Jane Eyer herself, there should always be somewhere to realize her great ideal of being independent considering her fortitude, but for Rochester, how he can get salvation? The film gives the answer tentatively: Jane eventually got back to Rochester. In fact, when Jane met Rochester for the first time, she scared his horse and made his heel strained, to a certain extent, which meant Rochester would get retrieval because of Jane. We can consider Rochester’s experiences as that of religion meaning. The fire by his frantic wife was the punishment for the cynicism early in his life. After it, Rochester got the mercy of the God and the love of the woman whom he loved. Here we can say: human nature and divinity get united perfectly in order to let such a story accord with the requirements of both two sides. The value of this film may be due to its efforts to explore a new way for the development of humanism under the faith of religion.
I read the Chinese version of “Camille” a few years ago. At that time I was deeply moved by the main character Marguerite Gautier. “Camille” or “The Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas, fils, is the story of Marguerite Gautier, a young courtesan, or kept woman, in Paris in the mid 1800's, and how she falls in love with a young man, Armand Duval, and then tries to escape from her questionable past. Unfortunately, it comes back to haunt her and she ends up returning to that life and dies painfully and alone, but with the knowledge that she was a noble woman at heart. When I first began to read the book, I did not care for Marguerite or her attitude or lifestyle, but as I got further into the narrative, I realized that her saucy attitude was a front to cover the lonely woman that she really was. She felt used, abused and unloved, until the gentle Armand Duval came into her life and showed her that he loved her as a person and not for what she could do for him. It must have taken great courage for Marguerite to leave the life she had lived for so long, knowing all along that it was probably too good to be true and would not last indefinitely. And it also showed that Marguerite really loved Armand Duval for she could even change herself for him.
However, happiness didn’t last for long. When M. Duval, Armand's father, came to her, pleading for her to leave Armand to save both Armand's reputation and that of his younger innocent sister, Marguerite saw a way to become pure of heart, if not in body. She felt that it was her duty, because she loved Armand so much, to do this even though it meant giving up her own happiness and hurting Armand temporarily. She reluctantly returned to her former life, knowing that.some day Armand would forgive her. Sadly, she died in debt and basically alone, except for her one female friend, Julie Duprat, who helped her during her illness. She had her journal sent to Armand after her death, explaining why she had made the choices she had. I think Dumas's last few lines about Marguerite being the exception, not the rule were quite true, and I also agreed with his view that while her lifestyle could not be condoned, we as a society assume that all of these type of women are cold and heartless, while this may not always be the case. A person can make the wrong choices in life when they are young, and try to redeem themselves, but sometimes past situations prevent them from changing their lives, even though they desperately wish to do so. This applies to both men and women in many different types of circumstances: involvement in crime; drug or alcohol abuse; gambling; prostitution; financial problems; poor marriage choices; etc. And this is the fact, which exists in the whole society.
As far as the other characters in the book, I think Marguerite was right in saying that no one truly cared about her, but only wanted something from her, the only exceptions being Armand and Julie Duprat. Of course, the Comte de G. and Comte de N. wanted her body and appearance. The
Duke needed to “wake up and smell the coffee” and realize that she could never replace his dead daughter. If he truly cared, he could have helped her leave her lifestyle without “keeping” her himself. And lastly, Prudence was a blood-sucking leech who used Marguerite almost worse than the men. I also think she was jealous of the fact that Marguerite had so much more courage than herself and someone truly loved her.
Last morning, when tiding my bookshelf, I took this book out of the shelf, and a dried flower flew away from the book. It was pale blue, very transparent, with thin fine veins. a dried flower flew away from the book. It was pale blue, very transparent, with thin fine veins. I held it against the morning light and blew on it. The soft breeze carried it away. Camille is just like the camellia, she could never escape from the destiny of withering. But it wasn’t her fault; it’s because of the evil of Capitalism and the hideousness of that society.
Suddenly, I remembered a saying: “Women are like the flowers”. Those pretty women are like those beautiful flowers; their delicate beauty makes people feel they are the miracle of life. However, even the God envies their beauty. It seems that beautiful women always have tragic endings. As we are normal persons, even we can see the hideousness of humanity that results in their fate of withering, we can at most ask quietly in our hearts: Where have those beautiful flowers gone? Where have they gone?
