A Letter to Myself

As soon as I hear the word “culture”, some of the things that immediately pop into mind include football, fast food, Hollywood, Victoria’s Secret, the fourth of July, and diversity. However, at the beginning of the quarter, I was at loss of what to say when I was asked to define the word “culture”. While we are immersed in culture every day of our lives and everywhere we go, it is not something most of us give a second thought about or explicitly and deeply think about. Over the course of the quarter, though, I learned not only how to define and describe culture, but to critically think about how culture influences us, defines us, and affects us in the long-term as well. I was able to achieve a thorough understanding on this subject matter through various reading and writing assignments and, through these assignments, I was able to gain and develop valuable sentence level, paragraph level, and essay level skills. As a result, I grew to be a more confident reader and writer.

Culture is a pretty abstract and difficult concept to define, one that has induced much debate amongst even anthropologists themselves. After reading various articles and spending the last ten weeks thinking critically about this topic, I have come to conclude that culture is a set of socially acquired thoughts, behaviors, rituals, values, morals, language, and etc. that are transmitted from one generation to the next. Culture gives each social group its distinctive characteristics and customs and, therefore, provides each individual with his or her own identity. Therefore, culture is a distinguishing factor. At the same time, it is important to note that culture is not constant. It can change based on what is currently “in”. This gives us popular culture, which is characterized as something that is mainstream, contemporary, and transitory in nature. Popular culture is often fueled by mass media outlets like the television, radio, and newspaper and, due to its omnipresence and powerful influences, it can essentially be seen as a learning tool that helps shape and define who we are. Nowadays, technology has become so prevalent that it is hard to find an individual who does not interact with technology at least once a day. In fact, the average American watches at least 4 hours of TV each day and, within those 4 hours, we are exposed to a myriad of advertisements—and that does not even include the ads we are bombarded with when we take the public transport, go to the ATM, drive on the freeway, or browse through the shopping malls. Because these corporate-controlled ads are so pervasive and manipulative in a sense that it targets our hidden desires and needs, it ultimately impacts and even dictates our individual purchasing decisions and lifestyle choices. Being a strong media activist, in Culture Jam, Kalle Lasn warns us to take notice of the debilitating consequences that we are currently facing or may face in the future if we continue to feed those corporations the power and wealth to control and manipulate our lifestyle choices. I learned that some of these dangers include a loss of individuality, a lack of connection with the human spirit and natural world, and the increasing incidences of psychological disorders.

With the advances of technology, there currently exist many technological devices or American artifacts that are representative of this slump that we have fallen into. These more notable artifacts of the American culture include the iPhone, iPod, and MacBook. These items are all products manufactured, advertised, and sold by the Apple Company. With the successes of its products, owning an “Apple product” has become a trend and everyone wants in on these new, popular products. Targeting our need for affiliation and need to belong, this has promoted conformity and taken away individuals’ independence and uniqueness. We have become clones who seek the same things and purchase the same things. In addition, because these devices are highly mobile and accessible, we can essentially take them wherever we go whenever we want. However, these gadgets are functionally produced for personal, individualized usage and therefore promote isolation or a lack of interaction with other people in the public arena. With the advance of technology, people have become too consumed with their own worlds. This is extremely problematic because the world is an interactive place and human beings are social animals whose thoughts and behaviors are primarily shaped through social learning and imitation.

