An Analysis Of The Differences Between Chinese And American Obituaries From The Perspective Of Western Rhetoric

Obituary is a very special form of news reports written by journalists to report a recently deceased person,which not only announces a person’s death,but also makes some comments and conclusions on his/her life.It is a noteworthy form of news reports because of its great humanistic concerns.In America,obituary is a mature form of news reports compiled by professional audience-oriented journalists proficient at rhetoric.It is very popular among readers for its wide coverage and the multiple social values it presents.Its popularity ranks second,with political news being the top.Some international newspaper magnates like The New York Times are famous for their Obituaries columns.However,in China,obituaries still haven’t been attached as much importance as in America.In the past,its obituaries mainly directed at celebrities and officials in solemn way,giving final verdicts to the deceased.Nowadays,more and more local newspapers like The Beijing News are setting their eyes on the common people and establish specialized columns for them,opening a new era for development of obituaries in China.But compared with their American counterparts,obituaries in China still have a long way to go and have much to learn from them.This thesis aims to analyze the differences between Chinese and American obituaries from the perspective of rhetoric by adopting methods of textual analysis and case analysis on obituaries collected from both Chinese newspapers like The Beijing News and American newspapers like The New York Times.It shows that:1)American obit writers have better sense of audience than their Chinese counterparts.2)American obituaries do better in appealing to authority than Chinese obituaries.3)Most American obituaries do well in deploying interested and utilizable facts;Some Chinese obituaries set up by emerging city newspapers are doing well in appealing to pathos,but there is a risk of being over sentimental;4)The mainstream newspapers in America are appealing to some specific values in the name of universal values,so do some of the newly-emerging city newspapers in China.However,the American obituaries get an upper hand in employing some rhetorical strategies.This thesis also offers some rhetorically based suggestions in the end.