Example: “Theres nothing like a bad hair day and its tragic partner, the ugly
baseball cap to make you feel horribly ordinary and deeply depressed.” The words used in the sentence above create fear of bad hair day or a
condition when hair is hard to style or looks messy. For the ladies who already have that problem, the sentence supports or strengthens the fear of having untidy
hair. Finally, the sentence leads to persuade readers to buy product for solving their problems.
b. Semantic Dimension
This dimension explains how the meaning of words is important in creating persuasion. If we take a look at the dictionary, we will commonly find
more than one meaning for a word. Choosing a right word with proper meaning can give more emphasize in persuasive effect.
Larson argues that “word choice also provides clues about the source’s underlying intentions” Larson, 2007:139. The writer’s thought and perspective
can be seen through looking at the meaning implies from the diction.
c. Metaphor in Persuasion
This figurative language “can also produce a texture or theme at the same time they perform a function and carry a meaning” Larson, 2007:140. Metaphor
helps transferring the persuasive ideas by provoking readers’ imagination so that their attention can be grasped. Archetype is frequently used in metaphor because
it “refer to common substances or events” Larson, 2007:141. This way helps delivering persuasion message.
C. Theoretical Framework
This thesis focuses on analyzing the advertorial of beauty products in Popsugar.com
, a female web-based magazine. The theory of advertorial is used to sort the articles from the website to be selected as the objects of this study. After
the objects of study are already chosen, the problem formulation is then made. There are two problems formulated for the analysis.
The first problem of this study aims to find out what language features are used in the advertorials. Therefore, the theory of language features from stylistics
is applied. Verdonk’s theory of text organization, lexis, phonology and typograpgy is used in analyzing the language elements of advertorials.
In order to answer the second problem, which is finding out how the persuasive power of language is reflected through language features, the theory of
persuasion by Larson is used. This theory is applied to the significant language features in advertorials to analyze how persuasion works through language.
