Discourse Analysis

Home assignment

Lukcs Edit 25 May, 2010

The analysis of a New York Times article:

Brazilian Rancher Convicted in Murder of Catholic Nun

The ur ose o! this a er is to analy"e the article Brazilian Rancher Convicted in Murder of Catholic Nun !rom the daily ne#s a er, The New York Times according to the most im ortant oint o! $ie#s in Discourse Analysis% This article &elongs to the grou o! news article% 't has u&lished in a rinted ne#s a er and the to ic is a&out a recent e$ent% The title o! the article is incom lete( the su&stanti$e $er& is missing )as in the case o! ne#s a er articles &ecause o! !inancial reasons*% +eneral ,uestions )!or instance #ho, #here, #hy, #hen* are ans#ered #ith detailed in!ormation and the #riter also uses ,uoted re!erence to em hasi"e the message and the im ortance o! the article% The te-t is a good e-am le o! one.#ay communication &ecause the in!ormation is trans!erred only in one #ay / there is no reaction !rom the readers, the #riter does not kno# #hether the article has any e!!ect on them% The ne-t oint o! the a er is the analysis o! the co-operative principles in the article% The #riter res ects all o! the ma-ims( he does not $iolate the maxim of quantit &ecause in the article there is ro$ided neither less nor more in!ormation than is necessary% The qualit maxim is not $iolated since in the article only true !acts and in!ormation are mentioned% The maxim of relation is also res ected &ecause e$erything that is #ritten do#n is rele$ant to the to ic and is in accordance #ith the ur ose o! the article( it is in!ormati$e0 the aim o! it is to gi$e in!ormation and account o! that gi$en e$ent in 1ra"il% And !inally the maxim of manner is also not $iolated &ecause the #riter has a$oided am&iguous e$erything is clearly e- lained in the te-t% There are some e-am les to co-textual connections )or text linka!e* in the te-t% 2or instance there is an anaphora in the third aragra h( 34 that the 5ury reached its $erdict46% hrases and o&scurity(

The ro.!orm its re!ers &ack to the "ur and encodes the semantic !eatures o! singular and non.human% 'n the !i!th and si-th aragra h there are also ana horic de$ices( the ronoun o! 3#ho6 and 3her6 re!ers &ack to 7ister Dorothy and 3they6 in the si-th aragra h )38hen they asked her46* re!ers &ack to 3her hired assassins6 #ho are mentioned in the $ery &eginning o! the gi$en aragra h% 'n addition, there are cataphoric devices as #ell% The most cons icuous e-am le is the cata horic relation &et#een the title o! the article and the te-t itsel!% The title re!ers !or#ard to #hat is the article a&out% 9ther e-am les( the second aragra h starts #ith also a cata hora( the rancher / #hich is also a term o! re!erence &ecause it sho#s the status o! him / re!ers !or#ard to :italmiro 1astos de Moura% 9r in the eights aragra h 3the gunman6 has the same ur ose as the re$ious one( it re!ers !or#ard to ;y!ran das <e$es 7ales% There are also many e-am les to the henomenon o! theme-rheme relation% 2or instance in the third aragra h 3+lo&o <e#s, in 7ao =aolo6 is the theme and the other art o! the sentence is the rheme% 9r in the last aragra h the theme is 3A 200> documentary !ilm, 3They ?illed 7ister Dorothy,6 #hile the rheme is the rest% 'n this aragra h the #riter also su ose a

common knowled!e a&out the actor, Martin 7heen &ecause he does not e- lain #ho he is% 'n the si-th aragra h the #riter mentions the 1i&le and the 1eatidues% Here s@he

resumes the readerAs !eneral and specific knowled!e a&out the 1i&le% 1ut in this case he also su oses that the readers )or most o! the readers* are Batholic &ecause a Ce#ish or an 'slamite

erson may not kno# the 1i&le )as Batholics do not kno# the Torah or the ?oran*% The se$enth aragra h is the continuation o! the re$ious aragra h #here the ,uotation starts% Ho#e$er, #ith this se arate aragra h the #riter em hasi"es the essence o! the article( the &rutality against 7ister Dorothy% There is a s ecial hrase in the second aragra h( 3the oor6% This does not re!er &ack to a re$ious mentioned thing% 't is a grammatical rule that i! #e #ant to talk a&out a grou o! eo le #e use Dthe E an ad5ecti$eA%

As !or a oetic de$ice, there is one in the article( it is the a earance o! s necdoche% The synecdoche &elongs to the grou o! meton ms and is that the one oetic de$ice #here a s eci!ic art o! something is used to re!er to the #hole% 'n our case synecdoche a ears in the second aragra h( 3Dayton, 9hio6% Dayton is the s eci!ic art and it re!ers to 9hio )the #hole*% 2inally, my last oint is the analysis o! ragmatic meanings% 'n this te-t #e do not ha$e much in!ormation a&out the three kinds o! them% The locutionar act is here the te-t itsel! )&ecause this act is the act o! saying something*% The illocutionar act o! the article is the intention o! the #riter( the article is in!ormati$e0 the ur ose o! the #riter is to re ort the e$ent% 1ut s@he can not kno# #hat e!!ect the article has on the readers0 so the perlocutionar act is unkno#n !or us although #e may ha$e some idea( #e do not su #ould ha$e a strong in!luence on them% ose that this te-t

Source: Brazilian Rancher Convicted in Murder of Catholic Nun htt (@@###%nytimes%com@2010@0F@1F@#orld@americas@1F&ra"il%html Access( 1F A ril, 2010

Brazilian Rancher Convicted in Murder of Catholic Nun

A 5ury in the 1ra"ilian city o! 1elGm has sentenced a rancher to H0 years in rison in a retrial !or the murder o! an American.&orn nun, ne#s agencies re orted% The rancher, :italmiro 1astos de Moura, #as con$icted o! ordering the murder in 2005 o! 7ister Dorothy 7tang, !rom Dayton, 9hio, a longtime organi"er o! rural settlers and the oor in their e!!orts to rotect their land !rom sei"ures &y cattle ranchers and tim&er merchants% +lo&o <e#s, in 7ao =aulo, re orted Tuesday that the 5ury reached its $erdict late Monday night a!ter 15 hours o! deli&erations% Mr% Moura #as con$icted in 200I o! ordering the killing and recei$ed a H0.year sentence, &ut that $erdict #as o$erturned in a retrial a year later% The decision on Monday u held the original con$iction% 7ister Dorothy, IH, a naturali"ed 1ra"ilian, #as a ;oman Batholic missionary #ho li$ed in 1ra"il !or more than 20 years% A &iogra hy, 3Martyr o! the Ama"on,6 descri&ed her killing( 3Her hired assassins !ound her e$entually on a lonely ath in the !orest, #alking to#ard a meeting to su ort the local !armers% 8hen they asked her i! she carried a #ea on she reached into her &ag and roduced a 1i&le% Then she &egan to read to them !rom the 1eatitudes% 3And then they shot her%6 The gunman, ;ay!ran das <e$es 7ales, #ho has con!essed, re ortedly shot her si- times% He #as con$icted o! murder in 200> and #as sentenced to 2> years in rison% A 200> documentary !ilm, 3They ?illed 7ister Dorothy,6 narrated &y the American actor Martin 7heen, ga$e an account o! 7ister DorothyAs organi"ing e!!orts and her murder%