Name: Dimas Farayndra

NIM: 211410004
Subject: Stylistics
Lecturer: FX. Dono Sunardi

Point of View and Transitivity in Raymond Carvers What We Talk About When We Talk
About Love: An Analysis

A. Background of the Analysis

Literary work is a depiction of humans everyday life. In humans life, there is

always actions and events. Beside that there is also mind process which is consists of
thoughts and perceptions. To covered and classified those processes happened in
humans life, language is the media. The reason is because language can manifest the
processes through its meaning. The way to classified those processes is by differentiate
the grammatical items into transitivity.

In literary work, especially narrative text, there are many ways to tell the story. It is
because a narrative story has characters in it. According to Simpson (2004), a story
may for instance be told in the first person and from the viewing position of a
participating character-narrator whose account of actions and events is the one we must
as readers share. Moreover, he also believes that there is an alternative way to narrate a
text which is by third person narrator.

This analytical paper aim to give the reader better understanding towards
transitivity and point of view in stylistics. The reader will know exactly how is the
action and events process which is explained in grammatical items such as main clause
and sub-clause in a sentence. Besides that, the reader will know the point of view that a
certain author used to narrate a story.

The instruments that the writer used in this analytical paper is a part of novel written
by Raymond Carver entitled What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. The
reason of the choice of the instruments of the analysis is because it is a good example
of narrative text. Besides that, the sentences and the way the writer narrate the story is
quite clear. Moreover, the genre of the novel is romance which is popular among
readers.

The writer hopes that through this analytical paper, the reader will get many things.
First, the reader will get better understanding of a literary work through one of
stylistics analysis method. Second, the reader will also get better understanding of the
linguistics elements in a literary work. Fourth or the last, the reader will know literary
work in linguistics paradigm better than before.

1
B. Analysis of Transitivity and Point of View of Raymond Carvers What We Talk About
When We Talk About Love

B.1 Analysis of Transitivity

Sentences Transitivity
My Friend Mel McGinnis was talking. The sentence shows the verbal transitivity.
The speaker is My Friend Mel McGinnis.
Whereas, the receiver is the people around
him in the story.

The sentence shows two different

Mel McGinnis is a cardiologist, and
transitivity. First is relational transitivity and
sometimes that gives him the right.
the second is material transitivity. The main
clause shows the relational and the sub-
clause shows the material.

. The four of us were sitting around his The sentence shows material transitivity.
kitchen table drinking gin. The actor is The four of us, the affected is
his kitchen table

The sentence shows material transitivity.

Sunlight filled the kitchen from the big Sunlight is the actor and the kitchen from
window behind the sink. the big window behind the sink is the
affected.

We live in Albuquerque then. The sentence shows relational transitivity.

We is the token. Whereas, the value is
Albuquerque.

The sentence shows existential transitivity.

There was an ice bucket on the table. The keywords are There was

2
 The sentence shows mental transitivity. It is
Mel thought real love was nothing less than because it has the word thought which is
spiritual love. indicating mental process (experience).

The sentence shows verbal transitivity. The

indicator is the word said in the sentence.

He said hed spent five years in seminary

before quitting to go to medical school. The sentence has two transitivity processes
in it; verbal transitivity and mental
transitivity. The indicators are the word
He said he still looked back on those years in said and looked back in it.
the seminary as the most important years in
his life.
The sentence shows verbal transitivity. The
indicator is the word said in the sentence.

Terri said the man she lived with before she

lived with Mel loved her so much he tried to
kill her.
The sentence shows material transitivity.
The actor is Terri and the affected is the
table.

Terri looked around the table.

B.2 Analysis of Point of View

Sentence Point of View

My friend Mel McGinnis was talking.
Third person point of view (heterodiegetic). It is
because there is no word that indicate first person
point of view such as I. In this sentence is not
clear what Mel McGinnis was talking about.
Therefore, the point of view in this sentence is
classified as reflector of fiction. Because the
knowledge of the narrator towards certain
character is still limited.

3
Mel McGinnis is a cardiologist, and sometimes Third person point of view (heterodiegetic). This
that gives him the right. time the narrator know a little bit about a detail of
certain character which is the occupation.
However, the narrators knowledge is still limited
in some degree.

The four of us were sitting around his table Third person point of view (heterodiegetic).
kitchen drinking gin.

Sunlight filled the kitchen from the big window Third person point of view (heterodiegetic). This
behind the sink time there is a detail of location.

There were Mel, and me, and his second wife, Third person point of view (heterodiegetic).
Teresa.

B.2.1 Additional analysis of Point of View

In Ramon Carvers What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, the writer also
analyzes the work with Plane of Point of View theory suggested by Fowler (1996). The writer
found that Carver in this novel use Spatial Plane to narrate the story. He positioned the
narrator as third person outside the story who knows the place that the characters are in
although in not very detail explanation.

C. Conclusion
From the analysis that the writer did, there are many things that the writer can
conclude. First of all there are various kind of transitivities found in Ramon Carvers
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. It means that the novel
successfully depicting humans life. The reason is because there are already many
transitivity processes although it only certain part of the novel. Second, Carver use
third person point of view to narrate the story of the novel. The evidence is the used of
the pronouns which is not indicate first person point of view such as I. The last is
Carver used Spatial Plane point of view in narrating the novel.

4
 References

Simpson, P. (2004). Stylistics: A Resource for Students. 1st ed. Routledge.