In an effort for people to correctly identify themselves, languages adopt and replace numerous terms over time. When it comes to terms to define one’s gender, there is a correlation between the terms and a person’s age. Anne Curzan’s article “Guys and …?” explores the issue of finding age appropriate terms to describe women. The article discusses how this dilemma is prevalent for female college students, as at times neither “girl” nor “woman” seems suitable.
The article is able to cleverly start a discussion by sparking the reader’s interest. Curzan uses playful language and shows curiosity in her writing, making the reader feel equally interested in the blurred line between a female being a “girl” or a “woman”. She avoids protesting the lack
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The use of rhetorical questions begins by sparking curiosity in the reader, Curzan states “So what’s a female English speaker of college age to call herself?”. This causes the reader to notice that there is a disparity in how this age group chooses to identify without the author having to state so. Therefore, the tone of the author does not appear overly persuading or convincing. Rhetorical questions such as “What about faculty calling [female college students] girls?” used later on in the article involves the reader by causing them to form an opinion in response. In particular, female college students would find themselves reflecting on past experiences of being labeled “girl” and conclude whether they deemed this appropriate. Another way in which Curzan’s writing pertains to a younger audience was the use of informal language such as personal pronouns. In using personal pronouns and informal language techniques such as exclamation, “Oh goodness!”, the writing becomes easier to relate to for the average college student since informal language is used more commonly in their daily lives. While targeting a particular audience in the article may be successful in creating a stronger response from that audience, it could lead to disinterest from readers not belonging to that