As I reflect on all that I have learned and summarized from the essays and major projects we were assigned throughout the quarter, I realize how interrelated all of our reading and writing assignments have been. All of our essays have something to do with one another. While I analyzed an American artifact for in-class essay #1 An American Artifact: The MacBook, I defined a particular popular subculture in our out-of-class essay #1 Discipline as the Essence of the Ballet Subculture. Every culture or subculture has, at some point, produced an artifact that they value or worship. Playing a huge role in these cultures’ lives, artifacts help define who they are and help us distinguish them from other cultures. For in-class essay #2 How Technology Has Isolated and Distracted the Society, I discussed how technology has negatively impacted our culture. While the general population is aware of the idealistic possibilities of new technologies, they tend to ignore or do not focus on what good these technologies can undo at the same time. This is related to the previous two essays in that cultures, like that of the American society, can be defined by the technological era. Technology has been predominantly beneficial for its society by allowing doctors to find cures for what used to be known as “fatal” diseases. It has also allowed people to communicate with each other within seconds, to travel across the country, and to buy almost anything without ever leaving the comforts of their homes. However, with the convenience and efficiency of technology, people have become consumed with their own private worlds. When many of us wander outside to the park, café, school campus, or amusement park, it is not uncommon to see people aimlessly walking by with their heads down, furiously texting away. Technology, in a sense, has taken over and defined the American culture. In out-of-class essay #2 Exceeding limits with the Nissan GTR, I analyzed a car ad by delving into the thoughts of the advertisers. I observed how advertisers are able to appeal to its consumers through very specific tactics. I learned that by appealing to the people’s underlying desires and motives, advertisements are more likely to attract attention, affect communication, and encourage consumption. This benefits corporations because it reinforces their wealth and power, which they use to manipulate consumers into buying their products. For out-of-class #3 The Emergence of a Cloned, Detached, and Problematic Society, I responded to Lasn’s thoughts on the American culture. I had to rely on my own personal knowledge about the American culture, as well as outside research, in order to relate and respond to Lasn’s own critique. Through Lasn’s Culture Jam, I have learned not to just take things as they are (become puppets of the corporations), but to also form my own thoughts and decisions about what I want and need for myself. This final assignment ultimately integrated all of the materials and techniques I have learned over the course of the quarter.

Through these various reading and writing assignments, I believe that I have grown more confident as a critical thinker, reader, and writer. This does not necessarily mean that I have become great at performing these tasks, but I do feel more confident in conveying my thoughts now. In the past, I had always dreaded and avoided taking English classes because I was never confident in my reading, critical thinking, or writing skills. I had always been a slow reader. One of my biggest obstacles in the past was the conceptual understanding of the text. Because I could not fully understand what I was reading, I would continually read the sentences or paragraphs over and over again, until I could somewhat grasp the author’s basic idea. However, I have learned that it is always better to read through the text once, no matter how much I do or do not understand, before rereading it again more fully. Sometimes, it is important to take the top-bottom approach—to look at the big picture in order to understand its smaller components or details. Therefore, what I have found to be effective for me in the reading process is to follow some of the before, during, and after reading strategies I was exposed to through this course. It was helpful for me to skim through the text once, repeat the process a second time while simultaneously highlighting the important parts, and then summarize and analyze the text’s content. Not only did it help with my reading skills, but it also helped me with my writing. This allowed me to get started on my essays more easily and get into the flow of writing more easily since I had already thought about the text and responded to it beforehand. Similarly, I had always been a pretty slow writer. It typically takes a long time for me to organize my thoughts and integrate the information I want to deliver in an orderly and comprehensible fashion. In the past, I always had problems finishing my in-class essays on time. For the first in-class essay, this was the case. I remember that as the time started counting down, I became very nervous and my thoughts became scrambled, making it hard for me to stay focused on my task. For the subsequent essays, though, time became less of a factor. I realized my second in-class essay was relatively easy for me to finish because I had done a better preparation beforehand.

