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the character delivers criticism to other characters, how they respond the criticism and what factors influence them to use the strategy.
C. Technique of Collecting Data
In the following is the technique of how the data are collected: 1.
Replaying the movie The Ugly Truth as the source of data by computer for many times.
2. Searching and copying the transcript of the movie The Ugly Truth from the
internet on http:www.script-o-rama.com. 3.
Comparing the transcript of the movie to the dialogues of the characters in the movie.
4. Editing the transcript of the movie to the dialogues of the characters in the
movie by adding or deleting words or sentences. 5.
Taking notes on all of the utterances which contain criticism as the data of the research.
6. Copying the dialogues where the criticisms occur.
7. Classifying the data based on the politeness strategy.
8. Giving codes on each datum.
D. Technique of Coding Data
In order to make the analysis easier, I give a code on each datum. The coding is based on the order of datum and the exact time when criticism occurs on
CD. The following is the example of coding:
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Datum 4 CD 114.05”
This coding means it is datum number 4 in the data found in the movie. The dialogue happens on CD 1 and it occurs in the minute 14 pasts 5 seconds.
E. Technique of Analyzing Data
The followings are the procedures of analyzing the data: 1.
Describing the context of situation based on the theory of context. 2.
Analyzing the data based on the four politeness strategies of Brown and Levinson in order to find the data which have certain characteristics into
bald on record, positive politeness, negative politeness and off record strategy.
3. Analyzing the dialogues on each strategy to know the response of the
characters toward the criticism given by another character. 4.
Analyzing the dialogues based on Brown, Levinson and Thomas’ theory in order to get better understanding about the factors influence the characters
to use each strategy.
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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
A. Introduction This chapter covers two parts. They are analysis and discussion. In the first
part of this chapter, the data of the research are analyzed based on the theories presented in the literature review part of this thesis. I make three steps of analysis
to make it easier. They are: 1. The dialogue which contains criticism.
I present the dialogue containing criticism in this section. The previous or the following dialogue which relates to the data is also included. This is done in
order to make the readers understand the scene easily. 2. The description of the context.
I describe the context of the data where the criticism happens. It includes the participants in the situation, the action of the participants, and any other relevant
features of the situation which support the analysis of criticism. 3. The analysis of criticism.
In this part, the research questions are answered one by one. Firstly, I explain what politeness strategies used by the speakers to extend criticism. The
strategies chosen by the speakers are analyzed based on Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness. Next, I describe what politeness strategies used by the
characters to respond the criticism which is uttered by the speaker. To describe the response, I combine Tsui’s theory of responding criticism and Brown and
Levinson’s theory of politeness. Last, I define the factors which influence the 43
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characters to choose the strategy. I use the theory of Brown and Levinson in order to find out the factors which encourage the speakers to choose the strategy.
Then, in the second part of this chapter, I provide discussion of the data analysis. Here, I give explanation about the whole result of the analysis. The
explanation is based on the research questions stated in chapter I. They are what strategies used by the characters to extend criticism, what strategies used by the
hearers to respond criticism and the factors which influence the choice of strategy.
B. Data Analysis Datum 1 CD 102.09”
Larry : Abby Abby : Morning, Larry.
Larry : I’m sorry to do this to you, Abby, but I don’t think I can work with her anymore. It’s bad enough I have to take her criticism at home. I can’t
do it on air, too. A man can only take so much. Abby nods, taking him seriously.
Abby : Larry, you’re not a man. You are a newsman. A newsman isn’t defined by the easy times; they’re defined by the hard times. Can
you imagine Ted Koppel or Tom Brokaw working with their wives as co-anchors? No, because they couldn’t handle it. But you, you
my friend got balls the size of Volkswagens. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.
Larry : I’ve only thought of them as blue as of late, but you’re right. They are quite sizeable. But not disproportionately so. I like to think of them as
aesthetically pleasing The Description of Context
The conversation takes place in the newsroom of KSXP 2 office. It is early morning where everyone is busy preparing their own jobs. The participants of the
conversation are Larry and Abby. Larry, a fifty year anchor man, works as an anchor of a morning news show “Sacramento AM”. He always has quarrel with
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his wife who works together with him as co-anchor. Another participant is Abby. She is a thirty year female producer of “Sacramento AM”. She is a hyper-
organized producer and a control freak. Both participants have close relationship as colleagues, as they have been working together for years. However, they have
different roles of status. Larry has subordinate status since he is an anchor, while Abby has superior status as she is the producer. Absolutely, Abby has more
legitimate power than Larry. Abby is walking completely in control in the newsroom path. She has
some pieces of report papers in her left hand and a cup of coffee in the right one. Immediately, Larry comes from make-up room to catch her up. He is having
make-up it is indicated from make-up bib he wears and is ready to do his job, but he has quarrel with his wife. Hence, he wants to complain it to his producer.
Larry delivers his complaint in polite way by using apology. Then, he says that he feels annoyed with his wife who always criticizes him every time. As a man, he
can accept it at home, but he cannot do it on air too because it influences his performance on TV. Through his complaint, Abby recognizes that Larry wants her
to replace his wife who works as co-anchor with him. Otherwise, he will not be good on the show. However, it is impossible to replace Larry’s wife with another
co-anchor since the show will be on air in a few minutes. The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism Abby extends criticism to Larry when he sends complaint about his wife. In
point of fact, Abby is annoyed by Larry who always has quarrel with his wife. She
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replies Larry’s complaint by saying “Larry, you’re not a man. You are a newsman. A newsman isn’t defined by the easy times, they’re defined by the
hard times ....”. Through her saying, Abby sends criticism to Larry that he is a man who is easily defeated by his personal problems. Hence, Abby criticizes
Larry by reminding him that he is ‘a newsman’ who should be able to overcome his personal problems since a newsman is defined by the hard times. Moreover,
Abby notices Larry’s bravery as big as Volkswagens to overcome problems. From the analysis, it is known that Abby criticizes Larry by using bald on record
strategy. She sends criticism in low but serious tone. b. The strategy used by the hearer to respond criticism
Larry gives positive response to the criticism which is extended by Abby. Larry realizes that he should not give up to his personal problems. As a newsman
who has strength as big as Volkswagens, he should be able to accomplish his problems. He responds the criticism by saying, “I’ve only thought of them as blue
as of late, but you’re right. They are quite sizeable. ...” to refer to his power in the size of Volkswagens to overcome problems. Through his response, he wants to
agree with Abby’s criticism that he is not a man, but a newsman. Therefore, he must be able to handle any problems because he has power in the size of
Volkswagens. From his response which agrees to Abby’s criticism, it is found out that Larry accepts the criticism through positive politeness strategy. There is a
factor which influences Larry to use positive politeness strategy to respond Abby’s criticism. Here, Larry has two competing goals to accept Abby’s criticism.
Larry wants to accept Abby’s criticism, but he does not want to do FTA to Abby
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since he has no more power to Abby. Hence, he uses positive politeness strategy so that Larry makes Abby comfortable with his utterance since it does not sound
rude. To conclude, the bald on record strategy applied by Abby is successful to criticize Larry, since he accepts it by using the positive politeness strategy.
c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy There are two factors which influence Abby to use bald on record strategy
to criticize Larry. First is their close relationship as colleagues. As they have been working together for years, Abby knows Larry very well. Hence, she feels free to
criticize Larry baldly that he is a weak man who gives up to his problems easily. Next factor is that Abby has legitimate power to Larry since she is the producer.
Hence, she has more authority to criticize her employee directly.
Datum 2 CD 102.38” Dori
: Are you kiding me right now? Josh, nobody in Sacramento gives a crap about the extinct of Brazil escargot in the world It’s not
newsworthy Josh
: Oh, but news of celebrity in rehab is more important? Dori
: Your voice makes my hair.... The conversation is cut by Georgia, as she comes with the guest cheff, Rocco
The Description of Context The dialogue still happens in KSXP 2 office, specifically in the producer’s
room. There are Abby the producer, Josh and Dori in that room. Yet, the dialogue occurs between Josh and Dori. Both participants are in the same age,
about thirty. They work as reporter in the show “Sacramento AM” a morning news show which provides weather forecast, cooking recipe and news-update.
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Both Josh and Dori are considered to have equal status since they have same position as reporter. They have known each other very well since they have been
working together for a long time in KSXP 2 office. However, they have different idealism. Josh is a white-calm news writer who has big concern to nature and
earth, while Dori is a black woman with huge body and curly hair who is more interested in reporting Hollywood celebrity’s news update.
As they have different idealism, they argue whose report is worthy to broadcast on air. They bring the debate into producer’s room to prove whose
report is better. The situation in the room is very stiff since the show will be on air in a few minutes, but the producer has not decided yet whose report is going to
use. Their quarrel is cut by Georgia who comes into the room to complain about the guest chef.
The Analysis of Criticism a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism
The criticism is done by Dori to Josh. The situation is in a real noise since everyone shouts at each other. Here, Dori is freaking out to Josh’s report about
the extinction of Brazil’s escargot which nobody will pay attention to it. Dori criticizes Josh’s report by saying “It’s not newsworthy”. She thinks, Josh’s
report is not newsworthy because nobody in Sacramento city will care about Brazil’s escargot. Hence, her report about Hollywood news celebrity is more
exciting to broadcast since people are more interested to them. In this case, Dori successfully threatens Josh’s face by criticizing him directly. She extends the
criticism in high tone as she is freaking out to Josh. From the clear meaning of
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Dori’s criticism that Josh’s report is not newsworthy, it is known that she employs bald on record strategy to criticize Josh.
b. The strategy of the hearer to respond the criticism Josh gives response to the criticism which is extended by Dori. In Josh’s
opinion, the news about the extinction of escargot in Brazil is more significant to show. He responds the criticism by saying “Oh, but news of celebrity in rehab is
more important?”. Through the response, it is acknowledged that Josh wants to challenge Dori who criticizes that his report is not newsworthy. Here, Josh
responds Dori’s criticism by challenging her if her report about Hollywood celebrity in rehabilitation is more significant to broadcast. By doing so, it is clear
that Josh rejects Dori’s criticism since he challenges the criticism directly. He does it in middle tone, since both Dori and Josh have same position as reporter in
KSXP 2 office. From the analysis, it is recognized that Josh rejects Dori’s criticism by using bald on record strategy. There is a factor which influences Josh
to use bald on record strategy. The only factor is the close relationship between them. Both Josh and Dori have been working together in KSXP 2 office for a
long time. In other word, they have close relationship at each other. Hence, Josh has no burden to rejects Dori’s criticism in bald on record strategy since the
factor of close relationship. To conclude, Dori’s criticism in bald on record strategy is rejected by Josh using the same strategy.
c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy There is one factor which influences Dori to extend criticism by using bald
on record strategy. The only factor is their close relationship. They have known
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each other very well as they have been working together in the same place. Hence, Dori has no burden to criticize Josh directly since they have close
relationship as colleague in KSXP 2 office.
Datum 3 CD 104.40” Stuart and Abby are discussing about the lower rating of “Sacramento AM” at
Stuart’s room. Stuart : Have you seen the ratings for yesterday? We got beat by all the
network shows, plus a rerun of Who’s the Boss. The one where the vacuum breaks.
Abby : It’s a temporary setback. This week we’ll do better. Stuart : The guy with the cable access show on Channel 83 does better. If we
programmed Jerry Springer re-runs, we’d do a nine share at a quarter the price.
Abby looks worried. Abby : Please tell me you’re not thinking of killing this show.
Stuart : We’re not a family-run station anymore, Abby. We now love you. You are great at what you do, but you’ve got to get me some numbers.
I’ve got two daughters in college and a son in beauty school. I don’t know how much you know about Vidal Sassoon but that shit ain’t
cheap. Abby : I can rely. I will rely.
