NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 16(I) June, 2018 ISSN 2222-5706

Discourse and Rhetoric: A Study of Pakistani English

Newspaper Editorials
1
Farzana Khan
Muhmmad
2
Aslam Maryam
3
Aadil
Abstract
This study aims at exploring the use of rhetorical devices from
the editorials of Pakistani English newspapers. For this purpose, data
was collected from three Pakistani English newspapers The News, Dawn,
and The Nation. Using purposive sampling technique, 36 editorials were
selected; 12 editorials from each newspaper, which were published on the
coverage of Panama Leaks from April 2016 to December 2016. In order to
find out the answers of research questions, mixed method approach was
applied. Findings revealed that the editorial writers have employed eight
rhetorical devices, namely: Parallelism, Antithesis, Simile, Metonymy,
Hyperbole, Metaphor, Neologism and Rhetorical question common in
their individual discourse to persuade the readers, while Oxymoron and
Allusion were rarely used. Results of Chi-Square revealed statistically
significant frequency differences in the use of the rhetorical devices. The
total frequency of Rhetorical devices was found higher in the Dawn as
compared to The News International and The Nation. Metonymy was
found most frequently used rhetorical device in the three newspapers.
Hyperbole was second and rhetorical question was third frequently used
rhetorical device in these newspapers. From the perspective of pedagogy,
the results of the current study can provide English foreign language
teachers and students with knowledge about the use of rhetoric in the
genre of newspapers’ editorials. Therefore, editorials can be used as a
source for writing persuasive and argumentative essays. This study would
be helpful for the general masses to make them aware as to how the
use of rhetoric in newspaper discourse manipulates them according to the
desired ideologies of the newspapers. This research would also be
valuable for the future researchers, especially for those interested in
exploring the newspaper discourse, with a particular focus on the genre
of Editorial, as they can further explore the use of rhetoric in
comparison to foreign newspaper editorials.
Keywords: discourse analysis, rhetoric, rhetorical devices, editorials
Introduction
Language is of vital significance for communication as it facilitates
the statement of ideas. It is through the use of language that feelings,
attitudes and ideas are expressed. A piece of discourse has been defined as
an example of written or spoken language having recountable inner
relationship of meaning and form, which is associated with outer
communicative function or purpose and a given interlocutor (Celce-Murcia
& Olshtain, 2000). Newspaper discourse has been widely researched in the
contemporary world to explore the way through which language is used to
manipulate and persuade the readers. Editorials depict the point of view of
the newspaper on
 a particular issue. Therefore, editorial writers employ certain ways to
make language effective and persuasive. The most effective way of
making language persuasive is the use of rhetoric because the primary
purpose of rhetoric is to make the discourse persuasive (Burk, 1969).
Rhetoric is a linguistic action which deals with the devices
that convey connotation in language (Ashipu, 2013). Rhetoric has been
defined as an ability to look for accessible ways of persuasion (Kennedy,
2007). It is an effective and powerful use of language to stimulate,
convince, defend, or persuade in any available situation (Iqbal, 2013).
Cicero defined rhetoric as a great art which consists of five arts:
invention, elocution, disposition, pronunciation and memorials. He
further argues that rhetoric is a speech which is configured to
persuade. Quintilian moved one step ahead by asserting rhetoric as
the science of finer speech (Booth, 2009). “Speech designed to
persuade” is a basic definition of rhetoric (Burk, 1969, p. 49).
Due to the ever-growing impact of newspaper editorials,
its discourse has been analyzed from a variety of dimensions around the
world. Rhetorical devices are employed by the editorial writers to
persuade the readers. These Rhetorical Devices have been called an
effective means of decoration by Ashipu (2013) which decorate the
written text. Rhetorical devices are used more frequently in public
speeches and advertisments to consciously create a particular effect
(Khudabandeh, 2007). Rhetorical devices have been defined “as the
graces of language”, “as the dressing of thought”, as “embellishment”’, for
certainly they do “decorate” our prose and give it “style”, in the “couturier’s
sense” (Rivikin & Ryan, 2004, p. 142).
According to Le (2002) and Dijk (1996), editorial has been
hugely ignored by the analysts and researchers. They argue that
most often editorials have been analyzed from journalistic point of view
or they have been explored by psychologists to find out their effect
upon the readers. Hence, there is dire need to analyze this important
genre of newspaper discourse in terms of its linguistic perspective.
It is important to note that much of the work on newspapers has
been done in developed countries, but there is a dearth of such type of
work in the developing countries (Lihua, 2009). When we talk about
Pakistan, this area of research needs to be explored. It is important to
conduct this type of study in Pakistan, as it may provide researchers deep
insight into the use of rhetorical devices in newspaper editorials. So, this
particular study is an attempt to explore the use of rhetorical devices
employed by the writers of editorials to spread a particular agenda. This
study has also identified the differences and similarities in the use of
rhetorical devices by the editorial writers and also explored the more
frequently used devices in newspaper editorials.
Research Questions
1. Which rhetorical devices are commonly used in the editorials of
Pakistani English newspapers?
2. What are the frequency differences and similarities in the use of
rhetorical devices among the editorials of different Pakistani English
newspapers?
Purpose of the Study
It has been observed that the editorial writers frequently make use
of rhetorical devices to persuade and manipulate the public opinion. This
phenomenon of editorials has been explored by various researchers around
the world. In Pakistan, little work has been done in exploring Rhetorical
Devices of the editorials of newspapers. The current study has focused on
exploring the use of rhetorical devices of the editorials of three leading
English newspapers. Moreover, frequency differences and similarities in the
use of rhetorical devices of editorials of Pakistani English newspapers have
also been examined.
Literature Review
According to Kaprus (2012), discourse is a constant stretch of
speech; it is a text which is realized in speech while a stretch of
