Writing and Critical Thinking: Interpreting Consumerism

Introduction

Introduction

This module approaches the question of how to write more effectively through a topical investigation of the nature and value of modern consumer culture. Do the barrage of advertisements and the relentless marketing of global brands lend themselves to the satisfaction of needs or the endless proliferation of unfulfilled desires? Is waste an inevitable feature of consumer capitalism, and if so, is it beneficial or detrimental? Why are corporations increasingly turning their attention to a younger demographic, and what are the implications of this shift? This course will explore how an advertising industry that promotes consumption—and the waste that results from this pressure to buy—is increasingly focused on reaching consumers as early as possible in their lives. We will begin by examining the nature and function of modern advertising with the aim of developing interpretive skills to enable us to decode the often complex connotative meanings within individual ads, and we will explore a special relationship between youth culture and the modern corporation that seems to result in the near-instantaneous commercial marketing appropriation of youth subcultures. Next, we will consider the connection between consumption and waste, and whether waste plays a positive role within society in addition to its less laudable modern manifestations: landfills and pollution produced by incinerators. The final unit of the module will focus on the corporate penetration of the youth market, and the colonization of youth culture in that endeavor. We will conclude with a practical guide on how to develop an independent, multi-source project, where students will be asked to explore a topic and research question of their own design that is related to the module’s three units.

Course Objectives

This seminar aims to provide you with the critical reading and writing skills necessary to develop and expand your potential as a writer and thinker. Whereas much of your previous training may have involved the memorization of various kinds of information, this class will help you develop your ability to evaluate written arguments made by others and foster your capacity to create creative, rigorous, and compelling written arguments of your own. The ability to work productively with other people's ideas, and to use them as a departure point for your own thinking, is a skill of paramount importance both in the university classroom and in the dynamic, information-based economy that awaits you after graduation, an economy that increasingly values creativity, analytic rigor, and original thinking. Regardless of your intellectual interests, your course of study at NUS, or your future career plans, this class aims to provide you with the critical thinking, reading, and writing skills that will not only contribute to your future successes, but will also enrich your understanding of the world around you and improve your ability to communicate those understandings to others.

Here are the critical reading and writing skills that the module will cover:

READING SKILLS

This course will teach you how to

  • Identify main claims in written arguments.
  • Evaluate the evidence that supports those claims.
  • Search for key terms in an argument.
  • Learn to interpret written and visual texts for their hidden meanings.
  • Articulate the main point or stance of a particular essay.
  • Discern and evaluate the underlying assumptions in analytical arguments.

WRITING SKILLS

You will learn how to

  • Invent an effective thesis for your argument.
  • Create strong analytical claims and support them with evidence.
  • Acknowledge the limitations of your claims by using qualifications.
  • Deploy counterarguments effectively.
  • Master the mechanics of creating flowing text.
  • Incorporate sources in the service of your own argument.
  • Utilize the conventions surrounding the documentation of sources.

Unit 1

Investigating Advertising

Week 1: Reading Ads

Day 1: Close Reading, Elements of the Essay

  • Course introduction.
  • “How to Read an Ad” [color handout].

Day 2: Close Reading, Motive and Thesis

  • Advertisement analysis workshop.

Week 2: Advertising and Manipulation

Day 1: Motive and Thesis

  • Williams, “Advertising: the Magic System,” 170-184.
  • Advertisement analysis workshop.

Day 2: Motive and Thesis

  • Williams, “Advertising: the Magic System,” 184-195.
  • Folio essay workshop.
  • Screening and discussion of Sut Jhally’s Advertising and the End of the World.

Week 3: Rethinking How Advertising Works

Day 1: Motive and Thesis

  • Schudson, “Advertising as Capitalist Realism,” 209-222.
  • Folio essay workshop.

Day 2: Motive and Thesis

  • Schudson, “Advertising as Capitalist Realism,” 222-233.
  • First draft of Paper #1 due in class.

Week 4: Conferences

Day 1

  • Conferences.

Day 2

  • Conferences.

Unit 2

Consumption and Role of Waste

Week 5: Evaluating Waste

Day 1: The Comparative Essay

  • Veblen, “Conspicuous Consumption.”
  • Folio essay workshop.

Day 2: Stitching, Primary and Secondary Sources

Mid-semester Break: Vacation from 13-21 Feb.

Week 6: Rethinking Economics and the Function of Loss

Day 1: Orientation

  • Bataille, “Sacrifices and Wars of the Aztecs.”
  • Folio essay workshop.

Day 2: Particular and General Observations

  • Folio essay workshop.
  • Bataille, “The Gift of Rivalry: ‘Potlach.’”

Week 7: Solving the Modern Problem of Waste

Day 1: Close Reading Revisited

Day 2: Visual Rhetoric

  • Screening and discussion of the short video, “The Story of Stuff.” www.storyofstuff.com
  • First draft of Paper #2 due.

Week 8: Conferences

Day 1

  • Conferences.

Day 2

  • Conferences.

Unit 3

Modern Marketing and Youth Culture

Week 9: Coolhunting

Day 1: Lens Analysis

  • Gladwell, “The Coolhunt.”
  • Folio essay workshop.

