Prompt for Essay #1 Culture and Consumption

Prompt for Essay #1--Culture and Consumption
Before you start writing your essay I just want you to complete two things.
Your assignment is to first write your own introduction that includes topic, material, and thesis in one page. Then in a second page create a basic outline of what you plan to write for Essay #1
Step 1: Choose an advertising campaign (not a singular advertisement) for a particular product or service that has print and video ads and do a deep semiotic reading discussing how you think culture is being reflected (and perhaps affected) by the campaign.
The following are just some questions to help you think about the types of abductive arguments you will make in your essay; you are not meant to follow them like an outline. Some may be more relevant than others to your particular arguments:
Therefore after you choose an advertising campaign think of the following…
1). How is the advertiser using culture to sell the product? (Think about James Robert's "The Treadmill of Consumption" about the culture of conspicuous consumption or Thomas Frank’s “Commodify Your Dissent” using the culture of dissent/counterculture).
2). How is the product marketing to specific demographics?
3). Are there different types of ads for the same product targeting different demographics?
4). Analyze the ads using the questions on page 30 of “Signs of Life in the USA” 9th edition book. Are the ads appealing more to logic, emotion, or credibility?
5). Is the campaign exploiting stereotypes or deconstructing them? (Think of Steve Craig’s “Men’s Men and Women’s Women”).
Step #2. Now let’s just focus on how to write your Introduction in your essay…
There are many ways to write an academic introduction; I am going to show you one way, in particular, that you can adapt to just about any academic essay. This type of introduction has three parts: Topic, Material, and Thesis.
Let’s focus on “Topic” first:
When you begin your introduction it is important to understand just who the audience is to whom you are writing. A common mistake some students make is thinking that they are writing the essay to their professor. While the professor may be the one who reads it (or a teaching assistant at a university), the audience you want to imagine writing to is a reader who hasn't seen the writing prompt you have been given, hasn't been in the classroom or discussion boards of your class, and hasn't just read the course readings. In other words, your reader is a stranger who has just picked up your paper and decided to read it. You should imagine this stranger as an educated, intelligent reader who is looking to deepen their understanding of the particular topic you are writing about. Because they have just picked up this essay, they don't know what that topic is, until you introduce it to them.
So, to begin the introduction, write 2-4 sentences that raises the overall topic of your essay (not the argument you are going to present about that topic).
Here is an example introducing the topic of the effects of advertising on culture:
Living in the developed world today has many advantages for those seeking comfort, security, and non-stop entertainment. There are products and services available to anybody with enough money to meet virtually any need and any desire they may have. While that concept may not be so new, the number of people who have at least some access to that ability to satiate their whims is relatively new. It is because of this that advertising has become so prevalent in almost every aspect of modern American life as companies big and small fight for every customer they can find – even in places that were largely overlooked by Madison Avenue in the earlier parts of the 20th century. High-end automakers are no longer solely focused on the ultra-rich and hygiene product manufacturers no longer speak only to the “women of the house.”
Notice how the Introduction begins with general statements about culture that lead into more specific statements about advertising..
Now let’s focus on “Material”:
The "material" of your essay is the object of your academic analysis. If you were writing an essay in which the topic was Shakespeare's use of tragedy, the objects of your analysis might be Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Othello. If you were writing an essay in which the topic was Health Care in the United States, the object of your analysis might be the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). For the essay you are about to write, the material is the specific advertising campaign you are going to analyze. Again, keep in mind your audience. Does it seem likely they already are aware of the product or service? If so, don’t introduce it to them like they have been living on Mars (So you wouldn't need to say: McDonald's is a fast food restaurant that serves hamburgers and French fries).
Here is an example of introducing the material:
One multibillion-dollar industry that has understood the need to reach out to traditionally underrepresented demographics is the big business athletic apparel. In this highly profitable industry there is one company that has soared above the rest, launching from humble beginnings into the atmosphere of seemingly unassailable prestige. This company of course is Nike, who offers popular clothing, equipment, and shoes to its customers and none more prestigious than its division named after its greatest spokesman – Air Jordan.
Finally, focus on the thesis:
The thesis is the argument you are making in an essay. This should be the main point or points you are wanting to make about the topic you introduced earlier. The thesis is the most important part of your essay because it is the blueprint you will use to construct the body paragraphs that follow, and it will be the map that your reader will use to follow the overall argument that each of your body paragraphs support. Therefore make sure thesis is aligned with what the prompt is asking for. Keep it concise (1-3 sentences). Make it detailed, developed, and dynamic. Make sure it is clear and free of any errors.
Here is an example of a thesis:
While the current advertising campaign for Nike’s Air Jordan shoes seems to be connecting with aspirational sentiments of our current culture while hoping to show connection between their product and personal empowerment, the status symbol that Jordan’s have held in particular communities shows potentially dangerous and exploitative undercurrent.
Notice how the first part identifies the feelings that the ads are tapping into, the cultural mythologies (aspirational sentiments, personal empowerment), while the second part identifies the "dangerous" and "exploitative" part of the ads as they tap into the cultural mythology of "the status symbol" like Roberts talked about (the idea of conspicuous consumption). With a developed, detailed, and dynamic thesis, I know I will have enough points to develop in individual body paragraphs.
Put all the pieces together and you end up with a nicely developed introduction:
Living in the developed world today has many advantages for those seeking comfort, security, and non-stop entertainment. There are products and services available to anybody with enough money to meet virtually any need and any desire they may have. While that concept may not be so new, the number of people who have at least some access to that ability to satiate their whims is relatively new. It is because of this that advertising has become so prevalent in almost every aspect of modern American life as companies big and small fight for every customer they can find – even in places that were largely overlooked by Madison Avenue in the earlier parts of the 20th century. High-end automakers are no longer solely focused on the ultra-rich and hygiene product manufacturers no longer speak only to the “women of the house.” One multibillion-dollar industry that has understood the need to reach out to traditionally underrepresented demographics is the big business athletic apparel. In this highly profitable industry there is one company that has soared above the rest, launching from humble beginnings into the atmosphere of seemingly unassailable prestige. This company of course is Nike, who offers popular clothing, equipment, and shoes to its customers and none more prestigious than its division named after its greatest spokesman – Air Jordan. While the current advertising campaign for Nike’s Air Jordan shoes seems to be connecting with aspirational sentiments of our current culture while hoping to show connection between their product and personal empowerment, the status symbol that Jordan’s have held in particular communities shows potentially dangerous and exploitative undercurrent.
Step #3. Now, that you have an idea of how I want your introduction to include go ahead and in one page write your own introduction that includes topic, material, and thesis.
Step #4. After you have written down your introduction that includes topic, material and thesis I want you to create a basic outline of what you plan to write for upcoming Essay.
For your outline make sure put enough information so that it makes sense to you and you will know basically what you plan to write in each of the body paragraphs. Make sure to begin with your thesis at the top; each of the body paragraphs should connect back to that thesis in one way or another.
Here is an example of an outline that I want you to create:
Sample Outline:
While the current advertising campaign for Nike’s Air Jordan shoes seems to be connecting with aspirational sentiments of our current culture while hoping to show connection between their product and personal empowerment, the status symbol that Jordans have held in particular communities shows potentially dangerous and exploitative undercurrent.
Body 1 – Aspirational Tone of Ads
--Connecting success of Jordan with Success of Consumer
--Drake Ad – “Winning mentality”
Body 2 – Slogans
--Lean and Twist – Connection to Lean In (Westbrook Ad)
--Rise Above – Discuss as Political Slogan
Body 3 – Demographics of Ads (quote from Craig)
--Race
--Gender (Quote from Frank)
--Class
--Age