In regards to sentence, paragraph, and essay level writing, I discovered that I have some interesting writing habits. The “sentence focus” task in out-of-class #2 actually brought back some memories from high school. In the past, I would often try to make myself sound more “smart” or make my writing sound more “fancy” by getting wordy in my assignments. After going through undergrad and taking a couple college English courses at Davis, though, I realize that I have changed my style of writing to one that is more direct and straightforward. That doesn’t mean I don’t ever use passive verbs or different forms of the verb “to be” anymore, but I do use them to a lesser extent now. Even though we were told to avoid using these verbs, it was kind of hard not to use it at all. It’s not that it’s impossible to do. It’s just that, sometimes, the meaning or impact of the sentence just does not come across as strong or as good with the more direct and specific verbs. Of course, this is just my opinion. On the paragraph level, I made sure that each body paragraph I produced and included in my essays had its own role and purpose. I learned that in addition to proposing unique ideas related to the thesis, we also had to include a point for each idea. Therefore, during my writing process, I would ask myself “so what?” every time I typed out an idea. On the essay level, I realized that some problems I have involve sentence flow, essay function, and explanations. Through habit, I have a tendency to use quotes as the backbone of my essays. As a result, at times, my writing would become overfilled with quotes. This essentially leaves out the more important personal thoughts and explanations. Upon realization of this problem, I tried to pay more attention to it for my later essays. Lastly, while my essays initially lacked cohesion, I followed up by trying to produce a more focused piece of work. I did this by remaining focused on proving my thesis and answering the topic question, rather than straying away from the main idea and rambling away. As a result, I believe that my essays became much more cohesive near the end of the quarter. Although I used to dread taking English courses, I believe that I have somewhat gotten over it by now. In fact, once I get into the flow of writing, it becomes strangely fun and addicting. Overall, I feel that I have grown more confident as a writer.

Throughout this course, I was exposed to something I always took for granted—the American culture. I never really thought about what exactly popular culture is but I can say I have a pretty thorough understanding of what it is now. This course, including the reading and writing assignments, has taught me to become more aware of and to think critically about our culture. In addition to the topics covered in this course, I have also learned a lot about the writing process on the sentence, paragraph, and essay levels. I believe that a lot of the knowledge and skills I have learned in this class could easily be applied to other disciplines and subsequent English classes because these sentence, paragraph, and essay level skills can be used as a backbone for any research paper, speech, or even outline that I may have to produce in the future. The strategies taught in the course allow a person to write in a more focused, comprehensive, and orderly manner and this skill is important in any task that involves interpersonal communication.

The Emergence of a Cloned, Detached, and Problematic Society

With the rapid advancement of technology, the way through which the world operates has dramatically changed. Popular culture, which is fueled by mass media outlets like the television, now largely influences individual purchasing decisions and lifestyle choices. Instead of relying on our own intuitions, we now rely on the news, data, and education communicated by the media to make informed decisions. However, its influences are often so large and elusive that we need to take caution and become aware of its potentially debilitating consequences. In Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge—And Why We Must, media activist Kalle Lasn discusses how the corporate-driven mass media has become a major gateway to influencing and taking over American popular culture. He begins by analyzing how problematic this has become because, through its powerful and manipulative influences, the mass media has branded the American society and killed off its diversity, spontaneity, and creativity. It has encouraged a consumer binge that is slowly damaging the ecology and depleting the Earth’s limited resources, leaving a mass of problems for future generations to deal with. In addition, due to the looming presence of the television and electronic mass media, Americans have become so detached from reality and psychologically threatened by its excess noise and information. Because of these dangers and challenges, Lasn believes that it is important for people to become aware of their destructive behaviors and initiate change. He follows up, in the second half of his book, by producing a list of solutions composed of specific strategies and actions that individuals can engage in to help resolve these aforementioned problems. He then paints a picture of a life or world that could exist if Americans were to unite and revolt against the heartless and soulless corporate machines. Based on Lasn and other popular culture critics and researchers, the American society has become a puppet of the corporate-driven mass media. The media has affected the American popular culture in such a way that we are now witnessing the emergence of a cloned, detached, and problematic society.

