Confusing Two Distinct Texts

Martin, Matthiessen & Painter (2010: 282):

As far as mood is concerned, FitzSimons' text is overwhelmingly concerned with giving information, and uses declarative clauses to do so. It is only in the final two clauses that we find an interrogative (Do you...) and then an imperative (Write...) clause, signalling the shift from chronicling to solicitation:

Do you have a historical anecdote about a place in Sydney? |||

Write to Peter FitzSimons at pfitzsimons@smh.com.au |||

Working with Discourse, Chapter 7, introduces a framework for dealing with the function of mood in dialogue; see also Eggins & Slade 1997.

 

Blogger Comments:

[1] Clearly, these two clauses are not part of FitzSimons' text on the Bondi Beach tragedy.

[2] For a close examination of the account of 'the function of mood in dialogue' in Working with Discourse, Chapter 7, see the 25 clarifying critiques here.