Study On Themes And Thematic Progression Patterns Of English Advertising

Theme and Thematic Progression are important devices in analyzing texts. Each clause of written texts in any language can be identified as Theme and Rheme or the Theme part and the Rheme part. Themes and Rhemes in sentences will produce certain relation and variation, which is called Thematic Progression (simply called TP), through which coherence of texts can be realized. Based on the resources selected from magazines, such as Time and Newsweek, and books such as English advertising, this paper explores the Theme and Thematic Progression patterns of English advertising by empirical researches and data comparison.By analyzing the distribution of 812 Themes of 50 English advertisements and that of TP patterns of more than 150 English advertisements, this paper is oriented to shed light on the following questions: (1) What are the features of the distribution of Themes in English advertising? (2) What kind of characteristics can be inferred from these Themes and their different frequencies? (3) How the coherence of English advertisements is realized by Theme and Rheme? (4) Do different kinds of body copies of English advertising have influence on the choice of different TP patterns? (5) What are the features of the TP patterns of different body copies and why do they occur?By analyzing Themes and TP patterns of English advertising, the paper provides a clear clue for copywriters and helps them find the appropriate TP patterns to optimize the goal of the advertisers. In addition, guided by thematic progression, the learners will have a clear understanding of the advertising writing, which can help them to master its techniques.