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The Stylistic Analysis of Public Service

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Abstract:

Unlike commercial advertisement, public service advertisement is not for

the purpose of profit but social service advertisement aiming to solve social problems

for

the

interest

of

people.

Special

purpose

also

determines

that

public

service

advertisement

has its unique linguistic style. The paper classifies a large number of

them through the collection of them, using the theory of stylistics and analyzing its

stylistic

features

and

effects

from

vocabulary,

syntax

and

rhetoric,

making

people

have

a

better

understanding

of

public

service

advertisement

and

put

them

into

practice.

Key words:

public service advertisement; vocabulary; stylistic features

一

.Introduction:

Public service advertisement that is a special form of advertisement is a little different from

commercial advertisement. In the early 1940s, it is called public service advertisement emerging

from

America.

At

the

present

the

international

hasn’t

common

understanding

of

the

exact

definition

of

public

service

advertisement.

Advertising

Council

of

America

has

given

the

basic

definition that

it serves for the interests of people, aiming to improve mankind’s understanding

of

social

problems

through

education

,change

their

attitude

and

behaviors

and

promote

social

progress.

In

terms

of

features,

the

non-commercial,

public

and

non-human

spread

of

communication

are

the

three

major

features.

In

the

aspect

of

content,

the

promotion

of

it

is

favorable

of

promoting

progressive

moral

values

,

ideologies

and

norm

of

conducts,

the

fundamental purpose is to safeguard the public interests. With the development of public service

advertisement,

its

themes

are

also

diversified

which

includes

environmental

protection,

wildlife

protection,

life

and

health,

public

education,

transportation

safety,

public

health,

energy

conservation and so on. However, whichever the kind of advertisement is , if you want to achieve

its purpose, language is an integral part, vocabulary is of great importance and so public service

advertisement is.

二

.The stylistic analysis of Chinese environmental public service advertisement

1.1 the level of vocabulary

1.1.1 multiple use of simple words

Generally

speaking,

the

audiences

are

the

direct

citizens

of

public

service

advertisement,

most of its

languages

are relatively

easy to understand.

Meanwhile ,

public service advertisement maybe long-winded style, spreading public concepts but

in a limited time and space, requiring writer using

simple and commonly used words

in the choice of words.

Eg1: When a tree falls, it takes other lives with it.

People are all familiar with all the words in this sentence. The views are all clear

and purposes are obvious, appealing for people to protect the environment and not to

cut them randomly.

Eg2: Don't hide. Talk to us. Say NO to violence. Respect life.

This

is

an

advertising

of

anti-violence,

calling

on

people

to

resist

bravely.

The

words

they

use

are

very

simple

and

clear,

disseminating

the

writer’s

intentions

to

people. In addition, most of verbs and nouns are all monosyllabic such as hide } talk

、

say}life, which is in complete accordance with the fact that advertisement should be

simple,

popular and easy to spread. Besides the word “No” is capitalized in order to

draw our attention, making the whole advertisement short, strong and focused.

1.1.2 multiple use of

first, second personal pronouns

Personal

pronouns

play

a

significant

role

in

the

public

service

advertisement,

different

personal

pronouns

will

lead

to

the

differences

of

narrative

style.

The

appropriate use of personal pronouns can get unexpected effects of propagation. The

personal

pronouns

can

be

classified

into

3

kinds,

that

is

first,

second

and

third

personal pronouns.

The first personal pronouns are mostly “I” “we” and “

咱

” to represent the speaker

himself. This kind of personal pronouns strengths its reality when putting the narrator

into the obvious position, and contributes to positive interaction between the two sides

and

the

narrowed

distance

to

achieve

the

purpose

of

enhancing

affinity

of

public

service advertisement.

For example the advertising:

Everyone who helps

me,

I

help

others

of

“People’s

Oral

News”

on

March

10

th

,2010.

The

readers

produce

strong

consciousness

through the description of “I”, calling on everyon

e to help each other in

the tone of masters and to devote ourselves into the public charity cause, narrowing

the distance between the two parties and realize the goal of ideal spread.

The second

personal pronouns are mostly “you” to point others directly.

This kind

of

personal

pronouns

has

strong

indication

and

obvious

purposes,

making

people

associate

with

themselves.

For

example

the

advertising

“Do

you

smile

today?”

of

“People’s Oral News” on March 28

th

2008. “You” is the major role of narration and

strong indication, the readers immediately associate with their daily code of conducts

after reading it, “ Do

I

smile today?” is

the first

action of readers that

has

a strong

target ,function of introspection and purpose of highly dissemination of public service

ideology.

Eg: We fight everyday for our extinction.

It is obvious that this is an advertisement of animal protection, preventing animals

from extinction. In this sentence, “we” includes not only the target audience but also

the

writer

himself.

Even

if

the

consequence

is

the

extinction

of

animals,

the

main

cause are still us, so the word “our” is used

to achieve the purpose of

strengthening

the

tone

,causing

people

to

resonate

and

narrowing

the

distance

between

the

writer

and the reader, enhancing their intimacy and making themselves willingly accept. In

addition, “we” sometimes merely refers to the writer for the exclusion of the reader.

Public service advertisement often calls on people to abandon their original wrong

ideas and take actions to protect public interests. It is a mean of propaganda for the

whole

citizens

rather

than

individual

behaviors,

thus

first

singular

person

is

rarely

used. In addition, the writer is a member of citizens who stands the same front with

readers,

so

first

plural

persons.

The

use

of

first

or

second

personal

pronouns

is

beneficial

to

stimulate

the

reader's

nerves

and

enhance

the

resonance

with

readers,

laying the foundation of good dissemination. Therefore public service advertisement

in the mainstream newspaper has a tendency of first or second personal pronouns.

1.1.3 frequent use of causative verbs

Public service advertisement has the three features of social benefits, the reality of

themes

and

the

appeal

of

expressiveness.

Its

purpose

is

to

inform

people

about

the

beneficial social values, calling on people to take actions to protect social benefits and

maintain social good order. The potential purpose is to make people take measures to

do something through appealing and tell people how they should do. Therefore some

causative verbs are comparatively common in the public service advertising such as

let

、

make, help, have, lead and so on.

Eg5: Let’s make sure it’s always a jungle out there. Let’s leave out children a

living planet.

The

word

“let”

is

very

common

in

public

service

advertisement

which

is

provocative and encouraging, appealing for people to act promptly in order to protect

the

environment

for

our

future

generations,

it

is

easy

to

accept

and

respond

to

positively.

1.1.4 flexible use of compound words

The word- formation forms of all kinds of compound words connected by hyphen

are

flexible

,concise

and

widely

used

in

English

news,

scientific

English,

English

commercials, so is public service advertising.

Eg11:

Hide- and-

stick? Your child can’t hide from infections. Immunization is the