Presented by Asuman BÝRDAL
1. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEXT
The text, Baucis and Philemon, which will be analyzed is a version of one of the Roman myths written by E.Hamilton by using the Ovid’s poem as a source for it. Before analyzing the text considering the seven standards of textuality, it is better to have a general knowledge about the type of the text, which is a myth, and the topic of it.
The fact that “Myths” mainly make up the oral tradition of literature by being told of mouth from generation to generation, they might survive by being handed down and contributed to written literature, which enables us to read them now and survive them for the next generation. Myths are generally about strange and wondrous events, talking animals or objects, superhuman characters, gods and goddesses, monsters which don’t exist in real life. Even if they don’t exist in real life, they give an idea about the “life” itself; maybe more than the real stories succeed to do.
Before reading a myth, it is essential to have an idea about the outline of this text type since it makes it easier to follow the story effectively and leads us while we are analyzing it as it is aimed. (Prentice Hall Literature Bronze, 1989: 540-1)
Background: Associated with Greeks and Romans, MYTHS are anonymous stories that convey cultural ideas and beliefs, or explain natural occurrences. All countries are said to heve their own traditions of such imaginative stories( some of them have legends, some have folk tales, some myths, or two or all of them) explaining natural events, teaching moral lessons, emphasizing behaviours, attitudes, and ideals admired by the people who create them.
Reading Strategies: While reading the myth, a reader should have the awareness that although it includes some strange and non-existent things, it tells about other people and cultures which are useful to understand their literary history; furthermore, they were created long ago and in different cultures, they convey ideas and attitudes common to people today. As a reading strategy, the strategy that is used while reading other literary texts might be applied.( Since these strategies are given to be utilized in teaching reading in that book, it won’t be discussed here. However, it enables us to see that myths, folk tales, legends are all included in literary text type in their written forms even they were oral before.)
Themes: In line with the explanations made above, different subjects might be subject to myths and accordingly the theme varies. Here it may be enough to give an idea about the theme of the text which will be studied: The importance of relationships both within the society, such as hospitality and within the family, such as love and loyalty.
Characters: Only the characters in the myth will be mentioned here:
Baucis and Philemon: Husband and wife who were rewarded by the gods for their hospitality to strangers.
Jupiter: King of the gods in Roman Mythology, like Zeus in Greek mythology.
Mercury: The messenger of the gods in Roman Mythology, like Hermes in Greek Mythology.
The summary of “Baucis and Philemon”:
This is the story telling how a devoted couple is rewarded by the gods for their behaviour, which is hospitality. In the Phrygian country (an ancient country in Asia) people were not kind to the guests visiting their houses and Jupiter realised it when he decided to visit Phrygian with Mercury to see how the people of this country were. However, in one house they encountered with good people who devoted themselves to each other and the people coming to visit them. They served best even if they were poor. Upon this, Jupiter gave punishment to the whole country except “Bucis and Philemon”. Jupiter told them to wish something. Living long together happily, they wanted to die together. In the end, they died together and the gods turned them into two trees with a single trunk after they died.
2. ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT
The text “Baucis and Philemon” will be analyzed according to the seven characteristics of text linguistics given below:
2.1. COHESION
In a text , cohesion provides continuity at the grammatical level; here it will be studied in sub-items showing how the grammatical units help to form and give meaning to a text.
a. Recurrence: The repeated words in the same text.
* ... Over this she hung a little kettle full of water and just as it began to boil (line 60)....Into the kettle(line 63)
* ...great marvel(line3)
...great house(29)
...great help(56)
* Presently he brought them cups of...(75)...to refill each cup...(81)...No matter how many cups...(86)...
* “We have a goose...(94)...To catch the goose(97)
...under the ashes...(58)...roasted in the ashes...(71)
* ...whitest marble...(121)...the marble...(136)
* ...so long together...(128)...die together...(130)...still they were together...(145)
* ...Trembling old hands...(67)...trembling all over they begged...(93)
* ...had always been happy...(53)...proud and happy...(79)
b. Partial recurrence: The repetition of the words; but within different word classes.
* ....poorer than...”We are poor folk”...but poverty...poor stranger...
* ...how hospitable...Hospitality...hospitality
c. Parallelism: Being a narrative, the text was written in the Simple Past Tense:
*...there were...pointed out...came about...
Also sometimes Past Perfect tense is used :
*But when Both Philemon and Baucis had had to give up...