Body 4 – Status Symbol (Quote from Roberts)
--Compare to luxury items like watches, houses, boats
--Macklemore Song “Wing$”
--Look up reports of crimes involving stealing Jordans

Body 5 – Exploitation of Nostalgia
--1989 Print Ad
--Westbrook/Roberston Ad

Conclusion – Show nuance of positive aspects mixed with negative
Notes from me the student to the writer:
1). This assignment doesn’t require for it to be a completed essay. Basically the professor wants things completed differently therefore at this moment he is only requiring two things to be completed which is to write an introduction that includes topic, material, and thesis in one page and in the second page he wants an outline to be completed that will help us create the actual essay which is a separate assignment which will be due later on.
2). In the instructions I included several examples like the “Jordan’s topic that my professor gave us to give an idea of how approach and write the introduction and subsequently the outline as well.
3). I included screenshot file images of the readings that we did prior and that we have to include at least one quote from each of three different readings of "The Treadmill of Consumption" by James A. Roberts, as welll as Thomas Frank’s “Commodify Your Dissent”, and Steve Craig’s “Men’s Men and Women’s Women”. These are the three sources that we must use quotes from to include in the essay and outline. But for right just focus on findings quotes for the outline.
4). I included a screenshot image file for page 30 question 4 of the Signs of Life in the USA 9th edition book.
5). The assignment must be done in Times New Roman Font Size 12 with 1 inch margins all around.
6). The ISBN for the book of “Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers”. Ninth Edition is ISBN 1-3190-5663-6
Thank you so much for your time.