Communicative Functions and Grammatical structures

UNIT 36 EXAMPLES FROM LITERATURE

Structure
Objectives Introduction Principles Communicative Functions Strategies for Communication Signals of Communication-Some Let Us Sum Up Key Words Answers

Examples of Exception

36.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit you will be .able to Understand the features of polite, impolite and banal communication Understand the use of devices, such as discourse markers Have an understanding of politeness markers in Indian English

36.1 INTRODUCTION
There is no better way to learn the English language, than by getting familiar with its literature. In fact, one can learn nuances of English best by reading literature in English, which includes British, American, Canadian and Australian English as well as literature in translation and Indian English. Now focus attention on the communicative peculiarities of the following conversations: 1. WALTER: You've hardly changed! ESTHER, with a charged laugh: Oh, go on now! WALTER, to Victor: You son of a gun, she looks twenty-five! ( ~ r o m Price by Arthur Miller). The

In this conversation, Walter is Victor's brother-the two estranged brothers are meeting after a gap of almost twenty years-and Esther is Victor's wife. Walter, a highly successful surgeon, is well aware of the fact that his brother is not his social equal. His compliments to his sister-in-law are his attempts to break the ice with his family. Esther's mild rebuke 'Oh, go on now' is an example of warmth and fondness towards her brother-in-law, and 'You son of a gun' is a term of endearment and affection, where Walter tries to mend bridges with his brother by using slang and informal language. 2. 'It is very kind of you, Mr. Knightley, to come out at this late hour to call upon us. I am afraid you must have had a shocking. walk. ' (From Emma by Jane Austen). -

When we say that somebody 1s being kind to us, it does not literally mean an act of kindness or charity; it is just a mark of politeness which expresses appreciation for someone's good or considerate gesture. 'To be afraid' does not mean actually being afraid of something; it just denotes the speaker's regret at not being of much help or use.
3.

Examples From Literature

'Allow me to introduce Mr Ashden to Your Highness,' said the baroness, speaking in her fluent French. 'I do not know if you have met the Pasha. ' 'I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Mr Ashenden, ' said the prince's secretary. (From Miss King, a short story by Somerset Maugham).

In this conversation, we witness markers of politeness in extremely elegant and aristocratic circles. For example, only in the nobility people use expressions, such as 'allow me to introduce, ' 'your highness', etc. We may use such terms in our conversation as well, however, it would not appear very natural. Similarly, if someone on being introduced to somebody exclaims, '1 am delighted to make your acquaintance', helshe would sound quite artificial. What we are trying to tell you is that although there is nothing wrong grammatically with this segment, it is not very appropriate in semi-formal and informal situations.
4.

'Any Indian who speaks English more fluently than he speaks any Indian language I call the English type, good, no? ' (From English, August by Upamanyu Chatterjee).

The tag 'no' in the above sentence is a substitute for 'isn't it? ' This is one of the many examples of what is popularly called 'Indian English. ' Although such usage is not very accurate, it has gained acceptance, especially in spoken variety, and has become a part of the growing repertoire of Indian English. The speaker calling the listener an 'English type' is supposed to be a compliment here.
5.

'Your good name, please? '

This is a very common Indian style of greeting, which is neither appropriate nor accepted among the educated speech community. This can be only explained as a translation from certain Indian languages*.where such a usage is considered polite. The marker 'please', also, is not acceptable in this context.
Check Your Progress 1

Can you think of a few more question tags?

36.2 THE PRINCIPLES OF POLITE AND IMPOLITE COMMUNICATION

In unit 3, you have already seen the principles of politeness. Now consider the following example on h o w m to make an introduction: a. BLANCHE: [drawing involuntarily back from his stare]: You must be Stanley. I'm Blanche.

STANLEY: Stella's sister? BLANCHE: Yes.

Communicative Functions and GrammaticalStructures

STANLEY: H'lo. Where's the little woman? BLANCHE: In the bathroom. STANLEY: Oh. Didn't know you were coming in town. BLANCHE: I-uhSTANLEY: Where you from, Blanche? BLANCHE: Why, I-live in Laurel.

He has crossed to the closet and removed the whisky bottle.

STANLEY: In Laurel, huh? Oh yeah. Yeah in Laurel, that's right. Not in my territory. Liquor goes fast in hot weather. [He holds the bottle to the light to observe its depletion.] Have a shot? BLANCHE: No, I- rarely touch it. STANLEY: Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often., (Tennessee William: Streetcar Named Desire)
Glossary

Have a shot? : slang for 'would you like to have it? ' As is seen from the dialogue Blanche, Stanley's wife's sister and a guest, is not given a warm welcome by Stanley. He js constantly rude (his stare makes Blanche uncomfortable-this is another example of unpleasant nonverbal communication) and makes impolite remarks about the where Blanche comes from 'liquor goes fast in hot weather. ') His constant questioning is more like nagging, which makes Blanche nervous with her responses, therefore, the hesitations with so many dashes. The principles of impoliteness are quite obvious here. These are:
1.

ii.

i'ii.