Conformation, group compliance rather than individual uniqueness, is now valued and considered “cool”. A large portion of the American popular culture can be attributed to advertisements, which not only appear on televisions, newspapers, billboards, and stores, but also in public bathrooms, at the ATMs, and on the very food we consume. Due to its pervasiveness, ads can be seen as a tool that molds and shapes our thoughts and behaviors, as well as our consumptive decisions. These advertisements essentially tell us what we should wear, what we should eat, and how we should live and think. We have been recruited into a cult that has taught us to “wear uniforms—not white robes but, let’s say, Tommy Hilfiger jackets or Airwalk sneakers” (Lasn 53). Because of the ad industry’s pervasive and powerful influence over our consumptive behavior, we have become primed to seek and purchase specific products that we do not consciously choose ourselves. The omnipresent Tommy Hilfiger and Airwalk ads create a feeling of familiarity that encourages consumers to buy its product. With everyone buying their products, it only makes sense that we join in on the hype and purchase them as well. We rationalize that there must be a good and valid reason why everyone is buying these products. This kind of behavior, buying what others are buying, is very common because, as Lasn states, “the most powerful narcotic in the world is the promise of belonging. And belonging is best achieved by conforming to the prescriptions of America” (xiii). Ads tell us that if we buy their product, we will have the security of belonging. The need to belong, to be accepted by and have close relationships with others, is innate in humans. However, due to this want and need to belong, we have to conform to the corporations’ rules and regulations and purchase certain products. This means we have ultimately fallen into the trap of corporate advertising. We have been manipulated into buying their products, which is exactly what corporations want us to do. By buying their products, we have contributed to their income and helped them meet their expenditures. As a result, the corporations live and continue their “unwavering pursuit of growth, power, and wealth” (Lasn 158). With more power and money, corporations are able to further dictate what we should or should not buy. This is problematic because “the human spirit of prideful contrariness and fierce independence has been oddly tamed. In this way a perverted sense of cool takes hold of the imaginations of our children” (Lasn xiii). By conforming, we have lost our identity. We have sacrificed our spontaneity and uniqueness in exchange for the “cool”, new popular thing. The American society has become branded by the media and its creativity and imaginations have died off. Now, there exists a manufactured world wherein everyone conforms and seeks the latest popular product or brand.

In a similar fashion, Americans have also become detached from the natural world and disconnected from their human spirits. Nowadays, technology has become so prevalent that it is hard to find an individual who does not interact with technology at least once a day. According to the A.C. Nielsen Company, the number of TV sets in the average U.S. household is 2.24 and the average American watches at least 4 hours of TV each day. Time spent on the Internet is comparable, if not more. With the vast amount of time we spend watching TV and surfing the Internet, we have lost both our connection to the natural world and our desire to interact with others. Lasn claims that because personalities and cultures are now being shaped entirely by the electronic mass media environment rather than by nature, our mediated selves, “when disconnected from the urban data stream, cease to function” (4). We do not know what to do with ourselves when we are cut off from technology. We do not know how to interact with nature nor do we know how to enjoy ourselves out in the natural world. We have grown to be so dependent on our electronic distractions that we even experience withdrawal symptoms when these distractions are taken away from us. Mass media can therefore be seen as some kind of addiction that Americans need to free themselves from. Lasn goes on to talk about how some people have become so consumed by the Internet, to the point that they have forgotten to eat and become reluctant to sleep. As a result, these individuals have inhabited “a world somewhere between real life and virtual life” (45), where “emotions have become substituted by emoticons” (47). Technology has become such an invasive part of our lives that when we are not eating or sleeping, we are most likely watching TV or browsing the net. We no longer live the natural and interactive life, but succumb to the lavish comforts of the American lifestyle, within our home. Instead of choosing to be an active participant in the world, we have decided to barricade ourselves in our home, like hermits. There is no longer speech, but words and texts. There is no longer laughter, sadness, or anger, but emoticons. This has created a world where “we watch nature shows instead of venturing out into nature. We laugh at sitcom jokes but not at our spouse’s. We spend more evenings enjoying video sex than making love ourselves” (Lasn 11). In the world of unreality, we have become so consumed with ourselves and our shows that it is easy to forget that the world is an interactive place. Technology, therefore, represents a non-interactive and stationary life spent within a virtual world.

