Black Book Rationale
Body shaming has become a serious and dreadful issue, which has an everlasting impact on young people today. My black book addresses this problem through a series of apps on the phone of a 16 year old girl struggling with self-confidence. She expresses her thoughts through diary entries written on the notes app, views a profound image on Instagram and listens to dismal and gloomy songs on the music app. I used a phone to represent this important issue since, technology plays a huge role in the lives of many teenagers. My black book displays a young woman who is in constant battle with herself as, she attempts to reach the media’s definition of ‘perfection’. She beings to diet and lose an incredible amount of weight, unaware …show more content…
The gothic convention of emotion is also used as the narrator transitions from feeling, sad and ashamed to fearful and angry. She constantly criticizes herself and is embarrassed by her body. The emotion of shame is demonstrated in the first diary entry when she says, “I am so sick of being fat, ugly and flawed...” The girl perceives her appearance with humiliation and becomes fearful of other people's opinion. The second diary entry focuses on the impact of body shaming, as it leads the girl to end up in the hospital. She becomes frustrated with the doctors, since they prevent her from continuing the diet, she has maintained for so long. Her anger, shame, sadness and fear are all critical emotions demonstrated throughout the diary entries. Another gothic convention used in the entries is setting, as the narrator describes her surroundings as dull, grey and chilly which represents a gloomy and desolate environment. In addition, the use of foreboding was present as it was used to hint that the narrator was anorexic. The diaries mentioned, loss of sleep due to hunger, low calorie consumption and fear of gaining weight, which are all common indicators of