A study on the use of maxims of conversation and speech acts in Iron Man Movie.
ABSTRACT
Diputra, Cristoforus Febri.(2015).A Study on the Use of Maxims of Conversation and Speech Acts in Iron Man Movie. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
This study discussed Iron Man movie, an American movie based on a Marvel Comic of the same title by Stan Lee. The movie revolved around a fictional superhero from Marvel. Tony Stark is an industrialist, adventurer, philanthropist, inventor and scientist. At the age of 21, Tony inherited the entire
father’s wealth because his parents died in a car accident. One day, Tony Stark
was conducting a research in Iraq. It was a part of his father's dream. Because of his carelessness at the moment, he almost died. The incident made him become someone who is very remarkable. He transformed from an ordinary human into a superhero called Iron Man.
The movie depicted real examples of the use maxims of conversation and
speech acts in the characters’ utterances. Thus, the writer intended to analyze the utterances phenomena found in Iron Man movie based on the theories. Two research problems were formulated in this study: (1) What are the maxims of conversation used by the main characters in Iron Man movie? (2) What are the speech acts used in speaking by the characters inIron ManMovie?
The writer employed a theory of Grice’s (1989) to find out the maxims of
conversation produced by the characters of Iron Man movie. Also, Searle (1987) theory on the speech acts was included to solve the second research problem. The writer chose document analysis as the method of the study, in which Iron man
movie’s subtitle became the primary data source of the study. The secondary
source of this study contained theories on maxims of conversation and speech acts. The writer and Iron Man movie’s subtitle, further, were considered as the
research instruments.
Based on the analysis, the writer found that the characters of Iron Man movie applied the utterances based on the four maxims of conversation. Those were maxim of quality, quantity, relevance, and manner. The second finding showed that the speech acts used in speaking were locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
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ABSTRAK
Diputra, Cristoforus Febri.(2015).A Study on the Use of Maxims of Conversation and Speech Acts in Iron Man Movie. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Studi ini membahas sebuah film berjudul Iron Man yang diadaptasi dari komik marvel karya Stan Lee. Film ini bercerita mengenai adalah sosok pahlawan super fiktif dari Marvel. Tony Stark adalah seorang industrialis, petualang, filantropis, penemu dan ilmuwan. Pada usia 21 tahun, Tony muda mewarisi seluruh kekayaan ayahnya dikarenakan kedua orang tuanya meninggal karena kecelakaan mobil. Pada suatu hari, Tony Stark sedang melakukan penelitian di Irak. Sebuah penelitian yang merupakan bagian dari impian ayahnya, karena kecerobohannya dia hampir menemui ajalnya. Kejadian tersebut menjadikan dia seseorang yang sangat luar biasa. Dia bertransformasi dari seorang manusia biasa menjadi superhero yang luar biasa yaitu Iron Man.
Film Iron Man menggambarkan contoh nyata penggunaan maxims of conversation dan speech acts di dalam sebuah percapakan berdasarkan teori oleh para karakternya. Oleh karena itu, melalui studi ini penulis menganalisa fenomena pengucapan di film Iron Man. Terdapat dua pokok permasalahan dalam studi ini, yaitu: (1) apa sajakah maxims of conversation yang digunakan oleh karakter utama dalam film Iron Man? (2) apakah sajakah speech acts yang digunakan dalam percakapan oleh para karakter film Iron Man?
Penulis menerapkan teori Grice (1989) untuk mengidentifikasi maxims of conversation yang digunakan oleh para karakter film Iron Man. Teori Searle (1987) yaitu speech acts disertakan untuk menjawab pertanyaan ilmiah yang kedua. Penulis menggunakan metode analisis dokumen dengan naskah film Iron Man sebagai sumber utama. Sementara itu, sumber sekunder dalam penelitian ini meliputi teori-teori percakapan maxim dan speech acts. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penulis dan naskah film Iron Man.
Berdasarkan analisis, penulis menemukan bahwa karater dari film Iron Man menerapkan tuturan yang berdasarkan keempat maxims of conversation, antara lain maxim kualitas, kuantitas, relevansi, dan tata cara. Penemuan yang ke dua yaitu menjelaskan tentang speech acts yang digunakan dalam berbiacara antara lain locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
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A STUDY ON THE USE OF MAXIMS OF CONVERSATION
AND SPEECH ACTS IN IRON MAN MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Cristoforus Febri Diputra Student Number: 101214014
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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i
A STUDY ON THE USE OF MAXIMS OF CONVERSATION
AND SPEECH ACTS IN IRON MAN MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Cristoforus Febri Diputra Student Number: 101214014
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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iv
non scholæ sed vitæ discimus
I would like to dedicate this
thesis to My Family
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STATEMENT OF WORK'S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis,which l havc wl■ ttcn,docs not contain the work or parts ofthc work of othcr pcople,cxcept those cited in the quotations and thc
references,as a scientiflc paper should。
Yogyakarta,January 22,2015
The W五ter
CHstoforus Feb五 Diputra 101214014
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LEⅣIBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILⅣIIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEⅣ
IISbawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Yang bertanda tangan di
Nama
Nomor Mahasiswa
Demi pengembangan ilmu Universitas Sanata Dharma
:Cristoforus Fёbri Diputra :101214014
pengetahuan,saya llnembenkan kepada Pcrpustakaan
karya ilmiah saya yangbeJudul:
A
STUDY
ONTHE
USE OFMAXIMS
OF
CONVERSATION
AND
SPEECHACTS
IN IfiON MAN
MOVIE
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan data,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikan ke internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta
ijin
dari sayamaupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selamatetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 5 Januari 2015
(Cristoforus Febri Diputra)
Vl
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vii ABSTRACT
Diputra, Cristoforus Febri.(2015).A Study on the Use of Maxims of Conversation and Speech Acts in Iron Man Movie. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
This study discussed Iron Man movie, an American movie based on a Marvel Comic of the same title by Stan Lee. The movie revolved around a fictional superhero from Marvel. Tony Stark is an industrialist, adventurer, philanthropist, inventor and scientist. At the age of 21, Tony inherited the entire father’s wealth because his parents died in a car accident. One day, Tony Stark was conducting a research in Iraq. It was a part of his father's dream. Because of his carelessness at the moment, he almost died. The incident made him become someone who is very remarkable. He transformed from an ordinary human into a superhero called Iron Man.
The movie depicted real examples of the use maxims of conversation and speech acts in the characters’ utterances. Thus, the writer intended to analyze the
utterances phenomena found in Iron Man movie based on the theories. Two research problems were formulated in this study: (1) What are the maxims of conversation used by the main characters in Iron Man movie? (2) What are the speech acts used in speaking by the characters inIron ManMovie?
The writer employed a theory of Grice’s(1989) to find out the maxims of conversation produced by the characters of Iron Man movie. Also, Searle (1987) theory on the speech acts was included to solve the second research problem. The writer chose document analysis as the method of the study, in which Iron man movie’s subtitle became the primary data source of the study. The secondary source of this study contained theories on maxims of conversation and speech acts. The writer and Iron Man movie’s subtitle, further, were considered as the research instruments.
Based on the analysis, the writer found that the characters of Iron Man movie applied the utterances based on the four maxims of conversation. Those were maxim of quality, quantity, relevance, and manner. The second finding showed that the speech acts used in speaking were locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
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viii ABSTRAK
Diputra, Cristoforus Febri.(2015).A Study on the Use of Maxims of Conversation and Speech Acts in Iron Man Movie. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Studi ini membahas sebuah film berjudul Iron Man yang diadaptasi dari komik marvel karya Stan Lee. Film ini bercerita mengenai adalah sosok pahlawan super fiktif dari Marvel. Tony Stark adalah seorang industrialis, petualang, filantropis, penemu dan ilmuwan. Pada usia 21 tahun, Tony muda mewarisi seluruh kekayaan ayahnya dikarenakan kedua orang tuanya meninggal karena kecelakaan mobil. Pada suatu hari, Tony Stark sedang melakukan penelitian di Irak. Sebuah penelitian yang merupakan bagian dari impian ayahnya, karena kecerobohannya dia hampir menemui ajalnya. Kejadian tersebut menjadikan dia seseorang yang sangat luar biasa. Dia bertransformasi dari seorang manusia biasa menjadi superhero yang luar biasa yaitu Iron Man.
