Lecture 6 Newspaper Article
Interpretation
References:
- Galperin, I.R. Stylistics. M.:
Higher School, 1977. – 332 p.
- Работа с англоязычным газетным текстом = Features of English Newspaper Articles : метод. рекомендации для студентов /сост. : Ю.В. Маслов, М.Е. Маслова, Н.И. Захарченя. – Барановичи: РИО БарГУ, 2008. – 78 с.
- Знаменская, Т.А. Стилистика английского языка. Основы курса: учеб. пособие. – М., 2004. – 208 с.
- Verdonk, P. Stylistics. – OUP, 2003. – 124 p.
Plan:
- English newspaper style.
- Vocabulary
of English newspaper.
- Basic newspaper features:
- Brief
news items;
- Advertisements
and announcements;
- Editorial;
- The headline.
- English newspaper writing dates
from the 17th century. At the close of the 16th century short news pamphlets began to appear. They appeared only from time to time and cannot be classed
as newspapers. As far back as the middle of the 18th century the British newspaper was very much like
what it is today, carrying on its pages news, both foreign and domestic,
advertisements, announcements and articles containing comments.
The rise of the American newspaper, which was brought
onto American soil by British settlers, dates back to the late 17th,
early 18th centuries.
It took the English newspaper
more than a century to establish a style and a standard of its own. And it is only by the 19th
century that newspaper English may be said to have developed into a
system of language media, forming a separate functional style.
Not all the printed matter
found in newspaper comes under newspaper style.
Stories
and poems, crossword puzzles, chess problems and the like serve the purpose of entertaining the reader, but
they cannot be considered specimens of newspaper style.
News and comment on it, press reports
and articles, advertisements and announcements (newspaper printed matter) perform the function
of informing the reader and providing him with the evaluation of the
information published that can be regarded as belonging to newspaper
style.
Thus, English newspaper style may be defined as a system of interrelated lexical,
phraseological and grammatical means which is perceived by the community
as a separate linguistic unity that serves the purpose of informing
and instructing the reader (Galperin, p. 297).
Information
and evaluation co-exist in the modern English newspaper. But in
most of the basic newspaper 'genres' one of the two functions prevails
(e.g. news is essentially informative; the editorial (leading article
or leader) is basically evaluative).
Information in the English newspaper is conveyed, in the 1st place, through the medium of:
- brief news items, newspaper feature articles;
- press reports (parliamentary,
of court proceedings, etc.),
- articles (purely informational in character),
- advertisements and announcements.
The newspaper also seeks to influence public opinion on political and other
matters. Elements of appraisal may be observed:
- in the very selection and way
of presentation of news;
- in the use of specific vocabulary
(e.g. allege, claim – cast doubt on the facts reported);
- in syntactic constructions indicating a lack of assurance
on the part of the reporter as to the correctness of the facts reported
or his desire to avoid responsibility (e.g. 'Mr. X. was said to have
opposed the proposal; Mr. X was quoted saying…');
- the headlines carry a considerable amount of appraisal (the size
and arrangement of the headline, the use of emotionally coloured words
and elements of emotive syntax), thus indicating the interpretation
of the facts in the news item that follows;
- the editorial (characterized by a subjective handling of facts;
The ratio of the informative and the evaluative varies
substantially from article to article.
The structure
of a newspaper article is as follows:
- the title;
- the subtitle;
- the beginning of an article;
- the body of an article;
- the ending.
The text
that follows the headline is characterized by:
- a careful subdivision into paragraphs;
- every paragraph has a key sentence that expresses its main idea. The sentence keeps key words. Identifying and understanding these words is a way to understanding the article;
- a clearly defined position
of the sections of an article: the most important information
is given in the opening paragraph, often in the first sentence;
- quite often namely the first paragraph works as a summary
of the whole article;
- to capture the attention of the reader and keep it through the whole article the latter should be distinctly logical, sequenced, and rather short. As a result paragraphs often consist of one sentence
only (the so-called 'blow-by-blow' effect, when each paragraph provides short but exact
information on the topic of the article). This helps to understand
and remember the information;
- to make the article more comprehensible
and readable, and to evoke some emotional response of the reader
(shock, disappointment, anger, amusement, excitement) authors use different techniques: parallel constructions, enumeration, infinitives,
participles, gerunds, words and their combinations given in inverted
commas (to underline certain expressions), citations, synonyms, imperative sentences, interjections, metaphors,
idioms, epithets, etc.
- the use of proper names, geographical names,
names of enterprises, organizations, institutions, statistics, references to the latter serves as a means of making
the article look true-to-life, the information in which is not
distorted;
- the use of abbreviations and acronyms (mostly explained in the first paragraphs, and later
occurring in the article without explanations);
- the use of clichés, such as introductory words which indicate the resource of information (it is reported,
it is claimed, our correspondent reports from, according to well-known
sources…) and set expressions with trite imagery (to set the tone, to throw light,
to lay the corner-stone, to give the lie);
- the use of photos, cartoons that may indicate the subject-matter of an article.
