REVEALING THE IDEOLOGY OF THE NEWSPAPER
THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF THE USES
OF THEMATIC ROLES AND PROPOSITIONS
IN THE JAKARTA POST AND THE NEW YORK TIMES
PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 9
TH, 2010
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
IRENE OSSI WIDYASTUTI Student Number: 074214063
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
REVEALING THE IDEOLOGY OF THE NEWSPAPER
THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF THE USES
OF THEMATIC ROLES AND PROPOSITIONS
IN THE JAKARTA POST AND THE NEW YORK TIMES
PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 9
TH, 2010
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
IRENE OSSI WIDYASTUTI Student Number: 074214063
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iv
I dedicate this thesis to my beloved parents,
Fransiskus Xaverius Sumarwan and Veronica Sri Puji Minulyo
and my best of the best brother,
Domenico Adi Nugroho
v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Irene Ossi Widyastuti
NIM : 074214063
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
Revealing the Ideology of the Newspaper through the Analysis of the Uses of Thematic Roles and Propositions in the Jakarta Post and the New York Times Published on November 9th, 2010
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan. Dengan demikian, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media yang lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta izin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal 11 Agustus 2011 Yang menyatakan,
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My greatest gratitude goes to the Almighty for always giving me strength to finish this thesis. Now I realize that everything He plans to me will always grow me stronger than before.
This thesis would also not be finished without the guidance and supports of my thesis advisor, Ms. Anna Fitriati, S.Pd., M.Hum and my co-advisor, Ms. Linda Valentina Budiman, S.S., M.Hum. I greatly appreciate your patience and sincere helps during the process of finishing this thesis.
I would also like to give thanks to Sanata Dharma University and the Department of English Letters for giving me facilities and comfortable place to learn and grow up maturely, and also to my academic advisor, Mr. J. Harris Hermansyah Setiajid, S.S., M.Hum for guiding me during my study.
I dedicate this thesis to my beloved parents, F.X Sumarwan and Veronica Sri Puji Minulyo and to my best of the best brother, Domenico Adi Nugroho. I feel so thankful for the love and supports they always give to me.
vii
My gratitude also goes to my beloved friends of 2007, Hellen ‘Pibi’, Dita, Lala, Ani, Aya, Zi, Gogor, Yudha, Nice, Kiky, Adit, Kenan, Dito, Sony, Herman ‘Cheng’, Risang, Yona, Simon, Putra, Adi, Natan, Satria and others whom I cannot mention one by one. Having you as nice and cooperative friends during our study here is really a wonderful gift God has given to me.
Finally, I realize that this thesis is not perfect. Therefore, I expect comments and suggestions for better improvement.
Yogyakarta, August 11, 2011
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………... i
APPROVAL PAGE ………. ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ……… iii
DEDICATION PAGE ………iv
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI………. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… viii
ABSTRACT ………. x
ABSTRAK ……… xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ……….. 1
A. Background of the Study ……… 1
B. Problem Formulation ……….. 5
C. Objectives of the Study ……….. 5
D. Definition of Terms ……… 6
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ……….. 8
A. Review of Related Studies ……….. 8
B. Review of Related Theories ……… 10
1. Theory of Proposition ……… 10
2. Theory of Thematic Roles ………. 12
3. Theory of Ideology in the News ……… 15
4. Theory of Rhetoric in the News ……… 18
5. Theory of Yes/No Questions ………. 21
C. Theoretical Framework ………...… 22
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………...… 24
A. Object of the Study ……….. 24
B. Method of the Study ………...…. 24
C. Research Procedure ……….. 26
1. Data Collection ……….. 26
2. Data Analysis ………. 26
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……… 28
A. Analysis of the Uses of Propositions and Thematic Roles 1. Analysis of the Uses of Propositions and Thematic Roles on the Online Newspaper Article Taken from the Jakarta Post ………. 28
a. Analysis of the Title ……… 28
b. Analysis of the Content ………... 30
ix
a. Analysis of the Title ……… 39
b. Analysis of the Content ……….. 40
B. Analysis of the Ideologies ……….. 49
1. Analysis of the Ideology of the Online Newspaper Article Taken from the Jakarta Post ………. 49
2. Analysis of the Ideology of the Online Newspaper Article Taken from the New York Times ………. 54
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……….. 64
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……… 65
APPENDICES ………... 67
Appendix 1 ………... 67
The Meaning of the Key Words Appeared on the Online NewspaperArticle Taken from the Jakarta Post and the New York Times ……… …67
Appendix 2 ……… 74
The General Comparison of the Analysis between the Jakarta Postand the New York Times ………..74
Appendix 3 ……… 77
The Full Article Taken from the Jakarta Post ……….. 77
Appendix 4 ……….. 78
x
ABSTRACT
IRENE OSSI WIDYASTUTI. Revealing the Ideology of the Newspaper through the Analysis of the Uses of Thematic Roles and Propositions in the Jakarta Post and the New York Times Published on November 9th, 2010. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.
Language is used in our everyday life both verbally and non-verbally. Language is used to deliver any kinds of information. One kind of information that is delivered through language is news. News, especially the text discourse in the newspaper not only provides new information but also persuades the readers to see something in a certain point of view. That is why analyzing the linguistic features is needed to reveal the biases and ideological opinions that are implied, hidden, denied, or taken for granted. This research compares two online articles taken from the Jakarta Post and the New York Times published on November 9th, 2010 which discuss the same topic of the handshake between the Indonesian Minister and US First Lady.
The main problem in this thesis is how the uses of propositions and thematic roles reveal the different ideologies of the online articles taken from the Jakarta Post and the New York Times. The objective of the study is to analyze the uses of propositions and thematic roles on the online newspaper articles taken from the Jakarta Post and the New York Times and to reveal the different ideologies seen from the uses of propositions and thematic roles in both articles.
This research uses qualitative research of case study because this research studied an event in depth by comparing two articles that were different in certain ways but had the same topic. Library research was also used as the method of the study since all the data, theories, and references were collected from the written source or from the text, not from the interview or recording
xi
ABSTRAK
IRENE OSSI WIDYASTUTI. Revealing the Ideology of the Newspaper through the Analysis of the Uses of Thematic Roles and Propositions in the Jakarta Post and the New York Times Published on November 9th, 2010. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.