Stuart : You do rely. Everyday Abby. But then that what worries me. That even will not be enough
The Description of Context The conversation takes place in KSXP 2 office, specifically in the general
manager’s room. The situation in the room is so quiet with the door is closed. The participants of the conversation are Stuart and Abby. Stuart is a sixty year man,
working as the general manager in KSXP 2 office. Abby is control freak producer of “Sacramento AM” a morning news show about daily life things such as
cooking recipe, weather forecast, and news update of Sacramento city. Stuart has superior status to Abby because he is the boss. Obviously, he has more legitimate
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power than Abby who works as producer. In spite of this, they have close relationship since they have been working together for many years. Moreover,
Stuart always shares any problems to Abby. In the scene before, it is told that Abby has been working out totally to run
“Sacramento AM”. Yet, the rating is only 2,47. Stuart is freaking out about this. He calls Abby to come into his room to discuss the poor rating of the show. When
they are sitting across, Stuart begins by stating the number of the rating. Abby has got the point what Stuart is going to talk about. Then, Stuart says that the low
rating of the show cannot cover the production cost. He extends his idea to rerun Jerry Springer, so that they will get higher rating with a quarter of cost. Here,
Abby begs Stuart not to exclude “Sacramento AM” because it contains many valuable things needed by society. Moreover, she thinks that she has more
authority to dictate the content of the show. The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism is extended by Stuart to Abby when they are discussing about
the low rating of “Sacramento AM”. Stuart aims to execute the show and replace it by rerunning Jerry Springer program which has higher rating. As Abby does
not agree with Stuart’s idea, he sends criticism to Abby by saying, “You are great at what you do, but you’ve got to get me some numbers”. Through the
utterance, Stuart wants to give negative evaluation to Abby. However, he does it indirectly as he does not want to hurt Abby’s feeling. On the one hand, Stuart
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satisfies Abby’s positive face by noticing her dedication on the show, as he says, “You’re great at what you do” with high intonation. On the other hand, he wants
to criticize Abby that what she has done is not enough to boost the rating as it is indicated from his utterance, “but you’ve got to get me some numbers”. By saying
so, it is clear that Stuart wants to give negative evaluation to Abby that as a great producer she is unable to present exciting show with high rating. Thus, he wants
to execute the show because of its low rating. Stuart sends the criticism seriously but in low tone. From the analysis, it is found out that Stuart gives criticism in
positive politeness strategy particularly by noticing Abby’s goodness. b. The strategy used by the hearer to respond the criticism
Abby gives response to the criticism which is addressed by Stuart. She responds the criticism by saying “I can rely. I will rely”. Through the response, it
is identified that Abby does not want to accept Stuart’s criticism. Here, she claims that whatever Stuart wants, she promises to obtain his want. Abby understands
that the rating is getting worse, but she promises to do anything in order to maintain the show. By promising to Stuart that she will rely in this hard situation,
it is known that Abby refuses the criticism by using bald on record strategy. The factor which encourages Abby to use the strategy is their close relationship. Abby
has been working together with Stuart for a long time. Hence, she has no burden to use bald on record strategy to refuse the criticism. In short, Stuart’s criticism by
using positive politeness does not work out to criticize Abby since she refuses the criticism using bald on record strategy.
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c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy There are two factors which influence Stuart to choose positive politeness
strategy to send criticism to Abby. The first factor is the competing goals owned by Stuart. As the boss in KSXP 2 office, Stuart wants to criticize Abby that she is
unable to present a great show with high rating. However, Stuart does not want to damage his close relationship with Abby by criticizing her directly. Hence, he
criticizes Abby by saying that she is a great producer to satisfy Abby’s positive face. Then, he says carefully that he needs good rating to get the money. By doing
so, Stuart wants to criticize Abby without damaging her positive face as a great producer. Another factor is the rank of imposition. In this case, Stuart is talking
about Abby’s failure which is ranked as a big imposition. Hence, he sends criticism in positive politeness strategy in order to minimize the rank of
imposition by satisfying Abby’s positive face.
Datum 4 5 CD 113.48” Abby : I am an award-winning news producer. I am an award-winning news
producer... I am an award ………. A knock. Then the door opens and Mike appears.
Mike : You are an award winning news producer?
Abby : You don’t knock? Mike
: I did knock. You didn’t answer. Abby : So, essentially your knock was negated by your complete lack of
adherence to the social etiquette of that follows a knock. Mike
: Wow. You are wound like a fuckin’ top. Abby : Woof woof. Remember the bark? Last night little phone conversation
we had? Mike
: Yeach. Hey, what do you know? You’re not ugly at all. Abby : Imagine my relief.
Mike :
I wanna thank you for getting me this gig. I won’t ever got it without you. You and I will make a good TV.
Abby : You make imbecilic trash watched by housebound inbreds who
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are so busy putting their hands down their pants they can’t change the remote.
Mike : I hadn’t really been picturing you that way, but that’s nice image.
Abby : I didn’t watch your programme. My cat stepped on the remote. The Description of Context Datum 4 5
There are two criticisms on the conversation above. Here is the context description of datum 4 and 5.
The conversation occurs in KSXP 2 office, specifically in the producer’s room. The participants are Abby and Mike. Abby, a thirty year beautiful female
who works as a producer of morning news show “Sacramento AM”. She is a control freak producer who always arranges the show perfectly. No wonder, she
achieves an award winning news producer this year. Another participant is Mike, a thirty year male who runs the popular and rude manish show “The Ugly Truth”.
On his show, he always persuades women to be sexy and skinny to get a man. Moreover, he often says rude words such as oral sex on his show. However, he
always gets high rating for his show. Now, Mike has been hired by the management of KSXP 2 office to boost up the rating of “Sacramento AM” since
the show has low rating. In this case, Mike and Abby have a social distance relationship since they never know each other before. Yet, Abby has recognized
Mike from his rude show which she watched accidentally last night. Both participants hate each other, since Abby finds Mike as a disgusting person, while
Mike sees Abby as a control freak producer. They have different role of status. Abby has superior status since she is the producer, while Mike has subordinate
status as he is a new staff who works as a host.
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The management of KSXP 2 office hires the controversial host, Mike Chadway who runs the popular and rude show “The Ugly Truth” in order to boost
up the rating of “Sacramento AM” since the show is sinking in the ratings. As the producer, Abby is dissappointed with the decision. Abby thinks that her boss may
not dictate her show since she should be the one who is responsible to rule the show. Besides, Abby finds Mike as disgusting and immoral person, as she
watched his show accidentally last night. She is worried that Mike will bring bad effect on “Sacramento AM”, since she has been maintaining the show to be in a
good way, until she achieves an award winning news producer. Hence, Abby is freaking out when the management announces about hiring Mike Chadway. She is
grumbling on her room, trying to calm down herself by telling that she is an award winning news producer who is able to handle any problem. As Abby is focusing
on her gripe, she does not notice when Mike knocks her door. Abby gets surprised when Mike appears in front of her and continues her gripe directly. Abby gets
angry since Mike comes into her room without a permission. After criticizing Mike’s behavior, Abby tells Mike that she knows him from his rude show “The
Ugly Truth” which she watched accidentally last night. Moreover, Abby tells Mike that she was the one whom he offended as the ugly woman on the phone
conversation in that show last night. Mike gets surprised of it. He never expects that he will be working together with the beautiful woman whom he offended as
the ugly woman last night. Then, Mike explains that he comes into Abby’s room to thank to her for giving him a new job in “Sacramento AM”. He also promises
to bring the same dedication like what he did in his local cabel access show to
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boost up the rating of “Sacramento AM”. As Abby watched Mike’s show last night, she gives negative evaluation to Mike that his show is not more than an
imbecilic trash.
Datum 4 CD 114.05” The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism happens when Mike comes into Abby’s room. As the matter of
fact, Mike has knocked the door, but got no response from Abby since she does not recognize the knock. Thus, Mike opens the door and finds Abby is grumbling
on her self seriously. Getting surprised of Mike who appears in front of her, Abby stops her gripe. Suddenly, Mike continues Abby’s gripe by saying that she is an
award winning news producer. Abby gets freaking out of Mike’s behavior who comes into her room without a permission and then continues her gripe suddenly.
Abby conveys criticism to Mike by raising a question, “You don’t knock?”. Abby hates Mike’s behavior who enters her room since she thinks that Mike does
not knock the door first. Thus, by raising a question, Abby intends to criticize Mike’s behavior which is totally lack of social etiquette, since he comes into her
room without an excuse. By doing so, Abby threatens Mike’s face since she criticizes him directly by raising a question if Mike does not knock the door.
Abby conveys criticism in high tone, since she really hates Mike’s behavior. From
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the analysis, it is found out that Abby uses bald on record strategy to criticize Mike’s behavior.
b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism Mike gives negative response to the criticism which is extended by Abby.
When Abby is conveying criticism to him, Mike realizes that Abby is freaking out about his existence in her room. However, he does not feel guilty about the
criticism which is conveyed by Abby. Since Abby extends the criticism by raising a question, Mike replies it by saying “I did knock. You didn’t answer”. Through
the response, Mike wants to reject the criticism which is extended by Abby who tells him that he does not knock the door before entering her room. Mike refuses
the criticism by giving second evaluation which disagrees to the criticism by explaining to Abby that he has knocked the door, but got no response from Abby
since she is focusing on her grumbling. By doing so, Mike wants to refuse the criticism baldly by giving clear utterance that he has knocked the door, but Abby
does not respond it. Mike denies the criticism which is extended by Abby in low tone since he has no more power to Abby. From the analysis, it is found out that
Mike rejects the criticism by using bald on record strategy. Mike chooses the strategy because the factor of situational context. Mike wants to give clear
utterance to deny Abby’s criticism baldly that he has knocked the door before entering Abby’s room. By doing so, Mike aims at defending his positive face after
being attacked by Abby. To conclude, Mike applies bald on record strategy to respond the criticism which is conveyed by Abby in bald on record strategy too.
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c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy There is one factor which influences Abby to use bald on record strategy to
criticize Mike. The factor is the legitimate power owned by Abby. Abby works as the producer in KSXP 2 office, while Mike is the new staff who is going to be a
host. Hence, Abby has more legitimate power than Mike. In this case, Abby has no burden to criticize Mike baldly when he comes into her room without
permission from her. By using bald on record strategy to criticize Mike, Abby has been successful in threatening Mike’s face.
Datum 5 CD 114.28” The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism Abby sends criticism to Mike when he comes into her room to thank to her
for giving Mike a chance to work in KSXP 2 office. After saying his gratitude, Mike promises to do the same dedication like what he did in “The Ugly Truth” in
order to boost up the rating of “Sacramento AM”. As Abby watched Mike in his show “The Ugly Truth” last night, she sends criticism to Mike by saying “You
make imbecilic trash watched by housebound inbreds who are so busy putting their hands down their pants they can’t change the remote”. Through
the utterance, Abby wants to criticize Mike’s ability in presenting “The Ugly Truth” show. Abby thinks that what Mike presents in “The Ugly Truth” is a rude
and disgusting show which is only watched by immoral society. Abby emphasizes her criticism by using “imbecilic trash” to refer to “The Ugly Truth” show. In this
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time, Abby does not try to minimize the FTA, but she burdens FTA to Mike’s face since she criticizes Mike directly with painful words. Abby conveys criticism
in serious tone, since she really hates what Mike presents in “The Ugly Truth”. From the analysis, it is found out that Abby uses bald on record strategy to
criticize Mike’s ability. b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism
Being criticized by Abby who says that what he presents is only an imbecilic trash show which is watched by immoral society, Mike does not respond it all.
Mike does not really care about Abby who criticizes his ability in “The Ugly Truth” show. As he notices that Abby watched his show last night, Mike says “I
hadn’t really been picturing you that way, but that’s nice image”. By saying so, it is known that Mike does not want to acknowledge Abby’s criticism. Rather, he
intends to return the criticism to Abby directly that she is picturing herself as immoral society since she watched “The Ugly Truth” last night. By doing so, it is
known that Mike wants to ignore Abby’s criticism since he shifts the topic by criticizing Abby back. Mike does it in low tone, as he realizes that he places
subordinate status. From the analysis, it is found out that Mike ignores the criticism by using bald on record strategy, since he changes the topic of the
criticism directly. The factor which encourages Mike to use bald on record strategy is the situational context. In this time, Mike’s face has been threatened by
Abby since she criticizes him baldly. Therefore, Mike uses the same strategy in order to redress his face. To conclude, Mike applies bald on record strategy to
ignore the criticism which is conveyed by Abby in bald on record strategy too.
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c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy There is one factor which influences Abby to use bald on record strategy to
criticize Mike. The factor is the legitimate power owned by Abby. Abby works as the producer in KSXP 2 office, while Mike is the new staff who is going to be a
host of a show. Hence, Abby has more legitimate power than Mike. In other word, Abby has more authority to criticize Mike’s ability in presenting “The Ugly
Truth” show baldly, since Abby is going to be Mike’s producer.
Datum 6 7 CD 116.00” Georgia : For years, there have been concerns about lowering television standards.
But many believe that this man and his local public access show, have brought things to a new low. With that, we welcome Mike Chadway.
Mike : How ya doing guys?
Larry : Mike, how do you respond to the people who say that your show is
offensive? Mike
: Well, it is... but then again, so is the truth. Georgia
: Laughing Hah. The truth about what, Mr. Chadway? Mike
: What relationships are really like. Take marriage for instance. It’s about
social pressure, status and sex. If it were not of these things, man and woman wouldn’t even speak.
