Comparative Studies of Rhetoric in English

and Chinese Headlines

By
Sheng Shumin

Under the Supervision of

Professor Chen Xinren

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts

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 Guos result, this study analyzes
the data collected from two newspapers: Peoples Daily and USA TODAY. 395
headlines are collected and studied according to their types. The study turns out
different results from Guos. 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 Guos 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
Abstract
Table of Contents
List of Tables

ii
iii
iv
vi

Introduction
1
Part One Literature Review
1.1 Overview
1.2 Problems with previous studies
Part Two Methodology
2.1 Research questions
2.2 Subjects
2.3 Data Collection and Data Analysis
Part Three Results and Discussion
3.1 Comparison across columns
3.2 Comparison across languages
3.3 Comparison across types of rhetoric
Part Four Conclusion
References

1
1
2
3
3
3
4
5
5
6
7
10

12

List of Tables
Table 1.1 Information about Peoples Daily and USA TODAY
Table 3.1 Frequency of rhetoric in Chinese headlines
Table 3.2 Frequency of rhetoric in English headlines
Table 3.3 Frequency of rhetoric used in Chinese and English headlines
Table 3.4 Data of rhetoric used in different columns in Chinese headlines
Table 3.5 Data of rhetoric used in different columns in English headlines

Introduction
Rhetorical devices are frequently used in newspaper headlines as an effective
way to attract and impress the reader. According to previous researchers, compared
with the usage of rhetoric in English headlines, rhetoric in Chinese headlines is more
flexible and the frequency is higher, too (Guo Ke, 1995). Guo came to this conclusion
mainly according to his own observation and experience. He proved his view with
sporadic examples. To testify Guos claim, this study looks into the data collected
from two newspapers: Peoples Daily and USA TODAY. A total of 395 headlines are
collected and studied according to their types. Another purpose of this study is to
analyze the use of rhetorical devices in headlines.

Part One Literature Review

1.1 Overview
Among all the media, the newspaper has the longest history, originating from the
official newspaper in China (Liu Lu, 2002). Since it appeared, there have been many
studies concerning news. As newspapers are organs of opinion, the news the reporter
puts into the present-day paper exercises an influence on public opinion larger than
ever. Because the headline provides the most essential and valuable information to the
reader in fewest words, it plays a quite important role in news report (Zhang Zhijun,
1998).
Meanwhile, with the fast development of sociolinguistics, journalistic linguistics
has also been enriched within recent years. Early in 1989, Professor Lan Hongwen
started the study of journalistic linguistics in China. Later in the book Journalistic
Linguistics, Professor Duan Huiye probes into a systematical research on
journalingusitics. In the book, the author elaborates the rhetorical features of
headlines on both lexical and phonetic levels. The author also discusses a few main

figures of speech, including contrast, metaphor, personification, antithesis, and

metonymy. According to the author, all journalists and editors are and should be
veterans in applying rhetoric. He thinks although the primary task of news is to be
precise, this requirement does not contradict with the frequent use of rhetoric. On the
contrary, varied kinds of rhetoric can attract readers attention by vivifying the news,
which is always most desirable to journalists and readers as well. Therefore,
enlivening headlines with rhetoric is highly recommended, as evidenced by the high
frequency of applying rhetoric in Chinese newspaper.
In recent years, many studies have focused on the comparison of rhetoric in
Chinese and English. The book A Comparative Study of English & Chinese Rhetoric
edited by Wu Ping compares rhetoric in English and Chinese with detailed examples,
including semantic, grammatical, lexical, and phonetic devices. According to the
editor, due to the common rhetorical thoughts of mankind, English and Chinese share
most of their rhetoric. The twenty-eight rhetorical devices edited in this book
generalize main rhetoric both in English and in Chinese.
Compared with the usage of rhetoric in English headlines, rhetoric in Chinese
headlines is more flexible and the frequency is higher, too ( Guo Ke, 1995 ). Guo
thinks Chinese rhetoric is richer and more colorful than English and English headlines
mainly focus on generalizing the facts with few words. Thus, figures of speech are not
applied in English headlines as often as in Chinese ones. Furthermore, almost all the
rhetoric can be applied in Chinese headlines, which is impossible in English.
1.2 Problems in previous studies
The literature directly related to the comparison of the rhetoric in Chinese and
English newspapers is rare. Most previous studies discuss the use of rhetoric in news
writing. Even the studies on comparison between rhetoric used in Chinese headlines
and that used in English ones are not convincing enough, because the conclusions
they draw are not supported by data. Furthermore, when explaining the results of the
comparison, previous studies fail to analyze the issue in an all-around way. For
instance, in Guos (1995) article, only the features of different languages are
addressed. Besides, previous studies pay little attention to the comparison between
different columns, let alone the related anlysis and explanation.

