An Analysis of Theme and Rheme in CNN Article Entitled “Un Member Nations Vote Overwhelmingly to Back Palestinian Membership Bid”

Abstract

This research focuses on analyzing Theme and Rheme using the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) theory as proposed by Halliday (1994). In this theory, the Theme refers to the starting point of the message, which sets the context for the information being conveyed, while the Rheme elaborates or provides further explanation of the Theme. The purpose of this research is twofold: first, to examine how the structure of Theme and Rheme is applied within CNN articles, and second, to identify and categorize the types of Themes and Rhemes present in the selected text. The research employs a qualitative method, as this approach is well-suited for exploring and interpreting linguistic structures in depth. The unit of analysis focuses on each individual clause within the CNN article entitled “UN member nations vote overwhelmingly to back Palestinian membership bid.” Qualitative analysis allows the researcher to uncover subtle patterns and complexities in the language that may not be apparent through quantitative approaches. The steps in analyzing the data are; segmenting the sentences into clauses, identifying the Theme and Rheme in each clause, determining the type of Theme and Rheme in each clause, and Calculating the frequency and percentage of the data to get the conclusion. The analysis found that there are three types of themes used which are Topical, Textual, and Interpersonal. The most dominant theme is Topical Theme followed by Textual and Interpersonal Theme.