Film Iron Man menggambarkan contoh nyata penggunaan maxims of conversation dan speech acts di dalam sebuah percapakan berdasarkan teori oleh para karakternya. Oleh karena itu, melalui studi ini penulis menganalisa fenomena pengucapan di film Iron Man. Terdapat dua pokok permasalahan dalam studi ini, yaitu: (1) apa sajakah maxims of conversation yang digunakan oleh karakter utama dalam film Iron Man? (2) apakah sajakah speech acts yang digunakan dalam percakapan oleh para karakter film Iron Man?
Penulis menerapkan teori Grice (1989) untuk mengidentifikasi maxims of conversation yang digunakan oleh para karakter film Iron Man. Teori Searle (1987) yaitu speech acts disertakan untuk menjawab pertanyaan ilmiah yang kedua. Penulis menggunakan metode analisis dokumen dengan naskah film Iron Man sebagai sumber utama. Sementara itu, sumber sekunder dalam penelitian ini meliputi teori-teori percakapan maxim dan speech acts. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penulis dan naskah film Iron Man.
Berdasarkan analisis, penulis menemukan bahwa karater dari film Iron Man menerapkan tuturan yang berdasarkan keempat maxims of conversation, antara lain maxim kualitas, kuantitas, relevansi, dan tata cara. Penemuan yang ke dua yaitu menjelaskan tentang speech acts yang digunakan dalam berbiacara antara lain locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
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ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank God for His blessing and grace, especially during my process in writing this thesis until finish.
I would like to express my profoundest gratitude to my advisor,Dr. Retno Muljani, M.Pd. who has been my inspiration as I struggle with all the obstacles in the completion of this study. Her patience, suggestion, support and knowledge helped me to complete and finish my thesis. I could not imagine having a better advisor for this study.
I would like to thank Revaival, S.Pd., for his help and support in finding sources for my thesis and also Cornelius Yoga, Agustinus Grahito, Arya Dewangga, Obi Gaguk, and Antonius Nickofor the thesis discussions, precious time spent in the library, help in understanding theories, and we were working together to work on the thesis. I also thank to all my friends of PBI batch 2010.
My deepest gratitude and appreciation are addressed to my beloved parents, brothers and sister for their love and continuous support throughout my life. This thesis is simply impossible without them. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout the entire process.
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x
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ...i
APPROVAL PAGES ...ii
DEDICATION PAGE...iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY...v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ...vi
ABSTRACT...vii
ABSTRAK ...viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS...x
LIST OF TABLES ...xiii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...1
A. Research Background...1
B. Research Problem...4
C. Problem Limitation ...4
D. Research Objectives ...5
E. Research Benefits...5
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xi
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...9
A. Theoretical Description...9
1. Pragmatics ...9
a. Grice’s Cooperative Principle...10
b. Maxims of Conversation ...11
c. Conversational Implicature ...12
d. Context of Utterance ...13
2. Speech Acts ...14
a. Locutionary, Illocutionary, Perlocutionary Acts...14
3. Sociolinguistics ...15
B. Theoretical Framework ...16
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...18
A. Research Method...18
B. Research Setting...19
C. Data Source ...20
D. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique...20
E. Data Analysis Technique ...22
F. Research Procedure ...25
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...27
A. The Maxims of Conversation Used by the Main Characters inIron ManMovie ...27
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xii
2. Utterances Based on Maxim of Quantity ...33
3. Utterances Based on Maxim of Quality ...38
4. Utterances Based on Maxim of Manner...42
B. The Speech Acts Used in Speaking by the Characters inIron Man Movie...46
1. Locutionary Act ...47
2. Illocutionary Act...48
3. Perlocutionary Act ...49
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS ...50
A. Conclusions ...50
B. Implications...51
C. Suggestions ...52
REFERENCES...54
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xiii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3.1 Code List ... .... 22
3.2 Utterances Produced Based on Maxims of Conversation ... .... 24
3.3 Utterances Produced by the Main Characters ... .... 24
3.4 Utterances Produced Based on Code 1 and 2... 24
4.1 Utterances Produced Based on Maxims of Conversation ... 28
4.2 Utterances Based on Maxim of Relevance ... 33
4.3 Utterances Based on Maxim of Quantity ... 37
4.4 Utterances Based on Maxim of Quality ... .... 42
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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the introduction of this study which consists of six parts. The first part is the research background of the study. The second part is research problems. The third part is problem limitation. The fourth part is the research objectives. The fifth part is research benefits. The sixth part is definition of terms.
A. Research Background
Communication has a substantial role in keeping the harmony of a community. Indonesians, particularly, often utter or imply something within their utterances to avoid awkward situations during conversations. Indonesians, most of the time would feel reluctant to utter what they really mean because they can feel others' emotional feelings and to sense others' existence including their role. Indonesians, tend to use a more popular term, to be emphatic in dealing with others. This tendency leads speakers to use maxims of conversation and speech acts. Therefore, ithas been a part of Indonesians’ speaking culture, andmaxims of conversation should better be understood by both the speakers and listeners to avoid misunderstanding. Thus, the listeners are able to interpret the meaning of the utterances and to respondthe speakers’ utterances well.
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This study focuses on the language used by the characters in a movie entitledIron Man. Tony Stark is the main character who is known as an ambitious yet genius man. He uses his skill in technology to build a weapon and iron suit fighting to defend himself and the society who need his help in Iraq.Tony Stark’s
struggle tries to help each other is the principle aim from his dream to build the iron suit. There are some troublemakers who have to be faced in the future however, an ambition can defeat everything. Finally, Tony Stark and his friends can enjoy their life because of the iron suit.
Iron Man movie pervades aspects belonging to utterances based on the maxims of conversation and speech acts. The character would break the maxims especially maximof relevance, for instance, when J.A.R.V.I.S says, “Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is…” Tony Stark cuts and utters, “J.A.R.V.I.S! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk!” It
shows how J.A.R.V.I.S’ utterances are irrelevantly answered by Tony by
implying something else. The utterance implied that he did not have much time to wait the terabytes of calculations in the project. He just wanted to run the suit and fix an error after the flight. Iron Man movie is chosen because it contains a great deal of utterances based on the maxims of conversation and speech acts among the characters in their conversations and the theories focus on forms of language within speakers’ utterances (Grice,1989).
This movie depicts how implying can be an inappropriate method of uttering something the speakers want to say because misinterpretation and misunderstanding can occur. The researcher attempts to show that language is a
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significant part of English learners especially for a teacher. The researcher also shows how the English learners can deliver a message through a language, especially English, appropriately and properly.
The writer analyzes the maxims of conversation and speech acts which were uttered by the characters of Iron Man movie because the movie can eventually be medium to study pragmatics. This study will give further data on the utterances based on the maxims of conversation and speech acts by the characters of Iron Man movie. This is closely related to the students who have courses on campus. Especially, for PBI students so that they can apply the concepts of pragmatic related to the maxims of conversation and speech acts in daily conversation, such as in micro teaching class, public speaking, and movie interpretation class which are very useful using the theory as the concept as future English language teachers. This movie is included in the box office which is famous and is most watched by students. On the other side, the researcher chooses this movie than the other movies because this movie gives more specific information from the utterances related to the theories. The learners can use this movie as a reference especially to study pragmatics. TheIron Manmovie contains phenomena belonging to maxims of conversation and speech acts. Thus, the movie can give some information and knowledge about maxims and speech acts itself for learners, especially in the conversation.
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B. Research Problems
Based on the background of the study, two research problems are formulated as follows.
1. What are the maxims of conversation used by the main characters in Iron Manmovie?
2. What are the speech acts used in speaking by the characters in Iron Man movie?
C. Problem Limitation
The study is limited to the use of the maxims of conversation and speech acts by the characters in Iron Man movie. The characters are Tony Stark, Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Obadiah and J.A.R.V.I.S. The writer focuses only on those five characters because they are the ones who play the important roles in the movie and also appear more frequently flout the maxims of conversation than the other characters. The data of the research problem will be analyzed based on the theory of cooperative principle by Grice (1989). On the other side, “maxim is a set of norms which language users adhere to in order to uphold the effectiveness and efficiency of communication” (Hatim & Mason, 1990, p. 242). The methodology used in this study is document analysis and the study is done by watching and analyzing themovie’ssubtitle.
