Face-Threatening Act Strategies in Morton Thompson's Novel Entitled "The Cry and The Covenant" - UDiNus Repository

CIIAPTER 1
INTRODUCTIOI{

1.1 Backgroundof the Study
In daily life, humanare alwaysin contactwith others.This relationshipis
commonlycalledconversation.
Accordingto yule (1996:71)
"Conversationis like dance, with ths conversationalpartners
coordinatingtheir movements
smoothly.For other'sit's liki traffic
crossingan intersection,involving lots of alternatingmovement
without any crashes.However, the most widely uied analvtic
approachis based,not on dancing(there's no music) o, ori un
analogywiththe workingsof a marketeconomy.,,
Fromthe statement,
conversation
meansnotjust exchangeof informationbecause
throughconversationit can be decidedwhetherthe messageis receivedby the
heareror not. Thereforeit will promotenot only a messagebut also a favorable
response
ofthe hearer.

.
"
,
Conversationinvolves social values suchas age, power, social distance,

and formality. The investigationof that conversationcarries out the term
politeness.Mills (2003:6) definespolitenessis the expressionof the speakers,
intention to mitigate face threatscarriedby certainface threateningacts toward
another.It meansthat the useof politenessin conversation
is importantto create
the comfortableatmosphere
betweenthe speakerandthe hearer.
Goffinan (1967) statethat face is a mask that changesdependingthe
audienceand the socialinteraction.But thereis a limited amountof strategies
to
maintainface.A threatto a person'sfacehasbeentermeda face-threatenins
act

(FTA). A face-threaterung

act (FTA) is any utterancethat intrinsically threatens
another's face and includes disagreements,critics, delivery of bad news, and
request.Therearethreesociologicalfactorsthat involved in doingthe FTA which
a speaker(S) will useto the hearer(II): theseare relative power (p) of H over S,
the socialdistance(D) betweenS andH, andthe rankingof the imposition(R).
The reasonfor choosingthe topic "Face-threatening
Acf is basedon the
writer's curiosity in analyzingpolitenessphenomenafrom differentpoint of view,
whichis basedBrownandLevinson'spolitenessstrategy.
Kennedy(1970:231) statesthat a novel is a book length story in prose
whoseauthorstry to createthe sensethat while peopleread they can experience
actual life. Novel makes the reader feel entertainedbecauseit give various
emotionalthings that make people open-mindedto passthe time in the world.
characters in the novel are sir4ilar to people who live in a real life, they
communicateeach other to convey their intention. It is also a fact that
miscommunication
sometimes
happens.
"The Cry andthe covenant"is a modernnovel.It is abouta heroicdoctor
who gavehis life to savemotherand the children they bore. Early in his career,

Igtaz Philipp, a brilliant young internein a famedViennesehospital,madethe
shockingdiscoverythat thousandsof womenwere dying at childbirth becauseof
the unhygienic methods of the physicianswho attendedthem. But when he
broachedhis theorythe hospitalcommitteerefusehis theoryand ignominiously
drivenout of vienna.But he neverstopsuntil his lastdayin his life.

In Morton Thompson'snovel entitled"The Cry and the Covenant"there
arelots of conversations
amongthecharacters.
The conversations
in this novelare
various, such as: a son (rgnaz phihpp) and his parents(Josephand Therese
semmelweis),Ignaz Philipp and his brothers(Joseph,Karl, and August), rgnaz
Philipp and his friends (chiary, markussovky,Hebra, etc), rgnazphilipp and his
lecturer(Mr. Albert, Prof.Rokiknsky, etc), rgnazphilipp and his patients,and so
on- From the conversations,it is found that there are variouskinds of the useof
face-threatening
act strategies.
Besidethat,from this novel,it canbe seenthat in
everycondition evenat homewith otherfamily membersor at schoolwith friends

andlectwers,someoneusuallyusesface-threatening
act to statehis or her idea.
Basedon the statementabove,it seemsto be relevantto studythe useof
face-threatening
act strategies
in novelentitled..TheCry andthe Covenant,,

1.2 Statementof the problem
The problemsof the studyare:
1- How are the face-tlreateningacts (FTAs) strategiesusedby the characters'
utterances
in novelentitled"The Cry andthe Covenant,'?
2. How is the comparisonof characters'
FTA describedin novelentitled'.TheCry
andthe covenant"?

1.3 Scopeof the Study
The discussionof this studydealswith theFace-threatening
Acts (FTAs)
proposedby Brown and Levinson(1987).They are Bald-on record strategies,

Positive politenessstrategies,Negative Politenessstrategies,and Off-record
politenessstrategiesusedamongthe charactersin the novel entitled"The Cry and
the Covenant".The dataaretakenfrom the utterancesusedby the characters.

1.4 Objectiveof the Study
Theobjectivesofthe studyare:
1- To describethe face-threatening
Acts (FTAs) strategiesusedin the characters'
utterancesin novel entitled"The Cry andthe Covenant,,
2. To describethe comparison
of characters'FTA in novelentitled"The Cry and
the Covenant"

1.5 Signifieance
of the Study
The significances
of the studyareasfollows:
1. Fortheresearcher
a.Applyingtheoriesandknowledgethat the researcher

getsduringher studyat
the university.
b.Increasing
the researcher
ability in analyzinga literarywork especially"The
cry and the covenanf' novel which will anaryzedby using Brown and
Levinson'sFace-threatening
Act strategies.
2. For the studentsof EnglishDepartment
To increasetheir understandingof Brown and Levinson's FacethreateningActs (FTAs) strategiesandto discovertheir applicationin Morton
Thompson'sNovel entitled"The Cry andthe Covenant".

ThesisOrganization
.1.6
The study is arrangedinto five chapters.The first chapter,introduction,
containsthe generalbackgroundof the study,statementof the problem,scopeof
the study,objectiveof the study,significanceof the studyandthesisorganization.
'

Review of relatedliteratureis discussedin chaptertwo. It consistsof the

descriptionaboutthe speechacts,politeness
andface-threatening
act(FTAs).
The third chaper contains the method of investigation, where the
researcher
discusses
researchdesign,unit ofanalysis,sourceofdata, techniqueof
datacollectionandtechniqueof dataanalysis.
In chapterfour, therewill be the result of the analysisaboutthe useof four
sfiategiesin the novel. Finally, in chapterfive the researcherproposesconclusion
andsuggestion.