Kita memakai bahasa dalam kehidupan sehari-hari dalam bentuk verbal maupun non-verbal. Bahasa dipakai untuk menyampaikan berbagai macam informasi, salah satunya adalah berita. Berita, terutama berita yang tertulis dalam surat kabar tidak hanya menyediakan informasi tetapi juga mengajak pembaca untuk melihat suatu hal melalui sudut pandang tertentu. Itulah mengapa analisis terhadap fitur-fitur kebahasaan diperlukan untuk mengungkapkan bias dan opini ideologis yang tersirat, tersembunyi, atau dianggap benar. Penelitian ini membandingkan dua artikel online yang diambil dari surat kabar the Jakarta Post dan the New York Times yang terbit pada 9 November 2010 yang membahas topik yang sama mengenai jabat tangan antara Menteri Indonesia dan Ibu Negara Amerika Serikat.
Skripsi ini mempunyai rumusan masalah utama yaitu bagaimana penggunaan proposisi dan peran tematik dapat mengungkapkan perbedaan ideologi dalam artikel online yang diambil dari the Jakarta Post dan the New York Times. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis penggunaan proposisi dan peran tematik guna mengungkapkan perbedaan ideologi dalam kedua surat kabar tersebut.
Penelitian ini menggunakan penelitian kualitatif studi kasus karena penelitian ini mempelajari suatu kejadian secara mendalam dan studi pustaka karena semua data, teori, dan referensi dikumpulkan dari sumber tertulis atau teks, bukan dari hasil wawancara atau rekaman.
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Communication is a basic and important thing that every human being in this world should acquire. By communicating, people can have close relations to each other. They can deliver and receive information to and from others. One way to communicate is by using language.
Language is used in our everyday life both verbally, as when we speak to be heard by others, and non-verbally, as when we write something to be read by others. Language is used to deliver any kinds of information. One kind of information that is delivered through language is news.
News is “information about recent events that are of interest to a sufficiently large group, or that may affect the lives of a sufficiently large group.” (Reah, 2002: 4). The term news itself actually is ambiguous. News as stated by Reah above is considered as the general notion of news, which means new information. While based on van Dijk’s statement, news is “part of a second class of meanings, which involves the media and mass communication.” (1988:3). But van Dijk (1988:3) states that this notion needs to be specified because there is printed news, such as news in the newspapers, magazines, and so on, and there is news broadcasted on television or radio. In other words, the notion news implied several concepts as stated below.
1. New information about events, things, or persons
3. A news item or news report (i.e. a text or discourse on radio, TV, or in the newspaper, in which new information is given about recent events. (1988: 4)
This study focuses on the third concept of news, especially the text discourse in the newspaper.
Newspapers not only provide new information but also persuade the readers to see something in a certain point of view. Newspapers often lead the readers to see things based on their point of views. That is why Kuo, supported by Fowler, suggests that the readers of the newspapers should read more than one newspapers to widen their perspectives and knowledge so they are not influenced by one newspaper only. Fowler as quoted by Kuo in her research Language as Ideology: Analyzing Quotations in Taiwanese News Discourse states that by studying the details of linguistic structures in the news text, the readers can reveal the ideology of the text which is invisible or not clearly seen.
Reading only one newspaper or watching the news on only one television channel, most people thereby are likely to develop narrow and normative attitudes to the media. Fowler warns that “this situation can only lead to complacency and intolerance” and since people tend to accept the discourse as ‘natural’, he further suggests that only by studying the minute details of linguistic structures in news texts can the invisible ideology permeating language be uncovered. (Kuo, 2007: 297)
… transitivity, passives, modality, nominalization, and lexical choice discussed in Fowler (1991), is a discursive mechanism which can become a powerful ideological tool to manipulate readers’ perceptions and interpretation of people and events in news reports. (Kuo, 2007: 297) Because media, or –to be more specific– newspaper, can manipulate readers’ perception and interpretation towards certain events or people, analyzing the linguistic features is needed to reveal the biases and ideological opinions that are implied, hidden, denied, or taken for granted.
Media discourse is biased and the ideological opinions held by the media institutions are very often implied, hidden, denied, or taken for granted. Only by a critical investigation of the linguistic devices and discourse strategies can these biases be uncovered. (Kuo, 2007: 298)
To conduct the study, the writer took two different articles from two different online newspapers. Online newspapers are chosen because those are more accessible than printed newspapers. Nowadays, internet is used widely throughout the world. Through the internet, people can access many kinds of information, including news from the newspaper. Newspaper companies now have two forms of newspapers to be published, the printed edition and the online edition. Online newspapers are also chosen because they are rarely used to be analyzed since the earlier studies mostly used printed newspapers.
who shook hands with Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States, during the Presidential visit of Barrack Obama in Indonesia on November 9th, 2010. It became a controversy because Tifatul Sembiring is known as a Moslem who obeys the teaching of his religion by restricting his contact with women.
The articles from the Jakarta Post and the New York Times are chosen because the Jakarta Post is published in Indonesia and the New York Times is published in US, while those two countries were involved in the case of Tifatul Sembiring and Michelle Obama. Therefore, different perspectives and ideologies might arise from those two newspapers representing the country from which they are published.
Based on its company profile, the Jakarta Post itself is “…the largest English newspaper in Indonesia that provides up-to-date, in-depth accurate information and analyses. The Jakarta Post.com aspires to be a one-stop reference point on Indonesia that will serve both local and international audiences.” (http://www.thejakartapost.com/company_profile),while the New York Times is
an American daily newspaper published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, ‘The Gray Lady’—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record. Founded in 1851, the newspaper has won 98 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. (http://www.linkedin.com/ companies/the-new-york-times).
Both of the newspapers are reliable and trusted national newspaper written in English that have local and international target readers.
ideology of a newspaper. To make it clearer, the writer compares two different articles with the same topic to see the different ideologies of both newspapers.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study explained above, there are two problems that the writer tries to answer. Those two problems are formulated as follows:
1. How are the uses of propositions and the thematic roles applied on the online newspaper articles taken from the Jakarta Post and the New York Times?
2. How do the uses of propositions and thematic roles reveal the different ideologies of the Jakarta Post and the New York Times?
C. Objectives of the Study
D. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation in analyzing the data, some definitions of the linguistics terminology is needed. The terms used in this analysis are proposition, thematic role, and ideology in the newspaper. The term proposition based on the term defined by Teun van Dijk is “the smallest, independent meaning constructs of language and thought…. propositions are also the smallest semantic unit that can be true or false. Propositions are typically expressed by single sentences or clauses.” (van Dijk, 1988: 31). He further defines that propositions are usually analyzed through the main predicates (1998: 32). In other words, proposition is the core meaning of a clause or a sentence.
than the set of roles assigned to arguments. So instead of using the term semantic role, he uses the term thematic role (Jacobs, 1995:19).
