Stylistic analysis of newspaper headlines

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Comparetive Stylistics

Subject: Comparative Stylistics

The stylistic value for the title plays a very important role, since stylistics in this aspect defines various expressive means that help writers to title more clearly their works.
English newspaper headlines are short and catching. They often contain emotionally coloured words and phrases. Furthermore, to attract the reader’s attention, headline writers often resort to a deliberate breaking-up set expression, in particular fused set expressions, and deformation of special terms. However, most of newspaper headlines are expressed by lexical-stylistic, phonetic and syntactic devices, such as alliteration, enumeration, rhyme, rhythm, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, antithesis, simile and epithet.

Titles help people to orientate in the world of texts books, articles, messages. With the help of the title, a person quickly decides for himself whether the message he is looking at right now is useful for his needs. If it is correlated, then he will take up reading, if not, he will move his gaze further. The well-known publicist D. Ogilvy said: «The headline is the most important element of most advertisements. This is a telegram by which people judge, read the advertising text or not».

Let’s deal with alliteration, to more exactly show its role and importance for a headline. For instance, «It's true... sexy leaders last longer» («Evening Standard», May 30, 1997). In this example, not only the stylistic device of alliteration is used, but also the epithet «sexy», which makes the title more expressive. «Magnolias are magic!» («Sunday Mirror», March 10, 1997); «Crackers Christmas» («Daily Mirror», May 6, 1997), " Passing, Punting, Pageantry» («New York Times» March 28, 1997).

«Projection, Inflection, Election» or parts of it «There's Moanin' in the Homin'; Scotch Whiskey's on the Rocks», «Oregon Ruins Bruins in Their Den».
«Billy boy's biggest joy» («Sunday Mirror», March 16, 1997). «Smile as you say «Hi!", «To a Thai» («Sunday Mirror», March 16, 1997)

The stylistic device that gives readers a clear picture in their minds of what is going to be discussed in the text is metaphor.
«Cannot talk now, it's a soap time» («Sunday Mirror», March 16, 1997),
«Stowing away on a ship of fools»,
«Time is money» («Evening Standard», May 30, 1997).

«Bulldog; Mike is man for the job». («Evening Standard», July 29, 1997);
“The Not-so-Iron Lady” («Hindustan Times», March 27, 1997),
«A plane crazy way to treat customers» («The Mail», October 12, 1997),
«Smooth as velvet, the animal-loving mayor ditches his mink-lined robes» («Evening Standard», May 30, 1997). What is more, in all these examples epithet is used together with metaphor,
«Smooth as velvet», “Iron Lady”, “crazy way”.

“Hands are wanted at the plant” («Sunday Mirror», March 16, 1997). In this example, a hand is used for a worker.
«You wept buckets... the BBC drank buckets» («Sunday Mirror», March 16, 1997). Here, there are two examples of metonymy. «Buckets» — in the first case it is a «bucket of tears», in the second case «buckets» is a sea of booze, well, and the BBC does not mean the television company itself, but its representatives.

«Hell for the leather to heaven» («Evening Standard», May 30, 1997),
«Hard questions for those Soft lions» («Evening Standard», May 30, 1997). In fact, in both headlines, oxymoron presents a combination of two contrasting ideas.

«Loved the bike, hated the rider» («The Mail», March 26, 1997),
«New starts need to acknowledge some old memories» («Herald Tribune», May 12, 1995),
«Spirit of the wild West Lives on in the shimmering East» («The Mail», August 23, 1997),
«They speak like saint and act like devils» («Evening Standard», March 30, 1997). In all these examples, there is a logical and stylistic opposition. In its turn, logical opposition implies the use of dictionary antonyms.

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