speech is an utterance which is produced by a speaker. According to
Brain Paltridge (2012), the focus of Discourse Analysis is on language
beyond the level of sentence, clause, phrase and word, which is
required for successful communication. Discourse Analysis looks at
model of language across content and reflects the associations between
language and the cultural and social context in which it is used
(Paltridge, 2012). It is the analysis of language which is in use. It is not
restricted to the description of linguistic forms rather it focusses on the
functions, which those forms are planned to serve in human affairs
(Brown & Yule, 2003). According to Poulakos (1999), rhetoric is an artistic
activity, which has concern with how, when, and what expressions are
used in particular moments with specific purpose. Therefore, rhetoric is an
art and a style of appropriate personal expression in a suitable situation.
The power of rhetoric rests upon its ability to transform and engage
emotions; this power is marked as unbeatable (Jost & Olmsted, 2008).
Literature becomes great when it appeals to the emotions of
audience (Averill, 2001). According to Aristotle the role of emotion in
rhetoric is artistic (Jost et al., 2008). Therefore, a great piece of work
originates from emotions and appeals to the emotions of the audience
and this is done by rhetoric.
A study conducted by Taylor (1995) identified the use of
rhetorical devices of British newspapers The Sun, The Guardian, The
Economist and The Telegraph. His findings revealed the common use of
paradox, hyperbole, exaggeration, alliteration, understatement, and so on.
The use of rehtorical questions of editorials was studied by Badarneh
(2009). He explored the use of rehtorical questions of Arabic newspaper
Al-Quds Al-Arabi. Findings revealed the use of rhetorical questions
playing a key role in shaping public opinion about a particular issue.
Two Pakistani English newspapers’ editorials, viz., the Dawn and
The Nation have been investigated to explore the ideology construction and
representation through the use of language. The study was conducted
by Bilal, et al. (2012). For the pupose of explaining the connection
between ideology and language and also to explore the ideology
construction, Van Dijk’s (1995) framework for analyzing media discourse
have been employed by the researcher. The findings revealed that
sentence structure and lexical choices in written discourse play a
crucial role in perpetuation and propogation of dominant and implicit
ideologies. The research explained that newspaper editorials overtly or
tacitly yield ideolgical difference (Bilal, Rfaqat, Hasan, Mansoor, & Zahra,
2012).
A study conducted by Fartousi, et al. (2012) explored the use
of rhetorical devices and rhetorical pattern in an English editorial ‘Wishing
Iraq Well’ published in New Strait Times of Malaysia. The researchers
applied systematic functional theory of genre and language for the
purpose of analysis, and the results revealed rhetorical pattern of
eight structure elements and the rhetorical devices such as allusion,
metonymy, alliteration, anaphora, analogy, antithesis, epithet, parallelism,
parataxis, meta-basis and zeugma have been used in the editorial to
influence the readers.
Bonyadi and Samuel (2013) investigated the use of rhetorical
devices and types of presupposition in headlines of newspaper
editorials of The Tehran Times and The New York Times to explore their
desired ideologies. By the application of textual contrastive analysis,
findings showed that there were differences in the use of rhetorical devices
and presupposition.
Afzal et al. (2013) explored the rhetorical devices of the editorials
of two English newspapers published in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
The rhetorical devices, which were employed by the researchers to
investigate research questions were consonance, hyperbole, allusion,
alliteration, generalization, labeling, epithet, parallelism, expletive,
comparison, testimony and evidence, cliché, antithesis, metonymy,
rhetorical questions, irony and simile. The content analysis revealed
that writers used certain rhetorical devices in editorials to persuade the
audience.
A study was conducted by Mahmood, et al. (2014) to examine
the use of rhetorical devices of editorials of four Pakistani English
newspapers. Through the application of Richardson’s (2007) framework
for newspaper discourse, the researchers highlighted how figurative
language is employed to manipulate the public opinion. Findings
showed that metonymy was frequently used in the newspapers while
hyperbole was a less frequently used device.
Farrokhi and Nazemi (2015) explored the differences and
similarities in the use of rhetorical devices of the editorials of American
and Australian newspapers. Richardson’s (2007) framework of Rhetorical
Tropes (devices) was employed and the findings revealed that same
rhetorical devices had been employed in editorials of both the newspapers
with slight differences of frequency. The result of Chi-square revealed
no statistically significant frequency differences in the use of the
rhetorical devices between the editorials of Australian and American
newspapers. The frequency of the use
 of metonymy was higher in both newspapers while the frequency of the use
of metaphor was the lowest.
Research Methodology
This study is predominantly qualitative in nature but the research
questions demanded mixed method approach, therefore, Qualitative –
driven mixed method was employed for the purpose of analysis.
Qualitative analysis of rhetorical devices was conducted with the
help of Discourse Analysis technique. Ten Rhetorical Devices were
identified from the selected sample and analyzed. Quantitative analysis was
conducted to compare the frequencies of rhetorical devices of editorials of
the three newspapers. Chi-Square test was applied with the help of SPSS
program available on computer.
Data Collection
By adopting purposive sampling 36 editorials were selected; 12
from each newspaper, which were published on the coverage of Panama
Leaks in The News International, The Nation and the Dawn. The time
duration of the editorials’ publication was from April to December 2016.
Data was collected online from the websites of the newspapers.
Qualitative Analysis
1. Metonymy
“Metonymy is a trope in which one word, object or phrase is
substituted for another from a semantically related field of reference”
(Richardson, 2007, p. 67). Metonymy can be defined as substitution of some
suggestive or attributive words, in place of the actual words (Rivikin &
Ryan, 2004).
Table 1: Analysis of Metonymy used in Editorials of Newspapers
Metonymy Analysis
The Supreme Chief Justice of Pakistan (Anwar Zaheer Jamali)
Court
The Court Members of Court
PTI Imran Khan
PML-N Nawaz Sharif
Government PM Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan Government Of Pakistan
Senate Members of Senate
NAB Members of NAB
ECP Chairman of ECP

