Discourse and Rhetoric: A Study of Pakistani English Newspapers' Editorials (original) (raw)

2018, Discourse and Rhetoric: A Study of Pakistani English Newspapers' Editorials

This particular study aims at exploring the use of rhetorical devices from the editorials of Pakistani English newspapers. For this purpose, data was collected from three Pakistani English newspapers The News, Dawn, and The Nation. Using purposive sampling technique, 36 editorials were selected; 12 editorials from each newspaper, which were published on the coverage of Panama Leaks from April 2016 to December 2016. In order to find out the answers of research questions, mixed method approach was applied. Findings revealed that the editorial writers have employed eight rhetorical devices namely Parallelism, Antithesis, Simile, Metonymy, Hyperbole, Metaphor, Neologism and Rhetorical question commonly in their individual discourse to persuade the readers, while Oxymoron and Allusion were rarely used. Results of Chi-Square revealed statistically significant frequency differences in the use of rhetorical devices. The total frequency of Rhetorical devices was found higher in Dawn as compared to The News and The Nation. Metonymy was found most frequently used rhetorical device in three newspapers. Hyperbole was second and rhetorical question was third frequently used rhetorical device in three newspapers. From the perspective of pedagogy, the results of current study can provide English foreign language teachers and students with the knowledge about the use of rhetoric in the genre of newspapers' editorials. Therefore, editorials can be used as a source for writing persuasive and argumentative essays. This study would be helpful for general masses to make them aware that how the use of rhetoric in newspaper's discourse manipulate them according to the desired ideologies of Newspapers. This Research would also be valuable for the future researchers, especially for those who are interested in exploring the newspaper discourse, with particular focus on the genre of Editorial, as they can further explore the use of rhetoric in comparison to foreign newspapers' editorials.