Lecture-8-News-report(3)文體學(xué)新聞報導(dǎo)課件

1、1Lecture Eight News Report2News report refers to a general variety of language which functions to inform people what is happening in the region, country and the world by mass media. 3Field: variedpolitics, military affairs, economy, culture, medicine, science entertainment Mode: oral or written Pers

2、onal Tenor: jounalist vs masses , distantAn Analysis on Field, Tenor and Mode4functional tenor: The general function of all newspapers is to send news to the masses accurately and quickly. Different newspapers differ greatly:- formal and official: targetted at well-educated readership. The focus is

3、on accuracy and objectivity. - light, humorous and entertaining: to appeal to common readers with interesting events, anecdotes, stange events, etc. 58.1 General FeaturesWhether in oral or written form, due to limited time and space, news report has to use as little time or space as possible to conv

4、ey as much information as possible, for that purpose, it has to compress the information and select the most important part and 6 arrange the selected information from general to particular, first, the summary of the event, and then the more detailed account of the story be clear and interesting in

5、order to attract the audience. 78.2 Semantic FeaturesCompared with other varieties of language, news report has distinct semantic features as follows:1. Wide range of coverageNews report can cover any event in any field, whether specialized or non-specialized. There is virtually nothing that cannot

6、be a news focus.82. Stress on objectivity“To tell the truth” is the principle and goal of news report. Therefore, on the surface, news report appears to be partial or neutral in tone and stress facts.However, news report can still convey the attitude, the viewpoint and even prejudice of news reporte

7、r or editor through the arbitrary choice of material, as well as careful choice of words.93. Meaning contraction and deductive methodThe need to convey the most meaning within the least space and time makes meaning contraction necessary and important device in news report.It employs deductive method

8、, i.e. first providing the general knowledge and then the particular and detailed information.104. Clarity and Simple way of transition On the whole, the transition in newspaper is clear and simple for smooth reading and understanding of readers.This is achieved by directly expressing the meaning an

9、d through the obvious relatedeness between paragraphs within a story, or with the use of connectives such as also, on the other hand, meanwhile, etc. 11 by reference to previous subject matter, as is shown in 7.1 on P111A Philippine Airlines planeThe Airbus A320The plane and several people were take

10、n to a hospitalSome have only anxiety reaction 128.3 Distincitive Text Structures 8.3.1. Three-part structure and sequence of logical orderThe prominent characteristic of news report in terms of text structure is its three-part structure: headline; introduction / guide / lead the body. See example 7

11、.1 on P111 13In terms of sequence, news report always tells the most important things first. The events are seldomly arranged in time order. Instead, they are in the order of their “newsworthiness”, with the most noteworthy flashed before the reader in the headline and the guide/ lead, as contrasted

12、 with the body of the story. 14 Therefore, the relationship among the three is from general to particular. The headline is more general than the guide/lead, which is more general than the main body. In other words,the guide/lead can be seen as further explanation of the headline, and at the same tim

13、e as a summary of the main body. The even more detailed information is provided by the main body. 15This way of writing is called Highlighting Method, and the order in which newsworthy facts are orgabnized is called logical order. The order of importance is measured by reader appeal. This is the ess

14、ential difference between journalistic writing and ordinary narrative prose.(The narrative prose writer usurally follows time order and gradually builds a climax. )161. Headline Any news must contain a headline. Sometimes, a subtitle is added to the headline as an optional element. See examples 7.2-

15、7.4 on P112 17The basic structure of the headline is a sentence, simple or complex (7.6 on P112). It is very important to make headline novel, simple, unique and immediate so as to arouse readers interest in reading on. for that purpose, headlines are most noted for:1) frequent occurrence of minor s

16、entences, including18 ellipitical sentences so as to shorten the length and to be more concise and comprehensive. The ommitted part(s) include: subject-predicate: as in 7.7 on P112 predicate: as in 7.8 on P113 articles, link verb or auxiliary verb: as in 7.9, 7.10 on P11319More examples:China Launch

17、es (a) Space SatelliteNavy Harrassment Probe (was) Stymied(The Number of ) Homicide (Now Stands) 3 Times National Average20 ing-forms:E.g. Cutting Through the Gobbledygook Hitting the Books, Beating the Olds infinitive for future happeningsRain to Continue Through TomorrowChinese Relics to Be Shown

18、in Europe212) using present tense to convey a sense of freshness and immediacy of an event:Third Grader Dies as Car jumps Burb at OHare Fat Babies Cry Less, Says DoctorSailor Saves Women in Crash7.11 on P113223) wide use of rhetorical devices: see 7.12 on P113No Funny, No Money (parody)Strong Messag

19、e, Wrong Messenger (antithesis)Survivingand Thriving: Willie dancing at 1000 (rhyme)Britons Rejoice at Birth of Royal Boy (alliteration)23The Poison of Professional PoliticsIt Doesnt Rock, Rattle or RollReagans Gang of Four Moves in on the Fed (alluding)Twinkle, Twinkle That is the Star (about the t

