Discourse Information Packaging in Selected Catholic Creeds (Published)
In recent times, a number of different ways of describing the sequencing and ordering of information in spoken and written discourse has emerged in linguistic scholarship. Notable works on information packaging or structure are associated with Functional Sentence Perspective Scholars and Hallidayan Systemic Linguistic Scholars. In Information Structure, the notions of (Given-New) and the Thematic Structure (Theme -Rheme ) are very central. Bloor and Bloor (1995) explaining both information and thematic structure and ascertained that ‘theme’ and ‘given’ are equivalent and while the ‘new’ tends to go along with the ‘rheme’. However, Hllidayan approach and the Prague’ FSP approach both capture the same features of language. Downing (2001) quoting Fries (1983:116) says ‘linguists have adopted what Fries terms ‘the combining approach’, equating Theme with Given, or the ‘separating approach’ disentangling the two. The former include van Dijk, Firbas, Danes, among others, whereas the latter is propounded by Halliday and the systemic school in general, who separate information structure (Given-New) from thematic structure (Theme-Rheme). The separation of the two appears to be useful, necessary even, for English at least… ’ . This paper explores the discourse packaging of thematic patterns of selected Catholic creeds. It considers how information are sequenced, organised and packaged in the Catholic creeds and also describes their internal structure in terms of the theme-rheme analysis of the clauses by utilising Danes (1976) model of thematic progression and relates the organisation of information to their speech functions. The paper taps it motivation from the paucity of works on creedal language in Nigeria. Apostle’s creed and Nicene creed are purposively selected for the study. Catholic use creeds in their Mass, either as spoken text, or sung as chant. These creeds are selected because they are widely accepted by the early church. The former was the first creed use by early Christians to openly declare their faith while the later came as a result of the heresy or controversies about some doctrines precisely about the nature of Christ and the need to use language to clear the air and to shed light on some controversial ideas and false belief. The secondary data include books, journal articles and the internet. The study reveals that the Constant TP , the Split Rheme and the Simple Linear TP featured in the two creeds. The implied themes are more prominent in the Nicene creed. The study concludes that the understanding of the information structure of the creeds will enhance a proper understanding of the topical development of the creed as a formal statement or brief authoritative formula of religious beliefs and also add to the increasing literature on discourse information structure and language of religion in general.
Keywords: FSP, Theme, creeds., given-new, information structure, rheme, thematic progression
An Approach to Reevaluating and Understanding Chekhov in the Perspective of Theme, Motif, Symbol and Writing Style (Published)
Anthon Chekhov can strikingly be marked out for his artistic ingenuity in composing his short stories imbued with cornucopia of ideas with pinpoint accuracy. He has amassed so many cutting edge ideas which represent the matter of opinions which can be often described as a sense of sentimental, emotive, equivocal, weird, funny, and even haunting and taunting . A gushing outlet of emotional intelligence and essence of life are found in Anthon Chekhov’s writing. Chekhovian short stories do not let the reader a solid message rather it caters to the readers to give room to extract the themes of the stories from abyss of twist and turn . Russian literature owes to Chekhov by large for he got the nerves of the Russian people and their turn of mind. His delineation of the characters is enshrouded in delicate touch and his dealings with the characters has an emollient tone. His experiential learning with the social maladies bounds him to present the scenario of decadent, corroding and worked-up society of Russia. His play with the word also contributes to the creation of the characterization more sharply and nicely. His words are woven into inviting creation with a single thread polished with fine texture. His plot is pregnant with comical references resulting in presenting the malaise of Russian society. Broadly speaking, his writing has always been the showcases of human characters and complexities of the world.
Keywords: Characters, Chekhov, Motif, Symbols, Theme, Writing Style
Outcome of Prayer: A Study of Children in Selected Denominations in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria (Published)
Prayer has been assumed to cause different effects on the life of the praying individual. On one side, prayer could imply on the emotional status, individual growth and the on the personal needs of the individual among others. On the other side, it may cause depression and unhappiness especially when the desired response did not happen. This study was set out to investigate whether the above argument applies to the lives of younger and older children of ages 7-8 and 11-12 respectively in four selected churches in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted phenomenological qualitative design with Semi-structured interviews and conversations, uncompleted sentences, picture projection and letter writing to God as methods for collecting data. The raw data was gathered, transcribed, coded, classified and re-classified until meaningful patterns and themes emerged after which they were analysed with the help of NVivo. 11 Pro. This study discovered that the effects of the children’s prayer are directly related to their reasons for praying; that as they pray, children experience a deep relationship with God, dialogue with Him verbally and non-verbally, and act upon instructions they believe come from God. It was revealed that children’s emotions and feelings are affected negatively or positively based on the stage of development as discussed in Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development that formed the foundation for this study.
Keywords: CAC, CCN, Denomination, Effect, God, MFM, NBC, Nigeria, Older Children, Relationship, Theme, Younger Children, prayer
Representation of Philosophy and Theme of Hope in Dickenson’s Poetry (Published)
This paper attempts to examine the representation of theme of hope and optimism in Dickenson’s poetry by showing some comparisons and contrasts among different of her poems. This theme is motivated by poet’s own life and her judgments of life respectively. The purpose of analyzing this theme has been to explore how poet has used different contrastive associations in order to define her theme each time differently in her poems. The focus was on a specific term “optimism”, considering hope: its loose synonym as a focal point to analyze. The perspectives of hope described in the poems have been studied with reference to characteristic features of hope mentioned according to the, contexts, choice of words, stylistic features, and intentions of the poet herself.
Keywords: Dickenson Poetry, Hope, Philosophy, Theme
The Theme of Partition in Khuswant Singh’s Novel Train to Pakistan (Published)
The Partition of India was the process of dividing the sub-continent along sectarian lines, which took place in 1947 as India gained its independence from British Empire. The northern part predominantly Muslim, became nation of Pakistan and the southern predominantly Hindu became the Republic of India, the partition however devastated both India and Pakistan as the process claimed many lives in riots, rapes, murders and looting. The two countries began their independence with ruined economies and lands without an established, experienced system of government, not only this, but also about 15 million people were displaced from their homes. The Partition of India was an important event not only in the history of the Indian subcontinent but in world history. Its chief reason was the communal thinking of both Hindus and Muslins; but the circumstances under which it occurred made it one of the saddest events of the history of India. No doubt, the Hindus and the Muslims were living together since long but they failed to inculcate the feelings of harmony and unity among themselves. The fanatic leaders of both communities played a prominent role in stoking the fire of communalism. The partition was exceptionally brutal and large in scale and unleashed misery and loss of lives and property as millions of refugees fled either Pakistan or India.
