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Analysis of compliment
In this part of story, Iris evokes her misery of unfaithfulness by Jasper, her loving guy. She tells her feeling desperate with Miles. In that case, Miles gives her
so many advices and finally says that they have to celebrate the Christmas night with a party. In fact, Miles successfully encourages Iris to be strong. Here, Iris
sees the positive qualities of Miles. So, she spontaneously delivers compliment to Miles. She says that Miles is an incredibly decent man. Based on the analysis, Iris
compliment has topic of ability, it deals with personal qualities. The compliment functions to express sincere admiration of positive qualities of a person, in this
case, the kindness of Miles. The addressee of the compliment is Miles. Miles response toward Iris
compliment is acceptance. It can be identified from Miles comment acceptance. By his comment, he says that being kind person frequently puts him in problems.
b. Specific Act Ability
Specific-act ability covers the ability in doing specific acts. The compliments on specific-act ability are appropriate only in the situation when the
acts are done. They are usually marked by the use of pronouns “that” and “it”. The
data which are classified to the topic of specific-act ability are as follows:
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Datum 15
1. Specific-act Ability Iris
: Youre doing really well. Nearly there. Nearly there. Nearly there. Bravo Here we go, back the other way.
Arthur is giving no response.
Description of Context
The conversation above takes place in the swimming pool. The participants are Iris and Arthur. Iris has promised to help Arthur finding back his
energetic body. So, she arranges the schedule for his practices. That day, they practice to walk in the water. Arthur, who is already old, looks so hard to do that
practice. However, Iris always keeps Arthur‟s spirit alive by delivering
compliment for his progress.
Analysis of compliment
When the Association of The Noted Writer of American- West proposes him to be a guest star, Arthur feels anxious with himself. The only reason is that
he feels too old and wobbly walking. All the time they send him letters, he always throws away the letters in the bin. Finally, Iris comes and promises to help him
finding back his vigorous body. Iris arranges a regularly schedule for Arthur‟s
exercises. In this part of the story, they practices walking in the water. Arthur, who is
already old, looks very hard to accomplish the exercise. However, Iris always keeps Arthur‟s spirit alive by delivering compliment for his progress. In this
context, Iris compliment has topic of ability, dealing with specific act ability. It is
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clearly seen that the compliment function is to encourage. Iris employs the adjective „well‟ and the word „bravo‟ to show her positive evaluation about
Arthur‟s ability. She also uses the word „really‟ to show her sincere. The addressee of the compliment is Arthur. Here, Arthur gives no response
toward the compliment because he feels so tired. The other reason is that the dialogue happens when Arthur practices swimming, so he has to keep breathing
regularly.
Datum 19
2. Specific-act Ability Arthur
: Did I do my tie okay? I havent worn one in 15 years. Iris
: Its perfect.
Arthur : I like this Hugo Boss. He cuts so nice.
Description of Context
The conversation above happens in the threshold of Arthur‟s house. The participants are Arthur and Iris. Arthur is a noted screenwriter from Hollywoods
Golden Era. That night, he wants to show his best performance. He wears his tie although he has not worn a tie in a long time. Before he leaves his house, he
checks all of his appearance. He asks Iris comment about his wearing tie. Subsequently, Iris caresses Arthur‟s tie and utters her comment to Arthur. She
amazes to see that Arthur can wear his tie orderly.
Analysis of compliment
Based on this film, Arthur is invited by the Association of The Noted Writer Guild of America- West. He is honored to be a guest star at the event of
“Evening with Arthur Abott”. He is very glad. That night is one of remarkable
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night for Arthur so he prepares everything really well. He also asks Iris to be his partner to accompany him in that event.
Before coming to the event, Arthur checks his appearance, he is not confident wearing a tie because he has not worn it for 15 years. He then asks for
Iris opinion about it. Subsequently, Iris caresses for Arthur ‟s tie. She delivers a
compliment to Arthur especially on his ability of wearing tie. She amazes to see that Arthur still wears his tie orderly. Based on the explanation, it can be
concluded that Iris ‟s compliment has topic of ability, dealing with specific-act
ability. Although the object complimented dealing with tie, but actually, Iris‟s
compliment focuses on Arthur‟s ability of wearing tie orderly that night. In this context, Iris compliment functioned is to encourage Arthur because Iris wants to
build Arthur‟s self-confidence. According to the film, Iris uses the adjective “perfect” to express her compliment.
Arthur is the addressee of the compliment. His response toward Iris compliment is acceptance. It can be seen from his comment acceptance, he says
that he also likes that Hugo Boss design of tie.
B. Discussion
In this subchapter, the researcher draws some findings from the data analysis. These findings are based on the problem statements of the research
covering such as the types of topics of compliment, the functions of each topic of compliment, and the responses of compliments from the addressees. The findings
are as follows:
