An analysis on the overstatements in the headlines of The Jakarta Post

ENGLISH: This study focuses on analyzing the headlines of The Jakarta Post using Grice maxim which specified on the rhetorical strategy, namely overstatement. Overstatement is exaggerated statement which it is more imperative. The headline as the core of information in the form of sentence or utterance and the messages are conveyed implicitly. Based on the background, the research about An Analysis on the overstatements in the headlines of The Jakarta Post was conducted with the following problems: (1) How are the overstatements found in the headlines of The Jakarta Post? And (2) How are the maxims of quality and quantity flouted found in the headlines of The Jakarta Post? This research was conducted using descriptive qualitative method based on Grice maxim. The data were in forms of sentences from the headlines of The Jakarta Post. The data were selected from the headlines of The Jakarta Post published from February 1 to February 29, 2008. After the data obtained and analyzed, it is found that the maxims were flouted when the maxims are overtly broken by the journalist and the headlines were written by using the rhetorical strategy, namely overstatement. In addition, it is found that most of the data were flouting maxims, especially the maxims of quality and quantity. These used in the sentences which had some implied meanings. The sentences were often stated briefly or expressed in exaggeration which was classified as overstatement. There were also some words from the data that were inclination to exaggerated sentence. The most words exaggerated on a verb in those utterances which function as the predicate. Beside that, it was found that there were some data exaggerated on an adjective which function as the negative meaning. Also, it was found that some data exaggerated on a noun which functions as the object, and some data exaggerated on a noun which functions as the subject. Based on those findings, it is recommended for the journalists to consider or comprehend the rhetorical strategy particularly the overstatement when they write the headlines in order to make their utterances more efficient and will be understood easily. English teachers are suggested to pay attention to the significance of the overstatements in all kinds of communication to enrich the student’s knowledge on the parts of discourse. It is also suggested for further researchers to use the other subjects of study, such as the utterances found on sport news or opinion column, to conduct the same field of research