These examples of metonymy, identified from the editorials of

the Dawn, The Nation and The News International, revealed that
Metonymy is the most frequently used rhetorical device in the
editorials of Pakistani English newspapers. The News has employed more
metonymic concepts than the other two newspapers as it has employed 50
metonymic concepts, while the Dawn 42 and The Nation 31. Metonymic
concepts are not only used as referential devices but are also used
deliberately by the editorial writers to keep attention of the readers on a
particular issue being discussed. Editorial
writers have continuously used metonymic concept of ‘The Supreme Court’
to refer to the members of the supreme court specially the Chief Justice of
Pakistan, ‘Anwar Zaheer Jamali’. Similarly ‘The Court’ has been used several
times in editorials, which is an institution. It refers to the members of
court. Other metonymic concepts are ‘PTI’ and ‘PML-N’ which are political
parties and refer to the members of the respective parties especially, the
party leaders. PTI passes on to Imran Khan, while PML-N has been used for
Nawaz Sharif. Another metonymy, which has been frequently used in the
editorials is ‘Government’ which is an institution and here it has been used
to refer to the members of the government, specially the Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif. ‘Pakistan’ is the name of our country which has been used
instead of the Government of Pakistan and finally ‘Senate’ has also been
used to represent members of the Senate of Pakistan. NAB is an institution
which has been used to refer to the members of this institution. Similarly,
ECP has been used to refer to the members of Election Commission of
Pakistan.
2. Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an exaggerated term with special purpose to intensify
or emphasize the effect (Rivikin & Ryan, 2004). This rhetorical device is
equivalent to understatement, which deliberately exaggerates conditions
with particular purpose to effect or emphasize (Harrris, 2002).
Table 2: Hyperbole from the Editorials of Newspapers
Sr# Dawn The Nation The News
International
1 shambolic turn to fight against the odds – A bombshell has been
a battle dropped
2 kept the Panama It took a herculean effort this privileged
Papers issue alive megaphone
3 break a political to stick to their guns the most positive
impasse scenario
4 ever-changing bill has to jump The worst-case
statements
5 robustly defend extremely antagonistic from the endless
bickering
6 Panama Papers a great waste of a history of unfairly
rocked the political parliamentary time dragging the Supreme
landscape Court into the mud
7 the highest court never see eye to eye All eyes
8 colourful media trials most memorable moment the rules are bent
9 an environment free The PTI should have been The politics around the
of undue pressure, in the fray Panama Papers is
threat or getting heated up
intimidation
10 government decrying the Supreme The flames have been
machinery is Court fuelled
distracted
11 It is an institutional all of us are aware
failing across the
board
12 responded fiercely to firmly caught between
 the allegations the horns of a dilemma
13 oldest of sins — Everyone agrees
corruption
14 the torrent of leaders around the world
accusations scrambled to come clean
overwhelming
15 Panama Papers Everybody can see
ricochet around the
world
16 a single iota of progress
17 fiercely contested
18 hundreds of elected
officials
19 biggest bone of
contention
20 to pour water over such
suggestions
21 Panama has stirred up
quite a storm
22 heat from the opposition
over the Panama Leaks
intensified
23 PM promised to shower
projects
24 to a protracted battle
25 The initial storm has
blown over
26 these have gathered dust
27 It would be nothing short
of a miracle

