Chinese Rhetoric and Writing - An Introduction for Language Teachers, 2012a
Chinese Rhetoric and Writing - An Introduction for Language Teachers, 2012a
Chinese Rhetoric and Writing - An Introduction for Language Teachers, 2012a
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Principles of Sequencing <strong>and</strong> <strong>Rhetoric</strong>al Organisation<br />
there<strong>for</strong>e provided good examples of unplanned spontaneous spoken discourse.<br />
As explained earlier, we include this because, despite its spontaneous <strong>and</strong> in<strong>for</strong>mal<br />
nature, it still follows the fundamental principles of rhetorical organisation.<br />
The first extract is taken from the speaker’s answer to a question asking whether<br />
the <strong>Chinese</strong> students welcomed <strong>for</strong>eign participation in the <strong>Chinese</strong> student<br />
movement. This has been chosen because it shows a “because-there<strong>for</strong>e” sequence<br />
operating at sentence level. But as we shall see in the analysis of a second extract<br />
taken from this answer, this sentence level “because-there<strong>for</strong>e” sequence can itself<br />
be part of a piece of discourse whose overall sequence is also “because-there<strong>for</strong>e,”<br />
or what we are calling the “frame-main” pattern. The first excerpt occurs thirteen<br />
lines into the answer dealing with <strong>for</strong>eign involvement in the June 4th “incident.”<br />
In the previous twelve lines, the speaker has pointed out that some students were<br />
in favour of <strong>for</strong>eign involvement <strong>and</strong> that others were against it. He has raised the<br />
legal question but has also said that the law is a “fascist” one. He then says:<br />
2. because (yinwei) we haven’t faced this question, I <strong>and</strong> my<br />
wife both have Beijing residence permits, there<strong>for</strong>e (suoyi)<br />
I haven’t more thoroughly investigated this problem.<br />
The speaker explains that he has not thought very much about the question<br />
of <strong>for</strong>eign participation in the student movement because he <strong>and</strong> his wife are not<br />
<strong>for</strong>eigners. (Actually his wife is an Australian but, as he explains, she has a Beijing<br />
residence permit, so, <strong>for</strong> the purposes of the question presumably doesn’t count<br />
as a <strong>for</strong>eigner). Note that “I <strong>and</strong> my wife both have Beijing residence permits” is<br />
itself a reason <strong>for</strong> why they have not faced the question of <strong>for</strong>eign participation.<br />
The suoyi is linking with the yinwei in line one of the example <strong>and</strong> is separated<br />
from it by the secondary reason. This shows that suoyi can refer back to reasons<br />
separated from it by other in<strong>for</strong>mation. As we shall show, suoyi often operates as<br />
a discourse marker across lengthy texts. Note also that the in<strong>for</strong>mation sequence<br />
follows the “because-there<strong>for</strong>e” sequence, <strong>and</strong> that the subordinate-main clause<br />
sequence is operating here at a level above the clause. This in<strong>for</strong>mation sequence,<br />
with its overt <strong>and</strong> covert discourse markers, can be represented as:<br />
Sequence<br />
Reason<br />
Reason <strong>for</strong> reason<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e<br />
Connectors<br />
yinwei<br />
no overt marker<br />
suoyi<br />
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