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Comparative Studies of Rhetoric in English
Comparative Studies of Rhetoric in English
By
Sheng Shumin
English department
School of Foreign Studies
Nanjing University
April 2006
Acknowledgments
I wish to express my sincere thanks to Professor Chen Xinren for his guidance
and encouragements as well as his patience for modifying my thesis. I would also like
to thank all of my roommates, 6 English majors of Nanjing University, for their active
participation in this study. Last but not least, my thanks go to my best friend Shen Yu
for her valuable advice and all of my friends for their support when I was struggling
in the middle of writing the thesis.
Abstract
Rhetorical devices are frequently used in newspaper headlines as an effective
way to impress the reader. According to previous researchers, compared with the use
of rhetoric in English headlines, rhetoric in Chinese headlines is more flexible and its
frequency is higher, too (Guo Ke, 1995). To testify Guo’s result, this study analyzes
the data collected from two newspapers: People’s Daily and USA TODAY. 395
headlines are collected and studied according to their types. The study turns out
different results from Guo’s. The major findings of this study are summarized as
follows:
First, figures of speech appear more frequently in English headlines than in
Chinese ones, which contradicts with Guo’s conclusion. Meanwhile, the comparison
between rhetoric in different columns shows that rhetorical devices are least adopted
in headlines of international and national news. Besides, of all the rhetorical devices
used in headlines, metaphor is most frequently applied.
The study is significant …
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Table of Contents iv
List of Tables vi
Introduction 1
Part One Literature Review 1
1.1 Overview 1
1.2 Problems with previous studies 2
Part Two Methodology 3
2.1 Research questions 3
2.2 Subjects 3
2.3 Data Collection and Data Analysis 4
Part Three Results and Discussion 5
3.1 Comparison across columns 5
3.2 Comparison across languages 6
3.3 Comparison across types of rhetoric 7
Part Four Conclusion 10
References 12
List of Tables
2.2 Subjects
Date used in this study is collected from two newspapers: People’s Daily and USA
TODAY. People’s Daily is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China. As one of the most authoritative comprehensive daily
newspapers, People’s Daily has the second largest circulation in China. In 2005, its
average daily circulation reached 2.509 million, the ninth largest one in the world.
There are 16 pages for each weekday and 8 pages for the weekend. The paper has
mainly six columns: international news, national news, economy, culture, sports, and
education.
USA TODAY is the top-selling newspaper in America. It is published via satellite
at 36 locations in the USA and at four sites abroad. With a total average daily
circulation of 2.301 million in 2005, USA TODAY had the thirteenth largest daily
circulation in the world. On average there are about 60 pages every day, divided in 4
major sections: national and international news, economy, sports, and life.
The headlines collected in People’s Daily dated November 28th, November 29th,
and November 30th in 2005. The headlines collected in USA TODAY appeared on
October 30th, October 31st, and November 1st in 2005.
People’s Daily and USA TODAY are chosen as the sources of this study mainly
due to their large daily circulations, authority, and national popularity. Besides, their
focuses and structures are similar. Thus, similarities and distinctions about the usage
of rhetoric in headlines can be specifically demonstrated and the comparison may
reveal the features of all Chinese and American top newspaper headlines.
Table 1.1 Information about People’s Daily and USA TODAY
Columns International Culture
& &
Economy Sports Total
Newspaper National News Education
People’s Daily 74 44 28 33 179
USA TODAY 36 53 85 42 216
References
[1] Guo, Ke. (1995). Comparison between Chinese and English news titles. Foreign
Languages, Vol.98, No.4.
[2] Guo, Xiangju. (1996). Discussion on features of English news titles. Journal of
Hebei Normal University, Vol.19, No.1.
[3] Huang Ren. (1999). English Rhetoric-An Introduction. Shanghai: Shanghai
Foreign Language Education Press.
[4] Li Guonan. (1999). Contrastive Studies of Figure of Speech in English and
Chinese, Fujian: Fujian People’s Press.
[5] Turner,G. W. (1975). Journalism. The English Journal, Vol.64, No.1, 67-68.
[6] Wu Ping. (2001). A Comparative Study of English & Chinese Rhetorical Devices.
Anhui: Anhui Education Press.
[7] Zhou, Mingqiang. (2004). The linguistic features of news titles. Modification
Study, Vol.125, No.5.
[8]李元授、白丁,《新闻语言学》,北京:新华出版社,2001,159-184
[9]刘路,《新闻标题论》,北京:中国社会科学出版社,2002,(3):96-99
[10]张志君、徐建华,《新闻标题的艺术》,北京:语文出版社,1998,36-38