Mirror Money Essay

Mirror Money Essay

This article from 'Mirror' discusses the topic of proms, in particular the amount of money that boys are spending at prom. It begins with the metaphorical verb 'sales of tuxedoes rocketing'. This hyperbole sets off the article with the impression that the author thinks that the whole idea of prom and the amount of money being spent on it is ridiculous, by using exaggerated statements such as this. Statistics are also used, for example '24% more on their outfit than a year ago.' The statistic is also included within the summary of the article, implying that this is what the author wants the reader to focus on. By using this repetition, it makes the statistic sound a lot more exaggerated than it actually is.


In the fourth paragraph, the author uses famous celebrities such as 'James Bond' and 'David Beckham' who are described as 'fashion icons' and 'screen hero'. This portrays an unrealistic standard for teenage boys who want to live up to that standard at prom. Also, the author uses language such as 'rivalling' to suggest that there is some sort of competition between the two genders, and who will be willing to spend the most at prom. This tone is implemented throughout the entire article, portraying a biased and gender stereotype of the author. This article is set in an informal tone, as there is colloquial language such as 'Promzilla' and 'Prom fever'. This nickname 'Promzilla' also portrays girls in a negative manner, as this is referred to as 'Godzilla', a fictional monster. Describing them as this and also with the compound adjective 'prom obsessed' conveys the authors view on them is very judgemental and negatively opinionated, and suggests that they will go beyond the limits to look good at prom.

This article as a few affordances and constraints. The affordances of this article is that there is an authoritative figure, which is the author, that the reader can rely on for accurate information and statistics. Constraints of this article are that there is no computer-mediated-communication. This is where the readers of this text can reply to each other, which this genre of text does not allow; there is just one voice, which is the author.The target audience of this article would be money-conscious parents whose teens are approaching prom at some point. This article provides information about the amount of money that the average teenager will spend at prom, and to create a negative view towards proms, convincing them to agree with the article.