20、abloid Stars accusation of Bill Clintons infidelity) (alluding)Men Recommended More Clubs for Wives (pun) 242. the Guide /lead The guide/lead refers to the opening paragraph of the news. Ideally every news story should answer the questions: who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?. And they should be a

21、nswered as quickly as possible. However, the guide/lead tends to focus on one or two “Ws” which are more important than the others. 25The guide has the following characteristics: Compact syntactic structure: see 7.13 , 7.14on P114 nominalization: a clause is contracted into a noun phrase with a lot

22、of modificationsE.g. Trade relations between the European Community and the Clinton Administrationsee 7.15, 7.16 on P114 263. Main body General pattern: from general to specific in the order of descending newsworthiness short paragraphs: one or two sentences in each paragraphSee example 7.17 on P114

23、-115 278.4 Grammatical Feature1. meaning contraction through nominalizationThis feature is especially prominent with guide, i.e. the clauses are contracted into a phrase by converting the verb into the head noun and all the other elements into modifiers. 28Example 7.20 on P117 can be rewritten into

24、the following:7.20a The company Sear was forced to retreat to its core retail business because shopping malls and discount stores competted fiercely with it and because its own management responded torpidly to the competition. However, analysts predicted that this would not prosper. 29Due to nominal

25、ization, the resulting nominal phrase becomes much complex with long pre-and post-modification E.g.7.20 on P117. And consequently, the meaning is highly contracted. 307.21 can be re-written as follows:7.21a The darkness of the companys office building that is located at the edge of the town casts sh

26、adow over Mr. Colub, the top leader of the company which has been set up for 142 years, who was born in Brookyn and who could only speak bluntly (when talking about the companys future.) The puns used in the sentence also help to make it contracted in meaning and should be given attention to later.

27、312. ObjectivityIn the main body of the news,the following grammatical devices are adopted to make news report believable and objective: use of simple verbal groups and simple tense forms: verbal phrases are mostly composed of one or two elements. And simple past tense and some present tense form do

28、minate in news report. See 7.22, 7.23 32 Frequent use of direct speechThe use of direct speech can enhance the credibility of news report. The directly quotated speech can be regarded as basis of facts.See 7.24, 7.2533 frequent use of inverted sentence structure as a result of frequent direct or ind

29、irect quotationWhen the source of authority is used at the end of the sentence, inverted sentence structure will often be used. For instance,The suspect was arrested on the scene, police said. Or evenThe suspect was arrested on the scene, said the police.34Other typical examples are: , explained the

30、 teacher , laughed the Mayor, shrugged a Defence Department officialWhen the sentence is not inverted, the conjunction is still deleted, as inPolice said the suspect was arrested on the scene. 353. Concreteness and DetailednessJournalists often provides readers with background information and detail

31、s by using parenthesis. 7.26 on P118 364. Vividness Direct speech and present tense: 7.27 alternative use of long, short, elliptical or even incomplete statement-type sentences, especially in feature articles, so as to give variety to the rhythm of the article. 37And the cost of removing last winter

32、s mountainous snows has strained the budgets of some localities in the Northeast and Midwest. No so, however, in the Sunbelt.His parents were great peole, of course, but their way of living was too materialistic. All they thought about was work, make the payments on a house, and gripe about inflatio

33、n. Not for him. He had discovered a new freedom of thought. 388.5 Lexical FeaturesThe general trend in news report is to use standard, simple, fresh, accurate and vivid words. 1. Wide use of neologisms: for eye-catching effect, newspaper report tends to use words in a new and original way, or for th

34、at matter to coin them. Here are some types that occur frequently in newspaper report: 39 words with extended meaning, such as Koreas Pentagon (Ministry of Defence), Japanese Watergate (political scandal), Bakers shuttle diplomacy (his busy come-and-go of diplomatic intercourse)40 Nonce words: as in

35、The official government position still inclines to delay the most difficult decisions as long as possiblethe old time-is-on-our-side attitude.She can be Miss Something-or-other.It was a do-anything-to-keep-your-life situation.41Reaganomics (Reagans economics) money-wise (with regard to money) superc

36、rat (bureaucrat in the highest position) bells (pants with wide flaring bottoms)egg (bomb)42 words borrowed extensively from sports, military, commerce, science and technology, gambling, etc; as inDr. Kissingers sales trips (his shuttle) in the Middle East are really necessary.It is even less certai

37、n that the Congress would back him in a showdown with Mr. Gegin.Cast-iron proof was given to show that he was innocent. 432. Short Journalese phrase and set expressionsWith long time of use, many short common words have acquired a special flavour of journalistic writing. 44Some examples of journalis

38、tic words are :aid for help back- support boost - increase check controlcut reduce drive campaigndrop abandon goal objectivehail - celebrate hold arresthit reach loom appearlink connect near - approach45probe investigation riot - disturbance stance stand tie relationunveil - make known woo - seek to

39、 winCommonly used set expressions: according to eyewitness, with guarded reserve, on the brink of a breakthrough, no comment, no so, not yet, etc. 463. Extensive use of abbreviationsOwing to space limit, newspaper reporting makes wide use of clipped words, blends, initialism, and acronyms, such as G