Georgia : Oh dear. Sounds to me like no one’s ever loved you and you’re taking that out on the female population.
Larry and Georgia laugh, offending. Mike
: Well, while we’re making observations Georgia, you two project this image of the perfect couple, when clearly, it’s a lie.
Larry : Excuse me?
Mike : Come on Larry, I watch your show for years. You used to be this cool
confident cat. What the hell happened to you? And you Georgia. This one is no dumb bunny. She knew the only way she was getting off the
weekend shift was by hooking up with you. But then lo and behold, she became more popular than you did, and ended up with twice your salary.
Larry : Hold on. I’m very proud of my wife’s success.
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The Description of Context Datum 6 7 There are two criticisms on the conversation above. Here is the context
description of datum 6 and 7. The conversation happens on the live network TV show “Sacramento
AM”. Here, the participants of the conversation are Larry, Georgia, and Mike. Larry and Georgia are spouse anchors who run the show. On the scene before, it is
told that Larry and Georgia often have quarrel since Georgia always criticizes Larry, but Larry cannot take it too much. Hence, their relationship as spouse are
not very intimate anymore. In this chance, Larry and Georgia are interviewing Mike, the host of a cable access show “The Ugly Truth” which has high rating
lately. Mike has been known as a vulgar host who is never wrong with the theory of relationship. Hence, he gets higher rating than “Sacramento AM” although his
show is very rude. The participants are not very close at each other. Larry and Georgia have a social distance with Mike Chadway since it is their first time to
have a conversation. However, Mike knows Larry and Georgia on TV since many years ago. Here, Larry and Georgia have superior status since they are the anchors
of the show, while Mike has subordinate status since he is the guest star. As the relative power, Larry and Georgia have legitimate power since they are the
anchors of the show. However, when it deals with relationship, Mike has expert power since he is the host of “The Ugly Truth”, a show about men and women
relationship.
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The management of KSXP 2 office decides to hire the cynical chauvinist Mike Chadway who hosts the popular and rude mannish show “The Ugly Truth”
because “Sacramento AM” has problem with low ratings. To prove that Mike is great, the general manager brings him into the show as the guest star. When the
participants are on the news desk and the show is going to start, Larry and Georgia have a little conversation without involving Mike Chadway. They are
complaining about the awful security in the office, where Larry finds a bird on his dressing room. Their conversation runs weird as they do not look at each other
when having a chat. Their chat is over as the show is going to start in seconds. Larry opens the show by giving a warm welcome to the audience and mentioning
his wife as a beautiful girl. Georgia gives thanks to Larry and continues the show by giving prologue about the lowering television standard, then mentioning that
Mike Chadway makes it worse with his offensive show “The Ugly Truth”. As Mike is given an opportunity to speak, he aims to defend himself. He says that his
show is the real ugly truth about relationship. Then, Mike promotes his controversial theory of relationship that marriage is only about social pressure,
status and sex. If it were not of those things, marriage would not work out perfectly. Then, Mike evaluates that both Larry and Georgia are not a perfect
couple like what they perform in the show. This is because, Mike witnessed the way Larry and Georgia ran the conversation before starting the show. From that
point, Mike knows that something is wrong with their relationship. Moreover, he has been dealing with men and women relationship since he is the host of “The
Ugly Truth”. According to Mike, their relationship is not working out perfectly
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since Larry has many personal problems with Georgia. One of them is that Larry faces social pressure towards Georgia who has more popularity and more salary
than him. It gives bad effect to their relationship, especially to Larry when he has to be together with Georgia in the show.
Datum 6 CD 116.00” The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism is extended by Mike to Georgia and Larry when they are on the
live network TV show “Sacramento AM”. He sends criticism to them by saying, “you two project this image of the perfect couple, when clearly, it’s a lie”.
Through his saying, Mike wants to give negative evaluation to Larry and Georgia that their marriage is not working out perfectly. According to Mike, when Larry
and Georgia are on TV, their representation as an intimate spouse is fake, since they have no chemistry anymore. This is because, Mike witnessed the way Larry
and Georgia ran the conversation before starting the show. As Mike has been dealing with men and women relationship, he knows that Larry and Georgia do
not have a harmonic relationship. Mike criticizes them baldly by saying “it’s a lie” to refer to the image of the perfect couple which Georgia and Larry do not
have. In this case, Mike directly does face threatening act to Larry and Georgia, as he criticizes them baldly without redressive action to minimize the FTA. Mike
conveys criticism in a quite low tone in order to criticize Larry and Georgia, as he
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knows that he has no more power than them. From the analysis, it is found out that Mike uses bald on record strategy to criticize Georgia and Larry.
b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism Here, the criticism is responded by Larry only, although it is extended by
Mike to criticize Larry and Georgia. Larry gives response to the criticism which is extended by Mike who says that Larry’s marriage with Georgia is not working out
perfectly, since their representation as an intimate spouse on TV is fake. Larry responds Mike’s criticism by saying, “Excuse me?”. Through the response, Larry
wants to challenge Mike who criticizes about his marriage. He gets surprised when Mike says so. Larry thinks that Mike does not know anything about his
relationship which is not working out perfectly, since they know each other for a day. However, Mike has better knowledge when it deals with relationship, since
he has been known as the host of relationship show who is never wrong with his saying. Hence, Larry responds the criticism by asking back to Mike what reason
which makes Mike criticize his marriage like that. Through challenging Mike’s criticism, it is clear that Larry intends to refuse the criticism. In this case, Larry
rejects Mike’s criticism baldly by challenging Mike why he can say so. Larry utters the refusal in a weak tone since he is afraid that Mike knows the truth about
his marriage which is not working out perfectly. From the analysis, it is clear that Larry rejects the criticism by using bald on record strategy. There is one factor
which influences Larry to use bald on record strategy. Here, Larry has legitimate power since he is the host of the show. Larry feels free to refuse Mike’s criticism
since he has more legitimate power than Mike. To conclude, bald on record
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strategy is employed by Larry to reject the criticism which is extended by Mike in bald on record strategy.
c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy There is one factor which influences Mike to use bald on record strategy in
criticizing Larry and Georgia. Here, Mike has expert power, as he has better knowledge when it deals with relationship. Mike has been famous with his theory
of relationship in his own show “The Ugly Truth”. Moreover, he is known as the host who is never wrong with his saying. Hence, he intends to criticize Larry and
Georgia directly, since he knows that their marriage relationship is not working out perfectly as what they represent in the show. By using bald on record strategy,
Mike has damaged the positive face of Larry and Gerogia
Datum 7 CD 116.50” The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism is extended by Mike to Larry when they are on the show
“Sacramento AM”. He sends criticism to Larry by saying, “You used to be this cool confident cat”. Since Mike has watched Larry’s show for years, Mike thinks
that Larry’s performance is not as great as many years ago. He sends negative evaluation to Larry’s performance by using past tense “You used to be”. The use
of past tense is done by Mike in order to criticize Larry that his performance now is not as great as many years ago. Mike conveys the criticism in unusual
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intonation in order to emphasize his criticism to Larry. He starts his sentence in flat tone, but then he rises his tone on the word “cool confident cat ” in order to
stress his utterance that Larry was very confident anchor years ago. By saying so, Mike has threatened Larry’s face since he criticizes him directly. From the
analysis it is clear that Mike extends criticism to Larry by employing bald on record strategy.
b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism Being criticized by Mike who says that he used to be a confident anchor,
Larry does not want to acknowledge it. Larry ignores the criticism which is conveyed by Mike. Rather, when Mike evaluates that Larry’s bad performance is
because of his wife’s success, Larry responds it by saying, “Hold on. I’m very proud of my wife’s success”. Through the response, it is known that Larry does
not want to acknowledge the criticism which is addressed by Mike who says that he used to be a confident anchor many years ago. Instead, Larry changes the topic
of the criticism by telling Mike that he is very proud of his wife’s success, although she is more popular than him. In this case, Larry ignores the criticism
directly by changing the topic of the conversation directly. From the analysis, it is clear that Larry ignores the criticism by using bald on record strategy. Here, Larry
has legitimate power since he is the host of the show. Larry feels free to ignore Mike’s criticism using bald on record strategy since he has more legitimate power
than Mike. To conclude, Mike’s criticism in bald on record strategy is not successful to criticize Larry since he ignores the criticism by using bald on record
strategy too.
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c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy There is one factor which influences Mike to employ bald on record strategy
in criticizing Larry. Here, Mike has expert power, as he has better knowledge when it deals with relationship. Mike has been known as the man who is never
wrong with his theory of relationship. He knows that Larry’s performance is not great as many years ago since he has problem with his marriage relationship.
Hence, Mike uses bald on record strategy since the factor of expert power in relationship.
Datum 8 CD 128.33” Mike walks in, covered in Jello, to find Abby standing there, arms crossed, quietly
containing her rage. Abby : You realize, I once had the Archbishop Desmond Tutu on this show.
Mike : Who’s that?
Abby rubs her temples,grumbling. Abby :
I can’t even illustrate how far I’ve fallen, because you’re not smart enough to get the references.
Abby walks off Mike
: Hey, hey ... wait. I thought, we were a good team back there. You
were the one who told me to lick the Jello. Abby : Do you understand how much I hate myself for that? It was cheap
titillation. I am now going to broadcasting hell right behind the naked weather girl from Canada.
Mike : Seriously? There is a naked wheather girl? Hey, can we get her?
The Description of Context The conversation happens in KSXP 2 office. The participants of the
conversation are Abby and Mike. Abby is a hyper-organized and control freak
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producer of a morning news show “Sacramento AM”. By the fate, she has to work together with Mike, a rude host of a show “The Ugly Truth”. Mike has been hired
by the management of KSXP 2 office to do his show in “Sacramento AM” since it has a problem with low rating. For the status of role, Abby has superior status
since she is the producer, while Mike places subordinate status. In other word, Abby has legitimate power since she is Mike’s producer. Mike hates Abby as he
finds her as a control freak producer, while Abby sees Mike as immoral and disgusting person.
On the scene before, Abby has warned Mike to read the script and not to say scatological words since the show is on air. As the show starts, Mike tells
viewers that men are simple. To explain that, Mike gives two options to illustrate it. The first option is a romantic classical dinner, where there is a couple who are
having dinner with candle light and a personal violinist. Then, Mike gives second opinion which is out of the script. He exits the stage door and walks into the alley,
followed by the confused camera crew. On the alley, Mike smiles at two blonde twins in bikinis, who wrestle in a kiddie pool of jello. In the control room, Abby is
panic since Mike does not obey her instruction to stick to the script. As Abby thinks that it has been in halfway, she gives instruction to Mike to lick the jello.
Mike does Abby’s instruction by licking the finger of the girl. The show ends, as Mike tells viewers to choose which option will much prefer to. Abby is standing
on the stage waiting for Mike who is covered in Jello. Abby is freaking out to Mike who ruins the show by inviting girls in jello without her permission.
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The Analysis of Criticism a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism
The criticism is sent by Abby to Mike when he ends the show and goes to find her in the backstage. Instead of getting compliment of what he has done in the
show, Mike gets criticism from Abby. Without Abby’s agreement, Mike invites two blonde twins in bikinis to the show in order to boost up the rating. Abby
extends criticism to Mike by saying, “It was cheap titillation”. Abby wants to criticize Mike’s behavior who makes disgusting show by presenting semi-naked
blonde twins wrestling in a kiddie pool of jello to boost up the rating. In Abby’s opinion, presenting two blonde twins in bikinis is a kind of cheap titillation to
boost up the rating. In this time, Abby intends to do FTA to Mike since she sends the criticism in clear utterance to criticize Mike’s behavior. Abby sends criticism
in high tone as she is freaking out to the way Mike gains the rating by presenting disgusting show. From the analysis, it is known that Abby employs bald on record
to extend criticism to Mike. b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism
Being criticized by Abby who says that his idea is a cheap titillation to rise up the rating of the show, Mike ignores it. Instead, Mike responds Abby’s saying
who says haphazardly that she is going to broadcast behind the naked weather girl from Canada. Mike responds Abby’s saying, as she says, “Seriously? There is a
naked wheather girl? Hey, can we get her?”. By saying so, it is clear that Mike does not want to obtain Abby’s criticism. He shifts the topic of Abby’s criticism
by paying attention to Abby’s saying about the naked wheather girl from Canada.
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In this case, Mike ignores the criticism directly since he changes the topic of the conversation. Mike utters the response in low tone since he has subordinate status.
