The Application of textual function in Of Studies

余硕

【Abstract】Of Studies by Francis Bacon is a classic. It has been widespread since it was published. This paper probes into making a comprehensive description of the essays textual meaning so as to finding out its application in Of Studies and verify the practicality of functional grammar in this essay.

【Key words】Of Studies； textual function

1. Introduction

Of Studies is the masterpiece of Francis Bacon. The essay is to analyze purpose of study. Different people use different learning methods. Learning is unconsciously influenced people's temperament. Some people have conducted researches on its literary character but almost nobody has done a stylistic description from the point of view of functional aspect. This paper concentrates on making a comprehensive description of the textual meaning of this essay for the sake of finding out its inner meaning and verifying the practicality of functional grammar.

2. Application of Textual Function in Of Studies

Textual meaning is mainly determined by thematic structure， information structure and cohesion. In Of Studies， the most obvious features are thematic progression pattern， the unmarked thematic structure， and grammatical cohesion.

Thematic progression pattern

To talk about thematic progression pattern， we need to consider six types of thematic progression patterns first.

1. Parallel type. It takes the theme of the first clause as the starting point while the rest take this theme as their respective theme.

2. Continuity type. The rheme in the first clause becomes the theme in the next clause.

3. Concentration type. All the themes except the first one come from the first rheme.

4. Intersection type. The rheme in the first clause becomes the rheme of the second clause. The rest can be done in the same manner.

5. Juxtaposition type. The theme of the first， third and fifth clauses are the same， the theme of the second， fourth and sixth are the same too.

6. Derivation type. All the themes except the first one come from the part of the first rheme.

This essay contains nineteen sentences， the first， thirteenth， nineteenth are simple sentences， others are complex sentences and compound sentences. The most common progression is parallel type， there are eleven examples with 34 themes； it follows by continuity progression and split theme pattern with four themes and one theme respectively， the derivation progression and irregular themes occupy one and four.

To illustrate the comprehensive thematic progression patterns， we can focus on the following tables：

The proportion of different themes of all themes

The proportion of different thematic progression patterns

type number of instance theme percentage of theme

From the two tables， we can see the majority of themes are simple and multiple themes while parallel thematic progression pattern is widely used.

In Of Studies， there is two or more thematic progression patterns combined to make textual meaning. For example：

“Crafty men contemn studies， simple men admire them， and wise men use them， for they teach not their own use； but that is a wisdom without them and above them， won by observation.” In this paragraph， though there are thirty-three words， it contains five clauses in which concentration and continuity progression are used.

1. Continuity process is：

Crafty men contemn → studies

simple men admire → them

wise men use → them

a wisdom without and above → them

Also， juxtaposition progression is another typical type that used in this essay. See an example as follows：

“And therefore， if a man write little， he had need have a great memory； if he confer little， he had need have a present wit； and if he read little， he had need have much cunning to seem to know that he doth not.”

In this paragraph， there are three clauses. Although some subordinate relation exist， the author still uses “；” to connect three clauses， so as the other clauses.

The authors complex thinking and good command of language are considerably expressed via thematic progression pattern as a result.

Unmarked Thematic Structure

When subject and theme are the same， the theme is called unmarked， otherwise， it is marked. In Of Studies， there is no marked theme， therefore， it also convey the authors purpose—give information.

To be more specific， we can pick out several clauses to have a macroscopic analysis for its thematic structure. The underlined words or phrases are themes.

· And for ability， is in the judgment and disposition of business.

Theme

· Some books are to be tasted， others to be swallowed， some few to…

Theme Theme Theme

· Histories make men wise； poets witty； the mathematics subtle； natural philosophy deep； moral grave； logic and rhetoric able to contend.

Multiple Themes

· So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.

Theme

There are fifty-six themes including twenty-seven simple themes， twenty-two multiple themes and seven clausal themes in this essay. From the examples， the themes are well arranged and parallel with each other neatly， thus Of Studies can be a catchy essay and draw readers attention.

Grammatical Cohesion

After considerable analysis of Of Studies， we can obtain a summary. Firstly， the author puts forward function of books and makes extension； secondly， he indicates misunderstanding of reading； then gives several solutions； last， sums up as “every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.” In this essay， there are four different kinds of cohesions， such as lexical cohesion， conjunction， substitution ellipsis and reference.

From the bar graph， it is obvious that the author applies conjunction and lexical cohesion skillfully and lexical cohesion is more widely used. In this essay， a large amount of words are repeated， like studies， books and man which refers to the main topic. Others such as spend， read， abilities also repeat several times. Repetition enhances the textual cohesion in the essay.

Also， “contradiction” and “confute”， “distinguish” and “find different”， “prove” and “illustrate”， “weigh” and “consider”， “impediment” and “defect” all have same ideational meaning so that connect the contexts.

The synonym also plays an important role in this essay. It can be find out that “particular” and “general”， “condemn” and “admire”， “believe and take for granted” and “contradict and confute” all lead to a sharp comparison in the reference. Comparing positive and negative attitude towards books or reading can deepen readers impression of reading.

3. Conclusion

For textual meaning， the author lays emphasis on the logic of the arguments. There are all unmarked words. The main thematic progression pattern is complex pattern accompany with grammatical cohesions like repetition， synonym， antonym and collocations. In terms of textual meaning in Of Studies， the author connects the context to maintain the meaning consistency with different methods such as lexical cohesion， conjunction， substitution ellipsis and reference.

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