When the narrater wants to flash back to today, she uses Simple Present Tense:
* ...The story doesn’t say whether they ever missed their ....
d. Paraphrase:
* ...make comfortable... rest
Synonyms:
* ...grand...great
* ...wept...cry...
e. Proforms:
* ...there were once two trees which all the peasants near and far pointed out as a great marvel, and no wonder, for one was an oak and the other a linden, yet they grew from a single trunk. (lines 1-5)
Here firstly “two trees” are mentioned, and then these two trees are explained as “one” and “the other”. Following them, two trees are referred as “they”.
* ...When Jupiter was tired...(line 10)...he would come down...(line 14)
* ...Jupiter had determined to find out how hospitable the people of Phrygia...important to him...(20-3)
* The two gods, accordingly, ...(26)...they made...(33)
* ...a cheerful fire was burning. Over this...(59-60)
* ...full of water...it began to boil...(61)
* Baucis set the table with her trembling hands..(66)... One table leg was too short, but she propped it up...(67-8)
Here there are two anaphoras; the first one is Baucis, her, she; the other one is one table leg, it.
* His favourite companion on these tours was Mercury.(16-7)
Here “his favourite companion” refers to “Mercury” which is mentioned afterwards.(In anaphora “Mercury” would be mentioned before)
* ...and the old woman threw ...Her name was Baucis.(48-9)
f. Ellipses:
a) Sharing of structural components among clauses of the surface text:
* The two gods ...took...wandered...came...(26-9)
b) Follow-up structure lacks the verb:
* ..for one was an oak and the other a linden( there is no “was” before “a linden”)
* The story of how this came about is a proof of the immesurable power of the gods, and also of the way they reward. (“proof” isn’t used for two times; the first one reflects also “the way they reward”) (line 6)
* ...tired of eating...drinking...(“tired of” is used once) (line 10)
* ...asking for food and a place...(26)
* They had...had always..(“they” used once) (51)
* ...was...proud and happy...(79)
* ...were so pleased and excited (83)
* ...will be punished but not you (it means “you won’t be punished”; the sentence with its verb isn’t repeated)(line 109)
g. Tense and Aspect
h. Junction:
* The story of how this came about is a proof of the immeasurable power of the gods, and also of the way they reward...
* The two gods ...took...and wandered...(26-9)
...(There are a lot of sentences exemplifying this item; but they all include “and”, so it will be enough to see the above ones)
* the story doesn’t say whether they ever missed their cozy room...
* ...yet they grew...(line5)
* ...But here,...(37)
Sentences including “but”: lines 37, 40,68, 117,96, 103, 135.
* Philemon, however,...(79)
* ...Hospitality was..imporatnt to him, since all guests...were under his especial protection.(23)
* ...since we had lived so long together...(1289
* ...As they saw this...(88)
* ...As the words passed their lipsthey became trees...(143)
i. Updating:
When we think of Iliad by Homer, or Tacitus’ writings in ancient Rome, thsi new version myth was written in an updated language form. Since we don’t have an old version, we don2t have opportunity to compare; yet we can understand it from the words that are used, which we don’t force us to understand.
Note: “Intonation” and “Keys” cannot be studied here, naturally, since it is not a spoken text.
2.2.COHERENCE
a) Concept:
* The old man set a bench near the fire ( To learn more about the bench, we should see the rest of the paragraph- or sometimes preceeding of it.)
* ..a soft covering...( What kind of covering is it? Linen, paper, etc? We can understand it from the text; just one word or sometimes one sentence is not enough to understand the implied meaning of the word in the text.)
*..reward...(In order to learn the reward we should read the rest of the text; otherwise it can be anything such as a car, a pencil, or a medal,etc. Who can guess that it is dying and being together without looking at the text as a whole.)
b) Decomposition:
god Here the words are related with
one another.
power mortal punish temple
tree The words are peculiar to the tree.
oak linden trunk
c) Spreading Activation: The words remind each other.
* temple, great, marvel, god, power, punish, mortal, shrewdest.
* couple, married, life, husband, living together, happy.
* fire, burning, coalsunder the ashes, fanned, boil, kettle.
* cup, an earthenware mixing bowl, vinegar, water, supper, pour, mixing, bowl.
d) Use of Global Patterns:
* As a pattern: Using “once” while starting to tell the myth; finishing it “from and wide people came to admire the wonder” are classical and global patterns that are used in such type of texts.
* Looking at the concepts: Hospitality, power, protection, companion, poor folk, reward.(Global)
e) Procedural Attachment:
1.Frame: The aim of the myth is to give “lessons in living” and it is mentioned as an aim before text in the book. Acoordingly, the text pursues this goal.
