The Theme Of "Slaughterhouse No. 5" From The Perspective Of Interpersonal Function

Kurt Vonnegut Jr is a pioneer of postmodern literature in America.As a representative writer of black humor and other post modernist writing techniques,He has been one of the most popular novelists after Ernest Hemingway.Through close reading of the novel and the application of discourse analysis:mood system,modality system and appraisal theory,the aim of this thesis is to analyze the themes of Slaughterhouse Five.This thesis is divided into four parts.The first part is the introduction of Interpersonal Function Theory.Secondly,analyzing discourse of Slaughterhouse Five by the method of mood system,such as nominalization,passivization,address forms and structure,this thesis manages to penetrate and summarize the themes of Slaughterhouse Five and the personality of characters.Then,by using the modality system,such as modal verbs,metaphor of modality,this thesis aims to analyze the themes of Slaughterhouse Five and the consciousness of power.In the fourth part,this thesis manages to use the theory of Attitude and Engagement which are included in Appraisal Theory to comprehensively analyzes the themes of Slaughterhouse Five.