Article Analysis from Top of the Pops

Analysis of “Your Ooops” article top of the pops magazine

Language
There are many factors suggestive of the fact that the article is aimed at young teenage girls. Firstly, the sentences are short and simple ideally for a younger target audience and secondly, the author uses informal language and various colloquial terms and language.

Title of Article “Your oops!”
The word “your” immediately attaches the reader to the article suggesting that the article is about the reader’s experience.
The author uses colloquial language “oops” which is commonly used by young teenage girls to express an embarrassing moment. The author relates to a young persons reactions and thoughts to typical teenage embarrassing moments.
Colloquial everyday language is also used in the strapline “wanna” which again is part of the everyday language used by a typical teenager.
The author uses a play on words such as “bra-aargh!” to add humour to the text.
The author uses alliteration to add interest to the article. “Kit cringe” sums up the entire story in a snappy two word phrase which is much more entertaining than a longer sub title. “Top trauma” is another example of alliteration used by the author and it makes the text catchy and entertaining.
The author uses repetition “liar, liar” to further add entertainment to the text. This phrase “liar, liar” is commonly used by teenage children and is typical playground language used to describe someone who has told a lie. By using everyday catchphrases the author relates to an everyday teenage girl.
The author uses a rhetorical question “Wanna share your slip-ups with the world?” to get the reader involved. It persuades the reader to continue reading the article in order to learn of some of the slip-ups other readers have experienced.

Layout
The text is broken down into different sections using boxes. Each box has a different slip-up story sent in by the readers. Dividing the article this way makes the text easier to read for the young target audience.

Images
There is a cartoon image showing a visual interpretation of one of the slip up stories. The image adds humour to the article and appeals to a younger audience as it is a cartoon and not just an ordinary photograph or image.
The image shows a young girl looking embarrassed and her friends are laughing at her suggesting to the reader that embarrassing moments should not always be taken seriously and can be funny. The image makes the article light-hearted and helps girls who may have experienced such embarrassing moments to feel better about themselves and just laugh about the situation because it happens to everyone.
There is also and image of Harry from Mcfly; a typical teenage crush. He tells of and embarrassing moment and most of his fans would be keen to find out about his personal experiences. The author uses this celebrity feature to add excitement to the article as most people are keen to know about celebrity slip ups.

Colours
The main colours are light pink, dark pink, lilac and purple which are all feminine girly colours.
The subheadings are in a different colour to the rest of the text to make them stand out from the rest of the text.
There are floral patterns around the page which emphasise the point that the article is aimed at girls.

Adverts
There is an opportunity to win an iPod shuffle and a music voucher which appeals again to a teenage audience as music and iPods are a popular trend amongst teens.

Subject Matter
A celebrity feature of “Harry from Mcfly” makes the reader feel as if they are acquainted with the celebrity.
The slip-up stories have the individual authors name written on them so the reader knows the event has happened to an everyday ordinary person like themselves, enforcing a relationship between the reader and the author and keeping the reader interested.