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Discourse Structure and Point of View

This document discusses discourse structure and point of view. It outlines different levels of discourse structure, including one-level structure in poems, two-level structure in drama, and three-level structure in novels. It also discusses the discourse architecture of first-person and third-person narration. The document then covers different kinds of point of view, such as spatial, temporal, social, personal, and conceptual viewpoints. Finally, it outlines some linguistic indicators of point of view, such as use of given and new information, deictic expressions, indicators of a character's thoughts, and psychological sequencing.

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Patricia Ann Dulce Ambata
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608 views37 pages

Discourse Structure and Point of View

This document discusses discourse structure and point of view. It outlines different levels of discourse structure, including one-level structure in poems, two-level structure in drama, and three-level structure in novels. It also discusses the discourse architecture of first-person and third-person narration. The document then covers different kinds of point of view, such as spatial, temporal, social, personal, and conceptual viewpoints. Finally, it outlines some linguistic indicators of point of view, such as use of given and new information, deictic expressions, indicators of a character's thoughts, and psychological sequencing.

Uploaded by

Patricia Ann Dulce Ambata
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Discourse

Structure and
Point of View
Patricia Ann D. Ambata
Rowena H. Nunez
Althea P. Rivera
Cathreen Sause
Outline
I. Discourse
II. Discourse Structure
A. One – Level Discourse (Poems)
B. Two – Level Discourse (Drama)
C. Three – Level Discourse (Novel)
III. Discourse Architecture of 1st – Person
Narration
IV. Discourse Architecture of 3rd – Person
Narration
V. Point of View
VI. Different Kinds of Point of View
A. Spatial Viewpoint
B. Temporal Viewpoint
C. Social Viewpoint
D. Personal/ Ideological Viewpoint
E. Conceptual Viewpoint

VII. Linguistic Indicators of Point of View


A. Given and New Information
B. Deictic (Shifting) Expressions relating to
Place and Deictic Expressions relating
to Time
C. Indicators of the Internal
Representation of a Particular
Character’s Thoughts or
Perceptions
D. Psychological Sequencing
E. Ideological Viewpoint
Discourse
 a body of language compromising a
number of related sentences
 a category that compromises
various elements of transmission
Discourse
Structure
is term used to describe the way in which
an entire text is organized (how language
is used in a poem, in a newspaper article,
or in speech designed to read aloud).
A. One – Level Discourse (Poems)

The one-level discourse structure is typical of


most poems. The author appears to write
directly to the reader, and so he is the
addresser.
Lectures and poems are designed to take
many unknown (or not well-known)
addressees into account. Many people read
the lectures/poems, each of whom will
take up the addressee position.
B. Two – Level Discourse (Drama)

• The two-level discourse structure is more typical


of drama.
• Playwrights write plays for audiences and readers,
but they do not communicate directly with their
addressees, as poets typically do.
• The following diagram represents the discourse
structure involved when one character says
something to another character in a play:
The term usually used for the person who the
narrator addresses is the 'narratee'.
The novel has the most discourse levels and so the
most viewpoints to take into account: at least six for
a novel with two characters
Discourse
Architecture of
1 – Person
st

Narration
1st – person narrators (or I – narrators as they are
also called) are narrators who tell their own tale,
and so use the 1st – person pronoun when referring
to themselves
Discourse
Architecture of
3 – Person
rd

Narration
• It is another form of narration where all the
characters are referred to in the 3rd person
Discourse Architecture of
3 – Person Narration
rd
• It is more objective than 1st – person narrations.
• There is a strong tendency for the readers to
assume that the narrator and the author are
really the same person.
• 3rd – person narrator are omniscient – they know
everything and can take us inside the mind of any
character if they so wish.
Discourse Architecture of
3 – Person Narration
rd
• Narrators = Authors know everything and tell the
truth, whereas 1st person Narrators = Characters
are unreliable.
• The “3rd – person Narrator = Author” appears to
be a default reading assumption.
• It is also possible for the narrator to take up a
viewpoint that coincides with that of a particular
character or characters.
Point of
View
means a personal perspective from which somebody
considers something
Different
Kinds Point
of View
1. Spatial Viewpoint
“The Physical Angle of a Viewpoint”
• The most basic manifestation of viewpoint has to
do with our position in space.
• Looking at something from one position is
different from looking at it from another position.
 ‘The tiger disappeared into the distance.’
(viewing position behind the tiger)
 ‘The tiger got larger and larger'.
(viewing position in front of the tiger
2. Temporal Viewpoint
“The Time Angle of a Viewpoint”
• The most basic manifestation of viewpoint has to
do with our position in space.
• Looking at something from one position is
different from looking at it from another position.
 ‘Yesterday, the exam’ (behind the exam)
 ‘Tomorrow, the exam (in front of the exam)
3. Social Viewpoint
• It expresses social relationships between the
person whose viewpoint is being represented and
other characters
• It is used to refer to people as being above or
below us in status, and as being close or distant
from us when talking
 'sister' and 'step-sister'
 'mother' and 'mother-in-law'
4. Personal/ Ideological
Viewpoint
“The socio-political slant put on what is being
described”
• Whatever their social status, we can look down on,
or up to the opinions of others, depending upon
whether we agree or disagree with their personal
or socio-political views.
5. Conceptual Viewpoint
“The Concept of Mind Style”
• Sometimes the representation of a viewpoint can
be so different from ours that it represents a
different way of conceptualizing the world we live
in.
• “expressed abnormally in some way”
 If a small child calls all male adults 'daddy', it
is because he has not yet properly made the
conceptual distinction between his father and
other male adults. In other words, his
conceptual viewpoint is different from ours.
LINGUISTIC
INDICATORS
OF
POINT OF VIEW
GIVEN AND NEW INFORMATION
 One way in which viewpoint can be
indicated or controlled in texts is by
presenting information referred to
definitely and indefinitely.
 When we give information to one another,
we distinguish between information which
is new for the person we are talking to
and information which is given
GIVEN AND NEW INFORMATION
 Linguists make a distinction between what
they call given and new information in terms
of how the information is “packaged” by the
speakers.
 DEFINITE REFERENCE – if what we want to
refer is known to our addressee
 INDEFINITE REFERENCE – if what we want to
refer is not known to our addressee
 “My flatmate has given the television to a
neighbor.”
GIVEN AND NEW INFORMATION
(A) Once upon a time, there lived a sweet
little girl, who was beloved by everyone who
saw her; but her grandmother was so
excessively fond of her that she never knew
when she had done enough for her (1) One
day the grandmother presented the little girl
with a red velvet cap (2)
(Little Red Riding Hood)
GIVEN AND NEW INFORMATION