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
Thomas Hawes and Sarah Thomas on their research Theme Choice and Lateral Verbs in Newspaper Editorials compare the co-occurrences of the major theme types with the various lateral verbs of 31 editorials from The Sun and 29 from The Times, two British newspapers sharing the same ideology, but having very different styles. They analyze themes of different kinds in conjunction with their lateral verb types. Lateral verb system is a system created by Kress and Hodge (1979) as cited in Hawes and Thomas (1995:104) that is divided into two major groups, actional and relational. Actional verbs are related to actions. Relational verbs are verbs that refer to relation. Hawes and Thomas (1995:104) state that relational verbs “involve writer comments on entities or action and broken down into attributive…”
While Kuo studies the different ideologies appearing in two ideologically different newspapers through their uses of quotations and Hawes and Thomas study how two different newspapers presented the same ideology through their different styles in themes and lateral verbs used, in this research, the writer studies the different ideologies appearing on two different newspapers through their uses of thematic roles and propositions. Although the main topic discussed on those two newspapers is the same, the uses of thematic roles and propositions to inform the reader about the news are different. Therefore, the writer wants to find out whether different thematic roles and propositions can reveal different ideologies too.
B. Review of Related Theories
The theories needed for this study are the theory of proposition, the theory of thematic roles, the theory of ideology in the news and the theory of rhetoric in the news, and the theory of yes/no question.
1. Theory of Proposition
typically expressed by single sentences or clauses.” (1988:31). Van Dijk gives an example of a sentence Sandra fired the manager yesterday. In this sentence, Sandra and the manager are not propositions since they cannot be true or false. We can see whether the sentence is true or false by looking at the main verb fired. So the core meaning of that sentence is the action of firing done by Sandra as the doer, to the manager as the person who is affected by the action. Fire itself means to force somebody to leave their job. Therefore the sentence means that Sandra
forced the manager to leave his job. If it is analyzed further, force has the meaning to make somebody do something that they do not want to do. So the sentence means that Sandra made the manager leave his job although the manager did not want to do that. Such analysis of propositions can form some implied opinions which further may reveal the ideologies, as what is stated by van Dijk (1998:32) below,
Concepts and their expressions in lexical items usually do not come alone, but combine into propositions expressed by clauses and sentences. Thus the occurrence of words that seem imply opinions (such as “terrorist”) does not mean much if we do not know the meaning of the sentences in which they occur (and of course, of the whole text and context, to which we turn below).
2. Theory of Thematic Roles
Jacobs (1995:19) defines thematic role as the semantic concept that defines the set of roles assigned to arguments. He classifies some thematic roles assigned by the predicates into the thematic role Agent, Theme, Instrument, Experiencer, Source and Goal, Benefactive, and the thematic roles for non-argument noun phrases such as Location and Time.
Jacobs (1995:19-25) defines the thematic role Agent as a mind-possessor who acts, usually intentionally, as seen in the sentences Emily Brontë opened the drawer with that iron key and The drawer was opened by Emily Brontë (Jacobs, 1995:23). In those sentences, Emily Brontë has the thematic role Agent.
The next thematic role defined by Jacobs is Theme. Theme is the role of often inert entity, which is in a certain state or position or is changing its state or position such as in the sentences The girders were rusting, Cavour rolled the ball
down the slope, and The news would have shocked that community (Jacobs, 1995:24). The noun phrases the girders, the ball, and the news have the thematic role Theme. Theme can also be assigned to clauses, such as in For Charlotte to outdo Branwell would shock that community and in the sentence Patrick believed
that Emily had the greatest talent. The clauses for Charlotte to outdo Branwell and that Emily had the greatest talent have the thematic role Theme.
seen in these sentences A wealthy hunter killed the Bengal Tiger and The Bengal
died (Jacobs, 1995:24). The Bengal tiger here has the thematic role Patient.
The thematic roleInstrument is defined as the thing with which the action is done, for example in the sentences Emily Bronte opened the drawer with that iron key and That iron key opens the drawer (Jacobs, 1995:23). The argument that iron key here has the thematic role as the instrument.
Jacobs also defines the thematic role Experiencer as the one who experiences a mental process or state involving cognition (thinking, knowing, believing), perception (seeing, hearing, smelling), or emotion (liking, hating, fearing, being angry) such as in the sentences The trooper hoped for a promotion and Montaigne’s words inspired the young poet (Jacobs, 1995:24). The thematic role Experiencer is assigned to the trooper and the young poet.
There are also the thematic roles Source and Goal. Source refers to the location from which someone or something originates and Goal refers to the location that serves or should serve as the destination, as in the sentence The delegates left Mexico City (Source) for Buenos Aires (Goal) (Jacobs, 1995:25). In an active voice sentence, the Goal is typically the indirect object of the object of to, and the Source is typically the object of from.
introduce the Benefactive role, as in the sentence The chef baked a cherry pie for Jessica (Jacobs, 1995:25).
There are also the thematic roles of Location and Time which show the location and the time of the action, for example in the sentences Moses waited for them on the mountain and A truce will be declared for two weeks (Jacobs, 1995:25). The thematic role Location is assigned to the noun phrase the mountain and the thematic role Time is assigned to the noun phrase two weeks.
Frawley (1992:225-227) adds more thematic roles. The first is thematic role Reason. Thematic role Reason is assigned to arguments that denote the prior conditions of a predication and that are connected to the intentions or motivations of the agent, for examples are the sentences I ran from fear, Bob jogs because of his need to keep fit, and The murderer acted out of passion (Frawley, 1992:225).
On the first sentence, fear precedes and motivates the running, on the second sentence, the need to keep fit motivates the jogging, and on the third sentence, passion motivates the actions. From those examples, based on Frawley’s (1992:225) theory, “…the reasons derive from events external to the predication and motivate the predication through the intentions of the agent,”
The second thematic role defined by Frawley is Purpose. While Reason is the motivational source of predication, Purpose is the motivational goal. It is the result or consequence of a predicate, for examples on the sentences I went to the doctor for a checkup and Tom has a silk shirt for impressing his friends
and in the second sentence, impressing his friend is the result of Tom’s having the silk shirt.
3. Theory of Ideology in the News
Teun van Dijk states that ideology, in this case the ideology of language in the newspaper, is “…like a knowledge and natural language (or rather like grammars and discursive rule systems that underlie language use).” (van Dijk, 1998: 22). Further he also states that “…ideologies are formed and changed through the everyday interaction and discourse of members in societal contexts of group relations and institutions like the press.” (van Dijk, 1998:23). Therefore, ideology here is not personal, but rather more social, institutional, and political.
specific social domain, or in other words it will create a bias (van Dijk, 1998: 23-26).
Van Dijk groups those strategies of polarization into 4 kinds as stated below which he called an ‘ideological square’ (1998:33).
a. Emphasize our good properties/ actions b. Emphasize their bad properties/ actions c. Mitigate our bad properties/ actions d. Mitigate their good properties/ actions
From that ideological square, van Dijk (1998:33) wants to tell that a newspaper sometimes takes side. If something or someone belongs to the same ideology that the newspaper has, its or his goodness will be emphasized more but its or his badness will be mitigated or reduced to show only the good impressions to the readers. On the contrary, if something or someone belongs to the different ideology that the newspaper has, its or his goodness will be mitigated or reduced but its badness will be emphasized more to show the bad impressions to the readers. From this strategy, the readers will be persuaded to support the person or thing that belongs to the same ideology as the newspaper has but they will also be persuaded to see or even react badly to the person or thing that does not belong to the same ideology as the newspaper has. That is why there are terms like We, Self or Our which mean the person or thing that belongs to the same ideology and They, Others, or Their which mean the person or thing that belongs to the different ideology.
people will not be the actors if the actions are good and Our people will not also be the actors if the actions are bad.
That strategy of ideological square “may be expressed in the choice of lexical items that imply positive or negative evaluations, as well as in the structure of the whole propositions and their categories (as in active/ passives, etc)” (van Dijk, 1998:33).
The act of reducing negative acts of important news actors is common in newspapers. It is used to present good impressions to the reader and also to avoid the responsibility of printing a statement about somebody that is not true and will give the readers a bad opinion of him/ her, as what is stated by van Dijk, “mitigations, especially used when describing negative acts of important news actors, are routine procedures, used also to avoid charges of libel.” (1988:81). He gives an example of the word ‘controversial’ which is routinely used to show the characteristics of someone that is considered negative by the journalist or other important reference group.
opinions from the readers toward their own people or people who belong to the same group. But if the actions of people who do not belong to the same group of the newspaper and its readers are bad, they are emphasized more by describing them in details to create bad opinions to them and when the actions are good, they are described more general to reduce good opinions to them. The main points here are that newspaper tries to create good opinions to their own group but create bad opinions to other groups.
News discourse is organized in a top-down principle, that is the most important or relevant information is put at the top or first paragraph of the news text and then followed by the less relevant information (van Dijk, 1988:43). By putting the most important or relevant information at the top or first paragraph, the readers will directly get the main topic discussed in the newspapers, while the other information stated on the next paragraphs will be considered as complements or supports of the main topic discussed first.
4. Theory of Rhetoric in the News
Fransisca Setyowaty in her research The Roles of the Answers to the Wh-Questions in Constructing the Leads of News Scripts and News Articles finds the definition of a rhetorical communication stated as follows.
the process of a person stimulating a source-selected meaning in the mind of a receiver by means of verbal (oral or written language) and nonverbal (body movements, facial expression, or tone of voice) messages. (1998:10)
this, the entire range of rhetoric can be seen as a spectrum of persuasiveness.” So by the use of rhetoric, one can persuade others because the main function of rhetorical communication is to find an agreement between one another.
News texts use this strategy of rhetorical communication to persuade readers, or in van Dijk statement, “ideologically, news implicitly promotes the dominant beliefs and opinions of elite groups in society.” (1988:83). He also states that news discourse has a number of standard strategies to promote the persuasive process for assertions:
A. Emphasize the factual nature of events, e.g., by 1. Direct descriptions of ongoing events 2. Using evidence from close eyewitness
3. Using evidence from other reliable sources (authorities, respectable people, professionals)
4. Signals that indicate precision and exactness such as numbers for persons, time, events, etc.
5. Using direct quotes from sources, especially when opinions are involved.
B. Build a strong relational structure for facts, e.g., by
1. Mentioning previous events as conditions or causes and describing or predicting next events as possible or real consequences.
2. Inserting facts into well-known situation models that make them relatively familiar even when they are new.
3. Using well-known scripts and concepts that belong to that script. 4. Trying to further organize facts in well-known specific structures,
e.g. narratives.
C. Provide information that also has an attitudinal and emotional dimensions:
1. Facts are better represented and memorized if they involve or arouse strong emotions (if too strong emotions are involved, however, there may be disregard, suppression and hence disbelief of the facts)
By using direct description and eyewitness reports, a newspaper will be considered as a truthful and more reliable newspaper. Loftus (1979) in van Dijk’s News as Discourse (1988: 86) states that “reports of what people have seen with their own eyes are taken to be closer to the truth than hearsay, although the course not all eyewitnesses are qualified.” He also states that the wrong testimony of the eyewitnesses is less important.
Quotation is also important in making the news more trusted, reliable, and closer to the truth. It makes the news become livelier and more dramatic. It is also a direct indication of what was actually said. Tuchman (1972) in van Dijk’s News as Discourse (1988:87) states that, “…quotations are the reporter’s protection against slander or libel, and the rhetorical illusion of truthfulness here finds its social and legal correlate in the veracity of representation.” By quoting the statements made by the main participants or the eyewitnesses in the certain event, the reporter is protected from a false statement intended to damage the good opinion people have on somebody (slander) or a statement about somebody that is not true and gives people a bad opinion to him/her (libel). When there is a slander or libel, the one who is responsible for that is not the reporter but the person whose statement is quoted by the reporter. By using quotations, a reporter can also create an illusion of truth since the quotation will be considered by the readers as what was actually said by the main participants or eyewitnesses in a certain event, although in fact it was not always exactly the same and it was not always true.
it will be more convincing to say 132 people were killed during the earthquake in 1975 rather than just Hundreds of people were killed during the earthquake in 1970s. Numbers in rhetoric do not only include the numbers of participants but also include date and time of events, age, location descriptions, weight, size, and so on.
5. Theory of Yes/No Questions
The writer finds that one of the articles uses yes/no question to present the title and some information. Therefore, this theory is needed to find out the nature and the meaning of yes/no questions used in the article in order to seek for the ideology.
Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999: 205) define yes/no questions as “questions for which either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is the expected answer”, such as in the example below.
Are you going to the party? Yes (I am).
No (I am not).
Yes-no question is a neutral question because it asks for a confirmation or denial for a proposition rather than states something definite, as what Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman describe as follows.
Yes-no question is a question that requires free answers, either negative or positive answers. Therefore, there is an element of uncertainty found in that question, since the speaker usually uses yes-no question because he/she does not know the certainty, as what Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman find that there are two observations emerged regarding the meaning of yes/no question as stated below.
