Usage of methaphors in newspaper headlines

Cambridge dictionary describes metaphor as a figure of speech, that is used to describe some kind of animate or inanimate objects by referring to something which is thought to have similar characteristics to that object. (dictionary.cambridge.org, 2020) Metaphors are not literally true, but they are useful when there is a necessity to make a comparison or explain a concept. The study of metaphors has been a matter of interest for philosophers, scholars, linguists etc. And it still is to this day. Metaphors kept their relevance and thus are used everywhere – from everyday speech to fiction. Metaphors are closely related to newspapers as journalists tend to use them while writing headlines. A headline according to Cambridge dictionary is a title or a main idea printed out in larger font found at the top of the newspaper article. (dictionary.cambridge.org, 2020) Its purpose is to attract a person so (s)he would read the whole article. Metaphors help to make the headline as attractive as possible to keep persons’ attention and interest in reading the article.

The object of this research is usage of metaphors in newspaper headlines.

The motivation of this research is to analyse the usage of metaphors in the newspaper headlines and their impact on colourfulness and attractiveness of the articles. As it is becoming harder to surprise average readers, newspaper publishers have to come up with more intriguing headlines thus using different kinds of metaphors.

The purpose of this research paper is to analyse types of metaphors and examples of metaphorical language used in the newspaper headlines. Studying the methods how metaphors are used may help readers to grasp the main ideas the author wants to transfer and comprehend intended verbal messages found in the headlines.

Objectives for achieving the purpose are:

• To present the concept and the types of metaphors according to different scholars;
• Search for examples in newspaper headlines and analyse them;
• Figure out the meaning behind metaphorical language used.

In this course paper the following methods will be applied:

The descriptive method will be used to identify types of metaphors that might be used in newspaper headlines.

The analytical method will be used to analyse headlines in articles with respect to existing theories of types of metaphors.

The materials or primary resources that are going to be used in this research paper are theory books and online newspaper site: The New York Times. The examples of metaphorical expressions will be taken and studied from this site.