(A) One thing was certain, that the


white kitten had nothing to do with it- it
was the black kitten’s fault entirely (1).
For the white kitten had been having its
face washed by an old cat for the last
quarter of an hour (2).
(Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass)
DEICTIC (SHIFTING) EXPRESSIONS RELATING
TO PLACE AND DEICTIC EXPRESSIONS
RELATING TO TIME
 The term deixis comes originally from Greek and
means 'pointing' or 'indicating'
 It has something to do with coding information as
close to (‘proximal’) or remote (‘distal’) from the
speaker.
 Consider the place adverbs ‘here’ and ‘there’ for
example, depending on who is talking.
 Demonstrative pronouns ‘this/these’ and
‘that/those’ also express the proximal/distal
contrast.
DEICTIC (SHIFTING) EXPRESSIONS RELATING
TO PLACE AND DEICTIC EXPRESSIONS
RELATING TO TIME
Grammatical
Proximal Distal
Category
Here There Place adverbs

Now Then Time adverbs

This/these That/those Demonstrative


pronouns
come go Verbs- movement
towards/ away from
the speaker.
DEICTIC (SHIFTING) EXPRESSIONS RELATING
TO PLACE AND DEICTIC EXPRESSIONS
RELATING TO TIME
 For example, to the computer I am currently
using as 'this computer', the deictic term this
indicating that the computer is in close
proximity to me. On the other hand, I would
refer to the computer that is in the next room
from me as 'that computer', since the deictic
term that indicates distance from me.
SOCIAL DEIXIS
 It is another corresponding development of
place deixis and encodes how close to
someone we feel in terms of our social
relationship with them; our social ranks or
classes.
 The varying ways in which we can refer to
others express, among other things, the idea
of closer or more remote social relations.
 It is to share the viewpoint of the narrator.
SOCIAL DEIXIS
If you refer to Maria Perez as
‘Professor Perez’(title + last name)
‘Maria’ (first name only) and
this seems rather like the
proximal/distal (remote/ close) area
applied to social relations.
INDICATORS OF THE INTERNAL REPRESENTATION
OF A PARTICULAR CHARACTER’S
THOUGHTS OR PERCEPTIONS
 Character viewpoint can be indicated in
descriptions through the use of
(a) Verbs of perception and cognition (see, hear,
imagine, think, believe)
(b) Verbs and adverbs of factivity (truth status)
 “I know he was ill.” – factive verb (true)
 “He pretended he was ill.” – counter-factual (false)
 “I believe he was ill.” – non-factive verb (we cannot tell for
certain if he was really ill or not)

Adverbs “actually” and “apparently” also displays factivity


PSYCHOLOGICAL SEQUENCING
 Refers to the ways in which ‘narrative
events are mediated through the
consciousness of the ‘teller’ of the story’
(Simpson 1993:11)
 We are given not just what happened, but
also a particularized perception of what
happened.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SEQUENCING

 It is used extensively to create the


perceptions of the I-narrator/ character at
the time the events happened.
 The information which would normally be
supplied straight away is withheld for a
moment.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SEQUENCING

 It prompts the readers to infer that the


narrator must have departed from the norm
for some reason to represent the narrator’s
perceptions, rather than the fictional reality,
which we can still see behind the
represented perception
 Robin Hood ran past me.

 A man ran past me. It was Robin Hood.


IDEOLOGICAL VIEWPOINT
 Someone’s attitude is not merely individual, but
is a representative of a significant group of
people, this kind of viewpoint is often described
as being ideological in nature.
 The shared social or political views of a group of
people might be Ideological Viewpoint.
 It is a viewpoint with a generalized mind-set or
outlook on the world that a person, often a
representative of the group, might have.
 “terrorist” and “freedom-fighter”
REFERENCES
 Simpson, P. (1993). Language, Ideology and
Point of View. London: Routledge.
 Leech, G. and Short, M. (1981). Style in Fiction.
Harlow: Longman.
 Short, Mick (1196). Exploring the Language of
Poems, Plays and Prose, London: Longman.

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