From the analysis, it is clear that Mike ignores Abby’s criticism by using bald on record strategy. The choice of bald on record strategy is mainly influenced by the
situational context factor. In this case, Mike uses bald on record strategy since his face is being threatened by Abby’s criticism. Hence, he chooses bald on record
strategy in order to save his positive face. In short, Abby’s criticism in bald on record is not successful to criticize Mike since he ignores it by using the same
strategy too. c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy
The only factor which influences Abby to choose bald on strategy to criticize Mike is the legitimate power that she has. In this case, Abby has legitimate power
since she is the producer of the show. By having legitimate power, Abby has more authority to criticize Mike by using bald on record strategy without minimizing
the threat.
Datum 9 10 CD 1 29.56” Mike
: You hear about the ratings? Abby : Yes... I am the producer.
Mike :
And did you hear Corporate’s coming next week to take me out to dinner?
Abby : I hope you can chew with your mouth closed.
She turns and walks off. Mike
: Why, do you hate my guts? Abby :
Your innards are of no consequence to me. I hate what you represent.
Mike : You hate the truth?
Abby : Your skewed perception of male female interaction is not the truth.
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The Description of Context Datum 9 10 There are two criticisms on the conversation above. Here is the context
description of datum 9 and 10. The conversation takes place in KSXP 2 office, especially in the corridor
of the newsroom, where everyone is free for having a cup of coffee. The participants of the conversation are Abby and Mike. Abby is the producer of a
morning news show “Sacramento AM” where Mike runs a short segment named “The Ugly Truth” in that show. As the producer, Abby has superior status, while
Mike has subordinate status since he works as a host. Consequently, Abby has legitimate power to Mike since she has more authority in the office. Both
participants do not have good relationship since they hate each other. Abby finds Mike as a disgusting person, since he loves women based on their looks. He has
no girlfriend, but he makes out with everyone he likes. On the contrary, Mike considers Abby as a control freak woman since she only loves the man who fits
ten criteria on her checklist about perfect man. Mike
: But your imaginary boyfriend’s the truth? Abby : For your information, I happened to meet him.
Mike :
Well. I really hope he’s real this time, because otherwise this is just sad.
Abby : Oh he’s real. He’s very real. Not to mention stunningly handsome. He’s a surgeon. An orthopedic surgeon.
Mike : You know what that means?
Abby : What? Mike
: He had to stick his finger up some guy’s butt in medical school. Abby : You disgust me.
Mike keeps silent for a while. Then, Abby enters her office. Mike follows her.
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A crew finds Abby and her assistant when they are having a cup of coffee in the corridor of the newsroom. He gives the rating of “Sacramento AM” which
is up to 12 . The upwards rating is made by Mike who presented a disgusting show which was out of the script yesterday. In his show, Mike told viewers that
men would prefer to choose the simplest thing when having a date. Thus, he presented a rude show by inviting two blonde twins in bikinis wrestling in a
kiddie pool of jello without Abby’s approval. Abby got angry because of what Mike had done. Surprisingly, it raises up the rating from 2,7 to 12 . Anyhow,
Abby does not feel glad about it. As the producer, she feels dirty about herself. In this time, Abby is having a cup of coffee in the corridor of the newsroom. When
Abby is going to add some sugar into her coffee, Mike comes by to take a cup of coffee. Proudly, Mike shows off to Abby that the management of KSXP 2 office
will take him into the dinner because of his achievement in increasing the rating. Abby notices Mike to eat with the mouth closed. Mike feels offended since Abby
does not appreciate his work. Then, Abby explains that she is really disgusted to what Mike presents in the show, since it is really rude. Moreover, Abby thinks
that Mike’s theory about relationship is a fake. Suddenly, Mike changes the conversation into Mr. Wonderful Abby’s imaginary boyfriend who fulfills ten
criteria of her checklist. Mike teases Abby about her imaginary boyfriend that is not real too. However, Abby’s imaginary boyfriend has come true. Last night she
happened to meet him. He is Abby’s new neighbour. Abby tells Mike that the man has job that means something, an aorthopedic surgeon, as what she dreams so far.
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Again, Mike teases Abby that the man must have to stick his finger up into someone’s bottom in his medical school.
Datum 9 CD 129.56” The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism is extended by Abby to Mike when they are in the corridor of
the newsroom. They are taking a cup of coffee while discussing about the rating which is soaring upwards because of what Mike presented in the show yesterday.
When Mike shows off that his idea is able to increase the rating, Abby sends criticism to him by saying, “I hate what you represent”. Through her utterance,
Abby sends criticism to Mike that what he presents in “The Ugly Truth” is a kind of terrible idea. Abby really hates Mike’s idea who invited two blonde twins in
bikinis yesterday, since it was very nasty. Hence, Abby sends criticism to Mike baldly without an effort to minimize it. By doing so, Abby wants to criticize Mike
without any action to redress Mike’s face. Abby sends criticism in low, but serious tone, as she really means to criticize Mike. From the clear meaning that
Abby hates Mike’s idea, it can be concluded that Abby employs bald on record strategy to extend criticism to Mike.
b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism Mike does not accept the criticism which is extended by Abby who says that
what he presents in “The Ugly Truth” is a terrible idea. He responds the criticism
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by raising a question, “You hate the truth?”. By raising the question, it is found out that Mike wants to challenge Abby’s criticism. He argues that what he
presents in the show is the real phenomenon in daily life. Thus, if Abby hates what he presents in “The Ugly Truth”, it means that she hates the truth. Through
challenging Abby’s criticism, it is clear that Mike intends to reject the criticism which is extended by Abby. In this case, Mike rejects Abby’s criticism directly by
challenging Abby if she hates the truth. Mike utters the response in low tone since he places subordinate status. From the analysis, it is clear that Mike rejects the
criticism by using bald on record strategy. The choice of bald on record strategy is mainly influenced by the situational context factor. In this case, Mike uses bald on
record strategy since his face is being threatened by Abby’s criticism. Hence, he chooses bald on record strategy in order to save his positive face. In short, Abby’s
criticism in bald on record is not successful to criticize Mike since he refuses it by using the same strategy too.
c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy The only factor which influences Abby to choose bald on strategy to
criticize Mike is the legitimate power that she has. Abby has more power than Mike since she is the producer of the show. By having legitimate power, Abby has
more authority to criticize Mike by using bald on record strategy without any action to minimize the threat.
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Datum 10 CD 129.56” The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism is extended by Abby to Mike when she is telling Mike that she
happened to meet her dream man last night. Mike teases Abby that the man must have to stick his finger up into someone’s bottom in his medical school since he is
an orthopedic surgeon. Abby sends the criticism to Mike by saying, “You disgust me”. By the criticism, Abby wants to give negative evaluation to Mike’s
personality that what he says is disgusting. Abby thinks that Mike’s saying is really disgusting since he says impolite thing when she is proudly telling that her
dream man is an orthopedic surgeon. Hence, Abby criticizes Mike directly by saying that he disgusts her, without minimizing the imposition of FTA. In this
case, Abby threatens Mike’s face by criticizing him baldly. Abby sends criticism in low, but serious tone as she is disgusted to Mike’s saying. From the analysis, it
is found out that Abby employs bald on record strategy to send criticism to Mike. b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism
In this time, Mike responds Abby’s criticism differently. Being criticized by Abby who says that his words are disgusting, Mike is silent suddenly. Through
that way, it is known that Mike accepts the criticism which is extended by Abby since Mike has no word to deny Abby’s criticism. Clearly, Mike does not give any
word to refuse the criticism, instead of following Abby who enters into her room. By doing so, it is known that Mike accepts Abby’s criticism that his words are
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indeed disgusting. That is why he stops saying that words again, and then follows Abby who comes into her room. Hence, Mike’s silence is a way of indicating
agreement toward Abby’s criticism who says that his words are disgusting. In this case, Mike does not say it blatantly. He responds Abby’s criticism by being silent
as a way to accept the criticism. By being silent, it is known that Abby’s criticism is extended successfully to Mike. From the analysis, it is clear that Mike employs
off record strategy by being silent as a way to accept Abby’s criticism. The only factor which influences Mike to use off record strategy is the subordinate status
that he has. In this case, Mike places subordinate status to Abby since he works as the host of the show, while Abby is the producer. Since Mike places subordinate
status, he has no more power to Abby. Thus, to accept Abby’s criticism, Mike uses off record strategy. To conclude, Abby’s criticism in bald on record strategy
is successful to criticize Mike since he accepts it by using off record strategy. c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy
There is one factor which contributes to the choice of bald on record strategy. In this case, Abby has more power since she works as the producer of the show. In
other word, Abby has legitimate power to criticize Mike baldly. Without minimizing the threat, Abby criticizes Mike directly that he is disgusting. By
doing so, Abby has threatened Mike’s face directly.
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Datum 11 CD 132.02” Abby is calling Collin, her ideal man and asking to go out. But, Collin tells Abby
that he has to clean everything in apartment since he is unsettled with the move. Suddenly, Mike who sits in front of her, snatches the phone from Abby and hangs
it up. Abby : What the hell are you doing?
Mike : Saving you. He was blowing you off.
Abby : He was not.
She moves to pick up the phone. Mike sits on the phone to stop her. Mike
: Don’t He’ll be expecting you to call him back. When you don’t, he’ll call you.
Abby : How do you know?
Mike : Because I know men operate it. If you want it to work out with this
guy, you’ll listen to me and do exactly as I say. You’ve already done irreparable damage with your psycho-aggressive control freak
phone call. It might even be too late. Even if you do salvage the situation, you’ll never be more than Abby, his desperate neighbor.
Abby : I’m not desperate then Why, did you think I sound desperate? Mike
: Listen to you, desperately asking me if you sound desperate. The Description of Context
The conversation takes place in KSXP 2 office, specifically in the producer’s room. The participants of the conversation are Abby and Mike. Abby
is a young beautiful woman who works hard as a producer in KSXP 2 office. Yet, she has a problem in relationship. She has a checklist of ten items about ideal
man, but never find him. Another participant of the conversation is Mike. He works as the host of a short segment “The Ugly Truth” a show about men and
women relationship in the “Sacramento AM”. As he always has high rating in the show, he has been known as the male host who is expert in relationship. Both
participants do not have close relationship as colleague, since Abby thinks Mike is crass and disgusting, while Mike finds Abby to be a control freak woman as she
has a checklist about the perfect man. For the role of status, Abby has legitimate
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power since she is the producer. On the other side, Mike has expert power when it deals with relationship since he has been known as a male host who is expert in
relationship. To conclude, since the conversation occurs in the office where Abby works as the producer, but they are talking about relationship in which Mike is
more expert on that way, both participants have equal status since they have legitimate and expert power.
When Mike offends Abby about her imaginary’s boyfriend who fits ten criteria of her checklist, Abby tells Mike that she happened to meet her ideal man
last night. He is her new neighbour, an aorthopedic surgeon named Collin. Last night, he helped Abby when she was being trapped in the tree to catch her cat.
Abby was trying to catch her cat by climbing the tree. When she was on the top of the tree and succesfull to get her cat, she noticed Collin who was flossing his teeth
from the window. Abby was amazed to find a man flossing his teeth, just like her. Suddenly the branch was broken, then she fell from the top of the tree.
Fortunately, she did not fall to the ground as her foot got caught between some branches. Abby cried for a help. Hearing a loud cry, Collin ran up to the tree. He
found Abby was trapped on the tree. Quickly, Collin saved Abby and gave a medical treatment to Abby who turned her ankle. Abby was very glad for having a
neighbour like him, that she fell in love. Collin gave a phone number to Abby so that she could call him anytime she had problem with her ankle. Abby is in love to
Collin at the first sight since Collin is the perfect man who fits ten items of her checklist as an ideal man. When she is telling about this to Mike, he thinks that
Collin does not have the same feeling since he does not ask her out to a date.
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Being offended, Abby dials some numbers to call Collin and asks him to go for a date this weekend. Unfortunately, Collin seems want to reject Abby’s request by
saying that he has to clean everything in the apartment since he is unsettled with the move. Suddenly, Mike who sits in front of her, directly hangs up the phone.
Abby is angry since Mike disturbs her phone with Collin. The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism utterance is sent by Mike to Abby when she calls her dream
man named Collin and ask him for a date. Mike gives criticism to Abby as he says, “You’ve already done irreparable damage with your psycho-aggressive
control freak phone call”. By the utterance, Mike wants to give negative evaluation to Abby’s behavior that she has done irreparable mistake by calling
Collin and asking him to go for a date. Abby should not call Collin and ask to go for a date, since it may gives bad impression that she is an aggressive woman.