2. Schema: The same structure that is used in literary text might be used here. To follow the structure given in the book that this text is given we should summarizethe situation as follows:
* Questioning: The title is questioned firstly. Who are they? For this purpose, some explanation should be made before reading the text as it is done at the beginning of that study; the characters are introduced to prevent discontinuity.
* Prediction: Why were these “two trees” so important to people?(line 2) A reader tries to guess the rest of the text while s/he is reading it in terms of her/his stored knowledge.
* Clarification:
...Jupiter had determined to find out how hospitable the people of Phrygian(lines19-21)...
...a kindly –faced old man welcomed them...(42-3)
..you shall have your reward. This wicked country... will be punished but not you(108-110)
...Grant that we may die together...(110)
...The linden and the oak grew from one trunk.(146)
As seen in the above sentences, the writer begins to make explanations and clarifies the things in readers’ minds.
* Summary : The last paragraph here.
3. Plans: The text user pursues his/her goal by following the structure implied to him/her. If it had been an oral tradition this would have been diffrent; but here the writer’s hidden aim and logical procedure in line with the text users’ stored knowledge on this subject is succeede through a careful planning.
4. Script: This text here is aimed to teach; so it is included in a course book.
f. Discovery of control centres:
1.Primary Concepts:
Object:Houses, two trees( in fact Baucis and Philemon), marbles, fire, goose, etc.
Situation: In a house
Event: Jupiter and Mercury visited many houses but they only see the hospitality in Baucis and Philemon’s house and rewarded them.
Action: Two gods’ pretending to be poor wayfarers, serving the gods, rewarding, dying together.( For “Giving lesson”)
2. Secondary Concepts:
State: Reward –give- punishment
Agent: It changes from sentence to sentence; where “two gods” are subject, the married couple is “the agent”; where “the married couple” is the subject, the two gods maybe the “agent”.(This will be studied in detail in “Informativity”)
Affected entity:The whole human beings; because it gives lessons to the people hearing or reading the myth.
Relations: God-power, wife-husband(love), tree-trunk, oak,linden.
Attribute: Myth including a story giving lessons
Location: In an ancient Asia “Phrygia”. House, marble.
Time: Ancient Roman.
Motion: The whole things happened.
2.3. INTENTIONALITY
The writer’s intention is mainly providing the readers with the ancient Roman myth by editing it from Ovid’s poem. The intention of the text is basically to give lesson; but the intention changes according to the users’ purposes. For instance, in that book, it is to introduce the students the myths and teaching them the characteristics of it by exemplifying such texts and providing the students with a reading material. For this reason, the question arises before the text: “Look for the many ways in which Baucis and Philemon make their guests feel welcome. How do the gods show their appreciation?”
Also the pronunciation of the names of the characters and the vocabulary expected not known are given beforehand.
Looking at the intention in a basis, we had better study it through GRICE’S four maxims:
· Quantity: The text is as informative as desired; there is no trivial knowledge. Almost all serves the aim.
· Quality: Giving its sources as “Ovid” and footnotes for commonly unknown names, it proves its truthfullness.
· Relation: The terms used, ongoing speech between the characters, the sequence of the events are all related to each other.
· Manner: The statements made by the writer and her reflection on the characters’ speeches are brief; there is no ambiguity. To give an example:
“Ask whatever you want and you shall have your wish”; the message is clear, brief, far from being ambiguous in the conversation.
Conventional Implicatures:
* ...there were once...: Conventional beginning for an ancient story.
* ...“we have a goose”...: Implication of the caharcter that they have something for them to serve.
*...they had time only to cry...: the writer’s implicature is that “they had little time; it was only for crying; nothing else”
*...From far and wide people came to admire the wonder...: Conventional ending of a story.
2.4. ACCEPTIBILITY
The writer’s intention is accepted by the reader by means of the schemas the readers have for such a text type and their stored world knowledge about the things told so far. If there is no such frames for this text type, then it should be made clear for the reader to provide acceptibility.
When it comes to speculating upon the text, as far as we understand from conversations, they are accepted . To exemplify:
* “We are poor folk”...”But poverty isn’t so bad when you are willing to own up to it...”(53-4)
Here the producer of the sentence firstly states something and then explains it without giving way for the receivers to reject it or comment it. She makes her explanation to be accepted by the receivers by making herself clear.
As the number of conversations are restricted in the text, it is difficult to exemplify it via conversations; however the structure of the text, which has nothing wrong with the communication, proves that the writer’s explanations and narration is so successful that we don’t see any gap between these conversations; they are enough for us to understand what is going on.