Hyperbole has been identified as the second most frequently

used device of the editorials of newspapers. The frequency of using
hyperbole is found higher in The Nation as compared to the other two
newspapers. As shown in the afforementioned Table 2, the Dawn has
empolyed hyperbole 15 times, The Nation 27 times and The News
International 10 times.
The writers of editorials have intentionally used hyperbole to
make their discourse significant and fear-provoking. They have
endeavored to manipulate the readers’ views by arousing their thoughts
and emotions. The writers have created hyperbole in multiple ways by
using superlatives, adverbs, adjectives and by creating imginary
situations. For instance, Extract no. 5 of the Dawn, suggests that the
newspapers will forecefully protect the rights of free media. In excerpt
no. 7 the writer has used the superlative ‘highest’ for the court by
suggesting that it must be respected. Excerpt no. 11, advocates that the
government has failed; here, the writer has exaggerated the situation to
create a hyperbole for the purpose of creating sensation among the
readers.
The writers of the editorials of The Nation have employed
hyperbole to persuade the readers. The intensity of the pointed issues has
been
hightened through the use of hyperbole. For instance, in excerpt no. 21, the
writer has enhanced enormity of the situation by using hyberbole that
‘panama papers have stirred up a storm’. By using the term ‘storm’ the writer
has exaggerated the situation. The editorial writers have also used the
hyperbole of numbers by using ‘everyone knows’, ‘everybody agrees’ and
‘hundered of elected officials’. Superlatives have also been used to exaggerate
such as ‘the biggest bone of contention’.
The editors of ‘The News’ have also employed hyperbole in their
writings. They deliberately exaggerated the situations, events and things to
influence the readers and to make the discourse effective. As in the first
example, the editor says that a ‘bombshell has been dropped’ in the form of
Panama papers to exaggerate the situation. Similarly, in another extract,
the writer says that ‘Imran Khan did a victory lap’; here the action of Imran
Khan has been exaggerated. Hence, the aforementioned examples
identified in the editorials of ‘The News International’ depict that the
writers have intentionally employed hyperbole for the purpose of
exaggeration.
3. Metaphor
Metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things in which one thing
is stated in terms of another (Harrris, 2002). Metaphor is prevalent in
everyday life, not only in language but also in action and thought (Lakoff &
Johnson, 2008).
Table 3: Metaphor from the Editorials of Newspapers
Sr# Dawn The Nation The News
International
1 to be a damp squib Inquiry commission bill is A bombshell has been
a targeted attack dropped
2 TV channels are faux The legislative process is All eyes were on the
courtrooms the only tool PTI’s
3 Panama Papers the government The Panama Papers are
bombshell dropped machinery the tip of the iceberg
4 Supreme Court The Panama is a virtual to be a damp squib”
Sacred Space Pandora’s Box
5 the Panama Papers the storm better known godsend that the
bombshell as the ‘Panama leaks’ Panama leaks are
6 Raiwind is a palatial They have kept shifting
residence the goalposts
7 The bombshell of 2014 dharna a drawn –
Panama out battle

