In her article, The Culture of Thin Bites Fiji, Goodman (Lunsford et al. 2008) supports the anthropologist and psychiatrist, Anne Becker’s claim that “going thin” is not a social problem anymore but a necessity among females to be successful by their own means. Fiji, a small island in the southwest pacific, is used as proof how the American media and the Western culture can cause a cultural 180 degree turn then reinforces her argument with statistics as startling evidence. 
Goodman opens her article by telling her audience to imagine a place where people view weight gain as a beautiful thing, and then introduces that place as real-life Fiji. She uses the before and after technique to impact readers. For the before, she describes the Fijians’ culture belief that fat was beautiful. For the after, when televisions entered their lives, she uses statistics that says it all; within 38 months the numbers of eating disorders among teenagers rose to 29 percent, bulimics increased 15 percent, and 74 percent of the girls thought they were too fat.
Becker’s other claim is that the blame cannot be put on the entertainment industry entirely, but how the western culture can inflict insecurity among people. This creates the argument to be of social and cultural context. Goodman’s use of the hard statistics and Becker’s claims establishes credibility for the article, because she is incorporating facts and sources instead of pulling it out of her head and based the article entirely on her opinions and views.
In the middle of the article, there is a picture of a painstakingly thin actress, Calista Flockhart, who carries the generic image teenagers are obsessed with nowadays. The picture was presented to visually show how appalling the situation is. I believe the targeted audiences for this article are those concerned with the situation, those that have loved ones that are dealing with it, and those who are struggling with the disease first-hand.
In the very last paragraph, Goodman creates pathos and logos approach to wrap up her argument and tell what she hopes to get out of it. She uses the Columbine massacre, a tragically fatal event, as an effort to convince readers to take the situation, which is prevalent, more seriously before it gets out of hand.
The technique Goodman used to write this article works well except I find it a bit weak for only females are focused as the victims of eating disorders, Goodman and Becker fail to incorporate the fact males are victims as well. Also, I believe she should have provided information on how to fix the problem. In general she did a good job, showing how solemn the situation is.
Goodman opens her article by telling her audience to imagine a place where people view weight gain as a beautiful thing, and then introduces that place as real-life Fiji. She uses the before and after technique to impact readers. For the before, she describes the Fijians’ culture belief that fat was beautiful. For the after, when televisions entered their lives, she uses statistics that says it all; within 38 months the numbers of eating disorders among teenagers rose to 29 percent, bulimics increased 15 percent, and 74 percent of the girls thought they were too fat.
Becker’s other claim is that the blame cannot be put on the entertainment industry entirely, but how the western culture can inflict insecurity among people. This creates the argument to be of social and cultural context. Goodman’s use of the hard statistics and Becker’s claims establishes credibility for the article, because she is incorporating facts and sources instead of pulling it out of her head and based the article entirely on her opinions and views.
In the middle of the article, there is a picture of a painstakingly thin actress, Calista Flockhart, who carries the generic image teenagers are obsessed with nowadays. The picture was presented to visually show how appalling the situation is. I believe the targeted audiences for this article are those concerned with the situation, those that have loved ones that are dealing with it, and those who are struggling with the disease first-hand.
In the very last paragraph, Goodman creates pathos and logos approach to wrap up her argument and tell what she hopes to get out of it. She uses the Columbine massacre, a tragically fatal event, as an effort to convince readers to take the situation, which is prevalent, more seriously before it gets out of hand.
The technique Goodman used to write this article works well except I find it a bit weak for only females are focused as the victims of eating disorders, Goodman and Becker fail to incorporate the fact males are victims as well. Also, I believe she should have provided information on how to fix the problem. In general she did a good job, showing how solemn the situation is.
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