From the Perspectives of Attitude System: A Corpus-based Study of The Time Machine

H.G.Wells’ The Time Machine is a famous scientific fiction, but it is rich in theme. It might be regarded as a political fable or a dystopia as well as one of the first works of science fiction. Since the publication of this novel, studies on The Time Machine have mainly focused on the aspects of its genre and narrative art, and only a few studies were conducted from the linguistic perspective. Through a corpus-based method, this paper focuses on how Wells expresses his concerns about social class division and the degradation of human society in The Time Machine. Under the guidance of Appraisal Theory, Attitude resources that are related to Wells will be classified and analyzed with some appropriate examples. The findings show that Wells employs more positive Attitude resources to glorify the civilized human society represented by the Eloi and express his concern about the degradation of human civilization. This research discusses Wells attitude in The Time Machine, which provides an alternative perspective on the analysis of this novel and proves the practicability of the Attitude System in the analysis of literature works