University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The sociolinguistic construction of reality in the closing arguments of criminal trials

Rosulek, Laura Felton

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/48993

Description

Title
The sociolinguistic construction of reality in the closing arguments of criminal trials
Author(s)
Rosulek, Laura Felton
Issue Date
2009
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Bhatt, Rakesh M.
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Bhatt, Rakesh M.
Committee Member(s)
  • Kibbee, Douglas A.
  • Koven, Michele
  • Terkourafi, Marina
Department of Study
Linguistics
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Level
  • Dissertation
  • Ph.D.
Keyword(s)
  • Linguistics
  • Critical discourse analysis
  • Systemic functional linguistics
  • Linguistic anthropology
  • Closing arguments
Language
en
Abstract
This dissertation is a critical analysis of the sociolinguistic choices lawyers make in the closing arguments of criminal trials to construct opposing representations of the same people and events. I analyzed the closing arguments of seventeen felony trials using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and the insights of Critical Discourse Analysis, Systemic Functional Linguistics, and Linguistic Anthropology. Based on the results of four analyses, I argue that opposing lawyers use their linguistic and discursive choices contrastively to silence, background, and foreground different information.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/48993
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2009 Laura Felton Rosulek

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