Part Two Methodology

2.1 Research Questions
The present study attempts to seek answers to the following research questions:
1. What kinds of rhetorical devices are commonly used in headlines?
(1) What kinds of rhetorical devices are commonly used in Chinese headlines?
(2) What kinds of rhetorical devices are commonly used in English headlines?
2. How frequently is each kind of rhetoric used in headlines?
(1) How frequently is each kind of rhetoric used in Chinese headlines?
(2) How frequently is each kind of rhetoric used in English headlines?
(3) Is there any difference in the frequency between rhetoric used in Chinese
headlines and that used in English ones?

3. How frequently is each kind of rhetoric used in different columns of headlines?

(1) How frequently is each kind of rhetoric used in used in Chinese headlines of different
columns? Does the frequency vary according to different columns? If it does,
then why?
(2) How frequently is each kind of rhetoric used in used in English headlines of
different columns? Does the frequency vary according to different columns? If
it does, then why?
2.2 Subjects
Date used in this study is collected from two newspapers: Peoples Daily and USA
TODAY. Peoples Daily is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China. As one of the most authoritative comprehensive daily
newspapers, Peoples 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 Peoples 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.
Peoples 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 Peoples Daily and USA TODAY
Columns
International
Culture
&
&
Economy
Sports
Total
Newspaper
National News
Education
Peoples Daily
74
44
28
33
179
USA TODAY
36
53
85
42
216
2.3 Data Collection & Data Analysis
To ensure that the data and analysis were objective, the headlines in this study
were copied down directly from the newspaper without any change or modification
and none of them was missed except those headline news. Besides, headlines usually
consist of three parts: eye-brow head, main head, and subheading. In this study only
rhetoric used in main heads is discussed.

To compare rhetoric across different columns and different languages, the

columns of Peoples Daily were regrouped into four columns: International and
National News, Economy, Culture and Education, and Sports. Thus, the data in
column Culture and Education can be compared with that of the column Life in
USA TODAY.

Part Three Results and Discussion

3.1 Comparison across columns
The data in Table 3.1 show that frequency of rhetoric in Chinese headlines varies
in different columns.
Table 3.1 Frequency of rhetoric in Chinese headlines
Column
International
Economy
Culture&
Sports
Total
&National News
Education
Items
74
44
28
33
179
Frequency
19
21
14
15
69
of rhetoric
Percentage
25.7%
47.7%
500%
45.5%
38.6%
The percentage of rhetoric in column Culture and Education is almost twice as
that in column International and National News. The obvious difference between
them is mainly due to the different features and requirements of the columns. For
international and national news, accuracy of facts is the most essential element.
Besides, readers often would like to read the whole news to know the exact situation
all over the world. Thus, for international and national news, the demand of headlines
for attracting readers attention is subordinate to that for accuracy and conciseness.
The percentages of rhetoric in other three columns are close to each other, which
shows that rhetoric is adopted in about half of the headlines in these columns. It is a
little bit out of my expectation that the percentage of column Culture and Education
is the highest one. This may result from the fact that the items of this column are not
big enough.
The data in Table 3.2 show that the frequency of rhetoric in English headlines
varies in different columns. For the same reason as discussed above, in the column
International and National News, the frequency of rhetoric in headlines is much
lower than that in other columns.
Table 3.2 Frequency of rhetoric in English headlines
Column
International
Economy
Life
Sports
Total
&National News
Items
36
53
42
85
216
Frequency
14
36
21
48
119
of rhetoric
Percentage
38.9%
67.9%
50.0%
56.5%
55.1%
However, compared with other columns, the column Economy makes the most
use of rhetoric in headlines. The result is closely related to the feature of news on
economy as well as the function of rhetoric. First, the content of news on economy is
so abstract and statistic that people often find it boring. Rhetoric is especially called