Do not be rude, curt or abrupt. Do not interrupt others when they speak. Do not nag others or make uncharitable remarks about them.

36.3 COMMUNICATIVE FUNCTIONS THAT CALL FOR POLITENESS

Read the following examples and notice the communicative hnctions that call for politeness: a. Look at the following piece of conversation between a mother and her daughter. Focus on the difference in speech of the daughter, who has been brought up in the United States of America, and her mother, a semi-literate Chinese immigrant. Also notice, how the daughter makes polite conversation "Good dinner, " "I didn't smell anything wrong, " in order to put her mother at ease.

After everybody left, my mother joined me in the lutchen. I was putting dishes away. She put water on for more tea and sat down at the small kitchen table. I waited for her to chastise me. "Good dinner, Ma," I said politely. "Not so good," she said, jabbing at her mouth with a tooth-pick. "What happened to your crab? Why'd you throw it away?" "Not so good," she said again. "That crab die. Even a beggar don't want it." "How could you tell'? I didn't smell anything wrong." "Can tell even before cook!" She was standing now, looking out the lutchen window into the night. "I shake that crab before cook. His legs-droopy. Hjs mouth-wide open, already like a dead person." (Amy Tan: The Joy Luck Club)

Examples From Literature

Glossary
Jabbing: to push a pointed object with a force in certain direction.

Check Your Progress 2

Do you find anything funny or unusual in the above dialogue? What is it? b. Read the following passage and see how the speaker makes a request:

'The truth of the matter is,' the little man was saying, 'I've got myself into a bit of a scrape. I need some help. Not much, I assure you. It's almost nothing, in fact, but I do need it. You see, madam, old people like me often become terribly forgetful.. .' (Roald Dahl: "The Umbrella Man")

Glossary
Scrape : trouble The truth of the matter: In reality, actually We have seen in the earlier chapters that one has to be extremely polite while making a request. In the above example, the m q uses the language to a good effect in order to ask for a (seemingly) little help. What you may find particularly interesting is the apologetic manner in which he makes a request. He uses expressions, such as 'You see, madam, old people like me often become terribly forgetful...' to justify his reason for asking for money from the lady. At the same time he reassures her that the favour which he expects from the lady would not inconvenience her terribly. In polite conversation it is considered proper to give an adequate explanation'if you ask for a favour. This brings us to the next topic of this unit, Strategies fir Communication, but first do the following activity:

Activity 1
Work in pairs. Imagine your car breaks down on a highway. Stop a passing vehicle and request them for a lift.

Communicative Functions and Grammatical Structures

36.4 STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNICATION

In the above example, you have seen how tentative and indirect the man was while making a request (also, refer to unit 34, section 4). This was especially so because he was addressing a total stranger. However, one can be spontaneous without being impolite when we meet our close friends and acquaintances. Consider the following examples: a. Read the following conversation between two acquaintances, who are meeting after a long time. Notice how the language-is used to express the informal relationship between the two men: declare-who would have

"Why, Newman-I'll be blowed! Where in the world-I thought? You know you have changed." "You haven't," said Newman. 'mot for the better, no doubt. When did you get here?" "Three days ago." "Why didn't you let me know?" "I had no idea you were.here." "I have been here these six years." "It must be eight or nine since we met." "Something of that sort when we were very young."

"It was in St. Louis, during the war. You were in the army." "Oh no, not I. But you were." "I believe I was." "You came out all right?" "I came out with my legs and arms-and away." "And how long have you been in Europe?" "Seventeen days." "First time?" "Yes, very much so." (Henry James: The American ) Notice the use of markers, like I'll be blowed, I declare, I believe I was, very much so, etc. We use such phrases to add more colour, emphasis and variety to the language. Try removing these expressions and reconstruct the dialogue without them. You will realise, we are sure, that the conversation sounds very dull and mechanical. with satisfaction. All that seems very far

Thus, we need discourse markers to make our communication appear more stylish and lively. Check Your Progress 3 Can you make a list of a few discourse markers? Use them in a short dialogue with your friend. b. Read the following piece of short exchange between a boy and a girl:

Examplis From Literature

"Have to go," she jumped up. "Shall we walk back?" "Yeah. Separately though right?" I was catching on fast. "Yes, sorry please," she said in a mock-baby tone that girls lapse into at the slightest provocation. (Chetan Bhagat: Five Point Someone: What Not to do at IIT) Did you notice the use of the expression sorry please here? Of course, it is an example of very Indian English. A native speaker of English would never combine the two: sorry and please. However, Indian variety of English is fast catching up, and is quite intelligible to the rest of the world. In this section, you should focus on some of the strategies of communication where you can be informal without sounding rude. You have also seen how discourse markers can add to the flavour of language. So remember that there are always different degrees of politeness.

