Appraisal theory : employment of appraisal elements across samples from different genres

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how appraisal is used in public discourse. I look at the frequency of appraisal elements in four texts from different genres, and I try to say something about the effect these resources have on a reader/listener. The categories used in this analysis are largely as found on the web site Appraisal Homepage (<http://www.grammatics.com/appraisal/>), developed by Peter White and his fellow researchers.

Appraisal Theory is based on semantic categories, and the theory is interesting to study because it provides an alternative to the categories of a more traditional grammar. Since the theory is relatively new (and still under construction), the access to reference literature is limited. I therefore found it necessary to include a chapter about the theory itself. Moreover, there are very few applications of the theory to authentic texts to be found. For that reason, I think it is interesting to find out if Appraisal Theory is useful in the analysis of authentic texts, and to see whether any problems arise. I also discuss inadequacies and problematic areas concerning the theory in my reassessment of it. This thesis is largely based on my own findings and thoughts about the effects of the different appraisal elements, and my hope is that this work sheds some light on both useful and perhaps inadequate aspects of Appraisal Theory.