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For example, Melvin uses this strategy when the urgent situation comes as he knows that the sheriffs together with their staffs arrive in the place where he
and the sharecroppers hold a secret meeting. Man
: Here they come Here they come Melvin B. Tolson
: Get the lights Everybody get down Get down Shhh Shhh
Datum number 25 Melvin is in discussion with the sharecroppers inside the building. Suddenly there
is a sound of truck approaching indistinctly outside. Then, someone who is in charge to keep an eye to the surrounding shouts out, “Here they come Here they
come” What he means by ‘they’ refers to the sheriffs and the staffs, the government.
Knowing what happens, Melvin urges everyone to turn the lights off. He also wants them to get down and be silent since they are in serious danger this
time. These are commands performed by Melvin in which there is no offence intention. It is purely because he wants to communicate the great urgency to them,
thus he does not intend to redress their faces. In such emergency, the urgent situation they are facing is much more important than the face of the hearers.
Unfortunately, the truck keeps approaching the building until it breaks the door. Everyone runs away including Melvin. Some succeed to escape but some are not.
The chaos cannot be avoided, then.
b. Metaphorical Urgency for Emphasis
Emphasizing the urgency metaphorically means that the speaker states the urgency by using other words to represent or symbolize it. Usually, it is done by
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using the attention-getter words including listen, look, hear me out, and so on. The words can serve as a device to persuade the hearers to listen to the speaker. In The
Great Debaters movie, Melvin uses this strategy by using the word listen as in the example below.
Melvin B. Tolson : Listen to me. You listening? You cannot tell
anybody what you saw tonight. You understand? Not even my wife knows about this.
James Farmer. Jr. :
I won’t tell anybody, I promise. I promise on a stack of Bibles.
Datum number 27 Melvin cannot believe that his student, James Farmer Jr. is in the place
where he has a meeting with the sharecroppers. He hides there as he is curious to what Melvin does in that place. When the chaos happens, Melvin sees him and
takes him to run away together. They run as fast as possible and as far as possible. When they have come to a safe place to stop by, they stop running. Melvin starts
reprimanding James for coming to such dangerous place. Then, he asks James to listen to him carefully because he has something important to say. He asks James
not to tell what he saw to anybody. In this case, Melvin speaks as if maximum efficiency is important in delivering his intention. In short, the urgency
communicated by him is not in the task to listen to him but in his request that comes after the bald on-
record expression, “Listen to me”.
c. Metaphorical Entreaties Stressing High Valuation of Hearer’s Friendship
Entreaty means begging, as the speaker asks the hearer to care for him. It implies that the speaker expects much that the hearer has to consider their
friendship or close relation in responding to the entreaty addressed. Therefore, the
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expression of this entreaty also can refer to the assessment of the friendship or the good relationship between the speaker and hearer. Like other types of bald on-
record strategy, this strategy also uses imperative or direct form. In this movie, Melvin B. Tolson uses this strategy once. He performs it
when he has a lunch in his dining room with his wife and his students joining the debate team, Samantha Booke, Hamilton Burgess, Henry Lowe, and James
Farmer Jr. Melvin B. Tolson
: I have an announcement to make. Excuse me.
Recently, I…uh, we— Ruth Tolson
: Mm-hmm. Melvin B. Tolson
: …sent some letters to some major universities. Told them all about us, our team, what we’ve been
doing, and, uh, yesterday we got response. From Oklahoma City University
Datum number 28 The metaphorical entreaty performed is actually addressed to the students,
not his wife. Melvin breaks the silence when they are all enjoying the foods because he wants to make an announcement that recently he gets a response of his
letter from Oklahoma City University telling that they can debate against them. Before making the announcement, he begs them by the expression “Excuse me”
to get their attention, meaning he wants them to care for him or at least concern on his talks. It indicates Melvin’s assessment that he and his students have a good
relationship and he wants them to notice that.
d. Task-oriented