40、ovt, ad, auto, coke, Jap (Japanese), nuke (nuclear weapon), telecast (broadcast on TV), ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation), EEC (European Economic Community), etc.474. Avoidance of unobjective wordingMost noteworthy is the objective stance taken by the news reporter. The journalist does not use

41、 I, me, my, us, or our in a news story except when quoting someone. Phrases in a news story, whether favourable or unfavorable, about a person, palce or thing, should be factual, not tinged with the personal opinion or feelings of the reporter. 48E.g. Instead of He is well qualified for the position

42、.The decision was unjust.The speaker said our city was a nice little townWe haveHe is a graduate of Michigan and has ten years of experience.Black leaders said the decision was unjust.The speaker said Cleveland was a nice little town.498.6 Graphological Features In news report, various graphological

43、 devices are fully explored to achieve desired effects, i.e. to be interesting so as to catch readers eyes. 1. Ways of arranging headlines:1) Flush-left: 7.28 on P1192) Dropped-line: 7.293) Short line followed by a long line: 7.30 504) A long line followed by a short line: 7.31or several lines with

44、the top line being the longest, and the other lines shortened in proper order to form a inverted pyramid, as For Reagon Williamsburg was a political smash but an economic fizzle515) Concave / centered form: a head occupying several lines that are placed in the middle of respective lines, as in 7.32,

45、 or asSisley-struckwith hisimpressions6) Convex form: 7.33 on P120522. Characteristic use of punctuation 1) Inverted commas are frequently used for direct, or indirect quotation, or to spot light terms for particular attention; 53e.g.Because of closing ranks and obfuscation on the part of most who a

46、ttendedDescribing the lurid scenes of public sex, squadron(海軍中隊） hospitality suites where strippers and pronographic film provided the entertainment. 542) Dashes are also often used to mark parenthetic phrases.E.g. Navy offcials said yesterday it was unlikely that more than a handfuland perhaps as f

47、ew as one or twowould suffer any serious punishment for their role in the misconduct.55 to link aftethoughts with the main part of the sentence as found in informal writing.E.g.Wilkins said the King case reminded him of the Civil Rights era struggle for equal protection under the lawbut only on the

48、surface.56Apart from above devices, letters of different sizes, style, form, spatial arrangement, (e.g. a hot news typically appears in the front page. ) paragraphing are also commonly used in news papers to give prominence and achieve desired effects.A Case StudyChinese oil giant learns BP spill le

49、ssonBEIJING - Chinas largest offshore oil company is doing its best to ensure that its production facilities at sea do not repeat the mistakes of BP, which is still struggling to contain the disastrous Gulf of Mexico spill, a senior company official said on Sunday.The company has ordered checks on e

50、very offshore oil and gas project to ensure safety, said Zhou Shouwei, vice-president of China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC). We are making every effort to make sure this (oil spill) does not happen.“ 57Among improvements to technological capabilities for safety enhancement, CNOOC has started u

51、pgrading the blowout preventer (BOP) system of its 3,000-m deepwater oil-drilling rig which is being built in Shanghai, Zhou said.After modification, the BOP is expected to shut down automatically when there is an accident.CNOOC will also upgrade its deepwater diving equipment in the next five years

52、, which will allow divers to work at 1,500-2,000 m under water - up from the current 800-m levels - to improve operations and repair capabilities. from China Daily58General AnalysisField: news reportsocial, measures of Chinas largest oil company to avoid oil spillMode: written reportTenor: formal, a

53、ccurate and objectivePersonal tenor: journalists and masses, remote relationshipsFunctional tenor: the news is on China Daily, an official news paper, the focus is on accuracy and objectivity.59Semantic Features1. objectivity: Frequent quotation from company authorities functions to make the report

54、objective. A positive attitude is conveyed through the careful choice of words.2. Meaning contraction: The information is arranged from general to specific and the meaning is expressed directly with easy transition to the readers to achieve clarity. 60Text Structure1. Headline: “Chinese oil giant le

55、arns BP spill lesson”The headline is a complete sentence, using present tense for past event.2. Guide: the first paragraph complex sentence structure in inverted sentence order: It is three-level complex sentence, with the main clause putting in the end.61the guide is a further explanation to the he

56、adline, providing further information about the key terms, such as Chinese oil giant (Chinas largest offshore oil company ), BP spill lesson (the mistakes of BP, which is still struggling to contain the disastrous Gulf of Mexico spill), news source (a senior company official said on Sunday), etc. Ma

57、in Body: para.2-5 the main body follows the logical order, namely from general to specific.62Syntactic Features1. meaning contraction: e.g. in the lead, complicated sentence structure and heavily modification are adopted to squeeze as mush information as possible into one sentence.632. objectivity: frequent use of direct and indirect speech to show the information source e.g. “a senior company official said on Sunday”, “said Zhou Shouwei, vice-president of China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC)”. We are making every effort to make sure this (oil spill) does not happen. “zhou sa