Day 2: Lens Analysis

  • Screening and discussion of Barak Goodman’s The Merchants of Cool.
  • Final draft of Paper #2 due on Friday, Mar. 19.

Week 10: Modern Marketing and Consumer Resistance

Day 1: Counterargument

  • Klein, “Alt.Everything: The Youth Market and the Marketing of Cool.”
  • Folio essay workshop.

Day 2: Counterargument

  • Heath and Potter, “I Hate Myself and Want to Buy.”

Week 11: Formulating Individual Research Projects

Day 1: Finding Sources

  • Online research tutorial in the Central Library, 6th floor Training Room.

Day 2: Refining Project Proposals

Week 12: Research Project Presentations

Day 1

  • Group #1 individual project presentations.

Day 2

  • Group #2 individual project presentations.
  • First draft of Paper #3 due for Group #1 presenters due on Friday, April 9.
  • First draft of Paper #3 due for Group #2 presenters due on Monday, Apr. 12.

Week 13: Conferences

  • Conferences.

Day 2

  • Class cancelled--conferences.
  • Final draft of Paper#3 due for both groups due at noon on Wednesday, Apr. 21.

Policies

Policies

Course Requirements

You will write three essays, one for each unit of the course.

  • Essay 1: A 3-4 page interpretive “close reading” essay.
  • Essay 2: A 5-6-page essay in which students compose a comparative analysis of two primary texts.
  • Essay 3: An 8-10-page essay in which students use multiple sources and limited independent research to answer a specific critical question or problem.

You are also required to do the following:

  • Submit drafts and revisions of all required essays.
  • Attend seminars twice a week.
  • Read all assigned readings before class and be prepared to discuss them.
  • Participate in peer review exercises and IVLE discussion threads.
  • Attend three individual student-teacher writing conferences, one for each unit.
  • Present your research project to the class through a formal presentation

Assessment

Assessment will be determined as follows:

  • Essay 1: 20%
  • Essay 2: 25%
  • Essay 3: 35%
  • In-class and IVLE participation: 10%
  • Essay 3 project presentation: 10%

Paper Format

Both draft and final versions of essays will follow the same model. All papers must be typed in a double-spaced format with ten- or twelve point characters and adequate margins for me to insert handwritten comments. Please be sure to number all of your pages and avoid skipping lines between individual paragraphs. A title page is not necessary; instead, you need to present the following information in the left-hand corner of the first page only:

  • Name
  • USWP17-Interpreting Consumerism
  • Prof. Michael Maiwald
  • Essay number (indicate whether draft or final version)
  • Date

Do not include a title page. However, each essay should have an appropriate title, and this title should appear centered in the document above the opening paragraph. Do not underline, italicize, or present the title in boldface. Also, do not place the title in quotation marks. The proper formatting for titles is simply to capitalize the first word and all other words that are not articles or prepositions.

Attendance and Participation

Since this class is a seminar, student preparation for and participation in each and every class is the single most important factor in deciding the class's relative success. As a result, class attendance will be mandatory. Only two unexcused absences will be granted each student; each additional unexcused absence will result in one lowered grade level for the final participation grade (A- to B+, B to B-). Absences may be excused at my discretion through a note explaining your absence from an NUS dean or a doctor. In addition, your cumulative contributions to discussions will be graded at the end of the semester. If you prepare for class by reading the assignment in a thoughtful and critical manner, and if you engage in IVLE discussions beforehand, you should not have any trouble coming up with things to say in class; shy people in particular should use the IVLE as a way of “breaking the ice” and getting accustomed to making your ideas public. Towards the end of the semester, everyone will be required to create a ten-minute presentation about their individual research project.

IVLE Discussion Forum

Over the course of the semester, students will be responsible for posting a minimum of five contributions to various discussion threads. Postings should occur the day before class, and may consist of posing critical questions or making your observations of the readings that will be discussed in the next class. Students are encouraged to begin a new thread as early as possible before each class, and to respond to the questions asked and interpretations offered by your fellow classmates. The aim of these discussion threads is to begin a conversation that will spill over into class time, and these dialogues will also help me to gauge your needs and concerns ahead of time. Students will receive credit for the quality and quantity of their postings during the semester.

Deadlines

Because of the continuous rhythm of drafts, conferences, and peer group work that makes up the course, the late work of one or more students can be unnecessarily disruptive. As a result, all work must be handed in on time, and there will be no exceptions made. Barring personal illness or other unforeseeable circumstances, you must follow the schedule of assignments. If you have a legitimate reason for not being able to complete an assignment on time, you must contact me at least one full class period in advance of the due date. For the first paper handed in late, you will receive a single grade deduction for every 24 hours in which the paper is not submitted. (In other words, an A- becomes a B+, etc.) The deduction will be applied to the grade of the final submission regardless of whether the late paper is an early draft or a final draft. Any additional paper handed in late receives an F.

Plagiarism

The intentional or unintentional appropriation of other people's ideas without proper citation violates ethical and academic standards. In addition, a double submission of your own work in two different modules also constitutes a breach of conduct. Anyone caught plagiarizing a paper will immediately fail the paper and be subject to further disciplinary measures through the university. Two plagiarized papers will result in your immediate failure of the class. For more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it, consult Gordon Harvey's Writing with Sources, Chapter 3, “Misuse of Sources."

Scroll to Top