Theme and Rheme

 

Ok - quick recap

  1. There are no facts (kinda) in academic writing.
  2. What we say in our assignments is made stronger with references - especially from experts.
  3. Modality and Hedging make your writing less-argue-with-able.
  4. And write the topic sentence last.

Is that about right?

 

 

Theme and Rheme

Think of this as a rough rule of thumb. It is tricky in reality but a really good idea to keep in the back of your mind - especially when you are proofreading.

Look at this example.

[Me] 'I like swimming.'

[My friend] 'Manama is the capital of Bahrain.'

Conclusion - my friend is weird.

My friend's following comment should have been about me [Theme] or swimming [Rheme] - make sense?

 

So, lets look at the paragraph again (Sorry, the video is pretty bad 大笑)

 

 

We have already looked (briefly) at how the topic sentence dictates what will be included in your paragraph (so write your paragraph first and then go back and add the topic sentence... Duh! 眨眼).

So - basically, everything before the verb is the Theme. Everything after the verb is the Rheme. Simple right?

This system supports the way meaning is established at the clause level. The Theme-Rheme structure allows information to flow smoothly from one clause to another, from one sentence to another and even from one paragraph to another. The logical flow helps create cohesiveness, in other words, it helps the reader understand. And, I don't know about you, but I want the tutor to understand, so they can give me a good grade.
Look at the sentence below.
External factors can have an unexpected and detrimental effect on organizational growth.
External factors [<=Theme/can have/Rheme=>]  an unexpected and detrimental effect on organizational growth.

 

Activity

Here is your task - The five (5) sentences below are written to follow the sentence above. Is the Theme of each of the sentences related to the Theme or the Rheme?

  1. External factors include natural disasters or strikes and cost increases caused by human influences.

  2. This unpredictability makes planning difficult at best, and can hamper efforts when allowed to have too controlling an influence in decision-making.

  3. Superficial factors, both internal and external, may be easily overcome but serious exoteric influences can seriously hamper organizational growth.

  4. Superficial factors, both internal and external, may be easily overcome but more serious exoteric influences can detrimentally effect organizational growth.

  5. This unpredictability makes planning difficult at best, and can hamper decision-making efforts.

 

If you want to, grab one of your assignments and do this analysis with one paragraph and submit it. As I said, this idea can be confusing but it worth keeping in the back of your head as you write. 

Example -

Outside the window there is a car, a bike and a security guard. According to Lawrence (2017) the car [Theme 2 relates to Rheme 1] is a beautiful blue-green Porsche. The bike [Theme 3 relates to Rheme 1] is a silver and black Harley Davidson owned by the coolest person at the polytechnic (Lawrence, 2017). Lawrence also commented that the Bahrain Polytechnic security guard [Theme 4 relates to Rheme 1] is not cool (2017), although AlSedeqqi (2017) disagrees and suggested that coolness is defined by a white Bahrain Polytechnic Polo shirt.

 

Some other Academic Writing hints - completely unrelated 眨眼

  • Do not use contractions. 'Isn't' = No / Is not = Yes
  • Do not use the first person [No 'I'].
  • Do not use 'He' or 'She' - use 'They'.
  • Do not assume knowledge - "Everybody knows..." & "It is common knowledge that...".
  • No pretty pictures or nice colours. Academic writing is black and white. Impress your teacher with what you write only.
  • Submit your assignment in the font required - but if you are not told, maybe submit a serif font if your tutor prints everything, and sans serif if they mark online [Serif vs. sans serif].