The Life And Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe
It seemed to be such a coincidence that the night after I finished reading The Life And Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe, I was to dine in a restaurant distinctly related to the book itself. This restaurant was no other than the famous American-styled “Friday ’s. ” The reason for mentioning this restaurant is quite straightforward to all the gentlemen, ladies and children who have read the novel and enjoyed it, which is the fact that this restaurant was, most likely, named after the American Native in Robinson Crusoe, called Friday. This restaurant offers very exceptional service, for instance when the waitresses are asked to order dishes they kneel rather than stand, which, unlike the other restaurants I have been to, makes it easier for the customers to hear them speak. Moreover, Friday’s friendly services to the customers help them to make better choices when ordering dishes. I remembered when I went to Friday ’s last time; the waitress kindly described the items on the menu with precise details. It turned out that the combo I initially wanted was designed to be shared among a large group, not to be eaten by one person. I think this restaurant shows many commendable features similar to that of Friday. Friday brought emotional warmth to the people around him with his appealing personality. I think it was this personality that affected Crusoe and made him say that he loved Friday when Crusoe didn ’t express love for his parents, brothers, sisters, or even his wife. “When he espied me, he came running to me, laying himself down again upon the ground, with all the possible signs of an humble, thankful disposition, making many antic gestures to show it to let me know how he would serve me as long as he lived.” This was what Friday did after Crusoe had rescued him from the two savages chasing him. It was easy for me to see why Crusoe had loved Friday. After sometime, Crusoe and Friday were to rescue Friday’s father. When Friday reunited with his father, the scene was easy to move anyone: “It would have moved anyone to tears to have seen how Friday kissed him, embraced him, hugged him, cried, laughed, halloed, jumped about, danced,
sung; and then sung and jumped about again, like a distracted creature. It was a good while before I could make him speak to me.” This is my favourite chapter in the whole book. It is hard to see why Friday is an ex-savage when he can have personalities more praiseworthy than many civilized people, viz. Crusoe himself. “When he (Friday went to him (Friday’s father, he would sit down by him, open his breast, and hold his father’s head close to his bosom, half an hour together, to nourish it; then he took his arms and ankles, which were numbed and stiff with the binding, and rubbed them with his hands.” Furthermore, Friday’s expression of loyalty in asking Crusoe to kill him rather than leave him is more heartfelt than anything Crusoe ever says or does.
Crusoe, on the absolute contrary, seems incapable of deep feelings, as shown by his account of leaving his family—he never shows any emotions. After a moving lecture from Robinson’s father about his future, he still decided to follow his own wandering ambition. Careless was he about the wishes of his parents to keep him alive and prosperous, as he was the only child left in the family. When he came back from the island which he had lived on for twenty eight years, he found that it had been too late to tell his parents that he was still alive, but yet again he did not feel sorry for them; he also did not feel sorry for the two people who had to live in misery for nearly thirty years under the allusion all of their sons were dead. He had the same feelings for his wife: when he was married, he said it was “not either to my disadvantage or dissatisfaction”, implying that it was also neither to his advantage nor his satisfaction. Moreover, after his wife died, Robinson did not think of looking after the three children they had, but went back to the island, which he had lived on for twenty-eight years. It was on this trip which Robinson Crusoe revisited “His Island ” as he called it. I feel that Robinson ’s indifference to his family is almost emotionally cruel.
Before had clearly shown the contrast between Crusoe’s and Friday’s personalities, as when Friday, in his joyful reunion with his father, displayed far more emotion toward his family members than Crusoe, whereas Crusoe never mentions missing his family or dreams about the happiness of seeing them again. I think Defore is very successful in introducing Friday as part of the novel, it makes the whole novel seem much more complete and gripping to the reader, as well as proving that Defoe’s ideology of racism is civilized unlike many other Europeans at that time; natives and savages are not worse than others but can perhaps even be more modern and civilized. Those are the reasons of why I like The Life And Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe and Friday.
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[3]Halliday,M. A. K.An Introduction to Functional Grammar[M]. 外语教学与研究出版社;Edward Arnold( Publishers) Limited,2000.(2011)08-0000-00
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