Syntactic Expressivity in Cultural Reporting: Insights from Australian Media

The article aims to study the usage and influence of expressive syntax within a variety of culture-related articles featured in contemporary Australian digital media. Leveraging textual analysis on online articles sourced from prominent Australian newspapers such as “The Sydney Morning Herald”, “The Alice Springs News”, “Katherine Times”, and “The New Daily”, the research provides insights into the frequency and novelty of expressive syntactic elements employed within. Particularly prevalent techniques, such as parenthetical inclusions, interrogative sentences, elliptical, nominative, and parcelled constructions, are thoroughly examined for their expressive potential. The study offers a comprehensive breakdown of these syntactical elements, highlighting key types, delineating their general attributes, and enumerating the specifics of their implementation within the researched texts. It especially highlights the frequent interaction of various expressive syntax within single sentences, proposing that this phenomenon increases the techniques’ effectiveness. Furthermore, the study explores the amplification of expression through the usage of specific punctuation marks, including quotation marks, dashes, colons, brackets, semicolons, and ellipses, each undergoing a thorough analysis for potential effect. In summarizing the principal outcomes of the research, the study asserts the significant role of expressive syntactic techniques in crafting engaging and impactful cultural articles within modern Australian media.