A STUDY OF HEDGES IN THE GREAT GATSBY MOVIE

This study focuses on the types and functions of hedges employed by the characters in The Great Gatsby movie. There are two research problems of this study: (1) what types of hedges are found in the conversation between characters in The Great Gatsby movie? and (2) what are the functions of the hedges found in the movie?. This study is conducted by applying a qualitative research design since the data are in the form of words. The data of this study are the utterances of the characters in The Great Gatsby film. The data are collected by using content analysis method. The data analysis reveals the findings which cover the formulated research questions. Firstly, the type of hedges mostly uttered by the characters in The Great Gatsby movie is hedge for the maxim of quality. It is demonstrated by 11 data. The second position goes to hedge for the maxim of quantity, relation, and politeness which get the same result i.e. 2 data. Then, the lowest frequency is hedge for the maxim of manner which is proved by only 1 data. Hedges found in the data represent the functions as proposed by Coates. The frequent function of hedges in the movie is expression of confidence which is shown by 6 data. It is followed by expression of doubt and sensitivity to others’ feeling which is proved by 4 data. The third position goes to searching for the right word and avoiding playing the expert that are demonstrated by 2 data.