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D. Research Objectives
There are two research objectives in this study. The first objective is to find out the maxims of conversations used by the main character in Iron Man movie. The second objective is to find out the speech acts used in speaking by the characters inIron ManMovie.
E. Research Benefits
The writer believes that the study will be beneficial for several groups: 1. English Learners
The study will assist the English learners to apply English language proficiency appropriately and properly. The benefit of this research English learner can apply the language especially in a test like TOEFL and teaching-learning process. This research will also encourage English learners to be able to use English in the conversations appropriately, especially to avoid the misinterpretation or misunderstanding.
2. Readers
This study will provide some important information and will enrich
readers’ knowledge of pragmatics in relation to utterances based on the maxims of conversation and speech acts for its readers. Thus, readers are capable of applying a good concept of communication as efficient and effective way in speaking. 3. Future Researchers
This study will hopefully become the beneficial research for future researchers, especially in an academic reference to conduct further research on
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pragmatics under the same topic. This study will also contribute to speech acts study related to Grice theory and enrich the information related to efficient and effective speaking.
F. Definition of Terms
In order to help the readers in understanding the topic discussed, the terms used in this study are defined as follows.
1. Maxims of Conversation
According to Grice (1989), “the conversational contribution such as is
required at the stage. It is occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the conversation exchange in which you are engaged” (p. 26). This study explains the
cooperative principle from Grice’s theory. The principle states that the speaker gives contribution in conversation in which the speaker is engaged. In the cooperative principle, the speaker and the hearer shall always assume that all
parties involved are cooperating, the speaker’s implied meaning based on their
knowledge on conversational maxim. This cooperative principle contains four categories, which are formulated as basic rules or maxims. Maxim is a set of the norms which language users adhere in order to uphold the effectiveness and the efficiency of communication (Hatim & Mason, 1990, p. 242). Those four maxims are maxim of quantity, maxim of quality, maxim of relevance, and maxim of manner. In this study, maxims of conversation refer to the way of a communication in a conversation, especially in our daily activities by using the language in effective and efficient ways.
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2. Speech Acts
Speech acts cannot be separated from the speaker’s intention because the
speaker’s utterances in expressing speech acts determine what someone means. Searle (2010) states that speech acts consist of three things, namely act of saying something, act of doing something, and act of affecting someone (p. 54). In order to distinguish the importance of those three things in producing an utterance related to the three terms which are locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
3. Iron Man Movie
Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same title. The story revolves around Tony Stark, a genius, rich, womanizer man and a philanthropist, who is attacked when he is assigned to give a weapons presentation to an Iraqi unit and left bruised with a chest full of shrapnel and a car battery attached to his heart. He, therefore, miniaturizes the battery and figures out that the battery can empower something else. The termIron Man describes Tony Stark himself, an exceptionally strong or robust man in his iron suit, which is facilitated with high technology.
4. Characters
A character is described by Abrams (1981) as “the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities expressed in the dialogue and action” (p. 20). The term characters in this study refer to individuals who possess their own
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traits and motivations. The study focuses on five characters, namely Tony Stark, Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Obadiah and J.A.R.V.I.S.
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9 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The writer provides two parts in this section: theoretical description and theoretical framework. The theoretical description includes the discussion of pragmatics, speech acts, and sociolinguistics theory. Furthermore, the theoretical framework is used to synthesize all the theories elaborated in the theoretical description to relate the theories to the current study.
A. Theoretical Description
The writer discusses four parts in this section. The first part that will be discussed is pragmatics. Since the study deals with the utterances produced by the characters of a movie called Iron Man, it is necessary to include the discussion pragmatics because it is closely related with meaning in contexts. The second part is speech acts. Speech acts is a part of pragmatics and the focus is language as a tool for communication. Sociolinguistics is included as well because the theory clarifies the context of conversation based on the situation, setting, plot and also
the characters’ utterances. Sociolinguistics needs to be defined and included as a part of the underlying theory in order to make clear understanding on the topic discussed.
1. Pragmatics
Van Dijk (2009) states that, “pragmatics is one of the fields of linguistics and discourse studies that has most systematically studied the relations between
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context and language” (p. 13). Levinson (1983) writes, “pragmatics covers both context-dependent aspects of language structure and principles of language usage and understanding that have nothing or little to do with linguistic structure”(p. 9). Pragmatics clarifies the language usage and language structure as the basic concepts in understanding language within contexts. The focus of pragmatics is how the speakers use language to convey information in communication. Meanwhile, Leech (1992) mentions that, “pragmatics is the study of how language is used to communicate and also how someone uses language within context in particular ways in communication” (p. 19). Thus, based on the theories the writer states, pragmatics is the language that is used to show our language usage and language structure in our daily communication.
a. Grice’s Cooperative Principle
It is important for speakers to deliver the accurate information to the hearer so the conversation is going to run well. According to Grice (1989), “the conversational contribution such as is required at the stage at it occurs, by the accepted purpose of the conversation exchange in which you are engaged”(p. 26). Based on the definition, the writer tries to infer that the language in conversations should be conducted in the right rules. It makes the conversation will be efficient and effective in speaking. In the cooperative principle, the speaker and the hearer shall always assume that all parties involved are cooperative, so thatthe speaker’s implied meaning based on their knowledge on a conversational maxim.
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b. Maxims of Conversation
The principle states that the speaker gives contribution in conversation in which the speaker is engaged. This cooperative principle contains four categories, which are formulated as basic rules or maxims. Maxim is a set of norms which language users adhere to in order to uphold the effectiveness and efficiency of communication (Hatim & Mason, 1990, p. 242). Those four maxims are maxim of quantity, maxim of quality, maxim of relevance, and maxim of manner.
a. Maxim of quantity demands the speaker’s contribution is informative as is required and no more informative than is required.
Example of obeying: A: “Where are you going?” B: “I’m going to the post office.”
In the example, B gives comments to A’s statement without adding other information.
b. Maxim of quality requires the speaker not to say what is believed to be false and for which the speaker lacks adequate evidence.
Example of obeying:
A: “Why did you come late last night?” B: “The car was broken down”
In t he example, B gives the truth that his car was broken down so that he came late.
c. Maxim of relevance required the speaker to be relevant. Example of obeying:
A: “Where is my box of chocolates?” B: “It is in your room.”
In the example, B’s reply is related to the question, not talking about something else.
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d. Maxim of Manner requires the speaker to avoid obscurity of expression and ambiguity. Maxim of manner demands the speaker to be brief and orderly. Example of obeying:
A: Where was Alfred yesterday?
B: Alfred went to the store and bought some whiskey.
In the example, B’s answer obeys the maxim of manner: be orderly, because she gives a clear explanation where A was.
Levinson (1983) states that, Grice’s maxims above specify what participants have to do in order to converse in a maximally efficient, rational, and cooperative way: the participant should speak sincerely, relevantly, and clearly while providing sufficient information (p. 103). In this study, the writer tries to use some theories that can help the reader in knowing the utterances based on the maxims of conversation.
c. Conversational Implicature
In daily life, a person unconsciously communicates with others in many ways such as language, gestures and expressions. In communication, he or she is expected to give or share information with others. According to Mey (2001), implicature is derived from the word that implies something like expressing an idea or feeling without saying it directly to the hearer (para. 45). The philosophical approach of Grice to conversation added further dimensions to a research of the language use by introducing the notion of implicatures. Whereas, traditional approaches in semantics, philosophy and logic sentences, stated that implicatures are less strict inferences based on contextual conditions. Grice also formulated what he called maxims as principles of conversational cooperation,
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such as telling the truth, saying no more and no less than necessary, being relevant and being clear. Most of these norms pertain to text and talk itself (such as avoiding ambiguity or speaking relevantly and hence-coherently), but again with a strong contextual dimension of speaking appropriately.
This is the example of the connection between implicature and conversational maxims, and cooperative principle:
A: where is my book?
B:your young sister is drawing something.
