Language

Specific details of the language in “Popular Girls” by Karen Shepard help the author convey the atmosphere of the 1980s and a portrait of popular girls from the upper class.

The choice of words also includes vocabulary related to sexuality and drugs, which are two other aspects that dominate the lives of the characters.

Dialogue is used very rarely, as most of the story comes across as a self-descriptive monologue, addressed to other students outside the girls’ group: “You can sit on these benches too, but we do not notice you. Last fall we excised some of you from our group by taking you aside five minutes before chapel and saying ‘It just isn't working out.’ ” (ll. 14-16)

Similes

Here are a few similes that express certain traits of the characters. “We sweep you with our eyes as if you were a landscape.” (ll. 18-19) suggests that the girls are arrogant and do not bother to pay attention to anyone they don’t consider popular or cool.

The “black suede booties that make us look like we're from Sherwood Forest” (ll. 103-104) is a descriptive way of comparing the girls’ style of clothing with that of Robin Hood; to suggest that they try to look like rebels.

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Repetition

Repetitions are a key language device in the story, and they help suggest group identity and possessiveness. The constant repetition of personal pronouns like   “we”, “you” and “they” mark the differentiation that the girls make between themselves and others, and suggest their arrogance and feelings of entitlement and self-importance.

The repetition of the possessive adjective “our” used in connection with the girl’s parents, and the material things they own, has a similar function—they emphasize that the girls are materialistic and view themselves and their parents as superior and special.

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Enumerations

Various enumerations are used in connection to the things the girls own and use. These enumerations suggest excessive wealth and materialism: “For fancy occasions Ungaro, Versace, Armani, or small French designers that only the French have heard of.” (ll. 110-112)

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Symbols

Many elements in the text have a symbolic function and are character-building.

The numerous references to clothes and fashion brands are symbolic of the material culture of the upper class and their snobbism and shallowness. They illustrate how the girls have been raised to appreciate and find comfort only in material things. These branded items are a symbol of their higher status.

The backpacks that the girls carry are both a symbol of status (they are from a fashionable Swedish brand) but also of a defensive action, as the girls use them as a protective wall against them and the others.

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