This research examined the expressive speech act that was portrayed by the
protagonist and antagonist in "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning
Thief" novel (abbreviated as PJO TLT). This research aimed to: (i) identify the
types of expressive speech acts used by the main protagonist and antagonist, (ii)
analyze the characters’ characterization based on the types of expressive speech act,
and (iii) analyze the character development of these characters through the stages
of the novel based on the speech acts. This research employed a descriptive
qualitative method, organizing inductive analysis into four stages: domain,
taxonomy, componential, and cultural theme analysis by combining pragmatics and
sociolinguistics approaches. This research employed an observation approach by
systematically reading and taking notes. Purposive sampling was used. This
research focuses on the theory of expressive speech acts by Searle and Vanderveken
(1985). The data sources in this research are the PJO TLT novel and its generic
structure, from orientation to resolution of the novel. This research concluded that
109 utterances from 12 types of expressive speech acts were identified by both
characters. The protagonist expressed more negative expressions (complaining,
protesting boasting), and the antagonist expressed both positive and negative
expression in the same amount (welcoming, boasting). Moreover, characterization
was determined by the frequency of these speech acts, with the protagonist
produced more negative characterizations (49) than positive characterization (42),
while the antagonist produced positive characterization (9) in the same amount with
negative characterization (9). Furthermore, character development was analyzed
based on characterization at each stage of the novel. During the orientation phase,
the types of expressive speech acts are fewer, despite their overall high number,
compared to the complication phase where they significantly increase as conflicts
emerge and intensify. Meanwhile, it decreases during the evaluation phase but
increases again during the resolution stage.
