Definition and Examples of Direct Address in English

In English grammar  and rhetoric, direct address is a construction in which a speaker or writer communicates a message directly to another individual or group of individuals. The person(s) being addressed may be identified by name,  nickname, the pronoun you, or an expression  thats  either friendly or unfriendly.  Conventionally, the name of the person (or group) being addressed is set off by a comma or a pair of commas. Direct Address and the Pronoun You It is clear that a  term of address is always  closely linked with the pronoun you,  which in itself has vocative qualities. One could say, in fact, that whenever pronominal you  is used in direct address, vocative you is implicitly present.  The two kinds of you  are inextricably bound together, though  in an utterance like You! What do you think youre doing! the first you is clearly vocative, where the others are pronominal. Pronominal and vocative you differ in their attitudinal marking. The former is neutral, the latter unfriendly.  Pronominal you also conforms to normal rules of syntax; vocative you does not need to do so. Vocative you,  finally, allows substitution. In You! What do you think youre doing! vocative you could be replaced by darling, John, you stupid fool, and innumerable other terms of address, all of which could be described as vocative-you variants. That point is significant because the  corollary of my statement that vocative you is always implicitly present when pronominal you is used in  direct address, is  that pronominal you is always implicitly present when vocative you is used.—From A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address by Leslie Dunkling The Rhetorical  Use of My Friends in Direct Address My friends, [Senator] John McCain recently informed a crowd, we spent $3 million of your money to study the DNA of bears in Montana. McCain . . . referred to my friends another 11 times. Is this a doctrine of pre-emptive friendship—immediately declaring crowds won over with an oratorical mission accomplished? Perhaps, but McCains friending is a strategy that hearkens back to classical rhetoric. Horaces call to amici performed a similar function in ancient Rome, and Tennysons 1833 poem Ulysses drew upon that tradition for the immortal lines: Come, my friends/ Tis not too late to seek a newer world. But as a crowd bludgeon in modern political speechmaking, my friends can be laid at the feet of one man: William Jennings Bryan. His famed 1896 Cross of Gold speech at the Democratic National Convention (July 9, 1896) invoked the phrase a mind-crushing 10 times.—From MFer by Paul Collins [W]e come to the  friendship of association, which is certainly the most common meaning of the word friend.  Some years ago the comedian Red Skelton impersonated a politician giving a campaign  speech. My friends he wheezed, and you are my friends, he quickly sputtered, and dont tell me youre not my friends, because nobodys going to tell me who my friends are. Obviously, the friends he was talking about were friends of association, acquaintances where there is little or no affection, or where people interact on some friendly basis.—From Anatomy of a Friendship by John M. Reisman Direct Address in the Media [In many] contexts,  for example,  television comedy or commercials, news, and current affairs [programs], ​direct address is the accepted convention, although not everyone has the right to address the viewer directly. Anchorpersons and on-camera reporters  may look at the camera but interviewers may not. In chat shows, hosts may use direct address but guests may not. In other words, direct address is a privilege which the media profession has by and large reserved for itself.—From Moving English: The Visual Language of Film by Theo  van Leeuwen Visual Forms of Direct Address [In Reading Images,]  Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen note that  images in which the gaze  is directed at the viewer of the image create a visual form of direct address. It acknowledges the viewers explicitly, addressing them with a visual you.  Kress and  van Leeuwen call these images demand images because they demand that the viewer enters into some kind of imaginary relation with him or her. A classic example of the demand image is  the Uncle Sam recruiting poster, I Want YOU!—From Studying Visual Modes of Public Address by Cara A. Finnegan Examples of Direct Address Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.—Mark Antony in  Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene II, by  William Shakespeare. Hey, SpongeBob,  can I borrow the cheese bucket?—Patrick in SpongeBob SquarePants Youve been given a gift, Peter. With great power, comes great responsibility.—Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker in Spider-Man 2 Smokey, my friend, you are entering a world of pain.—John Goodman as Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn!—Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind Ilsa, Im no good at being noble, but it doesnt take much to see that the problems of three little people dont amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday youll understand that. Now, now... Heres looking at you, kid.—Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in Casablanca And you, my father, there on the sad height,Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.Do not go gentle into that good night.Rage, rage against the dying of the light.—From Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Hey, you old bastard, Chick said. How you doin?  Chick came down the final two steps, pushed Tommy aside, grabbed Franciss hand, threw an arm around his shoulder, slapped his back. You old bastard,  Chick said. â€Å"Where you been?—From Very Old Bones by William Kennedy You made me love you,I didnt want to do it,I didnt want to do it.You made me want you.And all the time you knew it,I guess you always knew it.—From You Made Me Love You by James V. Monaco, lyrics  by Joseph McCarthy Sources Dunkling, Leslie. A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address. Routledge, 2008Collins, Paul. MFer. Salon.com. September 1, 2008Reisman, John M. Anatomy of Friendship. Ardent Media, 1979Van Leeuwen, Theo. Moving English: The Visual Language of Film in Redesigning English: New Texts, New Identities. Psychology Press,  1996Finnegan, Cara A. Studying Visual Modes of Public Address in The Handbook of Rhetoric and Public Address, edited by  Shawn J. Parry-Giles and  J. Michael Hogan. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2010