9780132202671

POP GOES THE READER! This composition reader calls on our daily experiences with popular culture to help you understand culture in general and to promote critical thinking, reading, and writing. Offering thought-provoking essays for the classroom, the authors of Common Culture explore our world of iPods and hip-hop, of reality TV, and blockbuster movies to help create a course that is meaningful and challenging. . .and fun. This outstanding learning tool is key to your success in class and will help you think, read, and write clearly both in college and beyond.

Preface

ix

1 Reading and Writing About American Popular Culture

1

(46)

What Is Popular Culture?

2

(2)

Why Study Popular Culture?

4

(2)

Active Reading

6

(16)

Strategies for Actively Reading a Text

7

(1)

An Active Reading Casebook: Three Selections About Barbie

8

(14)

Preparing to Read

9

(1)

Reading and Annotating

9

(1)

Barbie's Shoes, Hilary Tham

10

(1)

Re-reading

10

(1)

Reviewing

11

(1)

Reading Pop Cultural Criticism

12

(3)

The Indignation of Barbie, John Leo

13

(2)

Reading Academic Analysis

15

(12)

"Seen Through Rose-Tinted Glasses": The Barbie Doll in American Society, Marilyn Ferris Motz

16

(6)

Reading Images

22

(5)

Preparing to Read

22

(1)

Reading and Annotating

23

(2)

Re-reading

25

(1)

Reviewing

26

(1)

The Writing Process

27

(20)

Prewriting

27

(5)

Freewriting

28

(1)

Clustering

29

(1)

Outlining

29

(3)

Drafting

32

(5)

Thesis and Thesis Statement

32

(1)

Opening Paragraphs

33

(1)

Supporting Paragraphs

33

(1)

Evidence

34

(2)

Conclusions

36

(1)

Distancing

37

(1)

Revising

37

(1)

Revision Checklist

38

(1)

Writing Research on Popular Culture

39

(3)

Modern Language Association Documentation Format

42

(1)

American Psychological Association Documentation Format

43

(1)

Sample Student Essay

44

(7)

Role-Model Barbie: Now and Forever?

44

(138)

Carolyn Muhlstein

2 Advertising

47

(97)

Approaches to Advertising

51

(54)

The Cult You're In, Kalle Lasn

51

(5)

Salespeak, Roy Fox

56

(17)

Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals, Jib Fowles

73

(18)

How Advertising Informs to Our Benefit, John E. Calfee

91

(14)

Images of Women in Advertising

105

(35)

You're Soaking In It, Jennifer L. Pozner

105

(10)

Getting Dirty, Mark Crispin Miller

115

(8)

Sex, Lies, and Advertising, Gloria Steinem

123

(17)

Additional Suggestions for Writing About Advertising

140

(4)

3 Television

144

(91)

The Cultural Influences of Television

146

(36)

Spudding Out, Barbara Ehrenreich

146

(3)

Television Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor, Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

149

(9)

Life According to TV, Harry Waters

158

(11)

Watching TV Makes You Smarter, Steven Johnson

169

(13)

Interpreting Television

182

(49)

1. Reality TV

182

(19)

The Tribe Has Spoken, Rebecca Gardyn

182

(11)

Keeping It Real: Why We Like to Watch Reality Dating Television Shows, Robert Samuels

193

(8)

2. The Simpsons

201

(36)

The Simpsons: Atomistic Politics and the Nuclear Family, Paul A. Cantor

201

(18)

The Evolution of the Seven Deadly Sins: From God to the Simpsons, Lisa Frank

219

(12)

Additional Suggestions for Writing About Television

231

(4)

4 Popular Music

235

(102)

The Hip-Hop Generation

237

(47)

Rap and Race: It's Got a Nice Beat, But What About the Message?, Rachel E. Sullivan

237

(15)

The Miseducation of Hip-Hop, Evelyn Jamilah

252

(9)

Pop Goes the Rapper: A Close Reading of Eminem's Genderphobia, Vincent Stephens

261

(23)

Music and Contemporary Culture

284

(50)

Marilyn Manson and the Apt Pupils of Littleton, Gary Burns

284

(7)

The Money Note: Can the Record Business Be Saved?, John Seabrook

291

(25)

I Hate Classical Music, Alex Ross

316

(18)

Additional Suggestions for Writing About Popular Music

334

(3)

5 Technology

337

(82)

Technology, Individuals, and Communities

339

(33)

Breaking Down Borders: How Technology Transforms the Private and Public Realms, Robert Samuels

339

(4)

Cyberhood vs. Neighborhood, John Perry Barlow

343

(8)

Our Cell Phones, Ourselves, Christine Rosen

351

(21)

Applications

372

(43)

1. Video Games

372

(27)

Let the Games Begin: Gaming Technology and Entertainment Among College Students, Steve Jones

372

(13)

Playing War: The Emerging Trend of Real Virtual Combat in Current Video Games, Brian Cowlishaw

385

(14)

2. Blogging

399

(22)

Weblogs: A History and Perspective, Rebecca Blood

399

(8)

Borg Journalism, John Hiler

407

(8)