Based on the examples above, Grice’s cooperative principle and the four maxims aimed to make the conversation effective. B did not answer A with the right amount of information and the answer is not relevant to the question. B gave the answer which implied something indirectly.
d. Context of Utterance
In the conversation, a context is very important in a sentence or utterance. The context would be different in many ways based on the situation or social condition in speaking. In the context of the utterance, there is an aspect which can be the criteria in conversations. According to Leech (1983), the context is any background of knowledge assumed to be shared by the speaker and hearer which contributes to the hearer’s interpretation of what speaker means by a given utterance. Therefore, the context is important in an utterance to derive relevant meaning to the hearer.
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2. Speech Acts
Speech acts cannot be separated from the speaker’s intention because the speaker’s utterances in expressing speech acts determine what he/she means. Searle (2010) states that, speech acts consists of three things, namely act of saying something, act of doing something, and act of affecting someone (p. 54). In order to differentiate a kind of speech acts in producing the utterances, Searle determined that speech acts have three terms which explain every detail about expressing an idea in utterances. The terms are locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
a. Locutionary, Illocutionary, Perlocutionary Acts
In this part, the researcher will explain the theories related to locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts. The researcher gives further explanation on the use of these theories.
1) Locutionary Act
Searle (1987) mentions that, “locutionary act is an act contains the way people produce an utterance which has a meaningful sentence semantically and literally” (p. 23). For example, in the utterance“this class is really cold” could be perceived as its literal meaning that the temperature inside is really cold or the temperature outside is really cold.
2) Illocutionary Act
Curse (2000) states, “Illocutionary acts are the internal to the locutionary act and also an act which performs a locutionary act” (p. 332). In the illocutionary acts the speaker performs the utterances in speaking with the context. The
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illocutionary act is closely connected tospeaker’s intentions. For instance, stating, requesting, apologizing, complaining and threatening are included in illocutionary act. For instances, “Will you close the door?” could mean that the speaker wants the listener to close the door and“The room is too dark” could mean that heor she wants the listener to turn on the light because the situation in the room is too dark. 3) Perlocutionary Act
According to Cruse (2000), perlocutionary acts are “the acts performed by means of language, using language as a tool” (p. 332). Searle (1987) states that perlocutionary is also the production of illuctionary acts which contains acts of persuading, embarrassing, intimidating and inspiring the listener. For example, someone says, “Come on. You can do it!” The way a speaker persuades the listener is by speaking to him or her, but the listener or the one that is being persuaded also needs to do what the speaker is urging.
3. Sociolinguistics
Language possesses various types of context in daily life. This part will elaborate a particular language, especially about the language and society. Sociolinguistics is a part of linguistics that describes the relation between language and society in social context. This theory will also reveal a fact about human’s ability in speaking which is described how the factors such as age, gender, and also social class can affect the conversation. Llamas and Stockwell (2009) argue that “societies differ from each other and change over time which shows that language is variable” (p. 21). Thus, this theory explains how the speakers use language in context of a personal or social.
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Sociolinguistic aspects in a conversation are the major situation when the speakers need to pay attention in language usage. The speakers should be able to produce language choice in a good concept of communication. It is related to speech acts because the speaker’s utterances in expressing the idea and language usage determine what he or she means in the daily communication. Sociolinguistics provides facts about human speech in relation to their conversation in the society and speech acts included in the sociolinguistic itself. Thus, they have a strong relation and complete one another.
B. Theoretical Framework
The purpose of this study is to analyze the maxims of conversations and speech acts by the main character in Iron Man movie. The research problems are (a) What are the maxims of conversation used by the main characters inIron Man movie? (b) What are the speech acts used in speaking by the characters in Iron Man movie? The research problems are solved by some theories proposed by Grice (1989). On the other side, maxim is a set of norms which language users adhere to in order to uphold the effectiveness and efficiency of communication (Hatim & Mason, 1990, p. 242). The theories present detailed information and understandable explanation related to the research problems.
Moreover, pragmatics study aims at comprehending the characters’ utterances related to Grice’s cooperative principle, maxims of conversation, conversational implicature and it deals with meaning in context of utterance, especially, the maxims of conversation. These theories are applied to analyze the
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data from the utterances in the movie. Speech acts are also presented because it is a part of pragmatics in which the utterances produced by someone can mean requesting, commanding, and stating. In other words, someone can produce an utterance than conveys one or more than one meanings. Those components might be appropriate for further explanations for the findings especially related to the characters’ utterances. Theory of sociolinguistics is a part of the theories because it is the study of language in society. Analyzing the characters’ conversations means dealings with the concept of language use in the scope of society, especially for the utterances. The theories of maxims of conversation by Grice (1989) are included as the main sources to help the writer work on the findings later in chapter four.
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18 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter provides an analysis of the methodology which is used to find data of the particular research. There are six parts in this section, namely research method, research setting, data source, instruments and data gathering technique, data analysis technique, and research procedure. Research method contains the definition of the research type that is chosen by the writer.
A. Research Method
In this study, the writer focuses on the utterances produced by the characters in Iron Man related to maxims of conversation and speech acts. The method that was used by the writer in this study is to answer the two research problems, what are the maxims of conversation used by the main characters in Iron Manmovie? and what are the speech acts used in speaking by the characters inIron Manmovie?
In order to answer the research problems, the study adopted a qualitative research because it focuses on the utterances ofIron Man’s characters. The results of the research problems needed to be explained and interpreted by the words. This study qualitative research is used to analyze the data and to identify the pattern of data based on the data collected through observation or document analysis.
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More specifically, this study used a document analysis. Ary, Jacob, and Razavieh (2002) conclude that “document analysis providednarrative description and interpretation rather than a numerical analysis of data” (p. 22-25). It means that the method used by the writer in this study to answer the research questions was narrating and interpreting the analysis ofIron Man. The researcher employed the document analysis method to apply the method in maxims of conversation and speech acts especially the utterances inIron Manmovie.
Besides, Ary, Jacob, and Razavieh (2002) define “content or documents analysis as a research method applied to written or visual materials, the materials can be in the form of scripts, newspapers, textbooks, advertisements, and any other types of the documents” (p. 442). In this study, the utterances of the characters in Iron Man movie subtitle are taken as the data. The first character is Tony Stark who is known as an ambitious yet genius man. The second is Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey. The third is Pepper Potts. The fourth is Obadiah. The last one is J.A.R.V.I.S.
B. Research Setting
The researcher analyzed the script of Iron Man. The analysis was started from August 2013 until May 2014. Specifically, the writer watched the movie to know the setting, situation, plot and characters. After that, the writer analyzed the subtitle related to the movie. Besides, the writer categorized the character’s utterances on the basis of theories in the study. The last step, the writer identified
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the character’s utterances based on maxims of conversation and speech acts, and then writing the report.
C. Data Source
The data sources used in this study were the subtitle of the Iron Man movie, particularly the utterances of the five characters. The first character is Tony Stark. The second is Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes. The third is Pepper Potts. The fourth character is Obadiah, and the last one is J.A.R.V.I.S. Those five characters play important roles in the movie. They also experience more emotions and expressions dealings with characters’ utterances itself. For instance, J.A.R.V.I.S. asked “Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is...” Tony Stark cut and uttered “J.A.R.V.I.S.! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk”, it showed how J.A.R.V.I.S.’ utterances were irrelevantly answered by Tony by implying something else. The writer analyzed how characters modified their utterances due to the utterances by the other characters.
D. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique
There were two instruments used in the study. They were the researcher as the human instrument and Iron Man movie subtitle as the document. Instrument each of them will be described in the following part.
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1. The Researcher as Human Instrument
The writer gathered the data in the form of expressions or utterances produced by the characters of Iron Man by watching the movie and reading the subtitle. The writer also searched for more information from books, journals, and internet regarding the theories. Arikunto (2002) says that “Human instrument is the only primary instrument that is possibly used to collect the data needed” (p. 126). According to Lincoln and Guba (1998) state that human as an instrument in the research is to underline the very unique role played by qualitative research in their inquiries (p. 76). Therefore, it can be concluded that a qualitative research studies human experiences and situation. After that, the researcher needs to be able to capture the uniqueness of the human instrument.
