‘Our identities are sometimes chosen for us’

Mode: Expository

Form: Feature Article

‘ A little more love, a little less hate’

Sample CommentaryThis feature article is an expository piece that

explores the prompt ‘Our identities are sometimes chosen for us’. The purpose of the article was to examine the ways in which teenagers are pressured into conforming to particular standards and social groups. It looks at how these groups are typically identifiable by hairstyle, clothing and especially product brands, but also uniforms. The contention of the piece is that it is easy for adults to dismiss teens as obsessed with trends and to criticise them as superficial, yet it is adults who are responsible

for writing about and marketing the vast array of products that an average teenager can expect to encounter. The headline ‘A little more love, a little less hate’ captures this contention – that teens need more understanding and that adults need to acknowledge their central role in shaping adolescent identity.

The feature article draws links to Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye in a number of ways. Firstly, it makes the point that these days, wearing a red hunting hat (or some other distinctive item) in order to stand out might be

viewed as a brave act, in that modern teens frequently work hard to not stand out. The piece also connects with the little boy singing ‘Comin’ Through the Rye’ while walking in the street through the suggestion that ‘teens need to choose friends and social groups carefully if they are to avoid assuming an identity they are not comfortable with’. The piece adopts a formal and factual tone, which is a necessity for a feature article. This is shown in statements such as ‘statistics

from a recent ABS survey into adolescent health reveal…’ The piece is intended for both an adolescent and adult readership, in particular parents of teens and adults who work with adolescents. The intention for the piece is that it would be published in a metropolitan newspaper (preferably a weekend edition), thereby reaching its target audience.