| Acknowledgements | 第6-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7-8页 |
| 摘要 | 第10-14页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第14-19页 |
| 1.1 Introduction to Petitioning | 第14-15页 |
| 1.2 Research Background | 第15页 |
| 1.3 Objectives of the Study | 第15-16页 |
| 1.4 Significance of the Study | 第16-17页 |
| 1.5 Organization of the Thesis | 第17-19页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第19-26页 |
| 2.1 Previous Studies of Petitioning Abroad | 第19-23页 |
| 2.2 Previous Studies of Petitioning in China | 第23-24页 |
| 2.3 Problems Identified with Previous Studies | 第24-26页 |
| Chapter Three Theoretical Preliminaries | 第26-37页 |
| 3.1 Speech Act Theory | 第27-32页 |
| 3.2 Online Petitioning as a Speech Act | 第32-34页 |
| 3.3 Imposition and Mitigation Devices | 第34-37页 |
| Chapter Four The Canonical Speech Acts Realizing the Goals of Petitioning | 第37-66页 |
| 4.1 Demanding | 第37-45页 |
| 4.2 Requesting | 第45-52页 |
| 4.3 Appealing | 第52-57页 |
| 4.4 Advising | 第57-66页 |
| Chapter Five Intensity of the Canonical Speech Acts and Mitigation Devices | 第66-74页 |
| 5.1 Degrees of Intensity and Imposition | 第66-67页 |
| 5.2 Mitigation Devices | 第67-74页 |
| 5.2.1 Ordering of an Utterance | 第68-70页 |
| 5.2.2 Indirect Utterances | 第70-71页 |
| 5.2.3 Implicature of Words | 第71-74页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusion | 第74-79页 |
| 6.1 Findings of the study | 第74-76页 |
| 6.2 Limitations of the study | 第76-77页 |
| 6.3 Suggestions for the Future Study | 第77-79页 |
| Bibliography | 第79-83页 |
