Affiliating With Jury: Analysis of Multimodal Graduation in Attorneys’ Closing Arguments

Abstract

graduation, a subsystem of appraisal in the stratum of interpersonal discourse in systemic functional linguistics (SFL), functions to modulate meaning by degree. It emerges as a powerful linguistic tool for attorneys to establish rapport with their audience, especially with the jury during closing arguments. This research draws upon five criminal cases related to police violence in law enforcement in the United States, employing an integrated qualitative and quantitative analysis approach to explore how both attorneys utilize multimodal graduation through the integration of verbal, vocal, and visual conduct to affiliate with the jury. The findings reveal that attorneys utilize graduation, co-instantiating with attitude and coupling with other semiotic resources such as voice and gesture, to amplify negative attitudes toward the opposing party and positive attitudes toward their own stance. This strategic use of multimodal graduation influences the enactment of the social relations with the jury who hold the authority to determine guilt in a case. The significance of this study lies in its potential to advance the understanding of legal advocacy strategies in institutional discourse, particularly in cases involving police violence.