for to vivify the content. Furthermore, by adopting the use of rhetoric, the news on
economy can be easier for all readers to understand. For instance, the headline
Souring profits found in search ads is more humorous and impressive than saying
Google and Yahoo benefit from higher prices as search agencies. Since those kinds
of headlines are more attractive to readers, which is significant for news on economy,
it is natural that almost two thirds of English headlines of economic news apply
rhetoric.
3.2 Comparison across languages
Table 3.3 shows the frequency of rhetoric used in Chinese and English headlines.
It is obvious that rhetoric is more frequently applied in English headlines than in
Chinese ones. Besides, there are more rhetorical devices used in English headlines
than in Chinese ones. Therefore, the generalization made by Guo (1995) that the
frequency of rhetoric in Chinese headlines is higher than that in English ones is not
accurate. To explain the differences of rhetoric showed in Table 3, it is necessary to
take into account the features of the two languages. Although in Chinese the types of
rhetoric are no fewer than those in English, many of them rarely appear in news
headlines, such as palindrome, antithesis, etc.
Table 3.3 Frequency of rhetoric used in Chinese and English headlines
Languages
Items
Frequency of
Rhetorical
Percentage
rhetoric
devices
Chinese
179
69
10
38.6%
English
216
119
14
55.1%
Besides, the newspapers where the data are collected should be taken into
consideration. Since USA TODAY is funded by both subscription and retail in the
street, it faces much more competition than Peoples Daily which is subscribed by
every department of governments. Thus, being impressive and attractive is more
important and necessary for USA TODAY, while being accurate and timely is the
primary task for Peoples Daily. Headlines are the eyes of news. The main appeal of
rhetoric in headlines lies in attracting readers attention, vivifying the news, and
generalizing the content. As a result, when facing fierce competition, journalists for
USA TODAY may turn to the force of rhetoric. On the contrary, Peoples Daily, being
the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,
may rely on the official support for its circulation.
3.3 Comparison across types of rhetoric
From the data in Table 3.4, which draws a clear map of how Chinese rhetoric
varies according to different types in different columns, it is obvious that metaphor,
quotation, and personification are the most popular rhetorical devices. First, humanbeings tend to relate abstract concepts to concrete ones, which is metaphorical. As a
result, metaphor is usually unconsciously adopted by people in daily life, as
commonly used everywhere. For instance, in the headline
the phrase originally means to draw the theater curtain before the
performance begins. Here it means the opening of the public match. People are used

to relating opening a match or meeting to drawing the theater curtain, so that this
metaphor has become a fixed description.
Table 3.4 Data of rhetoric used in different columns in Chinese headlines
Columns
Devices
of Rhetoric