The editorial writers have employed metaphor in editorials

to persuade the readers. The frequency of using metaphor has been
found higher in the Dawn as compared to the other two newspapers. 11
examples of metaphors have been identified fom the editorials of the
Dawn. In the first example of the Dawn, the writer has made an indirect
comparison between The ‘PTI’ and ‘a damp squab’. The PTI is a political
party, a concrete concept, but the damp squab is an abstract concept.
Writer wanted to say that PTI has proved itself a damp squab on the basis
of its failure of ‘Dharna’. In another example, metaphor has been
created as ‘TV studios’ are circuitously
compared with ‘faux courtrooms’, which are artificial courtrooms where
justice is not dispensed. Similarly, panama papers have been called
bombshell. In this way, metaphors have been employed in the editorials of
Dawn newspapers.
Implied comparison of things and situations is evident from the
metaphors analyzed from The Nation. As in the first excerpt, the ‘Panama
Leaks’ inquiry commision bill has been implicitly compared with a
‘targetted attack’ on the basis of its prime focus on the investigation of
Prime Minister’s assets; it is an example of metaphor. Similarly, comparison
of abstract and concrete has also been identified in this newspaper, as in
example 2. The writer called ‘legeslative process’ a ‘tool’. Here, ‘legislative
process’ is an abstract concept and ‘tool’ is concrete, which is used to
manage the machineries and various other concrete things, while legislative
process refers to the action or decision taken by the legislative to resolve
the issues. So, the writer has made an indirect comparison between an
abstract and concrete concepts on the basis of their functions thus, creating
metaphor. In the same way, ‘machinery’ is a concrete concept which is
made up of various components and is used to perform various functions
for the ease of people. While, ‘Government’ is a system, an abstract concept
and its function is to serve the people. On the basis of functions of machine
and the system of government, in fourth excerpt, the writer has made an
implied comparison between Government and Machinery and created
metaphor to make his point forceful for the readers. Another case in point
of metaphor is ‘Panama is virtual Pandora box’. Pandora box is related to
Greek mythology, a jar which contains the evils so, it means unforeseen
problems. The writer has used the metaphor pandora box for ‘Panama
Leaks’ because Panama leaks has created troubles and problems for the
Government.
The editorial writers of The News International have employed
metaphors to make the discourse argumentative, emphatic and persuasive.
In order to show the enormity of the issue of Panama Leaks, writers have
used metaphor of ‘bombshell’ for ‘Panama Papers’, as bombshell creates
destruction and devastation, similarly, panama papers issue has created
problems for political leaders and economic taycons. Therefore, on the
basis of this similarity, the writer has made an implicit comparison between
the Panama Papers and a bombshell. Another metaphor is ‘All eyes’ which
means the world’s attention. The writer has used the metaphor ‘All eyes’ to
show that everyone’s attention is towards Imran Khan’s Dharna. In another
example ‘Panama Papers’ has been called the ‘tip of iceberg’, which is an
idiom used to refer to a big problem. As Panama Leaks have created serious
problems for the political leaders therefore, the writer has made an indirect
comparison by saying Panama Papers as the ‘tip of ice berg’. Another
instance of metaphor is ‘godsend’. The writer says that ‘Panama Papers’ are
godsend for Imran Khan because they proved to be a blessing for Imran
Khan that’s why the writer has used this metaphor for panama papers. In
last instance, the writer has used the metaphor of ‘victory lap’ for describing
that Imran Khan is enjoying the proceeding of the case of Panama Papers as
a triumph.
 4. Simile
Simile is a contrast of two unlike things that have similarity
with each other in at least one way (Harrris, 2002). It is a rhetorical
device in which two unlike things are compared by using words ‘as’ and
‘like’ (Chugh & Sharma, 2012).
Table 4: Simile from the Editorials of Newspapers
Sr# Dawn The Nation The News
International
1 A circus-like atmosphere This seems like a better “Much like
has been created . . . move, Donald Trump in
the US, the PTI
chief . . .
2 The circus-like atmosphere The government Justice Nisar, like
created by competing . . . accountability bodies – Justice Jamali
like the National
Accountability Bureau . . .
3 regulatory bodies must not It looks like that is what
be run as political parties they intend to do . . .
4 Panama Papers as political . . . paraded it as a moral
propaganda . . . victory
5 The PTI’s protest wrongdoing of the Sharif
campaign as an illegal family like it is their sworn
attempt duty
6 A decision by the prime The government would
minister . . . likely be spun have made sure incidents
as a victory like Jehangir Tareen’s
waived off loans . . .
7 The crimes are almost seen The squabble over Panama
as a badge of honor seems like a manic fray
8 The documentary trail has . . . to act like the PR team
come as a bolt from the of Nawaz Sharif
blue
9 The Panama Papers
continue to hang like a
dark cloud

