Theme-Rheme Analysis Of O·Henry’s Short Stories

Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) is a worldwide influential theory inacademic field, which possesses a powerful and instructive effect on studying andanalyzing texts. In recent years, this theory has been widely applied to text analysis both athome and abroad. As a basic theory in linguistic functionalism, Theme-Rheme theory hasalso been discussed. Theme, Rheme and thematic progression are considered to be of greatimportance in the organization of message and the construction of texts. However, theresearch on the application of Theme-Rheme theory to text analysis in literature works,particularly in text of short stories is still insufficient.O Henry is one of the three greatest short story writers in the world. His works areloved and appreciated by many readers around the world. Many scholars have ever studiedhis works from the perspectives of literature, aesthetics, rhetoric, narrative theories and soon. However, in the field of linguistics, the study of O Henry’s short stories from theperspective of Theme-Rheme Theory is comparatively rare. Therefore, this thesis will tryto apply Halliday’s Theme-Rheme Theory to the analysis of the English texts ofO Henry’s ten worldwide famous short stories, summing up the features of the thematicstructure of the texts, mainly, including types of Theme, thematic markedness andthematic progression, the aim of which is to find out the author’s classical writing styleand his distinctive organization of plots in his works, so that we may present a brand-newprospect for readers in better understanding O Henry and his works.This thesis will choose O Henry’s ten worldwide famous short stories as data sources.That is, The Gift of the Magi, The Cop and the Anthem, The Furnished Room, The LastLeaf, A Service of Love, After Twenty Years, Hygeia at the Solito, Next to Reading Matter,A Double-Dyed Deceiver and The Princess and the Puma. Within the framework ofTheme-Rheme Theory, the method the present study adopts is basically a combination ofqualitative and quantitative research, then the thesis will analyze the chosen short storiesfrom the perspectives of types of Theme, thematic markedness and thematic progression,the aim of which is to sum up O Henry’s styles and features of writing.The results show that: in the aspect of complexity, most of the Themes adopted in O Henry’s short stories are simple Themes，taking up71.33%, most of which are realizedby participants, showing that O Henry adopts the simplest thematic structure, which ismore acceptable to the masses. Multiple Theme and clausal Theme only accounted for21.03%and7.66%respectively. Multiple Themes are mainly realized by textual Themeand experiential Theme. The author seldom uses the interpersonal elements to pose hisopinion in the works. In terms of thematic markedness, more unmarked Themes areadopted in the clauses, for it occupies86.75%. Finally, the most frequently used Themesin O Henry’s short stories are: the constant Theme pattern, the constant Rheme pattern, thelinear Theme pattern, the independent pattern and the cross pattern, among which, theconstant Theme pattern is the most frequently used type, which takes up52.39%. Thestudy indicates that O Henry prefers to use simple language and simple structure, whichmade his works easy to understand and easy accepted, thus loved by the readers. Besides,the thematic structure the author adopts is fit for the content and the development of theshort stories.