2. The bulk of the vocabulary used in the newspaper
writing is neutral and common literary. But apart from
this, newspaper style has its specific vocabulary features and is characterized
by:
- Terminological variety (political, economic, scientific, sport, technical);
- Newspaper
clichés and set phrases, i.e. stereotyped expressions, commonplace phrases familiar
to the reader (e.g. Vital issue, pressing problem, overwhelming majority,
amid stormy applause). Clichés more than anything else reflect the traditional manner
of expression in newspaper writing. They prompt the necessary associations
and prevent ambiguity and misunderstanding.
- Abbreviations and acronyms. Among them abbreviated terms – names of organizations, public and state bodies,
political associations, industrial and other companies, various offices,
etc. – known by their initials are very common, e.g. UNO
(United Nations Organization), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), EEC (European Economic Community), FO (Foreign
Office), etc.
- Neologisms. The newspaper is very quick to react to any new
development in the life of society, in science and technology. Hence,
neologisms make their way into the language of the newspaper very easily and very often even spring up on newspaper
pages.
- Numerous
proper names, toponyms, anthroponyms, names of enterprises;
- International
words;
- Dates and
figures;
- Abstract
notion words;
- In headlines – frequent
use of pun, violated phraseology, vivid stylistic devices.
The language of newspapers
is alert to reflect changes and innovations taking place in lexis as
a result of changes in the society.
- The basic newspaper features are:
- brief news items;
- advertisements and announcements,
- the editorial,
- the headline.
A. The principal function of a brief news item is to inform the reader.
It states facts without comments, the evaluation is unemotional as a
rule.
The basic peculiarities of
news items lie in their syntactical structure. The size of brief news items varies from one sentence
to several (short) paragraphs. The shorter the news item –
the more complex is its syntactical structure.
Grammatical
peculiarities of brief news items:
- Specific
word-order. The word-order in one-sentence news paragraphs and in what are called 'leads' (the initial sentences
in longer news items) is more or less fixed. Journalistic practice has
developed what is called the 'five w and h pattern rule'
(who, what, why, how, where, when) and for a long time strictly adhered to it. In terms of grammar this fixed sentence structure
may be expressed in the following manner: Subject – Predicate – (+Object) – Adverbial modifier of reason (manner) – Adverbial modifier of place –Adverbial modifier of time,
e.g. 'A neighbour's peep through a letter box led to the finding of a woman
dead from gas and two others semiconscious in a block of council flats
in Eccles New Road, Salford, Lancs., yesterday'.
However, in a half of all
cases the traditional word order is violated.
- Complex sentences with a developed system
of clauses:
e.g. 'Mr. Boyd-Carpenter, Chief secretary to the Treasury
and Paymaster-General (Kingston-upon-Thames), said he had been asked
what was meant by the statement in the Speech that the position of war
pensioners and those receiving national insurance benefits would be kept under close
review' .
- Verbal
constructions (infinitive, participial, gerundial) and verbal noun constructions,
e.g. 'Mr. Nabusuke Kishi, the former Prime Minister of Japan, has sought
to set an example to the faction-ridden Governing Liberal Democratic
Party by announcing the disbanding of his own faction numbering 47 of
the total of 295 conservative members of the Lower House of the Diet'.
- Attributive
noun groups,
e.g. 'heart swap patient', the national income and expenditure figures'.
- Syntactical
complexes, especially the nominative with the infinitive (largely used to avoid mentioning the source of information
or to shun responsibility for the facts reported),
e.g.: 'The condition of Lord Samuel, aged 92, was said last night to be
a 'little better'.
Lexical
peculiarities:
- Stereotyped
forms of expression prevail.
- The language
is stylistically neutral, devoid if emotional colouring. Some papers, however, especially those classed among
'mass' or 'popular' papers, tend to introduce emotionally coloured lexical units into essentially matter-of-fact news stories:
e.g. 'Health Minister Kenneth Robinson made this shock announcement yesterday
in the Commons'; 'Defense Secretary Roy Mason yesterday gave a rather
frosty reception in the commons to the latest proposal for a common
defence policy for all EEC countries'.
B. Advertisements and announcements
Their principal
function is also to inform the reader. There are two basic types of advertisements and
announcements in the modern English newspaper:
1. classified (various kinds of information are arranged according
to the subject-matter into sections, each bearing an appropriate name
(births, marriages, deaths, in memoriam, business offers, personal,
etc.);
The peculiar brevity of expression is a stylistic feature of advertisements and announcements
which may take a variety of forms:
e.g. TRAINED NURSE with child 2 years seeks post London
preferred. – Write Box C. 658, The Times, E.C. 4.
- non-classified.
Here there is no call for brevity, as the advertiser may buy as much space as he chooses.
In non-classified advertisements and announcements the reader's attention is attracted by every
possible means:
- typographical;
- graphical;
- stylistic;
- both lexical and syntactical.
C. The Editorial
The function
of the editorial is to influence the reader by giving an interpretation
of certain facts (political and other events of the day). Their purpose
is to give the editor's opinion and interpretation
of the news published and suggest to the reader that it is the correct one.