2.5. INFORMATIVITY
Text type: Literary text
Subtype: Narrative(Myth)
Topic: Lessons in Living
The Orders of Informativity:
First Order Informativity: Grammar rules. They are clear and there is no need to specify in a text to make it informative. They are easy to spot as it is done here in “Cohesion” section.
Second Order Informativity: It is the surface structure in the text which enables us to understand the text meaningfully.
Third Order Informativity: They are generally unknown for some receivers; so it should be made explicit through footnotes, some explanations, etc. not to prevent the understanding of the receivers. If it is done so, the order of the text is downgraded. In the text:
“Sometimes when Jupiter was tired of eating ambrosia and drinking nectar up in Olympus and even a little weary of listening to Apollo’ s lyre and watching the Graces dance... “ (lines10-4)
Here, “Graces” will be unknown for most of the readers and in case of lack of knowledge about it, the understanding of the text will be cut in. In order to prevent this, the writer here gives footnote explaining what Graces mean- three sister goddesses who were associated with pleasure, charm, and beauty. In that case the third order of informativity becomes second order by being downgraded through this explanation, which prevents discontinuity in the text.
Agents:
*...Not one would admit them(30)
One of the Jupiter and Mercury(AGENT)
Phygia people
*...All treated them in the same way...(33)
* A kindly- faced old man and woman welcomed them(42-3)
* The old man ...told them(47-8)
*She told the strangers(50)
*Presently he brought them(75)
*...they begged their guests(92)
*While Jupiter and Mercury watched them(99-100)
* They then escorted the two...told them...(110)
Definiteness:
*...two trees...the other (4): One of the trees; not any trees seen.
*...the gods...(7): Jupiter and Mercury
*...the Graces...: mentioned in the footnote
*...the most entertainig of all the gods, the shrewdest...(17): described one.
*....the people of Phyrigia...(21): people living there
*...The two gods...(26): Jupiter and Mercury
*...the land(28): Phrygia
*...the old man...(46):Philemon
*...the old woman...(48): Baucis
*...the strangers...(50): Jupiter and Mercury
*...the kettle...(63): mentioned before as “a little kettle”
*..the old man...(72): Philemon
*...the supper...(80): the supper that they will be eating
*...The old people...(125): the couple
*...The gods...(131): Jupiter and Mercury
*...the story...(133): We all know which story the writer mentions.
*...the marble(136): mentioned before, “the” is used
*...the wonder...(148):the story is known to a reader; the reader knows what the wonder is.
Indefiniteness:
*...two trees (2): firstly mentioned
*...a single trunk (5):newly mentioned
*...a cheerful voice(39):new
*...an earthenware mixing bowl...(76)....the mixing bowl kept full.(85): firstly unknown; then explicit
*...a goose(95)...to catct the goose(97):firstly unknown; then when it becomes known “the” is used
*...a great lake surrounded them(114):newly mentioned
2.6. SITUTIONALITY
The story takes place in an ancient Rome between the gods and two people from the poor folk of Phrygia which was an ancient Asian country. Two gods named Jupiter, the king of the gods in Roman Mythology, and Mercury, his messenger, talk about a plan . The place where Jupiter is living is out of the Earth and is described as a paradise; he eats ambrosia, which is described in the footnote as the food enables gods to live forever and Apollo plays his lyre, Graces dance,etc. The picture drawn and providing readers to visualize is as if the gods lived in paradise. Suddenly, when Jupiter decides to come to the earth, this changes and poor folk comes into appearance. The scene goes on like that until the gods reward the couple and give them “temple of whitest marble with a golden roof”. The situation changes and they are also shown as if they were in paradise.
When it comes to the characters, the gods are shown as the powerful ones, while the couple is poor but happy. The poor couple has only love to share and the gods have evrything to give. The conversations between them is worth emphasizing since the conversation between the couple and the gods is more relaxed when compared with the conversation after they learn that they are gods; yet it doesn’t change very much because of the fact that this couple is shown as a good model for people to take lessons in life. To clarify, we had better see the examples:
* “We are poor folk”... “But poverty isn’t so bad when you are willing to own up to it...”(53-4)
Here the woman has no problem with having relaxed conversations with the gods when expressing herself.
* “we have a goose.”the old man said... “which we ought to give your lordships But if you will only wait,it shall be done at once.”(94-7)
Here the man is more polite to his guests; he feels uncomfortable just because he tries to prepare the best food he can serve for his guests; the guests’ being gods doesn’t change the things since he hasn’t known it, yet. He does his best due to his well-mannered character.