The first is that that speakers may differ in their expectations of negative or positive responses concerning the entire proposition. The second is that speakers have varying reasons for uncertainty about the proposition. (1999:214)
C. Theoretical Framework
The theories of proposition and thematic roles are used to answer the first problem formulation, which is to analyze the uses of proposition and thematic roles in both articles of the Jakarta Post and the New York Times. Based on the theories, the analysis is conducted sentence by sentence, or if possible clause by clause. The thematic roles and the propositions are analyzed in small units. After finding the predicates and the thematic roles of the arguments following or preceding them and after finding the meanings of them, the propositions or the core meanings of the sentences or clauses are found.
things included in the rhetoric in the news. The analyses then are compared between both articles. After finding the rhetoric, those are further analyzed to reveal the ideologies of them based on the theory of ideology in the news.
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
This thesis was conducted to study and to compare the propositions and thematic roles to find the ideologies of two online newspaper articles which talked about the same topic. Therefore the objects of the study were two different articles from two different online newspapers. The first article entitled “Did Indonesia Minister Shake US First Lady’s Hand?” was taken from www.thejakartapost.com, while the second article entitled “Indonesian Minister Blames Michelle Obama for Handshake” was taken from www.nytimes.com. Both articles were published on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010. Both of the articles discussed the same topic, which was the case of Tifatul Sembiring, Indonesian Minister of Information, who shook hands with Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States, during the Presidential visit of Barrack Obama in Indonesia on November 9th, 2010. It became a controversy because Tifatul Sembiring was known as a Moslem who obeyed the teaching of his religion by restricting his contact with women.
B. Method of the Study
study since qualitative research studied the phenomena occurring in natural settings or the “real world” and involved studying those phenomena in all their complexity (Leedy and Ormrod, 2005: 133). In other words, a qualitative research rarely simplifies what it observes, but it observes in depth and complex analysis.
A qualitative research itself is classified into five designs which are case study, ethnography, phenomenological study, grounded theory study, and content analysis (Leedy and Ormrod, 2005: 144). This research was included in the qualitative research of case study because Leedy and Ormrod state that “In a case study, a particular individual, program, or event is studied in depth for a defined period of time.” (2005: 135) and this research also studied an event in depth. This research is specified into multiple or collective case study because this research compared two articles that were different in certain ways but had the same topic, as stated by Leedy and Ormrod (2005:135).
…. researchers study two or more cases – often cases that are different in certain key ways – to make comparisons, build theory, or propose generalizations; such an approach is called multiple or collective case study.
Library research was also used as the method of the study since all the data, theories, and references were collected from the written source or from the text, not from the interview, recording, etc.
C. Research Procedure 1. Data Collection
Based on Leedy and Ormrod (2005: 135), in a case study, the data collected by the researcher is the data on individuals, programs, or events on which the investigation is focused. These data can be observations, interviews, documents (e.g. newspaper articles), past records (e.g. previous test scores), and audiovisual materials (e.g. photographs, videotapes, audiotapes). Therefore, the data of this research were two articles taken from online newspaper the Jakarta Post and the New York Times published on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 which discussed the same topic.
After the data were collected, the writer also searched for the context surrounding the case to help in analyzing the data and making it easier for the reader to draw conclusions about this research, as what is stated by Leedy et al, “By identifying the context of the case, the researcher helps others who read the case study to draw conclusions about the extent to which its findings might be generalizable to other situations.” (2005: 135-136)
2. Data Analysis
To analyze the data, the writer followed the steps described by Creswell (1988) as cited by Leedy and Ormrod (2005:136). He described a data analysis by the following steps which were adapted by the writer.
propositions in each clause and in a broader scope might have important roles to determine the ideology of the newspaper. First, the writer determined the predicates. Then the writer determined the arguments following or preceding the predicates and classified them into some classifications of thematic roles. For example an argument preceding a predicate might be classified as Agent and an argument following a predicate could be a Theme.
After the data were organized in details by the determination of predicates and the arguments following or preceding them, the writer interpreted them one by one by finding out the meaning based on the context. The meaning was taken from Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English the Third Edition and Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary the Seventh Edition. The propositions or the core meaning of the clauses or sentences were found in this step.
After finding out the propositions in each clauses or sentences, the writer interpreted them further using the rhetorical strategies such as the uses of quotations, numbers, direct descriptions, and so on. After finding the rhetoric, those were further analyzed to reveal the ideologies of them based on the theory of ideology in the news. The analyses of both articles then were compared to seek the differences and the similarities.
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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter is divided into two big parts. The first part answers the first problem formulation. This part explains how the uses of propositions and the thematic roles appear on the online newspaper articles taken from the Jakarta Post and the New York Times. This part is divided into two smaller parts, which are the analysis on the Jakarta Post and the analysis on the New York Times. To make it easier to analyze, the analysis is divided into the analysis of the title and the analysis of the content. On the analysis of the content, the analysis is done per paragraph.
The second part of this chapter answers the second problem formulation. In this part, the writer reveals the ideologies of the online newspaper articles using the theories of rhetoric and ideology in the news. This part is divided into two smaller parts, which are the analysis on the Jakarta Post and the analysis on the New York Times.
A. Analysis of the Uses of Propositions and Thematic Roles
1. Analysis of the Uses of Propositions and Thematic Roles on the Online Newspaper Article Taken from the Jakarta Post
a. Analysis of the Title
sentence has 2 arguments; those are Indonesian Minister as the Agent and US First Lady’s hand as the Theme. Shake hands has the meaning of moving someone’s hand up and down with your own hand as a greeting. The Indonesian minister as the Agent plays the role as the one that moved the US First Lady’s hand (as the Theme) up and down as a greeting. The main verb shake which is placed in the title shows that the main topic in the news is the hand-shaking action between the Indonesian minister and US First Lady.
b. Analysis of the Content
The content of the first paragraph is stated as follows.
Once the wait for President Barack Obama's return was over, Indonesian anticipation turned to another question: Would a conservative Muslim government minister shake the first lady's hand?
In the first paragraph, the main verbs used are turned and shake. This paragraph restates the title by asking a question to the reader about the certainty of the handshaking between the Indonesian minister and the US First Lady. It questions whether or not a government minister modified by the phrase conservative Muslim really did the action of shaking the US First Lady’s hand. A conservative Muslim government minister has the Agent role, while the first lady’s hand has the Theme role. Conservative Muslim itself has the meaning of a Muslim who does not like changes or new ideas, not very modern, or in another word he/she is very traditional. In this case, a conservative Muslim usually does some things that he/she believes as a part of his religious teaching, such as avoiding contact with somebody who does not have the same gender or is not a member of the family. The handshake here becomes an important and controversial issue since shaking hands with somebody that does not have the same gender or is not a member of the family means having contact with them and obviously it contradicts with his / her religious teaching.