Simile makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things. It

makes the passage rigid and clear because writer wants to make his point
clear in our mind through comparison and this comparison creates an
image in our mind, which enables us to understand the point clearly and
leaves a strong impact on readers. Again the frequency of using simile has
been found higher in the Dawn, as it has employed simile 9 times. In the
first example, ‘Panama Leaks’ has been compared with the atmosphere of
circus, a situation where none listens to others; similarly panama leaks has
created a situation where everyone is trying to protect themselves and not
listening to others. In the next excerpt the ‘regulatory bodies and legal
associations’ have been compared with the ‘political parties’ on the basis of
their performance that they must not perform like the political parties, as
political parties are not performing soundly in Pakistan. Likewise, the other
example of simile has been created by explicitly comparing a ‘decision’ with
a ‘victory’, ‘crimes’ with
‘badge of honor in a satirical way and ‘documentary trials’ with “a bolt from
the blue” and in the last instance ‘Panama Papers’ have been compared with
the ‘dark cloud’ to show that Panama Papers are a source of impending
danger for Nawaz Government. In The Nation, the writer has compared
“actions of ‘PTI’ with a ‘better move’ by the use of word ‘like’. While in the
second extract, two similes have been used in a sentence as ‘government
accountibility bodies’ have been compared with NAB and ECP, because
these organizations also perform the function of accountability. Two
examples of simile have been identified from the editorials of The News. In
the first instance, the writer has directly compared the PTI chief Imran
Khan with the US president Donald Trump on the basis of their insane
utterances. In the second excerpt, the writer has made an unequivocal
comparison between Justice Nisar and jistice Jamali. Justice Nisar has been
compared with juistice jamali on the basis of professionalism because the
writer wants to instill into the readers that the situation cannot become
better untill justice Nisar starts performing like Justice Jamali.
5. Neologism
Neologism is a newly created or already existing phrase or word
which has been given a new meaning (Richardson, 2007). It has been
created in various ways for the purpose of journalism.
Table 5: Analysis of Neologism: The Nation and The News International
Sr# The Nation Analysis The News Analysis
International
1 Toothless Powerless To flow Transfer
2 Fix the problem solve the problem Dressed up prepared
crowed people
3 Bona fide issue genuine issue Uping the increasing
ante risks
4 A prime facie a case which is Changed tack changed
case apparently true policy
until disproved
5 De-seating overthrowing the In the same in the same
Nawaz Sharif government of vein way/ similar
Nawaz Sharif
6 Panama Papers issue of Panama Ironed out solve the
story broke Papers reveal problem
7 Taking to the strike/ coming to Status quo current
streets street for strike situation
8 A road map A future plan Another another
wrinkle hurdle
9 Ex-judge previous judge Black money Illegal money
10 Panamagate Panama gate Casualties Criminals
(addition of suffix
‘gate’)
11 Uber-rich wealthy class/ elite
class
 Table 6: Analysis of Neologism from the Dawn
Sr# Dawn Analysis
1 Single handedly Working alone without any help
2 Red line Limit that not be crossed
3 The job of the court The duty of the court
4 u-turn Change in policy
5 Volte-face Complete change in policy
6 Career – altering Bringing change in profession
7 Casting a chilling effect Imposing sanctions

