Valerie Ulene’s article “Plastic surgery for teens” and Camille Sweeney’s article “Seeking self-esteem through surgery” are both focusing on the same issue “the debate whether plastic surgeries for teens should be permitted or prohibited”, but with two contrasting points of departure. The first text deals with Valerie Ulene’s view of plastic surgeries for teenager’s and which consequences and responsibilities people should draw attention to. Ulene believes that the main cause of why teenagers get plastic surgeries is carried out, that they are facing a tremendous pressure from our culture and society. They are consistently confronted with a beauty ideal of how a beautiful person should look. In addition to that, Ulene claims as well, that teenagers have not developed completely and they therefore with certainty cannot know how they will look in their adulthood.…show more content… First of all, she tries to engage the reader throughout the whole article with her own personal experience of how it is to be or have a teenager, who is not satisfied with one’s body. When using personal experiences, the narrator arouses an interest for the reader, due to the fact that the subject matter gets more specific when using these – “With a 14-year-old of my own, I recognize how difficult that can be”. And by use of personal experience the reader will maybe even identify oneself with similar experiences like as Valerie Ulene’s
Another way of holding on to the reader’s attention is by using inclusive language. This can be identified by Ulene’s expressions, where there is made use of personal pronouns such as “I”, “my”, “me” etc. When using personal pronouns, the narrator appeals to the reader’s emotions – also known as pathos. The fact is that, pathos appeals to the reader’s empathy, and in that way, it is easier for the readers realize what the subject matter – in this context “teens and plastic surgeries” – is