The second paragraph tells the Indonesian minister’s excuse and the contradictory facts against his excuse as what is stated below.
In this paragraph, the main verbs used are says, did, shows, sparking, has lit up. The verb says requires two arguments, which are he as the Agent and he did as the Theme. The proposition he says he did shows the confession of the minister that the handshaking action did actually happen and was done by him, but at the end he added an excuse that it was not by choice which means that it was not something that he did because he wanted to do it, but because he was forced to do it.
The verbs shows, sparking, and has lit up tell the opposite of his excuse. Footage on Youtube or cinema film showing a particular event on Youtube shows
otherwise which means showing something different from what has been mentioned, which is Sembiring’s statement that he did the handshake but not by choice. Otherwise here means that on the footage on Youtube, the handshake seemed to be done by choice.
The verb sparking which means to start someone’s interest in something is followed by the noun debate which means discussion or argument on a subject that people have different opinions about. It creates the meaning that the opposing fact on Youtube starts people’s interest in discussing or arguing on it that they have different opinions about. The verb has lit up also restates the previous utterance sparking, because the meaning is to show some interest or excitement.
The third paragraph quotes the statement made by Tifatul Sembiring on his Twitter as what is stated below.
In this paragraph, the main verbs used are tried, to prevent (being touched), held, touched, and told. This paragraph contains the self-defense from the Indonesian minister. By saying that he tried, he showed that he had made an effort. In this sentence the main verb tried has 3 arguments, which are I as the Agent, to prevent (being touched) as the Theme, and with my hands as the Instrument. The verb to prevent means to stop something from happening, or stop someone from doing something. So the proposition means that he had made an effort to stop the handshake from happening. His self-defense then is more emphasized by his statement that it was Michelle Obama (Agent) who held her hands too far (Theme) toward him (Goal) so that it was unavoidable for him to have a contact with her. This statement is known by tens of thousands of his follower on Twitter because he (Agent) told them (Theme) through it.
The fourth paragraph in the Jakarta Post presents the characteristics of Tifatul Sembiring as a conservative Muslim in contrast with the moderate Muslim practiced by the vast majority of Indonesians as stated below.
While Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, the vast majority practice a moderate form of the faith. But Sembiring has flaunted his piety, making a point of avoiding contact with women who are not related to him.
of the faith. The verb practice requires two arguments, which are the vast majority as the Agent and a moderate form of the faith as the Theme. Moderate has the meaning of having opinions, or beliefs, that are not extreme and that most people consider reasonable or sensible. This sentence wants to show that most Muslims in Indonesia are moderate.
The next sentence portrays how Tifatul Sembiring appears conversely to the majority of moderate Indonesian Muslim. Through the main verb has flaunted –which means to show something you are proud of to other people in order to impress them– followed by the noun his piety which means the state of having or showing a deep respect, especially for God and religion, he is portrayed as someone who shows his deep respect for his God and religion he is proud of to impress other people. His being proud of his piety is explained more clearly in the following clause making a point of avoiding contact with women who are not related to him. The verb making followed by noun a point means to emphasize something, and the verb avoiding followed by noun contact with women who are not related to him explains the action of deliberately stay away from touching women who do not have any relation to him. In other words, Sembiring is proud to be a conservative Muslim, and one of the characteristics he has is by trying to have no contact with women who do not have any relation to him.
The fifth paragraph shows the condition and situation in Indonesia during the presidential visit of Barrack Obama as described in the following paragraph.
touch down. Children at the school he attended practiced a song dedicated to him just in case he visited.
The main verbs used in the fifth paragraph are was among the dignitaries, greeted, arrived, spent, gathered, touch down, attended, practiced. Was among the dignitaries means that the minister as the Experiencer who experienced the state of being at the certain place was among some very important people (dignitaries). The verb greeted has 2 arguments, which are the dignitaries as the Agent who did the action of greeting and the Obamas as the Theme. Greeted means to say hello to someone to welcome them. The clause as they arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday plays the thematic role Time. The verb arrived has 3 arguments, which are they as the Agent, in Jakarta as the Goal, and on Tuesday as the Time. They here refers to the Obamas. Then there is an explanation that it was such kind of a homecoming of sorts for the President who spent part of his childhood here. Homecoming is an occasion when someone comes back to their home after a long absence. The verb spent has 3 arguments, which are the president as the Agent, part of his childhood as the Theme, and here as the Place. The president refers to President Obama and here refers to Indonesia. The fact is that President Obama really lived in Indonesia for several years during his childhood.
meaning of coming together and forming a group. It is implied from the predicate that there were many of the Indonesians who wanted to watch the American President touch down or arrived in Indonesia. The excitement was also shown on the next sentence. The main verb practiced has 3 arguments, children at the school he attended as the Agent, a song dedicated to him as the Theme, and just in case he visited as the Time. The proposition means that the children in his past school made an effort to improve their singing skill to present a song used for only one particular purpose (dedicated) which is to welcome him. The word just in case has the meaning of the possibility of something happening. It implies that there is no certainty whether or not the president would come to his past school; however the children there kept practicing a song for him.
The sixth paragraph shows how Sembiring’s first impression is when welcoming the Obamas as stated below.
In footage of the official welcome, Sembiring appeared to share his countrymen's enthusiasm. He smiled broadly as he shook the president's hand and then reached with both hands to grasp Michelle's. But later he said she forced their contact.
The main verbs used are appeared, smiled, shook, reached, said, and forced. The predicate appeared to share has 3 arguments; in footage of the official
This clause shows how enthusiastic he was when welcoming the Obamas to the public.
The next sentence shows the moment of the handshake. It is portrayed that at first Sembiring showed his enthusiasm by smiling broadly, reaching the president’s hand and then reaching the first lady’s hand. But then he denied his action. The verb smiled is modified by the adverb broadly, which means that he (as the Agent) smiled with his mouth stretched very wide because he was very pleased or amused when he shook the president’s hand. His excitement continued when he reached with both hands to grasp Michelle's hand. The excitement is portrayed through the word reached with both hands which means he moved his both hands in order to hold Michelle’s hand, and it is more emphasized through the word to grasp which means to take and hold something firmly.
The last sentence shows his denial on the action he did. Again, he defended himself by saying that Michelle Obama forced their contact. The verb forced has the meaning of making someone do something that they do not want to do. The verb forced here has 2 arguments; she, which refers to Michelle Obama as the Agent and their contact as the Theme. This proposition means Tifatul Sembiring said that it was Michelle Obama who made him did the contact that he did not want to do.