6. Antithesis
It is a rhetorical device in which opposite or contrastive words are
used in a sentence for the purpose of emphasis (Chugh et al., 2012). The
frequency of using antithesis has been found higher in the editorials of the
Dawn as compared to The Nation and The News International. The writers of
the editorials of the Dawn have employed antithesis 9 times. While The
Nation and The News International have employed antithesis 6 times.
Editorial writers have made use of antithesis in editorials to make their point
emphatic and effective for the readers. As the writer has made his point
emphatic for the readers by using two contrasting terms ‘rejecting’ and
‘demanding’. Both the terms have opposite meanings and the writer has
deliberately created antithesis to support his point. Similarly, ‘small’ and ‘big’,
‘outside’ and ‘internally’, ‘less’ and ‘more’, ‘confrontation’ and ‘engagement’,
‘great’ and ‘bad’, ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’, ‘sooner’ and ‘later’ all these words
have opposite meanings, which have been used in parallel structure in
sentences for the purpose of persuasion.
7. Rhetorical Question
Rhetorical question is a rhetorical device in which question is
asked, not with special intention of evoking a response, but with the
intention of denying or asserting something obliquely (Rivikin & Ryan,
2004). Rhetorical question has been found third most frequently used
rhetorical device in the editorials of the Dawn, The Nation and The News.
Analysis revealed that The News has employed 17 times, while the Dawn
and The Nation have employed 15 times. Rhetorical questions have been
used to gain the attention of the readers, provoke their thoughts and
convey the message logically. For example, rhetorical question of the
Dawn ‘with no clarity about which forum will conduct the full inquiry—
the Supreme Court itself or a judicial commission appointed by the
court?’ (Dec 11th, 2016). The editorial writer wants to provoke the
thought of the readers and also wants to illustrate the uncertain situation.
Rhetorical questions have been employed in The Nation to logically pass
messages toward the readers; to stir the emotions of the readers and
also to incite their thoughts. Similarly, various other rhetorical questions
have been employed by the writers including ‘yes’ ‘no’ questions with
special purpose to persuade the readers.
8. Parallelism
Parallelism has been defined as structure’s similarity in a series or
pair of related clauses, phrases, or words (Rivikin & Ryan, 2004). It is a
 rhetorical device (Harrris, 2002). It comprises of sentences, clauses or
phrases of alike grammatical construction (Chugh & Sharma, 2012). The
writers of the editorials have employed parallelism to show structural
similarity and also to create rhetorical effect. Writers have created
parallelism in multiple ways. As in an example taken from the Dawn, the
writer equated the importance of ‘Supreme Court’, ‘PML-N’ and ‘PTI’ in
the issue of ‘Panama Leaks’ by using these three nouns jointly in parallel
structure. Similarly, in another example ‘creating more controversy’ and
‘raising fresh questions’, the writer has created parallelism by using two
clauses which are alike in structure. Examples of parallelism are also
analyzed from The Nation. While explaining what Nawaz Sharif did after
the leaks of ‘Panama Papers’, the writer used three adverb phrases
heavily implicated; promptly addressed and solemnly promising in a
sentence to create structural similarity. In another example, two verb
phrases ‘delay proceedings’ and ‘divert attention’ are juxtaposed in a
sentence. Parallelism has been created in The News International by
putting together three nouns political, business and bureaucratic in parallel
structure with the use of conjunction ‘and’, which reflects the equal
importance of three nouns in the sentence.
9. Oxymoron
Only one example of oxymoron was found in the editorials of the
Dawn. It was not used in The Nation and The News International.
10. Allusion
Allusion is not used in the editorials of the Dawn newspaper.
Two examples of allusions have been identified from the editorials of The
Nation i.e., ‘herculean effort’ and ‘Dharna’. The writer has used the idiom
herculean effort as an allusion, which refers to the great effort of Hercules,
who was a Roman hero and famous for his strength and adventures. Here,
the writer has used the allusion by saying that the government requires
herculean effort to get the bill passed from the National Assembly. It
suggests that the passing of that particular bill is a difficult task that is why
the writer has given reference Hercules, which forces the readers to think
that the government requires great effort to get the bill passed. There is
also hyperbole in this allusion since the purpose of the writer is
persuasion. In this way, the use of allusion has enhanced the impact of the
sentence upon the readers. Another example of allusion is ‘Dharna’ which
refers to the Azadi March 2014 of Imran Khan. The first allusion, which is
used in this newspaper, is that of the Caesar’s wife. It is an idiom which
refers to pure women. It originates from Roman history as Caesar was a
Roman emperor who divorced his wife because it was his wish that his
wife must be free of any suspicion of crime and/or guilt. In the
aforementioned example, this allusion is used for political leaders that
they are pretending to be as pure as Caesar’s wife. Another allusion is dirty
politics of 1990s; it was an era of political chaos when Benazir Bhutto was
dismissed as Prime Minister due to the charges of corruption. The writer
is trying to make clear the current political situation by creating a
resemblance with the 1990’s political situation. Last instance of allusion is
2014 Dharna of Imran khan.
 Quantitative Analysis
The identified devices were counted and the frequency of
devices was given in the Table 7, which revealed the existence of
differences in the use of rhetorical devices in newspapers. In order to know
the significance of differences, Chi-square test was applied. The results
of chi-square test showed that there was significant frequency difference
(χ2 (df = 18, n = 348) = 31.04, p = .028) in the newspapers about the use of
rhetorical devices.
Table 7: Comparison of the use of Rhetorical Devices in the Newspapers
Newspaper
Device The News Total χ2 P
Internat-
Dawn The Nation ional
Allusion 0(0%) 2(1.8%) 4(3.4%) 6(1.7%) 31.04 .028
Antithesis 9(7.3%) 6(5.5%) 6(5.2%) 21(6.0%)
Hyperbole 15(12.2%) 28(25.7%) 10(8.6%) 53(15.2%)
Metaphor 11(8.9%) 5(4.6%) 8(6.9%) 24(6.9%)
Metonymy 42(34.1%) 31(28.4%) 50(43.1%) 123(35.3%)
Neologism 8(6.5%) 11(10.1%) 10(8.6%) 20(8.3%)
Oxymoron 1(0.8%) 0(0.0%) 0(0.0%) 1(0.3%)
Parallelism 13(10.6%) 7(6.4%) 8(7.8%) 29(8.3%)
Rhetorical 15(12.2%) 11(10.1%) 17(14.7%) 43(12.4%)
Question
Simile 9(7.3%) 8(7.3%) 2(1.7%) 19(5.5%)

