A Brief Stylistic Analysis of “ Our Yale Citizenship ”Delivered by Peter Salovey

Abstract：Stylistics is a branch of linguistics which applies the theory and methodology of modern linguistics to the study of style.

Public speeches are speeches delivered in public for a special purpose， such as open-class lectures or seminars in a university， the president elect， etc. Public speeches are delivered orally， but they often well prepared in writing and delivered on formal occasions.

Peter Salovey， President of Yale University， delivered the speech in Yale College Opening Assembly Address， Class of 2022 on August 25， 2018， which theme is “ Our Yale Citizenship ”. We are taking this speech for example to analyze the public speaking stylistic features from five perspectives， namely， phonological， graphological， lexical， syntactical and semantic.

Key Words：Stylistics;Public speeches;Stylistic features

一：Stylistics

Simply defined，stylistics is a discipline that studies the ways in which language is used;it is a discipline that studies the styles of language in use，which is also a branch of linguistics that      applies the theory and methodology of modern linguistics to the study of style（Chapman.R，1973）.So，what is style？To be exact，we shall regard style as the language habits of a person or group of  persons in a given situation（Crystal，D.and Davy D.1969）.

二：Phonological Features

Phonological devices play a very important role in public speeches， since they are delivered orally. Therefore， skillful use and control of voice， pitch， pause， tempo， and the employment of various phonetic figures of speech should be essential to the success of the delivery.

Tempo refers to the speed of speaking. In this speech， Peter Salovey used a quick tempo and uttered word very articulately to extended a warm welcome and expressed his expectations to all students in here. In this speech， the fall-rise pitch are more often used than the rising pitch to indicate encouragement for students from paragraph 12 to the end. This year， Su Bide delivered the concept of“Yale Citizen” to the fresh students. In the speech， Peter Salovey uses many stresses in a sentence to express his great force than the surrounding words to the students. Such as： We work hard to safeguard this right on our campus. I hope you will have many opportunities to think deeply and speak honestly and courageously about difficult issues during your time here.

The part of song was incited in this speech uses rhyme， consonance（ partial or total identity of consonants in successive words or syllables whose main vowels differ） is a partial or total identity if consonants in successive words or syllables whose main vowels differ. Oh， let us strive that ever we， May let these words our watch cry be. It is easy to sing and remember.

（一）Graphological features

Graphology is used here to refer to the writing forms and the signs used in a text. Although speech is a spoken activity， it is usually based on the manuscript.

Firstly， dashes were more used than others in this speech. In paragraph 22， we have ：

Those failures—as much as your successes—mean you are doing something right. Be kind to yourself， and remember that you have come to Yale because you dont know everything—not yet.

Dashes used in here marked off a parenthesis， and gave a somewhat more dramatic and informal impression so as to encouraged the fresh students to treat failures rightly in the future and be kind to themselves. In addition， quotation marks and round brackets are also used in this speech to indicate the authenticity and to direct student s attention of quoted word.

As far as sentence length is concerned， most speakers in public speeches tend to use long sentences， since long sentences can convey complicates ideas. This is not to say that short sentences have no place in public speeches. This speech is composed of many short paragraphs is one conspicuous graphological marker. The whole speech is divided into 39 paragraph， and every sentence is short. Only in this way can be fully invite studentss attention and express his expectation to students clearly and briefly.

（二）Lexical features

Nothing is more important to language than words.Unlike phonemes and syllables which are the elements of sound，words carry meaning.Sentences are made up with different classes of words，which are stored in a speakers mental dictionary or lexicon，they are the fundamental building blocks of a language（King David and Thomas Crerar，2008）.

As far as pronouns are concerned， the frequently used pronouns are the first person pronouns and the second person pronouns. In this speech， “we”are presented 37 times and “you” presented 70 times. In this way， the students would feel intimate and know they are one of the members of Yale. Whats more， the uses of pronouns in this speech would inspire students to work hard.

Peter Salovey uses dynamic verbs to encourage students to do meaningful things right now during their college years. e.g. go， find， put down， seek， explores， study， work， carry on， look beyond， look out， start. On the contrary， he chose static verbs to show the citizenship and belonging mean in contemporary America. e.g. be， belong to， see， think， love， want， hear. In addition， he uses many hedges to show his modesty， such as： a little， quite. “All”in this speechpresented 22times for reinforce their sense of belonging of a citizens of Yale.

（三）Semantic Features

In order to achieve a good result， public speeches are usually well prepared in written form in advance. This makes it possible for the speaker to employ figurative language， which can effectively engage the audience. For the purpose of achieving good syntactic effects， the speaker frequently employ figures of contrast and juxtaposition， which include parallelism， antithesis， oxymoron， paradox， climax， etc. Parallelism is a balance of two or more similar words， phrases， or clauses. In paragraph17 ， we have ：

We need to understand the human condition and our planet. We need insights into the genome. We need breakthroughs in our ability to fight disease， alleviate suffering， and find justice. We need answers to urgent and long-standing questions.

In this paragraph， the application of parallelism improved the writing style， spoken clearness and readability. Parallelism refers to the continuous use of words， phrases or sentences with the same structure， meaning and mood to form a whole（Hu，2000）.The world is desperate for new ideas and solutions， students in Yale will tackle these important works together.

Taking Peter Saloveys“ Our Yale Citizenship ”for example，Citizen and citizens are repeated 9 and 8 times respectively， and there are many other similar repetitions. These repetitions make the speech more effective and persuasive.

Climax was used frequently in this speech， climax derives from the Greek word for “ ladder ” and implies the progression of thought at a uniform or almost uniform rate of significance of intensity， like the steps of a ladder ascending evenly. e.g. 1） look， talk， act， and think. 2） Study， practice， and discovery. 3） Know， understand， and create. 4）Ask， shake， and rebuild. Peter Salovey uses climax in his speech to show learning is a process. Whats more， there is no pressure for students to pursue their dream after delivered this speech. On the contrary， anticlimax is the opposite of climax. It involves stating ones thoughts from strong to weak， from weighty to light or frivolous. The most typical example in this speech is “For God， for Country， and for Yale：”. In return for the great privilege of a Yale education， the students look beyond this campus to pursue a larger purpose， to “improve the world today and for future generations.”This is what their share in common.

References

[1] Crystal D， Davy D. Investigating English Style[M]. London：Longman，1969.

[2] Chapman R. Linguistics and Literature：An Introduction to Literary Stylistics[M]. Kent：Whitsable Litho Ltd， 1973.

[3] King David， Thomas Crerar. a Choice of Words[M]. London：：Oxford University Press，2008.

[4] 胡壯麟.理论文体学[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社， 2000.

作者简介：尚明雪（1994-），女，汉族，山东临沂市人，学生，文学硕士，单位：长春理工大学外国语学院外国语言文学专业，研究方向：英语语言文学。