2. Iron Man Movie Subtitle as the Document
The writer analyzed the document, Iron Man subtitle, to answer the research problems. The analysis result is the narrative description and interpretation of the characters of Iron Man. As Ary et al. (2002) mention, documents can be personal such as diaries, official such as files, or documents of popular culture, such as books, etc (p. 435). The researcher used the Iron Man subtitle as a document to collect some utterances from the subtitle. In this study, as mentioned previously, the movie was used to answer the research questions: what are the maxims of conversation used by the main characters in Iron Man movie? and what are the speech acts used in speaking by the characters in Iron Man movie? In order to answer the research question, the writer selected certain
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utterances or expressions dealings with maxims of conversation and speech acts in the subtitle which were produced by the five characters.
E. Data Analysis Technique
The researcher used descriptive analysis to analyze the data. Miles and Hubberman (2004) defined analysis as a consisting of three current flows of activity (p. 10). Those are data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification.
1. Data Reduction
In this step, the writer organized the data for the analysis. In addition, the writer gathered all conversations of the Iron Man’s characters in the script and observed how they try to convey their messages as well as how they respond to the conversations. The writer classified certain expressions of utterances proposed by Grice (1989, p. 41), and then listed the data into some categories through a process of coding Creswell (2007).
Table 3.1 Code List
Theme Code Research Problem No.
Maxim of Quality MoQl 1
Maxim of Quantity MoQn 1
Maxim of Relevance MoR 1
Maxim of Manner MoM 1
Locutionary L 2
Illocutionary IL 2
Perlocutionary PL 2
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This coding process should provide this study with helpful information about the utterances based on the movie subtitle, especially the utterances related to maxims of conversation and speech acts.
2. Data Display
Data display is the next step after data reduction. The data would be displayed in short description form. The characters’ utterances which belong to the maxims of conversation are the main concern in this study and especially focus on the four maxims of conversation theory that is found in the conversation. The four maxims are the maxim of quality, maxim of quantity, maxim of relevance, and maxim of manner. Moreover, the utterances analyzed based on the speech acts are especially focused on the locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary related to the expressions.
3. Conclusion Drawing and Verification
The third stream of analysis activity is conclusion drawing and verification from the collection process related to the utterances. Therefore, the researcher tries to reduce the data especially the utterances based on the characters. It consists of drawing initial conclusions based on cross-case data displays and then subjecting these initial conclusions to confirm the procedures. The results of this study is the utterances based on maxim of relevance, quantity, quality, manner, and speech acts used in speaking by the main characters in Iron Man movie. Further, the result of the study would be verified and deemed appropriate.
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Table 3.2Utterances Produced Based on Maxim of Conversation in Iron Man Movie
Maxims of Conversation
Utterance Percentage (%)
Quality Quantity Relevance Manner TOTAL
After classifying the utterances from maxim of conversation, the researcher analyzed the utterances in some categories based on the characters’ utterances.
Table 3.3Utterances Produced by the Main Characters in Iron Man Movie
Character Maxim of…
Tony Stark Pepper Potts Colonel Obadiah J.A.R.V.I.S TOTAL
The illustration led the researcher to make a classification table of utterances based on the first and second research question based on code 1 and 2.
Table 3.4Utterances Produced by the Main Characters Based on Code 1 and 2 in Iron Man Movie
Characters Utterances Maxims of
Conversation
Speech Acts
Code 1 Code 2
Tony Stark Pepper Potts Colonel Obadiah J.A.R.V.I.S
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F. Research Procedure
The procedures taken by the writer in this study were: 1. Analyzing the Subtitle
The writer analyzed the subtitle for further complete information related to the expressions or utterances used by the characters in the movie. The writer, furthermore, analyzed every conversation and every expression used by the characters in the movie to be employed to answer the research questions.
2. Categorizing the Characters’ Utterances
The utterances produced by the characters of Iron Man were categorized into some types of the maxims of conversation (Grice, 1989, p. 41). Each utterance in the movie subtitle was put into each category to help the writer in analyzing further data as well as in answering the research question.
3. Identifying the Speech Acts Used by the Characters
The writer analyzed the expressions of conversations between the characters in the movie. Then, the writer identified each expression used by the main characters to find the speech acts used in speaking. There are three terms of speech acts which used to analyze the expressions, they are locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts.
4. Writing up the Report
The writer started to write a report on the study especially to solve the research problems in this study. Besides, the writer gathered all the utterances to obtain the data which were connected to the theories. The writer provided
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explanation on each character’s utterances presented as the datawhich covered the findings based on the theories by Grice (1989) and Searle (1987).
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27 CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This part will provide the discussion of the research findings and the discussion of the research problems. The first research problem is the maxims of conversation used by the main characters inIron Manmovie.The second research problem is the speech acts used in speaking by the characters in Iron Manmovie. The data will be presented based on the order of the research problems. The content of this chapter is divided into two parts. Part A will discuss the maxims of conversation used by the main characters in Iron Man movie and part B will present the speech acts used in speaking by the characters inIron Manmovie.
A. The Maxims of Conversation Used by the Main Characters in Iron Man Movie
This part discusses the maxims of conversation used by the main characters in Iron Man movie. The maxims divided into four parts, there are the maxim of quantity, quality, relevance and manner. The identified maxims of conversation are based on the utterances produced by the five characters in Iron Man movie. The data were taken from the movie subtitle. The characters are Tony Stark, Lt. Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Obadiah, Pepper Potts, and J.A.R.V.I.S. The following discussion concerns on the analysis of the utterances based on maxims that are produced by the five characters. The data are presented with the examples of the dialogues as well as the explanation for each dialogue.
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According to Grice (1989), the term maxims of conversation are derived from the word “imply” which means expressing an idea or feeling without saying it directly in conversation (para. 80). Based on the meaning of the root, conversational maxims can be defined as an idea or a feeling that is indirectly expressed in a conversation. Grice (1989) suggests that there is an effective way to communicate, which we all accept as standard behavior. They are Grice’s cooperative principle and the four maxims aimed to make conversation effective.
Table 4.1: Utterances Produced Based on Maxim of Conversation in Iron Man Movie
Maxim of Conversation
Utterances Percentage (%)
Quality 30 times 24.4 %
Quantity 21 times 17.1 %
Relevance 47 times 38.2 %
Manner 25 times 20.3 %
TOTAL 123 100
1. Utterances Based on Maxim of Relevance
Similar to its name, this maxim expects the speaker to be relevant of the conversation. It is important because when the hearer gets irrelevant answers in conversation, it means that the communication would be failed. When a person flouts the maxim of relevance, she/he does not intend to mislead the hearer when he or she changes the subject. The speaker expects the hearer to see the other meaning. There is a reason the speaker flouts the maxim of relevance in conversation.
Characters’ utterance that is related to maxim of conversation, especially for maxim of relevance was frequently flouted by some characters in the movie. Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S sometimes make it in some conversations. Those two
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characters were preparing some projects which are planned by Tony Stark. In the project, J.A.R.V.I.S was the conductor in making the suit of warIron Man, while Tony Stark is a person who uses it. He could be called as anIron Man. Tony Stark asked J.A.R.V.I.S to deliver some information about preparations, especially to import all preferences from home interface, connection, calibrating virtual environment and control surface.
In this scene Tony Stark used the maxim of relevance, while J.A.R.V.I.S made some preparations for the suit. Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S were scheduled to start the machine. J.A.R.V.I.S had tested the preparation to power down and to begin diagnostics. Before J.A.R.V.I.S wanted to start all of calculations needed, Tony Stark decided to know some information of the weather and ATC. He had to remember and also start to listen it as listed. It is to make sure that J.A.R.V.I.S knew all of them when they run the Iron man.
Dialogue 1
Setting :Tony Stark’s House
Situation :Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S are testing Iron Man. Participants :Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S
Tony Stark : Do a check on control surfaces. J.A.R.V.I.S : As you wish.
(Preparation)
Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics.
Tony Stark : Yeah. Tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check. Start listening in on ground control.
J.A.R.V.I.S : Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is...
Tony Stark : J.A.R.V.I.S! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk.
