| Chinese abstract | 第1-5页 |
| English abstract | 第5-9页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第9-15页 |
| ·General statement | 第9-10页 |
| ·Previous studies on Appraisal Theory | 第10-13页 |
| ·Appraisal Theory research abroad | 第10-12页 |
| ·Appraisal Theory research in China | 第12-13页 |
| ·Application in presidential election speeches | 第13-14页 |
| ·Organization of the thesis | 第14-15页 |
| Chapter 2 Political speeches | 第15-22页 |
| ·Speeches and political speeches | 第15-16页 |
| ·Previous studies on political speeches | 第16-18页 |
| ·Presidential election speeches | 第18-22页 |
| Chapter 3 Theoretical base: the Appraisal Theory | 第22-37页 |
| ·The origin of Appraisal Theory | 第22-24页 |
| ·The framework of Appraisal Theory | 第24-37页 |
| ·Attitude | 第24-31页 |
| ·Engagement | 第31-34页 |
| ·Graduation | 第34-37页 |
| Chapter 4 Research design | 第37-41页 |
| ·Research questions | 第37页 |
| ·Hypotheses | 第37-38页 |
| ·Data collection | 第38-39页 |
| ·Research method | 第39-40页 |
| ·The significance of this research | 第40-41页 |
| Chapter 5 Contrastive Analyses in the two texts | 第41-68页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Attitude in the two texts | 第41-55页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Affect in the two texts | 第41-47页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Judgment in the two texts | 第47-51页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Appreciation in the two texts | 第51-55页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Engagement in the two texts | 第55-63页 |
| ·Distribution of Monogloss and Heterogloss in the two texts | 第56-57页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Monogloss in the two texts | 第57-58页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Heterogloss in the two texts. | 第58-63页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Graduation in the two texts | 第63-65页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Force in the two texts | 第63-64页 |
| ·Contrastive analysis of Focus in the two texts | 第64-65页 |
| ·Summary | 第65-68页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusion | 第68-70页 |
| Appendix I Obama’s speech | 第70-82页 |
| Appendix II McCain’s speech | 第82-89页 |
| References | 第89-94页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第94页 |
