find out what linguistic features are used in the text and how persuasive power of the text is reflected through the features. This research is conducted to find
significant language feature in advertorial. The significant language feature is then analyzed further to find out how it reflects persuasion.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background, the problems for this research are formulated as follows:
1. What are the language features used in the beauty advertorials of Popsugar.com
? 2. How is language persuasive power in the beauty advertorials reflected
through language features?
C. Objectives of the Study
This research is conducted to analyze how language is able to create texts’ persuasive effect through language features. In order to reach the goal, this
research has two objectives. First, the selected beauty advertorials in Popsugar.com
is observed to find out what language features are used in the texts. Second, after language features are identified, how persuasive power reflected
through language features will be explored further. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
D. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding and to give readers background knowledge about this research, the frequently used terms in this research are
described as follows. The first term that is frequently used in this research is “persuasive
language”. According to Peter Verdonk in Stylistics, persuasive language is characterized by
…high proportion of complimentary words and phrases…Other words and images are rather emotive…Obviously, these loaded
vocabulary choices reveal the writer’s motive, which is to persuade the reader… Verdonk, 2002:8.
Furthermore, Verdonk explains that “persuasive technique is supported by the rhetorical structure of the text as a whole” Verdonk, 2002:8. Ronald L.
Cramer, Chris Welles Feder, Lida Lim, Tara McCarthy, Norman C. Najimy, John Prejza, Jr., and DeWayne Triplett in Language: Structure and Use also define that
persuasive text aims to convince an audience, the people to whom the writing is aimed,
that an opinion is reasonable and acceptable. Persuasion can make an audience accept the ideas and act upon them Cramer,
1984:357.
The second frequently used term is “beauty”. According to The Sense of Beauty, beauty is defined as “pleasure regarded as the quality of a thing”
Santayana, 1961:43. Furthermore, beauty is described as a value that has positivity in a way it contains “the sense of the presence of something good”
Santayana, 1961:43. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The third term is “advertorial”. According to McLoughlin’s The Language of Magazine
, advertorials are defined as “features which are specially written to encourage consumption of the products mentioned in them” McLoughlin,
2000:101. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
8
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In conducting this research, there are former studies related to the topic used as references and linguistic theories applied in the analysis. These studies are
reviewed in the first part of this chapter. The theories that are applied to this research’s observation and analysis are reviewed in the second part of this chapter.
The way theories are applied and used to solve problem formulation is explained in the last part of this chapter.
A. Review of Related Studies
Three studies related to stylistics and advertising are used to support this present research. All of these studies are done by students of English Letters
Department of Sanata Dharma University. Two of those analyze the style of language in advertisement, while the other analyzes the use of language features
in magazine. The first related studies the present writer use is a thesis entitled
“Linguistic Features in Football Magazine: A Stylistic Analysis on the ‘Club Focus’ Column in “World Soccer” Magazine” done by Yoshua Setyo Nugroho
Wibowo. This research has two findings; the first one is the language features used in the articles that are following standard punctuation, and the second one is
the effect of those language features that makes the texts understandable to the readers.
Other studies used as a reference for this research is also a thesis entitled “A Study on Language Style in Airline Advertisements in “Time” Magazine”
done by Ganis Widyapsasmi. This research aims to find out what language styles are used in the texts and what the significant towards the styles. This research is
limited only on figurative and literal styles of language. The result of this research is that the figurative language style is used in the texts more than literal one and
its significant is it can arouse the readers’ curiosity towards the products. The last studies used as a reference is a thesis entitled “The Study of
Language Power in Persuasive Message as Seen in Airline Advertising of Newsweek Magazines Issued from January – December 1999” by Caecilia
Krismariana Widyaningsih. The aims of this research is to find out what the technique of speech act used in creating persuasive message, how the use of such
style applied in the texts able to influence the readers, and how the words and phrases are arranged to create persuasive effects to the readers. The findings of
this research are figurative language is the technique used in creating persuasive message and it can imply persuasion because it is created by the arrangements that
related to the cooperative principle. These three studies have particular things in common with this thesis. The
first similarity is the object of the study which is taken from magazine. The second one is the theory used which is language features and persuasion, these
theories will be applied also in this thesis. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
