Sintesi per Analisi articoli di giornale PDF

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Linee guida per l'analisi degli articoli di giornale....

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MULTI-LEVEL ANALYSIS TITLE → What does the tle tell us? SUBTITLE = opening paragraph → summarises the main contents ① LEVEL OF FACTUAL CONTENTS -> What topic does the article deal with? -> What aspects of the story are most relevant? -> How is the story structured? (Hard news/ soft news) Basic key words analysis -> first nouns and adjectives, then also verbs and verb phrases -> to recognize the main themes / arguments presented The structure, the organisation, the sequence -> How are individual paragraphs organized? -> What are the main ideas that they contain? -> How are paragraphs and ideas connected? -> Which style is used in this article? (Hard news style vs. soft news style) Writing the summary -> 3-4 sentences -> attention to the syntax -> SVO-clause patterns ② LOWER TEXTUAL LEVELS: LEXICAL CHOICES -> How are individual words selected and combined to present the story? a) use of pro-forms and parallelisms use of abstract / concrete nouns use of verbs -> activity, mental, communication / tenses and aspects b) use of linguistic strategies that aim to engage the reader -> personal pronouns / questions / imperatives / addressing the reader directly -> use of rhetorical figures of speech -> What kind of language is used? Emphatic, emotive, ... -> look at the adjectives -> terms with a positive/ negative connotation, strong impact, ... ③ HIGHER TEXTUAL LEVEL The general style -> Does the article report facts employing an objective, reliable, well-informed style or does it express a specific opinion / present the story from a particular perspective? The point of view -> the narrator vs the protagonists -> whose voices are heard? -> Which strategy of argumentation is predominant? logic/ emotion/ reputation -> How is fact-based information (statistics) presented? Do we know where it comes from / how reliable the information is? ④ THE SOURCE AND ITS COMMUNITY OF READERS -> What type of newspaper/ magazine did you choose? 1

-> What kind of stories does it normally cover? -> Which ones are given more space? -> Why was this particular story selected to be told? -> What makes it newsworthy, interesting and relevant for the community of readers? -> Who was it written for? -> Who wrote it? (Do we know?) ⑤ THE VISUAL COMPONENTS: THE INTERATION OF TYPOGRAPHY, IMAGES AND TEXT ⑥ YOUR OPINION -> Why did you choose it? Did you enjoy reading it? What do you think about this article? NB. = FOCUS ON THE KEY LINGUISTIC FEATURES (WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE WAY LANGUAGE IS USED?) AND START BY PRESENTING THESE HEADLINE = a head of a newspaper story or article usually printed in large type as the title, giving the gist of the story or article that follows -> The article headline is ... / the headline reads ... -> It contains information about what happened, where and when, who did what, why it happened -> Has to attract the reader's attention -> has to be eye-catching -> use of some techniques and linguistic devices: - rhetorical figures of speech = puns/ word play, alliteration, parallelism - use of questions, personal pronouns, emphatic language -> often the words have a strong effect on the readers = stereotypes, cultural references, intertextuality TWO MAIN CATEGORIES OF NEWSPAPERS: -> are directed towards particular groups of people and this is reflected in: linguistic style / distinctive values 1) BROADSHEETS = newspapers that usually deal with serious subjects in a more responsible and trustworthy way -> synonymous with "quality paper" -> give more analysis and coverage to international and national news -> longer articles and fewer pictures 2) TABLOIDS = the content and the style of reporting news that is sensational -> synonymous with "popular press" -> more interested in gossip/ sport/ celebrity news -> shorter articles usually accompanied by images and pictures TWO MAIN CATEGORIES OF GENRES: 1) HARD NEWS -> the content is represented mainly by the reporting of the routine of politics and public life -> basic factual information are provided -> Language = absence of overt opinion and/ or commentary -> no interpretation/ involvement of journalist -> Is expected to be factual, reliable, well-informed and without overt comment of the journalist -> Objective in the traditional way 2) SOFT NEWS -> Includes genres such as news features opinion pieces and editorials -> Whit editorials and opinion pieces written by prominent columnists the newspaper pronounces its own position on the central political and cultural matters of the day 2

-> The production of soft news is characterized by the presence of overt opinion and/ or commentary -> Especially within the specialist sections of the newspapers (sport/ fashion/ entertainment) the language is more likely to show traces of opinion and even judgement of taste OBJECTIVITY = structured through particular language devices -> lack of first-person pronouns (I/we) to refer to the author(s) of the article -> lack of emphatic language/ emotive vocabulary -> contents are presented in a neutral way -> no positive/ negative adjectives CONNOTATION = an idea or feeling that becomes symbolically associated with the word in addition to its literal or primary meaning Certain narratives present different "sides" of the story / choose different heroes, protagonists -> the result can be conflictive versions of a story Information is not always a neutral reflection of how things are but is a matter of representation -> is the information accurate and truthful? -> what kind of sources are mentioned? Can we distinguish between facts and opinions? -> What is the style of reporting like? Urgent and sensational or neutral and objective? FRONT PAGE/ COVER = tells us a lot = the selection of stories and the ways of presenting them tell us about the community of readers that the newspaper or the magazine aims aims to appeal to (speak to) RHETORIC = ways of writing/ speaking that aim to be effective and persuasive -> linguistic strategies that aim to persuade the audience to adopt a particular point of view -> they aim also to build a stronger sense of identity associated with the community of readers SYNYAX = the ways in which we order individual words, phrases and clauses to create logical sentences -> journalists make lexical as well as syntactic choices -> they decide carefully how to structure a sentence ACTIVITY VERBS = to distinguish between a wide range of physical activities (get, buy, go, bring, give, ...) COMMUNICATION VERBS = to report what people have said, to describe types of communication activities MENTAL VERBS = to talk about what people think or feel, to denote cognitive activities and emotional states experienced by humans (want, see, look, think, forget, believe, doubt, know, remember, ...) ARGUMENTATION = essential part in the formation of opinion -> what is the best way to construct an argument? a) LOGIC -> writers can lead the reader to the preferred conclusion by generating a chain of reasoning or by including examples or comparisons b) EMOTION -> writers can also use emphatic language to directly appeal to fear, pride, enjoyment or other emotional state c) REPUTATION (personal and professional) -> writers can emphasise their own, or their sources' credibility and authority to gain approval

Stories told by newspapers have ideological implications -> they reflect the social and cultural location of the newspaper, its national interests, its main cultural and social anxieties IDEOLOGY = a set of beliefs or principles, especially one on which a political system, party or organisation is based 3...