In the next three paragraphs, most of the space is taken up by stories of people who are or have been anorexic/bulimic, but all have different opinions. One girl calls eating disorders a ‘way of life’, not a fatal illness. This merges with “Anorexic Goddesses”; the title of one of the web pages. The word “Goddess” is striking because it suggests that being anorexic is perfect, elite or superior.
The older people who have been anorexic for longer say that it is not a choice, but they think it is the younger people who find it appealing or trendy, and these websites are for people who would rather get rid of it.
The most shocking factor of the article, I think, is that there is a quote taken from a fourteen year old, who owns one of these websites. It shows that there are very young people who could be unaware of how dangerous anorexia and bulimia really is.
Although there is quite a lot of opinion throughout the article, it contrasts quite well towards the end, where there are factual statistics and quotes from experts who know what they are talking about. This has the most impact on the reader as it states that over ten per cent of anorexics die, whereas death hadn’t really been mentioned by anyone else in the article.
Right at the end of the statement made by the expert: Dr. Dee Dawson, are the words “slow suicide”. Not only does this use alliteration, but also the words are really shocking.
There is another paragraph in bold under the question “So can they be banned?” (Which is what most people would want after reading it!) Which informs the reader that they cannot, but search engines can remove links to them. After this, there are help and information phone numbers/links for people who are dealing with anorexia/bulimia.
This article is not very eye catching, mainly because it is in black & white, but it does have an interesting picture of a girl looking into a mirror, with her reflection looking unhappy and depressed, and there is a computer monitor with the words “Anorexic Goddesses” on it.
The picture makes you feel almost sympathetic, and brings out the drama and emotion in the text. This image brings out the fear that parents may have of their child becoming accustomed to this kind of “lifestyle”.
I think this article is successful because it informs you that anorexia and bulimia are very serious illnesses, and persuades you to want to get rid of the pro-websites for them.
Article B
This article is about losing weight by snacking. The headline is “Dream Bodies”, suggesting that having a skinny figure is really desirable and wanted. It then has a second title of “7 ways to snack and slim” with a small sentence underneath telling the reader that yes, it is possible to lose weight with the help of this guide.
I think when you compare this with article A, it almost seems like the media is at war with itself. Even though there are horrifying and shocking facts contained in articles like A, there are still articles like B insisting that being thin is really important and nothing else matters.
This is very different because there is colour, more facts, and the language is informal.
Straight away, the article addresses the reader with a rhetorical question and a situation, which you could place yourself in: “How is it that despite following all the rues for keeping your mind off food, when the clock rolls round to 11am, you get the urge to snack?” This draws the reader in to read on further because it is applying directly to them.
Like article A, each paragraph has its own subtitle. Paragraph two’s subtitle uses alliteration – ‘snack to stay slim’. (Most of the alliteration in this uses the letter ‘s’.)
A lot of the phrases used indicate that this article is aimed at women who are busy or working most of the time, e.g. “speed-eat”, “on-the-run” and “when you can’t sit down”.
Even though the language used here is informal, it is very informative and balances this out with lots of complicated scientific research and facts.
The last sentence ends quite abruptly on “wash the lot down with some unsweetened fruit juice”. I find this is almost as if you are supposed to immediately going to start using this guide the minute you have finished reading it.
The picture is quite clever, because there are lots of ways to look at it. It is a photograph of a woman who is holding a shiny red apple and smiling, but looks rather plain. The unpleasant factor about this is that the lighting makes her look even thinner than she is – almost skeletal, and her bones look like they are sticking out. She also looks a bit masculine because her jaw is quite square and her hair is done in such a way that it looks incredibly short and glued to her head.
On the other hand, she has brilliant white teeth, and could represent the healthiness of the apple. The apple may also be seen as a link to Eve (from the Bible in the Garden of Eden) or the temptation of female sexuality to lure the reader in.