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Utterance based on maxim of relevance was flouted by Tony Stark when J.A.R.V.I.S tried to give the information about terabytes of the calculations which was needed before an actual flight. Tony Stark actually knew that they have to wait for a moment, especially for the calculation needed. However, he was not tolerant to run the suit of war.Tony Stark had a limited time to finish the project, especially to show up in front of many people. He tried to help people and just gave the simple statement. Tony Stark uttered,“J.A.R.V.I.S! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk”. It showed how J.A.R.V.I.S’ utterances were irrelevantly answered by Tony Stark. The answer implied that he did not have much time for waiting for the terabytes of calculations, what he wanted is to run the suit and fix an error after the flight.
Tony Stark did not only flout the maxim of relevance in the house, but also manage to use it more in the conference where the ceremony of Apogee Award. Lt. Colonel Rhodey was presenting the award to Tony Stark. However, he felt that Tony Stark did not follow the ceremony. Colonel felt was confused because Tony Stark did not care much about the award. On the other hand, Obadiah tried to replace Tony Stark’s position as his partner of a job especially in Stark Industry. Lt. Colonel Rhodey was impatient to wait for him because he had to delegate the award. Finally, Colonel found Tony Stark in a bar, playing gambling. He was exasperated by Tony Stark and he just answered all of the statements with irrelevant responses until the conference finished. When Tony Stark wanted to go home, he was interviewed by Christine as a journalist. He also flouted many maxim of relevance to answer all of the questions.
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The conversation of Tony Stark, Colonel and Christine is presented in the dialogue 2:
Dialogue 2
Setting :conference
Situation :Tony Stark followed the conference. Participants :Tony Stark, Colonel and Christine E. Colonel : If I presented you with an award,
you'd be deeply honored.
Tony Stark : Of course I'd be deeply honored.
And it's you, that's great. So when do we do it? Colonel : It's right here. Here you go.
Tony Stark : There it is. That was easy. I'm so sorry. Colonel : Yeah, it's okay.
Tony Stark : Wow! Would you look at that? That's something else. I don't have any of those floating around.
We're gonna let it ride! (Out of conference) Christine E. : You've been called
the da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?
Tony Stark : Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint.
Christine E. : And what do you say to your other nickname? "The Merchant of Death"?
Tony Stark : That's not bad.
The utterances based on maxim of relevance were also shown within Tony Stark’s utterances. He carried out innocent face acts toward Colonel in his utterances by using harsh expressions in high tone and flouted,“Wow! Would you look at that? That's something else, I don't have any of those floating around, we're gonna let it ride!” These expressions showed the innocent face as if great changeover all of attentions from Colonel because he was angry before. The utterances implied that Tony Stark wanted to invite Colonel for playing the gambling. He forgot about the award which was not attended by Tony Stark. The same thing occurred when he uttered, “Absolutely ridiculous. I don’t paint”. It
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showed how Christine’s utterances were answered irrelevantly by Tony Stark. The answer implied that he did not know the relationship between him and Da Vinci. He just worked to continue his father's dream. Moreover, in the last answer, he just uttered “That’s not bad”. Tony Stark committed the action of implying a meaning beyond and certainly he did not like the nickname, especially for the "The Merchant of Death"
Evidently, Tony Stark was the one who mostly flouted the utterances based on the maxim of relevance. He applied it to show urgency, flattery, efficiency and effectiveness in speaking. “I'd be prepared to lose a few with you”The statement was used to seduce Christine. He also flouted the maxim of relevant to imply her for joining with him in his house. In another scene, Tony Stark felt annoyed and was angry with Obadiah. It was because he did not attend the award ceremony to meet him and suddenly come to take his burger. Tony Stark uttered the maxim of relevance by stating, “There's only one left” His utterance was intended to not give it because it was the last one. Tony Stark showed there is an effective way to communicate which we all accept as standard behavior.
The maxim of relevance was often applied by Tony Stark in his conversations as shown in dialogue 1 and 2. Table 4.2 presents the number of utterances based on maxim of relevance produced by each character. There were totally forty four utterances. It was the first most maxims of conversation by the characters inIron ManMovie.
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Table 4.2: Utterances Based on Maxim of Relevance Produced by the Characters
Character Maxim of Relevance
Tony Stark 28 times
Pepper Potts 6 times
Colonel 2 times
Obadiah 4 times
J.A.R.V.I.S. 4 times
TOTAL 44
Of the five characters in the movie, five of them – Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Colonel, Obadiah, and J.A.R.V.I.S. produced some utterances based on maxim of relevance in their dialogues. There were two utterances of Colonel concerning with maxim of relevance. He used it less frequently than the other characters, because he never intended to surprise his addressees. He produced two statements only on maxim of relevance to show welcomes and efficiency in speaking. Obadiah and J.A.R.V.I.S produced the utterances concerning with the maxim of relevance four times. Pepper Potts was involved in the dialogues and mentioning maxim of relevance six times. Tony Stark was involved as many as twenty eight times. Thus, Tony Stark contributed more utterances based on maxim of relevance in the dialogues. He uttered to apply the maxim of relevance more than the others because he was the one who mostly appeared in the movie. He applied maxim of relevance to show urgency, flattery, efficiency and effectiveness way in speaking.
2. Utterances Based on Maxim of Quantity
According to Grice (1989), there are two specific maxims of quantity in conversation. The first one is about the contribution which provides information than is required. The second one is the contribution that provides more
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information than is required. On the other hand, this maxim deals with the amount of information that is given by the speaker in conversation. This maxim of quantity frequently happens when the speaker aims to make an effective conversation.
Maxim of quantity was frequently used by some characters in theIron Man movie. Those characters are Tony Stark, Lt. Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Obadiah, Pepper Potts, and J.A.R.V.I.S who use the utterances based on maxim of quantity. It was started when Tony Stark wanted to show up his technology in front of the soldier. The soldier tried to keep up and guarded him until the last destination. On the way to a project of Tony Stark, he attempted to seduce soldiers with his words. Finally, Tony Stark was interviewed by the soldier.
Dialogue 3
Setting :Desert, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Situation :Guardianship of Tony Stark.
Participants :Tony Stark and Soldier
Soldier : Is it true you went 12 for 12 with last year's Maxim cover models?
Tony Stark : That is an excellent question. Yes and no.
March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately, the Christmas cover was twins. Anything else? You're kidding me with the hand up, right?
Soldier : Is it cool if I take a picture with you? Tony Stark : Yes. It's very cool.
Soldier : All right.
Tony Stark : I don't want to see this on your MySpace page. Please, no gang signs. No, throw it up. I'm kidding. Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace.
Tony Stark felt that he was like a stranger in the car. He tried to be friendly with the soldier so that he made a conversation. He attempted to ask the soldier like and to make a joke or to give them a strange statement. However, the soldiers
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felt awkward to be near with him. Suddenly, one of the soldiers asked something that was not relevant to the conversation. The soldier tried to lighten the situation by making a question about maxim cover models. Tony Stark loudly answered and gave the responselike this “That is an excellent question. Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately, the Christmas cover was twins. Anything else? You're kidding me with the hand up, right?” Based on the statement, Tony Stark just flouted the maxim of quantity when soldier asked “Is it true you went 12 for 12 with last year's Maxim cover models?” Tony Stark was flouting it by giving the more informative answer. The utterance implied that Tony Stark just wanted to make a joke, because the soldiers seemed to be so serious in the car.
Tony Stark also employed the maxim of quantity in his conversation with Pepper Potts. It was shown by the intense of maxim of relevance that he had applied at his conversation previously. After the incident, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts planned to have a vacation. The conversation indicated that the relationship between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts took a favorable turn as boss and assistance. It was shown by the compliments they gave to one another optimistically.
Dialogue 4
Setting :Tony Stark’s House
Situation :Pepper Potts was dressing up Tony Stark, before went to vacation.
Participants :Tony Stark and Pepper Potts
Tony stark : Tell me you never think about that night. Pepper Potts : What night?
Tony stark : You know.
Pepper Potts : Are you talking about the night that we danced and went up on the roof, and then you went downstairs
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to get me a drink, and you left me there, by myself? Is that the night you're talking about?
Tony Stark : Mmm-mmm… Pepper Potts : Thought so.
