An Analysis Of Attitudinal Meanings In The U.S. Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton's Political Speeches

This thesis takes the Appraisal Theory as the framework to make a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the attitudinal meanings in 30 speeches by Hillary Clinton since she took the post of the U.S. Secretary of State. Besides, a case study of one of these speeches is made. The analysis discusses the distribution and realizations of the attitudinal resources in her political speeches.As a lexical-syntactic framework, the Appraisal Theory is developed from the researches of the interpersonal meaning by Systemic-Functional Grammar. It includes three subsystems---Attitude, Engagement and Graduation. Attitude is the core concept, which could be divided into three sub-systems: Affect, Judgment and Appreciation. This thesis analyses how the three sub-systems could express interpersonal meanings in political speeches. In the process of data analysis, the author applies Critical Discourse Analysis, case study and the combination of quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis to the analysis of the attitudinal meanings of Hillary Clinton's political speeches, in order to reveal how the attitudinal resources of political speeches are embodied and how political speakers express their positions.This research has some theoretical and practical significance. This paper applies the Appraisal Theory to the analysis of political speeches, which may deepen the understanding of the attitudinal meanings in political speeches. Besides, in English teaching, teachers could help their students understand and appreciate political speeches from the perspective of attitudinal meanings and foster their ability to conduct critical reading. Finally, this study may help improve people's communicative competence and interpersonal interaction.