The seventh paragraph shows how his denial for the handshake aroused responses on Twitter as stated in the following paragraph.
The main verbs used in this paragraph are was in a response, noted, saying, called into question, and restricts. This paragraph tells how the Indonesians critically reacted to Sembiring’s denial. It is seen from the words was in a response which means something that is done as a reaction to something has happened or been said and noted which means to notice or pay careful attention to something.
This proposition means that his statement which exists for a long time of being a good Muslim who limits his contact with women has made people uncertain whether that statement was true or not.
The eighth paragraph is written in one sentence as follows, “Many posts had a ‘gotchya’ quality to them.” In the eighth paragraph, the main verb used is had. Many posts as the subject here is the posts on Twitter made by the Indonesians as a response of Sembiring’s denial for the handshake. “Gotchya” means a humorous way of writing the phrase ‘I’ve got you!’, which a person says when they have found or caught somebody. So “gotchya” quality means the quality of Sembiring’s being caught doing oppositely from his previous claims (them).
The ninth paragraph is stated as follows.
One female journalist - who said the minister had refused to shake her hand - gleefully noted that now he would no longer be able to wriggle out of it.
the Theme. The verb noted is modified by the adverb gleefully which means really enjoying the fact that something good has happened to you or that something bad has happened to someone else. The word no longer means something that used to happen in the past but does not happen now, while be able means to have the skill, strength, knowledge etc to do something, and to wriggle out of means to avoid doing something by using clever excuses. This sentence means that the female journalist seemed to really enjoy the fact that something bad has happened to the minister. The minister now will have no skill to avoid the fact of his handshaking by making clever excuses. Because it is stated that previously the minister did not want to shake her hand, then she paid attention carefully that finally the minister who always claimed himself as a good Muslim shook a woman’s hand.
2. Analysis of the Uses of Propositions and Thematic Roles on the Online Newspaper Article Taken from the New York Times
a. Analysis of the Title
sentence. It directly says that the Indonesian Minister as the Agent plays the role by doing the action of saying that Michelle Obama as the Theme is responsible for something bad, which is the handshaking moment. The focus of the news is the blaming action from the Indonesian minister to Michelle Obama.
b. Analysis of the Content
The first paragraph of this news goes directly with a long sentence which shows how the Indonesian minister blamed the America’s First Lady. Indonesian minister is placed as the Agent and America’s First Lady is placed as the Theme as what is stated in this following paragraph.
Immediately after a ceremony on Tuesday welcoming President Obama to Indonesia, the country’s conservative Muslim information minister took to Twitter to argue that America’s first lady, Michelle Obama, was entirely to blame for a televised handshake between the two that has left him open to charges of hypocrisy.
a Muslim who does not like changes or new ideas, not very modern, or in another word he/she is very traditional.
The writer also uses the word to argue which means to give reasons why you think that something is right or wrong, true or not true, etc., especially to persuade people that you are right. By using this word, the writer shows that the Indonesian Minister persuaded people by telling them that it was not his but Michelle Obama’s fault for the handshake. In other words, he defended himself that he was not the one who shook Michelle’s hand but it was her who did the action.
The adverb entirely which has the meaning of completely and in every possible way modifies the verb to blame which has the meaning of being responsible for something bad. Michelle Obama who is put as the Theme according to the Indonesian Minister’s argument on Twitter shows how the Indonesian Minister completely and in every possible way denied that he was not guilty for the handshaking action but it was Michelle Obama who was responsible for it as something bad.
religious teaching as a conservative Muslim. That is why the handshake is seen as a proof of his behavior in which he pretended to have moral standards of opinion that he did not actually have.
The second paragraph in the New York Times shows the characteristics of Tifatul Sembiring (the Indonesian minister) as a conservative Muslim who is different from the moderate Muslims who dominate the vast majority of the Indonesians. In this paragraph, the main verbs used are reports, practice, has flaunted, making, avoiding, are not related as shown below.
As The Associated Press reports, the vast majority of Indonesians practice a moderate form of Islam, but the minister, Tifatul Sembiring, “has flaunted his piety, making a point of avoiding contact with women who are not related to him.”
In this paragraph, the writer quotes from the Jakarta Post. It is shown by the sentence the Associated Press reports. The Associated Press is the writer of the news about the handshaking between the Indonesian minister and US First Lady reported in the Jakarta Post. From the report, it is reported that the vast majority or almost all of Indonesians practice a moderate form of Islam. The verb practice requires two arguments, which in this sentence are the vast majority of Indonesians as the Agent and a moderate form of Islam as the Theme. Moderate has the meaning of having opinions, or beliefs, that are not extreme and that most people consider reasonable or sensible, while from the previous paragraph it is already stated that the Indonesian minister is a conservative Muslim.
the noun his piety which means the state of having or showing a deep respect, especially for God and religion, he is portrayed as someone who shows his deep respect for his God and religion he is proud of to impress other people. His being proud of his piety is explained more clearly in the following clause by the verb making followed by noun a point which means to emphasize something, and the verb avoiding followed by noun contact with women who are not related to him which explains the action of deliberately stay away from touching women who do not have any relation to him. In other words, Sembiring is proud to be a conservative Muslim, and one of the characteristics he has is by trying to have no contact with women who do not have any relation to him.
The third paragraph tells about a female journalist who poked fun at him after the clearly showed footage broadcast of the handshake as stated below.
After footage broadcast on Indonesian television clearly showed Mr. Sembiring reaching out to clasp the first lady’s hand after they were introduced by Mr. Obama, a female journalist whose hand the minister has refused to shake poked fun at him on Twitter.
emphasize the opposing fact from the characteristics of Tifatul Sembiring as a conservative Muslim stated in the 2nd paragraph.
The next verb is reaching out which means to move your hand or arm in order to touch, hold, or pick up something. It is modified by the verb to clasp which means to hold someone or something tightly, closing your fingers or arms around them. Mr. Sembiring appears as the Agent, the first lady’s hand as the Theme and after they were introduced by Mr. Obama as the Time. This proposition shows that Mr. Sembiring is the one who moved his hand in order to hold the first lady’s hand tightly by closing his fingers around hers. Instead of just saying to shake, the writer uses to clasp to emphasize the tightness of the handshake.
The next verb is poked fun which means to make fun of someone in an unkind way. This verb has 2 arguments, which are a female journalist whose hand the minister has refused to shake as the Agent and him as the Theme. The Agent a female journalist is modified by the clause whose hand the minister has refused to
The fourth paragraph shows the self-defense of Tifatul Sembiring. This paragraph also quotes the minister’s statement on Twitter as seen in this following paragraph.