36.5 SIGNALS OF COMMUNICATION-SOME EXAMPLES OF EXCEPTIONS

So far, you have been reading about grammatical, accurate language, where devices, such as discourse markers, signals of politeness and question tags help in adding colour to your speech. When you add the right amount of accuracy and appropriateness to it, then you can conclude that your communication is polite and intelligent enough. However, there are examples, where in spite of all these features conversation remains strange and unintelligible. Read the following dialogue and notice how peculiar it sounds: a. ESTRAGON: Could I be of any help?

POZZO: If you asked me perhaps. ESTRAGON: What? POZZO: If you asked me to sit down. ESTRAGON: Would that be a help? POZZO: I fancy so. ESTRAGON: Here we go. Be seated sir, I beg of you. POZZO: No, no, I wouldn't think of it! (Pause. Aside.) Ask me again. ESTRAGON: Come, come, take a seat, I beseech you, you'll get pneumonia. (Samuel Beckett: Waitingfor Godot)

Communicative Functions and GrammaticalStructures

The conversation as you might have noticed does not make much sense. There is no logical sequence of thought-process here. Such dialogue is called non-sequitor, or something which does not follow. One of the major rules of communication, therefore, which you must follow is that your speech should be logically linked and coherent.
Activity 2

Can you imagine and rewrite the entire situation given above in a more logical order? Do not hesitate to use your own words. Try to be as creative as possible. b. Read the dialogue between an army doctor and an army captain. Notice how in spite of all the conventions of communication, the conversation appears so unconventional. The entire idea, of course, is to satirise the system in army:

'Of course they're crazy, ' Doc Daneeka replied. '1 just told you they're crazy, didnVt I? And you can't let crazy people decide whether you're crazy or not, can you? ' Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. 'Is Orr crazy? ' 'He sure is,' Doc Daneeka said. 'Can you ground him? '

'I sure can. But first he has to ask me to. That's part of the rule. '
'Then why doesn't he ask you to? ' 'Because he's crazy,' Doc Daneeka said, 'He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had. Sure, I can ground On. But first he has to ask me to. ' 'That's all he has to do to be grounded? 'That's all. Let him ask me.' 'And then you can ground him?' Yossarian asked him. 'No. Then I can't ground him.' 'You mean there's a catch? ' 'Sure t h m ' s a catch,' Doc Daneeka replied. 'Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy.' Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch22 and let out a respectful whistle. 'That's some catch, that Catch-22,' he observed. 'It's the best there is,' Doc Daneeka agreed. (Joseph Heller: Catch-22) Check Your Progress 4 What are the conventional elements of communication in this dialogue? Is the conversation polite enough?

36.6 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we had looked at different forms of communication in literature, which ranges between downright rude and unfriendly to extreme elegant and sophisticated; casual and informal to formal and extremely p'olite; and absurd to sensible. We have also seen a few examples fiom Indian English. We have also seen that communication can be verbal as well as nonverbal. We have also understood how slang, question tags and discourse markers can add colour to our language.

Examples From Literature

36.7 KEY WORDS

Nonverbal Communication
Unspoken communication, where gestures (and not words) are used to communicate emotions and feelings. Some common forms of nonverbal communication are: raising an eyebrow, nudging, smiling, frowning, winking, snapping a finger, etc.

Intelligible communication
Communication which can be understood in spite of a fe communication. There is a complete breakdown of con1 comprehensibility or intelligibility.
8 y ~ .

is called intelligible

:. in the absence of

Satire A literary device used to ridicule something or somebod Answers

1.

Some examples: aren't, weren't, can't, won't, shouldn't, ,i;uldn't, etc. The way mother describes the dead crab: "I shake that crab before cook. His legs-droopy. His mouth-wide open, already like a dead person."

2.
3.
4.

A few examples of .discourse speaking, as a matter of fact, etc.

are: I see, well, you know, really

Appropriate questions and discourse markers. The conversation is a satire on the system in army.

Communicative Functions and Grammatical Structures

SUGGESTED READING
Dictionaries
Procter, P. (2004) Longman Dictionaly o Contemporaly English, Third Edition, f Longman.) Oxford Dictionaly o Collocations f

Grammar
Geoffiey Leech and Jan Svartvik (2000): A Communicative Grammar o English, f E.L.B.S. and Longman Group. Jon Blundell, Jonathan Higgens and Nigel Middlemiss: Function in English,'Oxford University Press. Murphy, Raymond Intermediate English Grammar Fourth Edition. Cambridge University Press.

William Littlewood: Communicative Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press. Other

Longman Essential Activator