Mike conveys the criticism in serious tone in order to criticize Abby. He emphasizes his criticism by stressing on the words “psycho-aggressive control
freak phone call”. By doing so, Mike wants to criticize Abby directly by imposing FTA to her. From the analysis, it can be concluded that Mike uses bald on record
strategy to extend criticism to Abby. b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism
In this time, Abby does not respond Mike’s criticism who says that she has done irreparable mistake since she calls her dream man named Collin, to go for a
date. Instead, when Mike warns Abby that she might be Collin’s desperate
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neighbour, she responds that by saying, “I’m not desperate”. By saying so, it is clear that Abby does not want to acknowledge Mike’s criticism who says that she
has done irreparable mistake by calling Collin to go for a date. Here, Abby wants to affirm herself by saying that she is not desperate. In this case, Abby ignores
Mike’s criticism directly since she does not acknowledge Mike’s criticism. Abby utters the response in high tone since she is freaking out to Mike. From the
analysis, it is clear that Abby refuses the criticism by using bald on record strategy. She ignores the criticism directly because of her legitimate power as the
producer. Since Abby has legitimate power, she feels free to use bald on record strategy to ignore Mike’s criticism. In short, Mike’s criticism in bald on record
strategy is ignored by Abby in bald on record strategy too. c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy
There is one factor which contributes to the choice of bald on record strategy. Mike employs bald on record strategy to criticize Abby when she is calling Collin
to go for a date since the factor of expert power. Mike rules “The Ugly Truth”, a show about relationship which always has high rating. Hence, he has better
knowledge in relationship than Abby. Therefore, Mike knows exactly that Abby has done irreparable mistake. By criticizing Abby directly, Mike wants to criticize
Abby that she has done an irreparable damage since she calls Collin aggressively to go for a date.
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Datum 12
CD 135.21”
Mike :
Rule number three. Men are very visual. noticing Abby’s look We have to change your look.
Abby : What’s wrong with my look? Mike
: Abby, you’re a very attractive woman but you are completely inaccessible. You’re all about comfort and efficiency.
Abby : What’s wrong with comfort and efficiency? Mike
: Nothing. Except no one wants to fuck it.
The Description of Context
The conversation happens in the department store. The participants are Mike and Abby. Both of them are working together in local network TV show.
Abby works as a producer who is desperate about finding the perfect man. In the case of appearance, Abby always looks casual and comfortable with her clothes.
Another participant is Mike who works together with Abby as the host in a short segment “The Ugly Truth”, a show about men and women relationship. He always
gets high rating in the show. No wonder, he has been known as a man who is expert on men and women relationship. For the role of status, Abby’s profession
as a producer does not merely put her as superior status. It is because they are not talking about job. Moreover, the conversation does not occur in the office. Hence,
Mike with his expert power in the theory of relationship, has equal status with Abby who has legitimate power as Mike’s producer.
Mike gives first lesson that men cannot be trained and Abby should not criticize them. The second lesson is that Abby should laugh at anything men say,
although it is not funny. When it comes to lesson number three, Mike asks Abby into a department store. There, Mike explains that men much really care to
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women’s looks. Hence, to attract Collin’s attention, Mike thinks that Abby should change her appearance.
The Analysis of Criticism a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism
The criticism is extended by Mike to Abby when they are in the department store. While staring at Abby’s appearance, Mike extends criticism to Abby by
saying, “We have to change your look”. Through the utterance, Mike wants to criticize Abby that she looks terrible with her choice of clothes. However, Mike
extends the criticism in low tone as he does not want to discourage Abby. From the use of the word “have to” it is known that Mike wants to emphasize that he is
freaking out to Abby’s look which is about comfort and efficiency where nobody gets impressed to her. Therefore, to get Collin’s love, Abby should change her
appearance to be more exciting. In this case, Mike does FTA to criticize Abby directly that she has ugly look. However, he says it in low tone in order to not
discourage Abby. To conclude, Mike uses bald on record strategy in order to extend criticism to Abby.
b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism Abby gives response to the criticism which is extended by Mike who says
that she has ugly look. She responds Mike’s criticism by raising a question, “What’s wrong with my look?” Through the way, Abby wants to challenge the
criticism which is extended by Mike. She thinks that her appearance looks okay since it is casual and polite, so she does not need to change her look to attract
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man’s attention. By challenging Mike’s criticism, it is clear that Abby rejects the criticism which is uttered by Mike. In this case, Abby rejects Mike’s criticism
directly since she challenges the criticism by asking what is wrong with her look. Abby rejects the criticism in high tone since she does not think that she has ugly
look. From the analysis, it is clear that Abby rejects the criticism by using bald on record strategy. There is one factor which influences Abby to choose bald on
record strategy. The only factor is the legitimate power owned by Abby. Here, Abby has legitimate power since she works as Mike’s producer. Hence, she
chooses bald on record strategy to respond Mike’s criticism since the factor of legitimate power. To conclude, the same strategy is employed by Abby to reject
the criticism which is extended by Mike in bald on record strategy. c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy
The only factor which influences Mike to use bald on record strategy in criticizing Abby is the expert power that he has. In the case of relationship, Mike
knows better how to attract men. Hence, when he criticizes Abby’s appearance, he uses bald on record strategy since the factor of the expert power.
Datum 13 CD 207.53” Mike
: So tell me this, why hasn’t some New York station stolen you away? Abby : Oh, I much prefer in Sacramento to New York.
Mike : Oh, come on You’re just like a big fish in a low pond, hah?
Abby : No. No. the Sacramento is not really a pond. It is more a lake, or even
an estuary. And it’s great to raise family. Have a great education system. The park is clean, well-maintained and safe.
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The Description of Context The conversation happens when the participants are having beer at the bar.
The participants of the conversation are Mike and Abby. Both participants work together in the show “Sacramento AM”, where Abby works as a producer and
Mike is the host of a short segment “The Ugly Truth” in the show. In this time they are talking about Abby’s career, after finishing the plan for their live show
tomorrow. Therefore, for the status of role, Abby’s profession as the producer puts her into superior status over Mike who works as the host. However, they have had
close relationship, since they have been working together every day for almost a month. Moreover, Mike has been successful to help Abby in getting Collin
Abby’s dream man to be her boyfriend. Mike has a beer and enjoys the scenery as Abby sits across from him at the
table. She is making notes. They are about organizing what to do on “The Ugly Truth” since there will be a balloon festival. Abby does not want to lose this
moment to have a live broadcast from the festival. Hence, she organizes it earlier so that the show will run perfectly. After finishing the plan for the show, Mike
talks about Abby’s career. He is wondering why Abby keeps on staying in Sacramento, although she has a great career since she is an award winning news
producer. The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism happens at the bar when the participants have done talking
about what is going to do for the next show. Mike gives criticism to Abby by
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saying “You’re just like a big fish in a low pond, hah?”. By the utterance, Mike intends to criticize Abby that she is unable maximizing her talent. Mike thinks
that Abby is a talented producer who deserves to get a better chance in a bigger city like New York. Nonetheless, Mike does not say it directly, but he uses
metaphor to criticize Abby. Mike employs the word ‘a big fish’ to satisfy Abby’s positive face since she is a great producer. In the same time he uses the word ‘a
low pond’ to refer to Sacramento which means a small city. On one side Mike tries to appreciate Abby’s career as a great producer. On the other side, he wants
to criticize Abby who has short career since she only works in a local network TV show in Sacramento. Mike thinks that Sacramento is a small city where Abby
cannot develop her career. By doing so, Mike extends negative evaluation to Abby in a polite way, since he criticizes Abby by noticing Abby’s great career as
a producer. Mike does so in order to satisfy Abby’s positive face and minimize the threat of the criticism utterance. From the analysis, it is found out that Mike uses
positive politeness strategy to criticize Abby. b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism
In this case, Abby gives negative response to Mike’s criticism who criticizes her career which is stuck in a small city like Sacramento. Abby responds
Mike’s criticism by saying “No. No. the Sacramento is not really a pond. It is more a lake, or even an estuary. .....”. Through the response, it is clear that Abby
refuses the criticism by saying baldly that Sacramento is not a small city. It indicates that Abby rejects Mike’s criticism by giving second evaluation which
downgrades the criticism. Clearly, Abby says that Sacramento is not really a small
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city, but big enough to develop her career as a producer. Here, Abby denies Mike’s criticism in a low tone. In this case, Abby rejects the criticism directly by
giving second evaluation to disagree the criticism. From the analysis, it is known that Abby refuses the criticism by using bald on record strategy. The factor which
influences Abby to use the strategy is the close relationship between Mike and Abby. In this case, Abby has close relationship with Mike since both of them have
been working together in the same place for a long time. In short, Mike’s criticism in positive politeness strategy is rejected by Abby in bald on record strategy.
c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy There is one factor which influences Mike to use positive politeness strategy
to criticize Abby. The factor is the rank of imposition. In this case, Mike is talking about Abby’s career which is ranked as a big imposition. Hence, in order to
minimize the size of imposition, Mike employs positive politeness strategy to extend criticism. Mike still appreciates Abby’s career by employing the word “a
big fish” to refer to Abby’s career as a talented producer. Then, he employs the word “a low pond” to refer to Sacramento, where Abby cannot develop her career
since it is a small city. By doing so, Mike aims at minimizing the threat of the criticism utterance when extending criticism to Abby.
Datum 14 CD 211.20” Rick
: Hey Mike
: What’s up? Agent :
You’re not gonna believe this. Good news I just got you on to “The Late Late Show” with Craig Fergusson. They want you to be the
guest. Mike
: Craig Fergusson wants me on his show? You’re shitting me.
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Rick :
I’m not shitting you. Mike : Yes whoaaha
Rick : Yes, we got it
Both Mike and Agent hug each other, while Abby looking at them, confused. Abby : Hi? Who are you?
Mike : This is Rick. Rick
: I am his agent. Abby : To Mike Since when you have an agent? To RickAnd since when
it is okay to enroll on “The Late Night Show” without the producer’s approval?
Rick : It’s actually “Late Late Night Show” with two of lates. And since he
became the hottest person in morning TV. Have you seen this guy’s rating?
Abby : Yes. Yes, I have. Rick
: Anyway, you leave tonight. Everything’s been arranged. Mike : Ouh, this is cool.
They walk off as Abby stands there. The Description of Context.
The conversation happens in KSXP 2 office, when the “Sacramento AM” is finished. The participants of the conversation are Abby, Mike and Rick Mike’s
agent. Yet, the criticism occurs between Abby and Rick. Abby works in KSXP 2 office as the producer of a morning news program “Sacramento AM”. As the
producer, Abby has legitimate power. Moreover, the conversation happens in her office. Meanwhile, Rick has subordinate status since he works as Mike’s agent. In
this case, both participants have a social distance relationship, as Abby does not know that Mike has an agent named Rick.
When all crews are finishing their jobs, someone named Rick is looking for Mike. Rick comes into KSXP 2 office to inform good news to Mike that he
has been successful to get Mike as the guest star into “The Late Late Night Show” hosted by Craig Fergusson. They are very happy and shout loudly. Abby, who sits
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across them, notices that Mike has been invited into “The Late Late Night Show” without asking her permission as the producer. Abby comes by and talk to them.
The Analysis of Criticism a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism
The criticism is extended by Abby to Rick when he comes into KSXP 2 office. Abby gets confused when Rick informs Mike that Mike will be the guest
on “The Late Late Night Show” hosted by Craig Fergusson. Abby thinks that Rick should let her know when he is enrolling Mike on “The Late Late Night Show”
because Mike is still working in her show. Abby criticizes Rick by raising a question, “since when is it okay to enroll on “The Late Night Show” without
the producer’s approval?”. By the utterance, Abby wants to criticize Rick’s behavior who enrolls Mike to be the guest star in “The Late Late Night Show”
without her approval as Mike’s producer. In this case, Abby extends criticism indirectly by asking a question which she does not intend to obtain the answer.
