Transitivity Analysis of Newspapers’ News-Headlines Depicting Crime Committed Against Women in Pakistan

Abstract

The article in hand studies word choices used in the headlines of Pakistani English newspapers’ news depicting crime against women. To spotlight the masked ideology implied in them the researcher has selected three newspapers—The Nation, Dawn & The News. He applies Halliday’s transitivity as research tool. The analysis focuses on investigating how men and women are represented in the headlines, and what different roles are assigned to them by the newspapers. It also highlights the ideology underpinned in the discursive lexical choices and rhetorical devices used in them. It shows how covertly the newspapers arouse the emotions of their readers to attract their attention and influence their opinion making process.