Additional Suggestions for Writing About Technology

415

(4)

6 Sports

419

(102)

Sport in America, American Sports Across the Globe

421

(60)

Fixing Kids' Sports, Peter Cary, Randy Dotinga, and Avery Comarow

421

(11)

Baby, You're The Greatest, Tom Farrey

432

(8)

Discipline and Push-Up: Female Bodies, Femininity, and Sexuality in Popular Representations of Sports Bras, Jaime Schultz

440

(27)

Jack of Smarts: Why the Internet Generation Loves to Play Poker, Justin Peters

467

(6)

World Games: The U.S. Tries to Colonize Sport, Tram Nguyen

473

(8)

Sports, Stars, and Society

481

(19)

Risk, Paul Roberts

481

(10)

Life on the Edge, William Dowell and the Editors of Time Magazine

491

(9)

Analyzing Sports

500

(18)

Champion of the World, Maya Angelou

500

(4)

Tiger Time: The Wonder of an American Hero, Jay Nordlinger

504

(6)

Fields of Broken Dreams: Latinos and Baseball, Marcos Breton

510

(8)

Additional Suggestions for Writing About Sports

518

(3)

7 Movies

521

(104)

Film and American Culture

523

(67)

The Way We Are, Sydney Pollack

523

(10)

The Politics of Moviemaking, Saul Austerlitz

533

(10)

The Asian Invasion (of Multiculturalism) in Hollywood, Minh-Ha Pham

543

(22)

Fight Club: A Ritual Cure for the Spiritual Ailment of American Masculinity, Jethro Rothe-Kushel

565

(25)

Tarantino and The Passion: A Controversy Casebook

590

(32)

Pulp Fiction, Alan Stone

590

(8)

She'll Kill Bill While You Chill, Thomas de Zengotita

598

(8)

Nailed, David Denby

606

(6)

Gibson's Sublime Passion: In Defense of the Violence, William Irwin

612

(10)

Additional Suggestions for Writing About Movies

622

(3)

For Further Reading: A Common Culture Bibliography

625

(6)

Acknowledgments

631

(5)

Index by Author and Title

636

(3)

Index by Academic Discipline

639

(2)

Index by Rhetorical Mode

641

What is included with this book?

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When we started teaching composition courses that examined television, pop music, movies, and other media-generated artifacts, we looked for a text that would cover a full range of topics in the field of popular culture from a variety of theoretical perspectives. We discovered that no satisfactory text existed, and therefore we began putting together assignments and reading materials to meet our needs. From this compilation Common Culture emerged. The more we've taught writing courses based on popular culture, the more convinced we've become that such courses are especially appealing for students and effective in improving their critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. Students come into the writing classroom already immersed in the culture of Britney, Benetton, Beastie Boys, and Barry Bonds. The advantage, then, is that we don't have to sell” the subject matter of the course and can concentrate on the task at handnamely, teaching students to think critically and to write clear and effective prose. Obviously, a course that panders to the lowest common denominator of students' taste would be a mindless, unproductive enterprise for all concerned. However, the underlying philosophy of a pop culture-based writing course is this: By reading, thinking, and writing about material they find inherently interesting, students develop their critical and analytical skillsskills which are, of course, crucial to their success in college. Although students are already familiar with the many aspects of popular culture, few have directed sustained, critical thought to its influence or implicationsthat is, to what shopping malls might tell them about contemporary culture or to what they've actually learned from watching The Jerry Springer Show.” Survivor.” Because television shows, advertisements, and music videos, for example, are highly crafted artifacts, they are particularly susceptible to analysis; and because so much in contemporary culture is open to interpretation and controversy, students enjoy the opportunity to articulate and argue for their own interpretations of objects and institutions in the world around them. Although popular culture is undeniably a sexy (or, at least, lively) subject, it has also, in the past decade, become accepted as a legitimate object of academic discourse. While some may contend that it's frivolous to write a dissertation on Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” most scholars recognize the importance of studying the artifacts and institutions of contemporary life. Popular culture is a rich field of study, drawing in researchers from a variety of disciplines. Because it is also a very inviting field of study for students, a textbook that addresses this subject in a comprehensive and challenging way will be especially appealing both to them and to their writing teachers. Common Culture, fourth edition, contains an introductory chapter that walks students through one assignmentin this case, focusing on the Barbie dollwith step-by-step instruction in reading carefully and writing effectively. The chapters that follow open with a relevant and catchy cultural artifact (for example, a cartoon, an ad, an album cover) that leads into a reader-friendly, informative introduction; a selection of engaging essays on an issue of current interest in the field of pop culture; carefully constructed reading and discussion questions; and writing assignments after each reading and at the end of the chapter. This fourth edition also contains new sections on visual literacy and conducting research on popular culture, along with a selection of color and black & white images that students can analyze and enjoy. Common Culture approaches the field of popular culture by dividing it into its constituent parts. The book contains chapters on advertising, television, music, cyberculture technology, sports, and movies. Most of the chapters are divided into two parts: the first pre

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Common Culture : Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture

Common Culture : Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture

0132202670

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