Ciurdas Claudia LRE II Hallidayan approach to information flow

As it was stated in the book a clause consists of two parts: theme and rheme and I would like to focus on these parts of the clause and their role in information flow. A new information for me was that the division of the clause was made a long time ago by Plato using similar terms onoma as theme and rhema for rheme. But what do these terms refer to? The theme of a clause is what the clause is about, the topic of a clause, while the rheme is what the speaker says about the theme. In the following clauses we will identify the theme and the rheme: The Words is a clever, entertaining yarn that doesnt bear close scrutiny. Even superficial examination of this film reveals myriad flaws, despite a compelling performance by Jeremy Irons as a fictional writer in a book also called The Words. At the heart of this story-within-a-story is a tale of plagiarism and ambition. The words in italics are the theme of the clause and the other words are the rheme, the information we have about the theme. As you can easily observe each clause has a theme that lets the reader or listener know what the clause is going to be about and the rheme which offers the information about the theme. Moreover the one which fulfils the communicative purpose of the utterance is the rheme because it ensues the informational flow, it pushes the communication forward. A Hallidayan-style thematic analysis of a text can be represented hierarchically in order to have a better understanding of the structure of the clause. What does this mean? Well, a sentence consists of more clauses so we will have several layers of thematic structure. Each clause will have its own themerheme structure which may be subordinate to a larger theme rheme structure. Let`s make a representation of the example above: T1The Words R1is a clever, entertaining yarn that doesnt bear close scrutiny. T2( Even) superficial examination of this film R2reveals myriad flaws, T3 (despite) a compelling performance R3by Jeremy Irons as a fictional writer T4( In) a book R4also called The Words. T5 (At) the heart of this story-within-a-story R5is a tale of plagiarism and ambition.

This representation shows us that we have 5 thematic layers, each theme has a corresponding rheme which adds valid and relevant information about the theme and completes the reader`s knowledge about the theme. Usually, the theme is fronted, this means that it is placed at the beginning of a clause. Besides the hierarchic representation, you will also notice that some elements are in parenthesis. The reason is that, strictly speaking, some elements are not part of the basic thematic structure of the text because they are not part of the propositional meaning of the message. These include special linking devices such as however, nevertheless, because, and moreover which are called conjunctions. However , there are some elements that help which gives us some details and offers a better understanding of the information conveyed. These are called disjuncts and express the attitude, the feelings of the speaker. For example: unfortunately, in my opinion, frankly, and clearly. Why do we need to respect this structure? It is well known the fact that a text is coherent only of it has a structure and a logical connection between ideas. So, theme and rheme are elements which provide meaning, sense to the text. Hence, it is necessary to take account of thematic structure and to maintain a coherent point of view in any act of communication.