A Pragmatic Study of Directive Speech Acts Used by Characters in War for the Planet of the Apes Movie Script

Abstract

This study aims to examine the use of directive speech acts in the movie script “War for the Planet of the Apes”, analyze their frequency, and identify the contextual factors that influence the speakers’ use of these acts. Using a qualitative research method with a descriptive approach, this study has found 57 data containing directive speech acts to be categorized into seven different types based on Searle (1979), including command, suggestion, request, invitation, begging, forbidding, and warning. The type of directive speech act that appears the most is command (49.1%), which shows that the script of “War for the Planet of the Apes" is very thick with military style and authority. The least frequent type is forbidding (3.5%), reflecting that this movie script focuses more on positive directives than negative ones. This research contributes to pragmatic studies by showing that directive speech acts play a significant role in creating screenplays and offer scriptwriters insight into how to create inviting narratives through linguistic strategies.