* “Let us be your priests, guarding this temple for you-and oh, since we have lived so long together, let neither of us have to live alone. Grant thet we may die together.”(126-130)
Here, the couple has learnt that the guests are gods; so their way of talking is a bit changes. It can be seen better when we speculate upon the words and phrases used: “Let us..”, “Grant that”, “..oh”, “ ...for you...”. As it is seen, the state of the characters change the roles of them and the others in the situation; it even changes the situation and everything related with the situation.
2.7. INTERTEXTUALITY
In a text, intertextuality covers all the things studied so far and goes beyond of these. Including all the things studied for this text, here more items will be dealt with to extend this analysis.
Text type: Literary text. However it also includes the function of narration(sub-type) in this text.
Text allusion: The way people use or refer to well-known texts.
*...Sometimes when Jupiter was tired of eating ambrosia and drinking nectar up in Olympus and even a little weary of listening to Apollo’s lyreand watching the Graces...(10-4)
Here, “Apollo” and “the Graces” are characters known in mythology; “Apollo” is not explained in the footnotes here since the preeceding text in the book is about Apollo and his son; whereas “Graces” are explained in case some readers cannot follow what they refer to. Intertextuality supplies us such applications that are texts in the texts as it is the case here.
Topic: In a text some topics are to discussed further; the decision about it is made with the help of the informativity,which is discussed above. According to this, it can be said that Jupiter and Mercury are more important characters and they are to be explained to the readers whereas Graces and Apollo are less important and lack of explanation about them raises less problem when compared with the main characters in the text. It is not only valid for the readers but also for the events taking place; the conversation about the reward is more important compared with the descriptions on houses or actions taking place in it.
Discourse World Model: It includes beyond the linguistic structure of the text by focusing on the details about the text. Since most of them were studied in detail above(schema, events, states) here the points that have not been mentioned so far will be discussed.
The effects of the schema:
a. The replacing of the original concept under a variety of expressions: Instead of “there was a time...”, “Once upon a time...”, the writer starts with “In the Phrygian Hill country there were once...”. Here the conventional, let’s say original, concept is replaced by an acceptable version, which provides the readers to see the variety of expressions.
b. The reader’s inclination to match text boundaries up with schema boundaries: It is accomplished by means of the variety mentioned above; schema boundaries are programmed to “Once upon...” or “there was a time...” whereas it is matched with the new one presented by the writer.
c. The selecting and verifying of schemas contributes to comprehension. Here some dialogues are selected and omitted and not presented to the reader; yet again the reader is supplied with the knowledge by means of the explanations made and the comprehension is accomplished with these explanations and necessary conversations that give vividness to the text.
Inferencing and Spreading Activation:
1.Location: In written texts, location is visualized in readers’ minds through the language of the writer. Here the adjectives provide us to understand how the things look like or descriptions enable us to understand how the couple is lovely and proud, how Jupiter is powerful. Example “immeasurable power of gods”, “lowly house”, “the tiny,lowly hut ...turned into a stately pillared temple of whitest marble with a golden roof”.
Furthermore, the sequence of the events are visuailzed by the mental imagery of the readers as I did below:
Gods go to Phrygia ( it seemes as if they were dressed with a magic stick and turned out to the peasants in a second.), They visit houses, in a poor house with a devated couple, the poor house turns into a temple like amarvellous palace, in a bright weather, colorful and lovely tree.
2. Time: In the text “when”, “then”, “at last”, by this tiem”, “presently”, “at once” provides the redaer with the “time” concept.
3. Apperception:
Cause: Jupiter’s desire to visit the earth
Purpose: Jupiter wants to see the people of Phrygia(which will give lessons to all humanity which is the aim of this myth basically)
Agency: Jupiter, Mercury, Baucis, Philemon ( By changing the roles they all become agents in the text from time to time.)
3. CONCLUSION
As it is aimed at the beginning, the text, “Baucis and Philemon” has been studied in detail in terms of the seven standards of textuality. By means of this study, the importance of such a detailed study has been proved to be essential and necessary to understand the text by considering not only the linguistic elements as it has been done in “Cohesion” part only, but more detailed one as it has been extended through other six items. With “Coherence” the importance of the relations between the concepts, in a text words, is comprehended; with “Intentionality” the necessity of the leadership of the aim and the intention of the text attributed to it by its writer; with “Acceptability” getting and accepting the message as a receiver as it is attributed by the writer(producer) of the text, with “Informativity” the vitality of getting the new message correctly and being capable of differentiating the order of the importance of these messages, with “Situationality”, maybe the primary one, the context of the text, and finally with “Intertextuality”, the importance of interrelationships of all, the importance of the participants’(receivers, producers) knowledge of other texts in order to produce and to receive the texts correctly and effectively has come into existence while analyzing the texts.
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