Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Nowadays, people get information easily through mass media. Mass media is a tool that is used to reach mass audience. It has a very big role as a disseminator of information. Besides, it is also a tool for conveying news, researches, opinions, or general ideas of things. Therefore, it can form a public opinion for some specific classes in society. Mass media transmits information through written or digital tools. One of the examples of mass media is magazine. A magazine is the electronical or printed periodical publications containing articles, advertisements, fictions, photographs, and other columns. Functionally, it is used to represent the idea and information of specific and special interests. It is also used to tell readers about the latest products that are being offered. A magazine can be classified into some criteria for example target readers, functions, and aims. One example of magazines is a fashion magazine. A fashion magazine has its own target readers based on the products mentioned on it. It gives articles and information about the latest fashion and trends. It can also be a guideline for some specific classes that are run in the fashion world. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2 On the magazine, the text producer needs to pack a lot of information by putting words together into a short and simple column in purpose to tell the readers the information in brief. The language of the magazines will reflect their specialist nature McLoughlin, 2000:2. That is why the use of language on the magazine is indispensable. The text producer may use any linguistic features such as graphological features and lexical features to attract the readers. Besides, it also can make the language clear and direct, polished, noble, and also vivid Ross, 1994:64. This study focuses on language features in View column of Vogue magazine. Vogue is part of a huge network of magazines and publications. It is associated with the luxury-end of fashion and lifestyle. Its readers are generally considered to be from the middle- to upper class. Vogue is published since 1892 in the United States as a weekly high-society journal. In 1909, Vogue transformed it into a women’s fashion magazine focused on beauty, composure, and etiquette. In 2009 The New York Times christened Vogue “high fashion’s bible” http:www.britannica.comtopicVogue-American-magazine , accessed on January 14, 2016. The total of Vogue’s circulation in 2013 is 1,259,826 https:en.wikipedia.orgwikiVoguemagazine , accessed on January, 14, 2016. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI In 2015, Vogue magazine took home the grand prize of the award for Magazine of the Year that recognizes general excellence in print and digital media as well as other facets including branded content and events by the National Magazine Awards Foundation http:blog.magazine-awards.com2015 02 04 vogue-new-york-new-yorker-big-winners-at-us-national-magazine-awards , accessed on January 14, 2016. Based on the facts mentioned earlier, it can be concluded that Vogue magazine successfully catches people’s attention by having many achievements since the first time it published. Vogue influences the readers and becomes a trendsetter in fashion world. The products and trends that are described by Vogue magazine will be easily accepted by the readers. It is believed that these achievements are not only because of the models, the fashion items, or the fashion figures, but also the power of language used in the articles. Besides the photographs and pictures that are used, the language used in the magazine also has significant roles to the magazine itself. The text producers of Vogue magazine use certain linguistic features in their articles to make the character of Vogue magazine. The study is limited on the article that discusses the product. Therefore, this study only chooses articles from View column in Vogue magazine from April 2015, June 2015, and December 2015. Those articles are chosen based on the contents. The chosen articles only contain texts that describe fashion products. Therefore, from three editions of Vogue magazine, this study only analyzes seven articles. The language features in the articles are analyzed using stylistic approach. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI The result of the analysis of language features from the magazine will be used to answer the second aim of this study which is to discover how language features in the View column from Vogue magazine are exploited for persuasive purposes. To support this aim, theory of persuasive language is needed. By using the theory of persuasive language, the way how persuasive purposes are delivered thorough language features is revealed.

B. Problem Formulation