Popular Girls
Popular girls
"Popular girls" is a short story from 2001 by Karen Shephard. She is born and raised in New York and her work has been published in several papers. The short-story sets in the early 80 's where we get some insight in the life of five rich and popular girls. They are self-centered and don 't have the slightest interest in other people. Their entire life is about maintaining their image as a group. The setting is New York, which is the riches city in the US. The city is also known as The big Apple and The city that never sleeps. This reflects in the mentality of these girls. They do speed, and not weed, because they want to get through school as fast as possible. They want to live life in the fast-lane and do extravagant things. Every paragraph of the text concerns some aspect of their life described in details. Every little thing about their life is mentioned. Their life and how they live it, is basically written as some kind of guidebook to popularity. A very important part of this popularity is the labels and the famous places of New York. This just underlines the superficiality of these girls ' lives.
Throughout the entire text, the narrator addresses the reader. The narrator seems to be a ”us” and a ”we”. Somehow it is someone within the group of girls narrating or the entire group as one single unit addressing the reader. By saying things like ”You know who we are”(p.1 l.1) and ”You can 't get enough of us” makes it very clear, that they are aware of their status. It can also be a way of reaching out to the reader and making the reader remember how school was in the 80 's. Many people could have certain girls in their mind when reading this short story. Even from the very first sentence. The attitude of the text is a bit provoking. The first sentence is also a good example of this. By continuously addressing the reader, it keeps on having the effect of them being superior to not just other people, but you. As if you were actually there at the
"Popular girls" is a short story from 2001 by Karen Shephard. She is born and raised in New York and her work has been published in several papers. The short-story sets in the early 80 's where we get some insight in the life of five rich and popular girls. They are self-centered and don 't have the slightest interest in other people. Their entire life is about maintaining their image as a group. The setting is New York, which is the riches city in the US. The city is also known as The big Apple and The city that never sleeps. This reflects in the mentality of these girls. They do speed, and not weed, because they want to get through school as fast as possible. They want to live life in the fast-lane and do extravagant things. Every paragraph of the text concerns some aspect of their life described in details. Every little thing about their life is mentioned. Their life and how they live it, is basically written as some kind of guidebook to popularity. A very important part of this popularity is the labels and the famous places of New York. This just underlines the superficiality of these girls ' lives.
Throughout the entire text, the narrator addresses the reader. The narrator seems to be a ”us” and a ”we”. Somehow it is someone within the group of girls narrating or the entire group as one single unit addressing the reader. By saying things like ”You know who we are”(p.1 l.1) and ”You can 't get enough of us” makes it very clear, that they are aware of their status. It can also be a way of reaching out to the reader and making the reader remember how school was in the 80 's. Many people could have certain girls in their mind when reading this short story. Even from the very first sentence. The attitude of the text is a bit provoking. The first sentence is also a good example of this. By continuously addressing the reader, it keeps on having the effect of them being superior to not just other people, but you. As if you were actually there at the