Abby’s question conveys something more than what it literally means. It is not conceivably a question about Rick’s potential knowledge since when it is okay to
enroll Mike into another show without the producer’s approval. Clearly, it is a critical expression for Rick who enrolls Mike into another show without Abby’s
agreement as Mike’s producer. By asking indirectly, Abby wants to minimize the imposition of face threatening act when criticizing Rick. She wants to emphasize
avoidance of imposition on Rick since they have a social distance relationship. Abby sends criticism by raising the intonation of the utterance and giving serious
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facial expression in order to criticize Rick. From the analysis, it is found out that Abby uses negative politeness strategy in order to criticize Rick.
b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism Rick ignores the criticism which is addressed by Abby. He does not really
care about Abby who is freaking out to him since he enrolls Mike into “The Late Late Night Show” without Abby’s approval. Since Abby criticizes Rick in the
form of question, Rick replies the criticism as he says, “It’s actually “Late Late Night Show” with two of lates...”. By saying so, it is known that Rick does not
want to acknowledge Abby’s criticism. Rick changes the topic of the conversation directly by correcting Abby’s saying which lacks of one “Late” when mentioning
“The Late Late Night Show”. Then, with a plain face, Rick answers Abby’s question when he says, “And since he became the hottest person in morning
TV...”. By saying so, it is clear that Rick does not want to acknowledge Abby’s criticism. He only replies what Abby has asked and gets away from the place
quickly, since he needs to accompany Mike to Los Angeles where “The Late Late Night Show” broadcasts. In this case, Rick ignores Abby’s criticism directly since
he shifts the topic of the criticism. He blatantly gives answer of Abby’s question by telling that since Mike becomes the hottest person in morning TV, it is okay
for the agent to enroll Mike into another show without producer’s approval. From the analysis, it is clear that Rick ignores the criticism by using bald on record
strategy. The factor which influences Rick to use the strategy is the situational context. By using bald on record strategy, Rick wants to ignore the criticism
directly so that he can go quickly to accompany Mike to go to Los Angeles.
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Therefore, the negative politeness strategy which is employed by Abby to extend criticism to Rick does not work successfully since Rick ignores it by using bald on
record strategy. c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy
The only factor which influences Abby to choose negative politeness strategy to criticize Rick is the social distance between them. Both Abby and Rick never
know each other before. Hence, although Abby has more power to Rick, she avoids to criticize him directly since they have a social distance relationship. By
the strategy, Abby wants to emphasize avoidance of face threatening act imposition on Rick, so that she avoid the potential face loss.
Datum 15 CD 213.34” Mike and Abby are sitting on the backseat, driving to CBS, where Mike will be a
guest star in the “Late Late Night Show” with Craig Fergusson. Abby : ............ I thought maybe we should talk about what you’re gonna say
on the show. Yeach, okay. Pretending to be Craig Fergusson So, tell me Mike. How did “The Ugly Truth” start?
Mike : Well, Craig Fergusson, I had a sales job where I was drove around a
lot, listening to talk radio. I started calling in and I realize that I am smarter than everybody else. Just ask my producer, Abby. She thinks
I am genius when she is not sexually frustrated... Abby rolls her eyes, still angry with him.
Abby : O yeach -- thousands of lives are being enriched by your wisdom. Mike
: Excuse me, lady, but you have a boyfriend right now because of me. Abby : It may have started because of you, but it’s lasted because of me.
Mike : Great. So, you’ve been acting like you’re normal control freak
psycho self again? Abby : I’m not a control freak.
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The Description of Context The conversation happens on the car, where the participants sit in the
backseat. The dialogue is conversed by Abby and Mike. Both participants are working together in KSXP 2 office, where Abby works as a producer and Mike as
the host in a short segment “The Ugly Truth”. At this time, both participants have close relationship since they have been working together for months. Yet, Abby is
freaking out to Mike at this time. Mike is invited by National network TV show, CBS, to be a guest star as he is getting popular related to his theory of
relationship. Abby’s General Manager finally found out that Mike is offered a job by the CBS affiliate at twice the pay. Hence, he asks Abby come afterward to
convince Mike to sign in KSXP 2 office for the next three years. As the matter of fact, she has arranged a date with Collin to the Lake of Tahoe for this weekend.
Hence, she is freaking out since she should cancel her date to accompany Mike in Los Angeles.
On the car, Abby insists Mike prepare what is going to say in the show. Then, they start to have rehearsal. In the middle of their rehearsal, Mike proudly
says that he is very genius in the theory of relationship. He also talks about his contribution to get Collin Abby’s lovely neighbor to fall in love with Abby.
However, Abby argues that Collin loves her because of her own efforts. The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism is conveyed by Mike to Abby when they are doing rehearsal in
the backseat of the car. Abby argues that Collin loves her not merely because of
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Mike’s effort, but hers. Mike criticizes Abby by saying, “you’ve been acting like you’re normal control freak psycho self again?”. By the utterance, Mike wants
to criticize Abby’s personality that she is a control freak psycho self. In this case, Mike wants Abby to realize his help in getting Collin to be her boyfriend since it
is the fact. Yet, Abby denies that and claims that she gets boyfriend because of her effort. Hence, Mike evaluates Abby negatively as a “control freak psycho self”
since she does not admit his help. By saying criticism baldly, Mike aims to threaten Abby’s face in order to criticize Abby that she is a control freak psycho
self. Mike extends the criticism in flat tone, but he raises the intonation in last sentence to emphasize the word “control freak psycho self”. From the analysis it
can be concluded that Mike uses bald on record strategy to extend criticism to Abby.
b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism Being criticized by Mike as a control freak, Abby gives negative response to
the criticism. She responds Mike’s criticism by saying, “I’m not a control freak”. Through the response, it is clear that Abby refuses the criticism by saying baldly
that she is not a control freak. Here, Abby rejects Mike’s criticism by giving second evaluation to disagree the criticism. Clearly, Abby defends herself that she
is not a control freak like what is judged by Mike. Abby denies Mike’s criticism in a low tone. From the analysis, it is acknowledged that Abby denies the criticism
by using bald on record strategy. The factor which influences Abby to use the strategy is the close relationship between them. Here, they have close relationship
since Abby and Mike have been working together for months. Hence, she
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blatantly refuses Mike’s criticism in bald on record strategy. In short, Mike’s criticism in bald on record strategy does not work successfully since Abby refuses
it in bald on record strategy too. c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy
The only factor which influences Mike to choose bald on record strategy to criticize Abby is their close relationship. Both Mike and Abby have been working
together in KSXP 2 office for a long time. Hence, when Mike criticizes Abby, he does not need to minimize the threat since he has close relationship with Abby.
Datum 16 17 CD 2 36.43” Mike and Abby are trapped in the balloon basket with a pilot. Both are in the
awkward situation since they have just stopped quarreling on live report “The Ugly Truth”.
Mike : Hey I know -- we can pass the time with you telling me how much
fun you and Colin had having sex in Los Angeles. Abby : I broke up with Colin in Los Angeles, jackass.
Mike is thrown, turning to look at her. Pilot
: To our left, we have the Sandia Mountains, glistening in the afternoon twilight...
Mike : What?
Abby ignores the pilot. Abby : Oh, that got your interest? If you think we’re going to finish what we
started in LA, you’re out of your mind. You lost your chance. Mike ignores the pilot as well.
Mike : Oh, c’mon I never had a chance.
Pilot : And off in the distance, we have the Petroglyph National Monument,
where -- Abby : to the Pilot Could you please, stop talking? You’re right. I had a
momentary lapse in judgment where I thought you might be more than you are. But you aren’t. Clearly.
Mike :
Oh yeach? What does that mean? Abby is mocking to Mike
Abby : I’m Mike Chadway. I like girls in Jello. I like to fuck like a monkey. Don’t fall in love -- it’s ‘scary’.
Mike : Yeah, it is scary. It’s fucking terrifying. Especially when I’m in love
with a psycho like you.
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Abby : I am not a psycho
Mike : I just told you that I love you and all you heard was “psycho”. You
are the definition of neurotic. Abby :
No. The definition of neurotic is a person who suffers from anxiety, obsession thoughts, compulsive acts and physical ailments without
having any objective evidence of disease …. Mike
: Shut up Again, I just told you I’m in love with you and you’re
standing here giving me a vocabulary lesson. There are two criticisms on the conversation above. Here is the context
description of datum 16 and 17. The Description of Context
The conversation happens at hot air balloon basket. The participants of the conversation are Abby, Mike and the Pilot of the balloon. However, the criticism
occurs between Mike and Abby. Abby is the producer of a morning show “Sacramento AM”, where Mike does short segment entitled “The Ugly Truth” in
that show. Abby has superior status as she is the producer. Hence, she has more authority than Mike. However, they have close relationship since they have been
working together for a long time in KSXP 2 office. Suddenly, Mike quits from KXSP 2 office without a word. He decides to
sign out from KSXP 2 office and moves to CBS. Now, both networks do live report from Balloon Festival, but in different places. As Abby is dissatisfied with
Mike’s replacement, Jack Magnum, she pops up in the basket of balloon to replace him. She has an idea to discuss that men are weak. She gives an example
like Mike Chadway, who was incapable of copping a moment in a hotel elevator that was totally romantic with her last night in Los Angeles. She does not realize
that she is telling everything happened between Mike and her when they were in
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Los Angeles yesterday. Mike, who watches that, comes by sudden and pops up in the basket of the balloon with Abby. He explains that what were actually
happening in that hotel elevator. Actually, Mike and Abby had a kiss for long time in the elevator, but they stopped it since they realized that they should not do that.
From that moment, Mike and Abby realized that both were in love. However, it was too late since their effort to make Collin love Abby had succeeded. Hence,
Mike thought that he had no chance to love Abby. Mike was afraid that Abby might dumb him to prefer to Collin since he fulfills ten necessary checklists of
Abby’s dream man. Mike ends the show by telling that a girl in heat for two guys will always pick the one with the better resume. Both Mike and Abby keep on
quarreling that they ignore all the things around them. They do not realize that the Pilot silently boards the balloon to indicate that they are ready to fly. Mike aims to
jump out from the basket, since he does not want to fly with Abby. However, he realizes that the balloon is now soaring upwards. He stops to climb out as the
balloon continues to float up and away. When they are fifteen feet above the ground, Mike and Abby spin around to look at each other, hating that they are
trapped together. They keep silent for a while, holding a breath. Then, Abby tells Mike that she broke up with Collin in Los Angeles yesterday. Yet, she will not
fall in love to Mike since he does not know ‘love’ but ‘lust’. Surprisingly, Mike says that he is in love with Abby, but he is scared since Abby is a psycho control
freak who has ten items of checklist about a perfect man. Abby is freaking out since Mike labels her as a psycho, that she does not realize Mike says love to her.
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Datum 16 CD 236.43” The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism is extended by Mike to Abby when they are trapped in the
balloon basket. Mike wants to admit that he is in love with Abby. Yet, he knows that he does not have a chance since Abby only loves perfect man who fits ten
criteria where Mike has none of it. Hence, Mike criticizes Abby as he says, “Especially when I’m in love with a psycho like you”. Through the utterance,
Mike criticizes Abby’s personality that she is like a psycho. Mike judges Abby as a psycho since she looks for a man based on ten criteria where Mike has none of
it. That is why Mike is afraid to fall in love with a psycho girl like Abby. In this case, Mike criticizes Abby directly by saying that Abby is a kind of psycho girl.
Mike sends the criticism in high tone since he is freaking out to Abby. From the analysis, it is found out that Mike conveys criticism in bald on record strategy.
b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism Being criticized by Mike as a psycho, Abby gives negative response. She
responds Mike’s criticism by saying, “I am not a psycho”. Through the response, it is clear that Abby denies the criticism by saying baldly that she is not a psycho.
Here, Abby rejects Mike’s criticism by giving second evaluation to downgrade the criticism. Clearly, Abby defends herself that she is not a psycho like what is
judged by Mike. Abby denies Mike’s criticism in a high tone, since she is freaking out to Mike who criticizes her as a psycho. From the analysis, it is recognized that
Abby rejects the criticism by using bald on record strategy. The factor which
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influences Abby to use the strategy is the close relationship with Mike. Here, Abby has close relationship since she has known Mike very well, as they work
together in the same office. Moreover, Abby has legitimate power as she is the producer. Hence, she feels free to refuses Mike’s criticism using bald on record
strategy. In short, Mike’s criticism in bald on record strategy is not successful to criticize Abby since she refuses it with the same strategy.
c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy The only factor which influences Mike to choose bald on record strategy to
criticize Abby is the close relationship between him and Abby. Both Mike and Abby have known each other very well since they work in the same place. Hence,
when Mike wants to criticize Abby, he chooses bald on record strategy since the factor of close relationship.
Datum 17 CD 237.10” The Analysis of Criticism
a. The strategy used by the speaker to extend criticism The criticism is conveyed by Mike to Abby. After admitting that he is in love
with a psycho girl like Abby, Mike is more freaking out to her. Abby does not get that Mike is in love with her, but she only hears the negative word of a psycho.