Total 123(100.0%) 109(100.0%) 115(100.0%) 348(100.0%)

Note: Cramer’s V=.211, p=.028

As the p value is less than 0.05. So, there are significant
frequency differences among the newspapers in the use of rhetorical

devices.
Fig. 1 Comparison of Rhetorical Devices
Table 8: Highly Frequently used Rhetorical Devices
Devices Dawn The Nation The News Total
International
Metonymy 42 31 50 123
Hyperbole 15 28 10 53
Rhetorical 15 11 17 43
Question

Analysis revealed that metonymy was the frequently used rhetorical

device in the editorials of the three Pakistani English newspapers.
Hyperbole was the second and rhetorical question was the third frequently
used device.
Discussion
Comparative study of the editorials of the three Pakistani English
newspapers revealed that editorial writers commonly make use of certain
rhetorical devices such as parallelism, antithesis, simile, metonymy,
hyperbole, metaphor, neologism and rhetorical question, commonly in
their individual discourse to persuade the readers, while some rhetorical
devices such as oxymoron and allusion are rarely employed devices.
The second research question of this study was concerned
with exploring the differences and similarities in terms of frequency of the
use of rhetorical devices in editorials of the newspapers. In order to
answer this question, the researcher identified ten devices from the
sampled editorials. Chi-square test was applied to know the significance
of differences. The results of chi-square test showed that there were
significant frequency differences among the newspapers in the use of
rhetorical devices. The study of Farrokhi and Nazemi (2015) revealed these
frequency differences in the use of rhetorical devices in editorials were not
statistically significant. Here, the result of this particular study contradicts
the finding of the study of Farrokhi and Nazemi.
Analysis revealed the editorial writers of the newspapers
reflected higher tendency towards using metonymy in their discourse in
comparison to other rhetorical devices. The study of Farrokhi and
Nazemi, (2015) and another study conducted by Mahmood et al. (2014)
also revealed similar results that metonymy was the most frequently used
rhetorical device in the editorials of newspapers. Here, findings of this
study are similar to the findings of Mahmood et al. (2014) and the
findings of Farrokhi and Nazemi (2015). The second most frequently used
device was hyperbole. According to the study of Farrokhi and Nazemi
(2015), Hyperbole was the second most frequently used rhetorical device
in the editorials of the newspapers. The third most frequently used device
was rhetorical question in the editorials of the Dawn, The News
International and The Nation.
Conclusion
From the analysis, it may be concluded that the leading Pakistani
English newspapers commonly make use of rhetorical devices. Analysis of
the selected sample revealed that writers of editorials made common use of
eight rhetorical devices, namely parallelism, antithesis, simile, metonymy,
 hyperbole, metaphor, neologism and rhetorical question. The purpose of
employing these rhetorical devices was to persuade and influence the
readers. Oxymoron and allusion were rarely found in these specific
nd
editorials. In response to the 2 research question of this study, it may be
concluded that statistically significant frequency differences exist in the use
of the rhetorical devices in different newspaper editorials. Overall,
frequency differences were statistically significant. Analysis also revealed
that most frequently used rhetorical device was Metonymy; while
Hyperbole was the second most frequently employed rhetorical device.
Findings revealed that the third most frequently used device was Rhetorical
Question in the editorials of the Dawn, The News and The Nation. In a
quest to influence their readers, editorial writers of the three newspapers
relied heavily on Metonymy, Hyperbole and Rhetorical Question in their
individual discourse.
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Website Sources for Newspapers

Dawn: https://www.dawn.com/newspaper/editorial The Nation:
http://nation.com.pk/editorials
The News: https://www.thenews.com.pk/todaypaper-archive