Address Terms in the Modern Dramas "Ruined" and "A Raisin in the Sun". Main Characters Addressing Other Characters

Academic Paper from the year 2021 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, University of Mosul (University of Mosul/ Iraq), language: English, abstract: This is a pragmatic study that explores the relationship between language and society. The study aims to analyse the phenomenon called address-terms performed by the main characters in the selected English dramas "Ruined" and "A Raisin in the Sun". This study has four main objectives. It wants to detect the main types of addressing-terms used by the characters in these dramas as well as their functions. Furthermore, it analyses the factors affecting their selection by the characters and the difference between the two genres, modern and classical, and effect in using the address-terms. The theoretical framework that has been employed in the data-analysis is the "Communication Accommodation Theory". The type of adjustment whether convergence or divergence as well as the way its components affect the communication, and the strategies that are used for adjusting are analysed. This study employs the mixed content-analysis method since the data underlying the study are books and documents. Moreover, the findings are presented in the narrative form and tables with numbers and percentages to support the analysis. The results show the great connection between the address terms that are used, the "Communication Accommodation Theory", and the themes of the two plays.