Mike extends criticism to Abby, by saying, “You are the definition of neurotic”. By the utterance, Mike wants to give negative assessment to Abby that she is a
girl with neurotic since she cannot comprehend what Mike really means. Mike wants Abby to understand that he is in love with her, although it is terrifying to
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fall in love with a psycho control freak like her. In this time, Mike criticizes baldly by saying clearly that Abby is the definition of neurotic. He does not minimize the
FTA to Abby since he wants to criticize her baldly. Mike extends criticism in high tone since he is freaking out to Abby. From the analysis, it is found out that Mike
conveys criticism in bald on record.
b. The strategy used by the speaker to respond criticism Being criticized by Mike as neurotic, Abby gives negative response. She
responds Mike’s criticism by saying, “No. The definition of neurotic is a person who suffers from anxiety, obsession thoughts…”. Through the response, it is
clear that Abby denies the criticism by saying baldly that she is not neurotic. Here, Abby rejects Mike’s criticism by giving second evaluation which downgrades the
criticism. Moreover, Abby gives explanation about the definition of neurotic which is merely not like her. Abby denies Mike’s criticism in a high tone, since
she is freaking out to Mike who criticizes her as neurotic. From the analysis, it is recognized that Abby rejects the criticism by using bald on record strategy. The
factor which influences Abby to use the strategy is the close relationship between her and Mike. Both participants have close relationship as colleague since they
work in the same office in KSXP 2 office. Another factor is the legitimate power owned by Abby since she is the producer of the show. To conclude, Mike’s
criticism in bald on record strategy is refused by Abby using bald on record strategy too.
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c. The factors which influence the speaker to choose the strategy The only factor which influences Mike to choose bald on record strategy to
criticize Abby is the close relationship. Mike has known Abby very well since she is his producer in KSXP 2 office. Thus, when extending criticism to Abby, Mike
chooses bald on record strategy since the factor of close relationship.
C. Discussion In this subchapter, I discuss the whole result of the analysis. I divide this
session into two parts. Each part has two branches. The first part of this chapter is about the finding of politeness strategies used by the characters in the movie The
Ugly Truth in criticizing and responding criticism. The second part covers the factors which influence the choice of politeness strategies to extend and respond
criticism. 1. Strategy to Extend and Respond Criticism
There are two parts in this session. The first part is the strategies used by the speakers to extend criticism. The second part is the strategies used by hearers to
respond criticism. Below is the discussion in detail.
a. The strategies used by the speakers to extend criticism As can be seen, there are 17 data that have been analyzed. The following
table shows the number of data which use certain strategies to extend criticism:
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Table 4.1. The speakers’ strategies and the number of data No. Strategies to extend criticism
Number of data Data no. 1.
Bald on record 14
1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17
2. Positive politeness
2 3, 13
3. Negative politeness
1 14
4. Off record
-
From the findings, it is clearly seen that bald on record strategy is chosen mostly by the speakers to extend criticism to hearers. Positive politeness places in
the second rank. Then, negative politeness is in the third rank. The genre of the movie tells about the rocky relationship of a young
producer and her employee in Sacramento morning TV show. In the context of the movie, Abby who has superior status as the producer tend to extend criticism to
Mike who has subordinate status using bald on record strategy. When she notices Mike’s negative condition, she tends to criticize him baldly since she has no
burden to use bald on record strategy. To conclude, bald on record strategy is mostly chosen by the speakers who have different status with other participants.
The speakers who have superior status tend to criticize hearers who have subordinate status using bald on record strategy. By the strategy, the speakers
intend to criticize hearers by giving a face threatening act without any redressive action to minimize the threat.
This finding has the same result with the previous research which is done by Jauhari 2010 who argues that Javanese people who have superior status tend to
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use bald on record strategy to criticize others. In other word, the finding supports the previous research dealing with the use of politeness strategy in extending
criticism. Positive politeness strategy is chosen twice by the characters in the movie
The Ugly Truth. The strategy is done by performing positive image of the hearers’ face while extending criticism. By doing so, the speakers can reduce the face
threatening act since they also notice hearers’ positive face. By the strategy, the speakers can deliver criticism without damaging hearers’ feeling.
Then, negative politeness strategy is used once by the speaker to convey criticism. This is done by being conventionally indirect when the speaker is giving
criticism to the hearer. In this case, the speaker pretends to ask something to the hearer, where it is actually a negative evaluation to the hearer. By doing so, the
speaker tries to make the hearer unimpeded by the criticism utterance. From the discussion, it implies a statement that most American young
people tend to choose bald on record strategy to extend criticism. This is noted from the amount of the occurrence of bald on record strategy to extend criticism
by the characters in the movie The Ugly Truth. The strategy is used by speakers who have superior status to extend criticism to hearers who have subordinate
status.
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b. The strategies used by the hearers to respond criticism As can be seen, there are 17 data that have been analyzed. The following
table shows the data which use certain strategies to respond criticism: Table 4.2. The hearers’ strategies to respond criticism
Data no.
Strategy to criticize
Strategy to respond Accept
Refuse Ignore
1. Bald on record
Positive politeness 2.
Bald on record Bald on record
3. Positive politeness
Bald on record 4.
Bald on record Bald on record
5. Bald on record
Bald on record 6.
Bald on record Bald on record
7. Bald on record
Bald on record 8.
Bald on record Bald on record
9. Bald on record
Bald on record 10.
Bald on record Off record
11. Bald on record
Bald on record 12.
Bald on record Bald on record
13. Positive politeness
Bald on record 14.
Negative politeness Bald on record
15. Bald on record
Bald on record 16.
Bald on record Bald on record
17. Bald on record
Bald on record
The table above shows that there are three responses uttered by hearers. The fewest response of criticism is acceptance. There are only 2 data which show that
hearers accept speakers’ criticism. Then, there are more data which show that
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hearers ignore speakers’ criticism. They ignore the criticism by shifting the topic of criticism. In the mean time, most hearers refuse speakers’ criticism. They use
bald on record strategy to refuse the criticism. There are 10 data which show that hearers reject speakers’ criticism using bald on record strategy.
The genre of the movie tells about the rocky relationship of a young producer and her employee in Sacramento morning TV show. In the context of the
movie, it is clearly known that the relationship between the participants is not really good. Abby really hates Mike’s theory of relationship which he presents in
the morning show produced by Abby. Hence, when Abby is extending negative evaluation to Mike’s theory of relationship, Mike denies the criticism as he does
not believe in Abby’s criticism. By using bald on record strategy to refuse the criticism, Mike does not attempt to minimize the threat when refusing criticism.
He wants to save his positive face as the man who is never wrong with his theory of relationship. To conclude, bald on record strategy is mostly chosen by the
participants who have no good relationship with others to refuse the criticism. Positive politeness strategy is chosen once by the hearer to respond the
criticism. The strategy is used by the hearer to accept the criticism. In this case, positive politeness strategy is used by the hearer in order not to discourage the
speaker’s feeling since the hearer wants to accept the criticism. Moreover, the strategy is used in order to make the speaker feel good about her.
Then, off record strategy is also employed by the hearer in order to accept speaker’s criticism. There is only one datum which shows that the hearer accepts
speaker’s criticism in off record strategy. It occurs in datum number 10. The
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strategy is used by the hearer since he places subordinate status. Hence, the hearer chooses the strategy in order to avoid having conflict with the speaker.
From the discussion, it can be said that American young people tend to refuse the criticism using bald on record strategy. The strategy is chosen by
hearers who have no good relationship with speakers since hearers do not believe in speakers’ negative judgment. In other word, speakers’ strategies to extend
criticism are not successful to get hearers’ acceptance since most hearers refuse the criticism while doing FTA.
2. The factors influencing the choice of strategy In this segment, I discuss the factors which influence the choice of
politeness strategies. There are two parts in this session. The first part is the factors which influence the speakers to choose the strategies in order to extend
criticism. The next part is the factors which influence the hearers to choose the strategies in order to respond criticism. Below is the discussion in detail.
a. The factors which influence speakers to choose certain strategies to extend criticism
The speakers choose certain strategies based on several factors. The table below shows the factors in more detail.
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Table 4.3. The factors influencing the choice of strategy to criticize Data
no. Participants
The strategy to criticize The factors to criticize
Critique Criticized 1
Abby Larry
Bald on record 1. Close relationship
2. Legitimate power 2
Dori Josh
Bald on record 1. Close relationship
3 Stuart
Abby Positive politeness
1. The competing goals 2. The rank of imposition
4 Abby
Mike Bald on record
1. Legitimate power 5
Abby Mike
Bald on record 1. Legitimate power
6 Mike
Larry Bald on record
1. Expert power 7
Mike Larry
Bald on record 1. Expert power
8 Abby
Mike Bald on record
1. Legitimate power 9
Abby Mike
Bald on record 1. Legitimate power
10 Abby
Mike Bald on record
1. Legitimate power 11
Mike Abby
Bald on record 1. Expert power
12 Mike
Abby Bald on record
1. Expert power 13
Mike Abby
Positive Politeness 1. The rank of imposition
14 Abby
Rick Negative politeness
1. Social distance relationship
15 Mike
Abby Bald on record
1. Close relationship 16
Mike Abby
Bald on record 1. Close relationship
17 Mike
Abby Bald on record
1. Close relationship 1 Bald on record
The table above shows that the use of bald on record strategy is due to the factors of relative power and relationship. Speakers who have legitimate and
expert power are influenced to extend criticism using bald on record strategy. In addition, speakers who have close relationship to the hearers also choose bald on
record strategy to extend criticism to hearers. Here is the discussion in more detail.
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a Legitimate power The speakers who have legitimate power to hearers tend to extend criticism
in bald on record strategy. The legitimate power is the power owned by the speakers since they have higher status than the hearers.
In the context of the movie, Abby is the producer of a morning TV show hosted by Mike. In this case, Abby has legitimate power as she is the boss. When
she notices Mike’s negative condition, Abby chooses bald on record strategy to extend criticism. Her choice of strategy is influenced by her legitimate power as
the producer. To conclude, one of the factors which influence the choice of bald on record strategy is legitimate power owned by speakers. The characters who
have legitimate power tend to choose bald on record strategy to extend criticism to hearers.
b Expert power The speakers who have more expert power to hearers tend to extend
criticism in bald on record strategy. In this case, the speakers have some special knowledge or expertise in one field more than the hearers do.
In the movie, Mike has lower status than her producer, Abby, since he works as the host. However, Mike has been known as the man who is always right
with his theory of relationship. In some cases, Mike has better knowledge in relationship than Abby does, since Abby always fails in relationship. Hence, when
Mike knows the negative condition on Abby about relationship, he tends to send the criticism in bald on record strategy. As the lower status, Mike realizes that he
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has no power to criticize Abby in bald on record strategy. Yet, he has some special expertise in relationship than Abby. In other word, Mike has more expert
power about relationship to extend criticism in bald on record strategy. To summarize, the choice of bald on record strategy in criticizing is influenced by the
factor of expert power. The speaker who has some special knowledge in one field tends to choose bald on record strategy to criticize the hearers.
These findings have proven Thomas’s theory 1995 who states that the relative power have drawn a person to be more direct in delivering their want. In
this research, the speakers who have legitimate and expert power tend to criticize the hearers in bald on record strategy. In short, this research reveals that the
factors of legitimate and expert power owned by speakers influence their choice of strategy in criticizing the hearers using bald on record strategy.
c Close relationship Another factor which influences the choice of bald on record strategy is the
factor of relationship. The participants who have close relationship tend to use bald on record strategy to criticize other participants.
In the movie, bald on record strategy is used by the employees who work together in KSXP 2 office. They have close relationship since they have been
working together for years. Thus, when the speakers notice negative condition of the addressee, they tend to use bald on record strategy to extend criticism to the
addressee. Using bald on record strategy means they extend criticism directly
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without minimizing the threat. They have no burden to use that strategy since they have close relationship.
This result supports Brown and Levinson’ theory 1987, p. 77 who state that the frequency of interaction between the participants influence the speakers to
choose the strategy. The participants who are having interaction infrequently social distance may be careful in imposing FTA. Conversely, the participants
who have no social distance tend to extend utterance without any redressive action to minimize the threat.
2 Positive politeness Based on the table, the choice of positive politeness strategy is influenced
by the competing goals owned by the speakers and the rank of impositions. The strategy is chosen by the participants who have two competing goals and the size
of imposition is fairly big. Below is the discussion in more detail. a The competing goals
Positive politeness strategy is chosen by the speakers who have two competing goals. On one side, the speaker wants to extend criticism about the
hearer’s negative condition. On the other side, the speaker does not want to discourage the addressee’s feeling.
