What is Direct Address in Grammar and Rhetoric?

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 that's 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 you're 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 you're 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 McCain's friending is a strategy that hearkens back to classical rhetoric. Horace's call to 'amici' performed a similar function in ancient Rome, and Tennyson's 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 "MF'er" 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 don't tell me you're not my friends, because nobody's 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

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Direct Speech Definition and Examples

By Richard Nordquist

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"

"You've 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 don't give a damn!"
—Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in "Gone With the Wind"

"Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Now, now... Here's 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 Francis's hand, threw an arm around his shoulder, slapped his back. 'You old bastard,' Chick said. “Where you been?'"
—From "Very Old Bones" by William Kennedy

"You made me love you,
I didn't want to do it,
I didn't 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, 2008
• Collins, Paul. "MF'er." Salon.com. September 1, 2008
• Reisman, John M. "Anatomy of Friendship." Ardent Media, 1979
• Van Leeuwen, Theo. "Moving English: The Visual Language of Film" in "Redesigning English: New Texts, New Identities." Psychology Press, 1996
• Finnegan, 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