Popularity & Negativity
Television, social media, movies, newspapers and magazines all try to paint an unrealistic image of how a perfect person should look, act, dress and speak, ultimately determining who and what is popular. Unfortunately, teenagers have become vulnerable to these images, and try very hard to live up to these altered perceptions of what society want them to be. In Kij Johnson’s short story “Ponies,” a young girl named Barbara cuts the body of her horse to gain new friends and become accepted into a new group. Throughout the short story, Johnson uses imagery and dialogue to convey that popularity comes at a cost, even though it may not seem obvious at first.
By using imagery, Johnson is able to illustrate that popularity