In the context of the movie, Stuart has been working together for years with Abby. They always share any problems together for the advancement of KSXP 2
office. When Stuart wants to extend negative evaluation to Abby, he does not
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criticize Abby blatantly, although Stuart has higher status in KSXP 2 office. Stuart chooses positive politeness strategy since the factor of the competing goals. On
one hand, he wants to criticize Abby since she cannot work optimally. On the other hand, he does not want to discourage Abby’s feeling since they have a good
relationship. Thus, when he wants to extend criticism to Abby, Stuart says it in positive politeness strategy by showing Abby’s positive face. By doing so, Stuart
can show Abby’s positive face while extending criticism to her. This result has proven Thomas’s theory 1995, p. 145 who argues that the
speakers who have two goals which compete, tend to use indirectness in delivering their want. In this case, the speaker chooses positive politeness strategy
in order to deliver criticism without hurting hearer’s feeling. b The rank of imposition
Another factor which influences the choice of positive politeness strategy is the factor of the rank of imposition. The bigger the imposition, the more indirect
the speaker will be. In the context of the movie, as the boss in KSXP 2 office, Stuart evaluates
Abby’s negative condition. Stuart criticizes Abby that as a great producer, Abby is not successful in creating a great show with high rating. Talking about someone’s
failure or success is a big imposition. Hence, in order to lessen the weight imposition of the threat, Stuart sends negative evaluation by using positive
politeness strategy. The strategy is done by showing Abby’s goodness as a great
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producer while extending criticism. By doing so, Stuart aims at criticizing Abby by saving her positive face.
This finding supports Brown and Levinson’ theory 1987 p. 77 who argue that the rank of imposition really influence people in choosing the strategy. The
bigger the imposition, the more indirect the speaker will be. Based on Brown and Levinson’ theory 1987 p. 78 most cultures show that talking about someone’s
success can be ranked as a weight imposition since it attacks hearer’s positive face. Thus, to save hearer’s positive face, the speaker sends the criticism by using
positive politeness strategy Brown Levinson 1987 p. 72 3 Negative politeness
The choice of negative politeness strategy is mainly influenced by the relationship between the participants. The speakers who have a social distance
relationship with hearers, tend to choose negative politeness strategy to extend criticism.
In the context of movie, the strategy is chosen by Abby to criticize Rick, Mike’s agent whom she knows recently. Abby never meets Rick before. In this
case, Abby and Rick are considered as participants who have a social distance relationship since they never know each other before. Thus, when Abby is
criticizing Rick, she chooses negative politeness strategy since Rick is completely stranger for Abby. By employing negative politeness strategy to criticize Rick,
Abby wants to soften the threat of the criticism utterance.
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This finding supports Thomas’s theory 1995 p. 128 who states that the factor of social distance influences the employment of indirectness in saying
something. The social distance is measured by the frequency of interaction Brown Levinson 1987 p. 76. The participants are considered having a social
distance relationship since they never know each other before. The more the distant between the participants, the more indirect the utterance will be. Hence,
negative politeness strategy is employed when giving criticism since it may soften the threat of criticism utterance Riekinen, 2009 p. 15.
However, there is one occurrence where the speaker who has close relationship with the hearer chooses positive politeness strategy to extend
criticism. It occurs between Mike and Abby in datum number 13. In this case, Mike uses positive politeness strategy to extend criticism to Abby. The choice of
strategy is influenced by the factor of the rank of imposition. Below is the discussion in more detail.
In the context of the movie, Abby has been working together with Mike in KSXP 2 office for a long time. They have close relationship. However, when
Mike evaluates Abby’s career, he employs positive politeness strategy. The choice of the strategy is influenced by the factor of the rank of imposition. In this case,
Mike evaluates Abby that as a talented producer, her career may stop here since she keeps working in a small city like Sacramento. Mike thinks that Abby
deserves to get a better job in a bigger city. Talking about someone’s success is a big imposition. Hence, in order to lessen the weight imposition of the threat, Mike
sends negative evaluation to Abby by using positive politeness strategy. The
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strategy is done by showing Abby’s goodness as a talented producer when extending criticism. By doing so, Mike aims at criticizing Abby by minimizing
the threat of imposition. This finding supports Brown and Levinson’ theory 1987 p. 77 who argue
that the rank of imposition really influence people in choosing the strategy. Based on Brown and Levinson’ theory 1987 p. 78 most cultures show that talking
about someone’s success can be ranked as a weight imposition since it attacks hearer’s positive face. Thus, to save hearer’s positive face, the speaker sends the
criticism by using positive politeness strategy Brown Levinson 1987 p. 72 From the discussion, it can be concluded that American people still consider
the social factors when giving criticism to the hearers. The factors which influence the choice of bald on record strategy to extend criticism are legitimate power,
expert power and close relationship between the participants. While, positive politeness strategy is chosen by the speakers to extend criticism since the factors
of the competing goals and the rank of imposition. Then, the factor of social distance relationship influences the speaker to choose negative politeness strategy
to extend criticism.
b. The factors which influence hearers to choose certain strategies to respond criticism
There are certain factors which influence the hearers to the choice of politeness
strategy to
respond the
speakers’ criticism
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Data no.
Criticism The response
Strategy to criticize
The Participants Type of response
Strategy to respond Factors to respond the criticism
Critique Criticized Accept Reject Ignore
1 Bald on record Abby Larry
√ Positive politeness The competing goals
2 Bald on record Dori
Josh √
Bald on record Close relationship
3 Positive
politeness Stuart Abby
√ Bald on record
Close relationship 4
Bald on record Abby Mike √
Bald on record Situational context
5 Bald on record Abby Mike
√ Bald on record
Situational context 6
Bald on record Mike Larry √
Bald on record Legitimate power
7 Bald on record Mike Larry
√ Bald on record
Legitimate power 8
Bald on record Abby Mike √
Bald on record Situational context
9 Bald on record Abby Mike
√ Bald on record
Situational context 10
Bald on record Abby Mike √
Off record Subordinate status
11 Bald on record Mike Abby
√ Bald on record
Legitimate power 12
Bald on record Mike Abby √
Bald on record Legitimate power
13 Positive
politeness Mike Abby
√ Bald on record
Close relationship 14
Negative politeness
Abby Rick √
Bald on record Situational context
15 Bald on record Mike Abby
√ Bald on record
Close relationship 16
Bald on record Mike Abby √
Bald on record 1. Close relationship
2. Legitimate power 17
Bald on record Mike Abby √
Bald on record 1. Close relationship
2. Legitimate power
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The table above shows that most hearers respond the speakers’ criticism in bald on record strategy. Yet, there are also positive politeness and off record strategy
employed by the hearers to accept speaker’s criticism. Below is the discussion in more detail.
1 Bald on record Based on the table, the choice of bald on record strategy to respond the
criticism is influenced by three factors. They are the close relationship, legitimate power and situational context. Here is the discussion.
a Close relationship The hearers who have close relationship with the speakers, tend to choose
bald on record strategy to respond the criticism. In the movie, bald on record strategy is used by the employees who work
together in KSXP 2 office. They have close relationship since they have been working together for years. Thus, when the hearers are being criticized by
speakers, they respond the criticism in bald on record strategy. The choice of the strategy is influenced by the factor of close relationship.
This finding supports Brown and Levinson’ theory 1987, p. 77 who state that the frequency of interaction between the participants influence the speakers to
choose the strategy. The participants who have close relationship tend to extend utterance without any redressive action to minimize the threat.
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b Legitimate power Some data above shows that the hearers choose bald on record strategy to
respond the criticism since the factor of legitimate power. The legitimate power is owned by the hearers since they have higher status than the speakers. The hearers
who have more legitimate power than the speakers tend to use bald on record strategy to respond the criticism.
In the context of the movie, the strategy is used by Larry to respond Mike’s criticism. Larry has higher status since he is the host of the show, while Mike is
the guest star. Obviously, Larry has more legitimate power than Mike since he rules the show. Thus, when Larry is criticized by Mike, he rejects it by using bald
on record strategy. The choice of the strategy is mainly influenced by his status as the host of the show who has more legitimate power than Mike. Hence, Larry
refuses Mike’s criticism freely without any redressive action to minimize the threat.
This finding supports Thomas’s theory 1995 who states that the relative power have drawn a person to be more direct in delivering their want. In this case,
the hearers who have more legitimate power tend to use bald on record strategy to respond the criticism.
c Situational context Based on the table, there are some data which show that the hearers who
do not have close relationship with the speakers or have more power than speakers, use bald on record strategy to respond the criticism. It occurs in data
number 4, 5, 8, 9 and 13. The hearers use bald on record strategy to refuse and to
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ignore the criticism. The choice of bald on record strategy is influenced by the situational factor. When the speakers evaluate the hearers negatively, it is natural
that the hearers do not feel good about the criticism. Lin 2005, p. 138 states that this kind of speech event helps to ‘license’ the use of bald on record strategy. In
other word, when hearers’ faces are threatened by speakers’ criticism, they need to defend their positive face by using bald on record strategy. This factor prompts
the hearers to use bald on record strategy since their face are attacked by the speakers. Here is the discussion further.
In the context of the movie, bald on record strategy is employed by Mike to respond Abby’s criticism. Here, Mike has no more power to Abby since he is
the new staff in KSXP 2 office where Abby works as the producer. Moreover, they have a social distance since they never meet each other before. Yet, when
Mike is criticized by Abby, he chooses to respond the criticism by using bald on record strategy. Mike uses the strategy to deny Abby’s criticism. In this case,
Mike is influenced to use bald on record strategy since the factor of situational context. Being criticized by Abby, Mike aims at defending his positive face by
denying the criticism in bald on record strategy. This situation leads Mike to choose bald on record strategy to respond Abby’s criticism. In this case, Mike
ignores his subordinate status and the social distance relationship between Abby and him.
This finding has the same result with the previous research which is done by Lin 2005 who argues that in many speech events, the choice of using bald on
record strategy is not merely influenced by social variables but also by situational
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context. In other word, the choice of bald on record strategy is not a constant choice but situation-dependent. In this case, when the hearers feel threatened by
the speakers’ criticism, they tend to use bald on record strategy to deny and to ignore the utterance.
2 Positive politeness a The competing goals
Based on the table, there is a datum which shows the employment of positive politeness strategy to respond the speaker’s criticism. The occurrence of
the strategy is influenced by the factor of the competing goals. The hearer who has two goals which compete tends to use positive politeness strategy to respond the
criticism. Here is the discussion. In the context of the movie, the strategy is used by Larry to respond
Abby’s criticism. Larry has close relationship with Abby since both of them working together in KSXP 2 office. However, Larry has no more power to Abby
since he works as the host, while Abby is the producer. When Larry wants to accepts Abby’s criticism, he chooses to use positive politeness strategy. The
choice of strategy is influenced by the factor of the competing goals owned by Larry. On one hand, Larry wants to accept Abby’s criticism. On the other hand, he
does not want to accept it by using bald on record strategy since it may attack Abby’s face. Hence, Larry employs positive politeness strategy in order to accept
Abby’s criticism. Larry responds the criticism by upgrading Abby’s utterance
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who says that Larry’s strength is as big as Volkswagen. By doing so, Larry shows Abby’s positive face since he agrees to Abby’s criticism.
This result has proven Thomas’s theory 1995, p. 145 who argues that people who have two competing goals, tend to use indirectness in uttering their
wants. In this case, Larry uses positive politeness strategy in order to accept Abby’s criticism.
3 Off record a Subordinate status
Based on the table, there are similar participants who employ different strategy in responding criticism. It occurs between Mike and Abby in datum
number 10. In this case, Mike responds Abby’s criticism by conveying off record strategy. The choice of strategy is influenced by the role of status. In this case,
Mike who has subordinate status tends to choose off record strategy to accept Abby’s criticism. Below is the discussion.
In the context of the movie, off record strategy is employed by Mike to accept Abby’s criticism. The choice of strategy is influenced by the role of status.
Mike has subordinate status since he works in KSXP 2 office as the host of a show. While, Abby works as his producer. Thus, when Mike wants to accept
Abby’s criticism who says that he is a disgusting person, he tends to choose off record strategy. By using off record strategy, Mike aims at avoiding the
responsibility for the potentially face-damaging interpretation.
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This finding sustains Brown and Levinson’ theory 1987 p. 73 who state that off record strategy allows someone to avoid imposing FTA to another
participant. In this case, the choice of off record strategy can be advantageous for the people who have subordinate status to avoid doing FTA to another person.
From the discussion, it can be concluded that the factors which influence American people to the choice of strategy to respond the criticism are the social
factors and situational factors. They are the legitimate power, the close relationship, the competing goals and situational context.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
