Grammar: Clause: Using the clause to organise text
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Further reading | |
Sometimes a Theme will consist of more than one element and the challenge for
anyone doing analysis is to identify where the Theme ends. Luckily, all you have
to remember is a simple rule of thumb: the Theme of a clause ends with the first
element that is either Process 
, Participant
or Circumstance , because the Theme can
contain only one of these elements. Here are some examples:
|
element |
Theme |
New Information |
| Process | Give | it to me! |
| Participant | Bozo | lived happily ever after. |
| Circumstance | One morning, | Miss Lee decided that she had had enough! |
We will now look at some examples where the Theme contains other elements in addition to the topic which is being developed.
In addition to the topic, the Theme may contain a word or phrase which indicates that the speaker is expressing a personal feeling or wants to focus on the interpersonal aspect of the communication:
|
Theme |
New Information |
|
|
(focus on interpersonal meaning) |
(focus on topic) |
|
| As a matter of fact | Felix | caught a butterfly in the garden. |
| Unfortunately | ||
| To my surprise | ||
In conversation, we often want to address the person by name (Bozo, Miss Lee) or by their job title (Officer, Doctor) or some familial label or term of endearment (Granny, Darling), and so this name can be the starting point (the technical term for the name is 'Vocative'). In such cases, the Theme continues until a Process, Participant or Circumstance is reached:
|
Theme |
New Information |
|
|
(focus on interpersonal meaning) |
(focus on topic) |
|
| Kitty, | you | are my best friend! |
| Grandpa | be | quiet! |
In addition to the topic, the Theme may also contain a word or phrase which organises the text or makes a connection to something which has been said earlier in the text:
|
Theme |
New Information |
|
|
(focus on textual meaning) |
(focus on topic) |
|
| However, firstly, | Felix | caught a butterfly in the garden. |
| Next | he | caught a mouse in the kitchen. |
| Then finally, | the naughty cat | went to sleep and dreamed about birds. |
In some cases, the Theme has a focus on textual meaning, interpersonal meaning and the topic. Note that this is always the order:
|
Theme |
New Information |
||
|
(focus on textual meaning) |
(focus on interpersonal meaning) |
(focus on topic) |
|
| However, firstly, | as a matter of fact, | Felix | caught a butterfly in the garden. |
| Next, | unfortunately, | he | caught a mouse in the kitchen. |
| Then finally, | to my relief, | the naughty cat | went to sleep and dreamed about birds. |
Note that the terms Circumstance, New Information,
Participant, Process and Theme are written with a capital to
remind us that they are functional
terms.
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Tell me more ... How do we identify the Theme of a clause? |
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