Stung, Mr. Sembiring claimed on his Twitter feed that Mrs. Obama had made it impossible for him to avoid touching her hand, writing: “I tried to prevent [being touched] with my hands but Mrs. Michelle held her hands too far toward me [so] we touched.”
The writer of this article uses the word stung –which means upset and embarrassed because of a remark or criticism– to show the reaction of Mr. Sembiring after a female journalist poked fun at him on Twitter as stated in the previous paragraph. The writer emphasizes Mr. Sembiring’s self defense by using the verb claimed which means to state that something is true, even though it has not been proved. Mr. Sembiring is placed as the Agent, while the clause that Mrs. Obama had made it impossible for him to avoid touching her hand is placed as the Theme. This clause can be analyzed further.The verb had made impossible has 4 arguments, which are Mrs. Obama as the Agent, it as the Theme, for him as the Benefactive and to avoid touching her hand as another Theme. This clause shows the minister’s claim which explains how he blamed Michelle Obama as the one who was responsible for the handshake because she had made it could not be done for him to avoid the contact with her.
verb tried has 3 arguments, which are I as the Agent, to prevent (being touched) as the Goal, and with my hands as the Instrument. The verb to prevent means to stop something from happening, or stop someone from doing something. So the proposition means that he had made an effort to stop the handshake from happening. His self-defense then is more emphasized by his statement that it was Michelle Obama (Agent) who held her hands too far (Theme) toward him (Goal) so that it was unavoidable for him to have a contact with her.
The fifth paragraph tells about Uni Lubis, a news editor of Indonesia’s ANTV who suggested analyzing the video of the handshake to make sure of what happened as stated in this following paragraph.
That led Uni Lubis, a woman who is news editor of Indonesia’s ANTV, to suggest that perhaps a slow-motion video analysis of the handshake was needed, to reveal some hesitation not visible to the naked eye.
This paragraph contains several main verbs, such as led, to suggest, was needed, and to reveal. The verb led has two arguments, which are that and Uni Lubis. The word that refers to the previous event related to the handshake between the Indonesian minister and US First Lady, which is the contradiction between what the minister said and what actually happened.That functions as the Theme while Uni Lubis is assigned to the thematic role Experiencer because of her state of being led by something (that). The verb to suggest has two arguments, which are Uni Lubis as the Agent of the suggesting action and the clause that perhaps a slow
that perhaps a slow motion video analysis of the handshake was needed to reveal some hesitation not visible to the naked eye. To suggest means to tell someone your ideas about what they should do. Slow-motion video analysis means an analysis on the video which is done by making it in a slow-motion mode. This proposition means that the contradiction between media’s report and Sembiring’s denial stated from the previous paragraphs guided Uni Lubis to tell her ideas that a slow-motion video analysis of the handshake was required as something important (was needed). To reveal means to make known something that was previously secret or unknown. The clause means that the video analysis was needed to make known the handshake which was not visible or not clearly seen at the moment with the normal power of the eyes without the help of an instrument.
The sixth paragraph portrays the previous reputation of Tifatul Sembiring that is described as follows.
Mr. Sembiring has a local reputation of something of a moral scold and religious extremist. Sounding the alarm against locally produced pornography last year, the minister asserted that natural disasters, like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, were divine retribution visited on Indonesians as a result of their immorality.
who is willing to do unusual or illegal things in order to achieve them. The reputation of Tifatul Sembiring is appeared to be bad in this paragraph. He is portrayed as a person who likes criticizing (like a woman) about what is right or wrong and he is a person who has extreme opinions and aims in his strongly believed religion.
The next sentence shows his previous acts of being a moral scold. Sounding the alarm means to warn people from the danger, and in this case the danger is the locally produced pornography. The verb asserted which means stated clearly and firmly that something is true has 2 arguments; the minister as the Agent and the clause that natural disasters, like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, were divine retribution visited on Indonesians as a result of their immorality as the Theme. Divine retribution means punishment from God and immorality means behavior that is morally wrong. So this sentence means that when he warned people from the danger of the locally produced pornography, he stated firmly that it was true the natural disasters happening in Indonesia were the punishment from God because of the morally wrong behavior of the Indonesians.
The last paragraph shows Mr. Sembiring’s previous acts on Twitter as described in the paragraph below.
This is not the first time Mr. Sembiring’s musings on Twitter have been called into question. Earlier this year, he used his account to post a joke about AIDS and a quote from Adolf Hitler.
question means to make people uncertain about whether something is right or true. By using this is not the first time, the writer wants to emphasize that Mr. Sembiring’s musings or thoughts on Twitter which made people uncertain of the truth on his musings was done for several times previously.
The next sentence shows some examples of the musings previously made by Mr. Sembiring. He used his Twitter account to post or to publish a joke about AIDS and a quote from Adolf Hitler.
B. Analysis of the Ideologies
1. Analysis of the Ideology of the Online Newspaper Article Taken from the Jakarta Post
Our bad actions. Our here refers to the Indonesians, since the readers are mostly Indonesian and the person being discussed is also Indonesian.
The first paragraph of the article also shows uncertainty by using another yes-no question. By using the phrase a conservative Muslim government minister, the writer introduces the background of the Indonesian Minister as a conservative Muslim or someone who does things that he believes as a part of his religious teaching, such as avoiding contact with somebody who does not belong to the same gender or is not a member of the family. Similar to the title, this paragraph also has the tendency to de-emphasize bad action of the Indonesian minister. By introducing him as a conservative Muslim, the writer lets the readers judge by themselves whether it is possible or not for a conservative Muslim man to shake hands with woman who does not belong to the same gender or his family.
giving many details. It is proven from the way the writer of the article did not explain in details how the footage on Youtube can show the otherwise.
In the third paragraph, the Jakarta Post uses direct quotation to avoid slander or libel so that when there are some bad opinions on the minister, the Jakarta Post will not be responsible for that but it is he himself who will be responsible since the statement was made by him. The proposition that means that he had made an effort to stop the handshake from happening shows how he defends himself from being guilty for the handshake. His self-defense then is more emphasized by his statement that it was Michelle Obama who held her hands too far toward him so that it was unavoidable for him to have a contact with her.
The fourth paragraph in the Jakarta Post presents the characteristics of Tifatul Sembiring as appeared conversely to the majority of moderate Indonesian Muslim. He is portrayed as someone who shows his deep respect for his God and religion he is proud of to im