They contain different strata of vocabulary to enhance the emotional effect:
- emotionally
coloured language elements (lexical and structural),
- colloquial
words and expressions,
- slang,
- professionalisms.
Emotional colouring in editorial
articles is achieved with the help of various stylistic devices, both lexical
and syntactical.
- trite metaphors,
- epithets (a stylistic device based on the interplay of emotive
and logical meaning of an attributive word or phrase used to characterize
an object so as to give an individual perception and evaluation
of some features or properties, e.g. wild wind, heart-burning smile, animal panic),
- periphrases,
- clichés.
But genuine stylistic means
are also sometimes used, which proves to be a powerful means
of appraisal, of expressing a personal attitude to the matter in hand.
Two types of allusions (an indirect reference to a well-known
person, place, event, literary work, or work of art) can be distinguished
in newspaper article writing:
- allusions to political and
other facts of the day, which are indispensable and have no stylistic value, and
- historical, literary and biblical
allusions which are often used to create a specific stylistic effect,
largely – satirical.
The emotional force of expression
in the editorial is often enhanced by the use of various syntactical stylistic devices:
- parallel
constructions (the repetition of identical or similar syntactic elements
(word or word type, phrase, clause),
- various types of repetition,
- rhetorical
questions (a question asked for effect, to which no response
is expected), etc.
Stylistic devices in editorials are mostly trite. Original forms of expression
and genuine stylistic means are comparatively rare. However, the editorials
in different papers vary in degree of emotional colouring and stylistic
originality of expression.
D. The headline is the title given
to a news item or an article.
The main
function of the headline is to inform the reader briefly what the text
that follows is about. And meanwhile to attract the attention of the reader (graphical
and stylistic devices are used).
Moreover, headlines often contain elements of appraisal,
i.e. they show the reporter's or the paper's attitude to the facts reported
or commented on, thus also performing the function of instructing the reader.
As a rule, headlines consist of a 'headline'
proper (banner headline) printed in big letters (gives the most crucial idea
of an article) and a 'lead' consisting of a few lines
printed in smaller letters (in just a few lines it provides a short
summary of an article).
The practices of headline writing are
different with different newspapers. In many papers there is, as a rule, but one headline to a news item, whereas such
papers as The Times, The Guardian, The New York Times
often carry a news item or an article with two or three headlines, and sometimes as
many as four. Such group headlines may be practically a summary of the information
contained in the news item or article or just bright words and expressions
(usually short and emotionally coloured (Murdered, Sticky Business,
Catastrophic).
English headlines are short and catching. To attract the reader's attention they make use
of a wide range of techniques and devices:
- abbreviations may make the understanding hard, but they are usually
explained in the article. The most widely used abbreviations are not explained. Abbreviations may be of the following
kinds:
- Names of
parties, professional unions, organizations and posts (e.g. TO LOBBY THEIR MP – THE PM (MP = Member of Parliament, PM = Prime Minister); Names of international organizations (e.g. UN = United Nations, ECM = European Common Market, NATO
= North Atlantic Treaty Organization);
- Abbreviations
of surnames or nicknames of well-known political or social activists (FDR = Franklin Delano Roosevelt; GBS = George Bernard
Shaw; RLS = Robert Louis Stevenson);
- Abbreviations
of geographical names (S.P. = South Pacific, L.A. = Los Angeles, SF = San
Francisco, Ont. = Ontario).
- graphical
means (headlines are published in bigger and brighter type
or a type different from the one used in the article);
- emotionally coloured (colloquial, slang) words and phrases create the effect of unexpectedness (e.g. End this Bloodbath; Roman Catholic Priest sacked);
- direct
speech, citations make the article look up-to-date (e.g. Don't Turn Your Backs on Us, Leaders of Former Yugoslavia Plead with Brussels);
- idiomatic
expressions;
- deliberate
breaking-up of set expressions and deformation of special terms (e.g. Cakes and Bitter Ale);
- alliteration and assonance attract the readers and help to remember the titles (e.g. Miller in Maniac Mood, Beware Bites Abroad, Patten's Top Jobs);
- rhyme in newspapers mostly appears between two words following
one another which makes the heading intriguing and catching(Oregon Ruins Bruins in Their Den; Projection, Inflection, Election);
- parallel constructions are characterized by rhythm (Caroline Sees Russians and Usher sees Reds);
- metaphors,
epithets, metonymies, similies make headings look striking and catching (Tender Embrace That Spans 99 Years);
- allusions. Their aim is to reflect a certain idea in a short and descriptive way and evoke certain
associations in the reader (A Real-Life Greek Tragedy of the Onassis
Family; All is well That Ends Well in the Saga of the RSC's Stratford
Home);
- periphrasis expresses the authors attitude quite explicitly (the first lady – woman prime-minister, queen, or wife of a head of
a state);
- pun makes the heading look ironic and humorous, it may be black humour too (e.g. 'And what about Watt');