International
&
National News

Economy

Culture
&
Education

Sports

Total

Metaphor

8.1%

15.9%

21.4%

27.3%

10.1%

Personification

2.7%

4.5%

3.6%

9.1%

4.5%

Quotation

4.1%

2.3%

14.3%

3.0%

5.0%

Antithesis

2.7%

3.6%

1.7%

Contrast

2.7%

6.8%

3.6%

3.0%

3.9%

Allusion

1.4%

9.1%

3.6%

2.8%

Pun

1.4%

0.6%

Metonymy

2.7%

2.3%

3.0%

2.2%

Rhetorical
repetition

2.3%

0.6%

Rhetorical
question

4.5%

1.1%

Besides, there are many quotations in Chinese headlines. Direct quoting from
giants or key figures can be both concise and veracious, which just fits the prime
requirement for headlines. Especially in Column International and National News,
national leaders words are usually directly quoted as headlines, such as the headline
. In this way, the main
points can be remarked with few words and clear meaning.
The data from Table 3.5 clarify how frequently different types of rhetoric are
used in English headlines in every column. For the same reason that has been
discussed above, metaphor is most frequently adopted in English headlines just as in
Chinese ones. However, in the column Economy, personification is widely used,
even more frequently used than metaphor. Many headlines on economy personify
titles by regarding a company or group as a person, such as in McDonalds to pour
Fair Trade coffee. Besides, to make the statistics not so boring, headlines on economy
usually personify the rise or drop of figures, such as Average U.S. gasoline price
tumbles to $2.48 a gallon. Therefore, headlines on economy make the most use of
rhetoric, and the rhetorical devices used in economic headlines are the most of all
columns.
Table 3.5 Data of rhetoric used in different columns in English headlines
Columns
Devices
of Rhetoric

International
&
National News

Economy

Life

Sports

Total

Metaphor

16.7%

18.9%

23.8%

29.4%

23.6%

Personification

11.1%

20.8%

4.8%

4.7%

9.7%

Quotation

2.8%

3.8%

2.4%

3.5%

3.2%

Onomatopoeia

1.9%

0.5%

Contrast

5.6%

3.8%

8.2%

5.1%

Allusion

1.9%

2.4%

3.5%

2.3%

Pun

1.9%

2.4%

2.4%

1.9%

Metonymy

2.8%

3.8%

2.4%

1.2%

1.9%

Paradox

5.7%

4.8%

2.3%

Rhetorical
question

2.4%

0.5%

Rhetorical
repetition

1.9%

0.5%

Simile

1.9%

0.5%

Hypallage

1.9%

1.2%

0.9%

Hyperbole

4.8%

2.4%

1.9%

In the column Sports, contrast is frequently adopted, only second to metaphor.

The result sounds strange, but reasonable. Since scores are always involved in sports
and are highly regarded as the most exiting point, the contrast between the winner and
the loser is unavoidable. For instance, the headline Tour goes on, Armstrong left
behind is vivid and concise in describing the state of the two teams.

Part Four Conclusion

The three research questions are designed to study the use of rhetoric in news
headlines, including its types and frequency. Furthermore, in order to study the
comparison between rhetoric in Chinese and English headlines and the comparison
between rhetoric in different columns, special attention is paid to collecting and
analyzing data which can be considered as sound evidence.
This study shows that figures of speech appear more frequently in English
headlines than in Chinese ones. There are two main reasons: first, many Chinese
rhetorical devices are not appropriate to be adopted in news headlines; second, the
Chinese newspaper Peoples Daily faces little competition, while USA TODAY
struggles in fierce competition.
Comparison between rhetoric in different columns shows that rhetorical devices
are least adopted in headlines of international and national news. That is mainly
because preciseness and conciseness are more important in headlines concerning
policies and politics than impressiveness.
Of all the rhetorical devices used in headlines, metaphor is most frequently
applied. The main reasons are as follows: first, the tendency of human thoughts
determines peoples preference to use metaphor everywhere; second, metaphor can
reify the abstract concepts and simplify many complicated statements.
This study denies Guos hypothesis that rhetoric is more frequently used in
Chinese headlines than in English ones.
This study is significant in that it emphasizes the connection between the study
of rhetoric and journalism linguistics, and therefore it can be a complementary part for
both. Besides, since there are few studies in China researching on this subject with

statistic proof, this study may help the later researchers to draw a more reliable
conclusion.
However, there still remains much to be improved and studied in this thesis.
Because the data in this study were collected from only two newspapers, the
conclusion may not be final. Besides, since there are differences between rhetoric
devices in Chinese and English, the statistic analysis cannot bear out a full conclusion.
There may be other limitations, yet to be solved by later researchers.

References
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[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 Peoples Press.
[5] TurnerG. W. (1975). Journalism. The English Journal, Vol.64, No.1, 67-68.
[6] Wu Ping. (2001). A Comparative Study of English & Chinese Rhetorical Devices.

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[7] Zhou, Mingqiang. (2004). The linguistic features of news titles. Modification
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