There are two specifications on maxim of quality according to Grice (1989), the first is the contribution is less informative than is required, and second is the contribution is more informative than is required. It was shown by one of the characters based on the conversation above. Tony Stark was implying something else that had another meaning, especially the maxim of quantity by giving uninformative answer. When Pepper Potts asked many questions about the night in the party, Tony Stark just uttered “Mmm-mmm…” to answer Pepper’s question. He did not know what to say when she asked him the question again. This fact showed that she did not understand that Tony Stark was embarrassed and speechless. He gave less information than what Pepper Potts wanted to know. His answer meant that he knew everything about that night. He just made Pepper Potts curious and he just tried to entice her. Tony Stark was more selfish as a boss in front of her.
Moreover, based on the data that were calculated in this movie by main characters, Tony Stark was also the one who mostly applied this maxim. He flouted it to show flattery, amusement, and efficiency in the conversation. Besides, the characters that implied maxim of quantity were Pepper Potts and Colonel. The example taken from the movie showed the utterance was applied by saying, “I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right now”. It was started when Agent Coulson wanted to ask Pepper Potts, but spontaneously she flouted the statement which implied something. She meant that for now she
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did not want to be disturbed by everyone, she just focused on her boss so that her statement really uninformative. In another scene, Tony Stark wanted to know more information about training exercise which was related to the conference. Colonel just uttered “It's not that simple” He implied the utterance. It is because he wanted to make an effective conversation, and also he would save his secret in front of many people. Colonel showed that there is an effective way to communicate as standard behavior. Thus, he gave less information than what Tony stark wanted to know.
Based on the utterances, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, and Colonel were engaged in conversations where they frequently uttered maxim of quantity to each other. However, the total number of the utterances concerning with maxim of quantity was smaller than the maxim of relevance. Therefore, the least utilized maxim among other maxim of conversation which shown inIron Manmovie was owing to the fact that statements of friendship and solidarity were rarely shown by the characters. It was also uttered to show the effectiveness in speaking. Table 4.3 shows the number of utterances concerning with utterances based on maxim of quantity.
Table 4.3: Utterances Based on Maxim of Quantity Produced by the Characters
Character Maxim of Quantity
Tony Stark 9 times
Pepper Potts 4 times
Colonel 4 times
Obadiah
-J.A.R.V.I.S 1 times
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There were totally eighteen utterances expressing the maxim of quantity. Tony Stark flouted more utterances based on maxims in his conversations as many as nine times. He often uttered the expression based on maxim of quantity to give compliments to his assistant and close friends. Pepper Potts and Colonel employed four utterances in his dialogue. J.A.R.V.I.S contributed one utterance each concerning with maxim of quantity in his dialogues especially to respond to Tony Stark in another way. Obadiah was the only one who did not flout the maxim of quantity since he never gave any compliments to others.
3. Utterances Based on Maxim of Quality
The function of this maxim is to make sure that a speaker has given the correct information to the hearer. Moreover, the maxim quality is one of maxims that support the effective conversation. The maxim of quality has two subcategories under the super maxim, namely the speaker should not tell a lie in conversation and the speaker should not tell something without enough knowledge or lack of evidence.
The utterance based on maxim of quality was the second maxim which is more flouted after maxim of relevance in the movie subtitle. It was shown by some characters, especially Tony Stark who flouted it the most than the others. He tried to imply some statements that were believed to be false. Tony Stark and Colonel, in the middle scene of the movie, were trying to finish his project for the first time and no one knew it. He forced to finish it as soon as possible to help many people in the outskirts of Gulmira by using Iron Man. There were many farmers and herders from peaceful villages who were attacked by warlords. He
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already knew that the mastermind who attacked the peaceful villages was Obadiah. Tony attempted to help them. After that, he did not know that what had been done in Gulmira was included of monitoring by Colonel. Tony Stark was trying to deceive everyone involved in the incident. Their conversation can be seen in dialogue 5.
Dialogue 5
Setting :The Outskirts of Gulmira
Situation :Tony Stark was attacked back by Colonel’s soldiers Participants :Tony Stark and Colonel
Tony Stark : Speak up, please.
Colonel : What in the hell is that noise?
Tony stark : Oh, yeah, I'm driving with the top down. Colonel : Yeah, well, I need your help right now. Tony stark : It's funny how that works, huh?
Colonel : Yeah. Speaking of funny, we've got a
weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive.
Tony stark : Well, that's a hot spot.
Sounds like someone stepped in and did your job for you, Colonel : Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?
Tony stark : I'm not, I was just jogging in the canyon. Colonel : I thought you were driving.
In the conversation above, Tony Stark clearly showed lack adequate evidence to one another that was considered as an example of maxim of quality. Lack of evidence was frequently used by a speaker to utter something to their addressee. When maxim of quality was applied by someone who flouted it in maxim of quality, it was utilized to show the expression, compliment, and fun by deceiving someone. Thus, the untruth was usual flouted in maxim of quality and sometimes what you had believed, it can be false. It was shown when Tony Stark said, “Oh, yeah, I'm driving with the top down.” He flouted the maxim of quality because he said what he believed to be false. He did not say the truth by telling
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something that implied another meaning. It was just an expression to keep his secret and also to divert the attention because someone in the suit of Iron Man is Tony Stark. Moreover, for the second time he deceived colonel “I'm not, I was just jogging in the canyon.” Colonel was not sure because Tony Stark did not have enough evidence to prove. He was flouting a maxim to make a fun of Colonel.
Moreover, Pepper Potts was the one who applied the most maxim of quality after Tony Stark in conversation. In the dialogue about the arrival of Tony Stark was a sign after the incident that involved him and Colonel in Afghanistan. He was kidnapped by Obadiah’s subordinate. Besides, Colonel had lost contact in a few days and because of Tony Stark’s expertise, he could escape from the abduction and eventually was helped by colonel. This is the conversation between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
Dialogue 6
Setting :The Airport
Situation :The arrival of Tony Stark after incident in Afghanistan Participants :Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
Tony Stark : Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them.
Your eyes are red.
A few tears for your long-lost boss? Pepper Potts : Tears of joy. I hate job hunting. Tony Stark : Yeah, vacation's over
It was obvious that Tony Stark asked Pepper Potts about his arrival after long-lost in a few days. Pepper Potts was already looking forward to this situation when she met Tony with the joy. Indirectly, she shed tears in front of him. Tony Stark seduced her by asking a simple question. Pepper Potts just uttered the
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maxim of quality, “Tears of joy. I hate job hunting” It was only the expression that everyone especially Tony Stark cloud know about it. Pepper Potts flouted the maxim of quality by implying something what she had believed to be false. Certainly, Tony Stark already knew that Pepper Potts lied. She tried to say the untruth in front of him because she was ashamed of her boss. It was just an expression that implied something to cover up her feelings toward Tony Stark.
In the movie, the writer mostly found utterances of the five characters except J.A.R.V.I.S. They gave messages indirectly to their addressees and let them guess the meaning. Besides, they flouted maxim of quality to imply some statements by breaking the maxim. “You don't need to apologize to me. I'm your man. Just indifferent right now” was another example based on the maxim of quality uttered by Colonel to inform Tony Stark that he was not angry to him because Tony Stark came late. He did not keep his promises. However, Tony Stark really knew that he was angry to him. Indirect statement which was flouted by Colonel was the lack of evidence because Tony Stark had known the truth. Besides, Obadiah was also included the character who used the maxim, when they talked about the project which was planned. Tony Stark wanted to ask about the optimism in the project only 40 points at minimum. Hecut and uttered “Yep”. In reality, Obadiah was not sure about the target that had been achieved because he did not have enough evidence to prove actually. He just implied something to make sure that Tony Stark worked for him. Another utterance which was flouted by Tony Stark “I think you lost objectivity. I think they just... People... We just danced.” The word ‘I think’ indicated that the speaker was not sure about
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something that had been believed and it could be false and also need to have enough evidence.
The maxim of quality was applied less frequently than maxim of relevance but was applied more frequently than maxim of quantity. Nonetheless, not all characters applied the strategy. Table 4.4 shows the number of utterances produced by the characters.
Table 4.4: Utterances Based on Maxim of Quality Produced by the Characters
Character Maxim of Quality
Tony Stark 15 times
Pepper Potts 8 times
Colonel 3 times
Obadiah 2 times
J.A.R.V.I.S
-TOTAL 28
There were twenty eight utterances concerning about this maxim. Tony Stark, as usual, flouted the maxim more than the others. He uttered it fifteen times. Pepper Potts, contributed eight utterances. Colonel contributed three utterances. The least flouted maxim was Obadiah’s. He uttered two utterances. Only four of the five characters flouted the strategy since J.A.R.V.I.S did not utilize it. J.A.R.V.I.S did not apply the maxim of quality because he never tried to avoid imposition on the hearers.
4. Utterances Based on the Maxim of Manner
In this maxim, Grice mentions the general understanding, especially about “being perspicuous”. There are various types of maxim of manner, namely avoid obscurity of expression, avoid ambiguity, be brief and, and be orderly. This part is going to explain about some utterances related to the rules.
(1)
Tony Stark I'd be prepared to lose a few with you.
MoR L
Tony Stark Please don't turn down my music.
MoR IL
Tony Stark How'd she take it? MoR
-Tony Stark Doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane
if it departs before you arrive?
MoR
-Tony Stark Is it a good representation of his spring period?
MoR
-Tony Stark I don't like it when you have plans.
MoQl IL
Tony Stark What? MoR
-Tony Stark I got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair
MoQl L
Tony Stark Waiting on you now. Let's go. Come on.
MoR IL
Tony Stark Hey! Heat up the sake, will you?
Thanks for reminding me.
MoR IL
Tony Stark I'm sorry, this is the "fun-vee."
The "hum-drum-vee" is back there.
MoM IL
Tony Stark Why should I do anything? They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week.
MoM IL
Tony Stark Yeah, vacation's over. MoR
-Tony Stark No is a complete answer. I don't have to do anything. I've been in captivity for three months.
MoQl
-Tony Stark There's only one left. MoR
-Tony Stark I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why,
effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such
(2)
-a time -as I c-an decide wh-at the future of the company will be. I think we're gonna be selling a lot of
newspapers.
What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well.
Tony Stark Did I just paint a target on the back of my head?
MoR L
Tony Stark I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay?
MoR IL
Tony Stark How big are your hands? MoR IL
Tony Stark Get down here. I need you. Let's see them.
MoQn IL
Tony Stark I don't have anyone but you. Anyway...
MoR IL
Tony Stark Hello, sir.
Speaking of manned or unmanned,
You gotta get him to tell you about the time he guessed wrong at spring break. Just remember that, spring break, 1987.
That lovely lady you woke up with.
MoM
-Tony Stark Was it lvan? MoR
-Tony Stark I'm doing a little better than walking.
MoR L
Tony Stark Thanks. MoQl IL
Tony Stark Actually, I don't know who to trust right now.
Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server?
MoM
-Tony Stark Doesn't mean it went bad. Sure doesn't. Oh, boy.
MoR MoM
-Tony Stark This one stays with me.
That's it, Obie. Forget it.
MoQl
-Tony Stark Good night, Obie. MoR IL
Tony Stark Jarvis! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk.
(3)
Tony Stark Thrill me. MoQn IL Tony Stark A little ostentatious, don't
you think?
MoQl
-Tony Stark Tell you what. Throw a little hot-rod red in there
MoR L
Tony Stark Don't wait up for me, honey. MoQl IL Tony Stark Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
The guy from the...
MoM
-Tony Stark God, you need a new name for that.
MoM
-Tony Stark That's great. Well, I got great taste.
MoM IL
Tony Stark I'd make it a week. Sure. MoR IL
Tony Stark The other eight?
So I got you for the other eight.
MoM
-Tony Stark Totally harmless. MoQn L
Tony Stark We're dancing. No one's even watching.
MoR
-Tony Stark I think you lost objectivity. I think they just... People... We just danced.
MoQl
-Tony Stark Oh, yeah,
I'm driving with the top down.
MoR MoQl
IL
Tony Stark It's funny how that works, huh?
MoR IL
Tony Stark Well, that's a hot spot. MoQl L
Tony Stark I'm not, I was just jogging in the canyon.
MoQl IL
Tony Stark Right, I was driving to the canyon, where I'm going to jog.
MoM IL
Tony Stark Nope!
Bogey spotted!
MoQl MoR
PL
Tony Stark Hey, thanks. MoQl IL
Tony Stark I know the math! Do It.! - PL
Tony Stark Let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing.
MoM PL
Tony Stark There is nothing except this. There's no art opening. There is no benefit.
There is nothing to sign. There is the next mission and
(4)
nothing else.
Tony Stark Not bad, huh? Let's do it. MoQn PL
Tony Stark Keep the skies clear. MoR IL
Tony Stark Wheels up! Rock and roll!! - PL
Tony Stark You know, it's actually not that bad.
Even I don't think I'm Iron Man.
MoM
-Tony Stark All right, suit yourself. MoQl
-Tony Stark Mmm-mmm… MoQn L
Pepper Potts Like a champ. MoM L
Pepper Potts As a matter of fact, I do. MoR -Pepper Potts Tears of joy. I hate job
hunting.
MoQl L
Pepper Potts I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right now.
MoQn
-Pepper Potts Don't look at me.
I don't know what he's up to.
MoQl IL
Pepper Potts What? MoR
-Pepper Potts Yes. MoQl
-Pepper Potts No. No. I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss in front of everyone that I work with in a dress with no back.
MoM
-Pepper Potts Oh, God. MoQl IL
Pepper Potts Yes, I need some air. That was totally weird.
MoQl L
Pepper Potts No, it was not just a dance. You don't understand because you're you. And everybody knows exactly who you are and how you are with girls and all of that, which is completely fine.
MoQl MoM
-Pepper Potts Are those bullet holes? MoR
-Pepper Potts Is that so?
Well, then, I quit.
MoQl
-Pepper Potts You're all I have, too, you know.
MoR
-Pepper Potts Well, he's a complicated person.
He's been through a lot. I think he'll be all right.
MoQn MoQl
(5)
-Pepper Potts Thank you. Thanks. MoQn IL Pepper Potts My key's not working.
It's not opening the door. Oh, wow! What's that? It's, like, a little device? It's, like, a thing that's going to pick the lock?
MoM IL
Pepper Potts Are you talking about the night that we danced and went up on the roof, and then you went downstairs to get me a drink, and you left me there, by myself?
Is that the night you're talking about?
MoM
-Pepper Potts Thought so. MoQl
-Colonel It's right here. MoQn
-Colonel I'm serious! MoQl IL
Colonel You don't need to apologize to me. I'm your man.
MoQl IL
Colonel I'm just your babysitter MoR L
Colonel Just indifferent right now. MoR L
Colonel Nice job. MoQn
-Colonel What's up with the love-in? MoR IL
Colonel Look who fell out of the sky. Mr. Tony Stark.
MoR IL
Colonel No. What you need is time to get your mind right. I'm serious.
It's nice seeing you, Tony.
MoQn
-Colonel Oh, my God, you crazy son of a bitch. You owe me a plane.
You know that, right?
MoM IL
Colonel No, no, no, no, no, no, the less I know, the better. Now, what am I supposed to tell the press?
MoR IL
Colonel It's not that simple. MoQn
-Colonel Damn! MoQl IL
Obadiah Look at you!
You had to have a burger, yeah? Well, come on.
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You get me one of those? Obadiah What we should take away
from this is that Tony's back!
MoQl IL
Obadiah Yep. MoQl
-Obadiah Just because I brought pizza back from New York.
MoR
-Obadiah It'll give me a bone to throw the boys in New York!
MoR IL
Obadiah Tony, Tony. You can't afford to be this naive
MoR IL
Obadiah Let's take a picture. Come on.
Picture time!
MoR PL
Obadiah You are a very rare woman. Tony doesn't know how lucky he is.
MoR IL
Obadiah Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!
MoR IL
J.A.R.V.I.S. Working on a secret project, are we, sir?
MoR
-J.A.R.V.I.S. It is a tight fit, sir.
Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt.
MoR
-J.A.R.V.I.S. Please, try not to move, sir. MoQn IL
Soldier No, you intimidate them. MoQn IL
Soldier I'm an airman MoQn
-Soldier Sir, I have a question to ask. MoQl IL Soldier Jimmy, stay with Stark!
Stay down! Yeah.
MoR PL
Christine Brown, actually. MoQn
-Agent Coulson
I'm not a reporter. MoQl
-Agent Coulson
You might want to take a few steps back.