Robert Samuels, a lecturer of the Writing Programs at UCLA, shares similar views in his essay, “Breaking Down Borders: How Technology Transforms the Private and Public Realms”. Samuels discusses how he believes the development of highly mobile and accessible technological devices, like the iPhone or MacBook, has caused people to isolate themselves and spend progressively less time interacting with others. It has blurred the public and private borders and caused people to become “so involved in their own mediated worlds that they forget where they actually are and what they are supposed to be doing”. While new technology allows people to “personalize their own media and decide on their own what culture they want to consume”, it also prevents them from “seeing culture as a social and public activity” (361). It has become extremely easy for people to set up their own little private space, with their laptops, iPods, and earphones, within the larger public area. This allows them to express individuality through their “personal culture”, but also few opportunities for public interactions. Items, such as the laptop, represent cultural artifacts that are manufactured, advertised, and sold by big corporate businesses. With all the hype built up around these products, everyone wants to become a part of this new trend. However, over the years, the advances and successful advertising of these new technological devices have promoted an increasing act of isolation. By allowing people to carry their personal culture wherever they go, such as the coffee shop, bus, or library, it has encouraged a lack of interpersonal communication and created a sense of detachment from the rest of the world. Rather than interacting with others in public areas, many people end up keeping to themselves, within their own little world. This negatively impacts the human lifestyle because human beings are social animals whose thoughts and behaviors are primarily shaped through social learning and imitation.

In addition to promoting group conformation and a sense of disconnection from the natural world, the pervasive advances of technology and corporate-funded advertisements have introduced “mental pollutants and information viruses” that have threatened our “ecology of mind” (Lasn 13). The excessive information, images, and data absorbed by our minds from the commercial mass media may be affecting us in a similar way to the chemicals and toxins absorbed into our bodies. In his book, Lasn questions, “could it be that all of these things together—the curse of plentitude, the image explosion, the data overload, the hum of the media that, like Denny’s, are always awake and bustling—are driving us crazy? I lay my money here. More than anything else, it is our mediated, consumption-driven culture that’s making us sick” (11). Although many psychological disorders are caused by genetic, physiological, and environmental factors, to a degree, the commercial mass media and America’s consumer binge can also be seen as major contributions to its rising incidence in the U.S. Plentitude is a burden that has placed us on the hedonic treadmill. The more we have, the more we crave and need. Eventually, we reach a point where nothing satisfies our hunger anymore and we suffer from anhedonia.

Similarly, the warped images, messages, and values conveyed by the media have eroded “our ability to empathize, to take social issues seriously, to be moved by atrocity” (Lasn 23). Strikingly morbid ads—dying AIDS patients, dead Bosnians soldiers, and starving, suffering North Korean locals—are meant to arouse our sympathy and move our souls. However, due to its excessive and pervasive advertising, they have actually done the opposite by desensitizing us and making us feel indifferent. A study conducted by Berger et al. showed that habitual media violence exposure led to decreased or negative skin conductance levels in subjects, which is a quantitative measure of body arousal (630). This suggests that incessant exposure to TV violence has observable desensitization effects. The more advertising companies bombard our minds with their emotionally arousing ads, the more numb and unsympathetic we feel towards these acts and images of violence and suffering. Furthermore, Lasn claims that the “ten years of conditioning” that “have taught [us], at an almost cellular level, that Elle McPherson and her ilk are what desirable women look like” has lowered our self-esteems and distorted the way we think about ourselves (74). According to a study conducted by Anschutz et al., preadolescent girls showed greater body dissatisfactions and greater desires for a thinner body figure after watching a movie clip explicitly focused on the thin ideal versus those that indirectly focused on the thin ideal or were neutral in content (26). These findings imply that television exposure to unrealistically thin celebrities and models affects what girls perceive as the ideal body image. This not only encourages dangerous eating habits, but also increases the incidences of eating disorders that may lead to life-threatening health problems. The “mental pollutants and information viruses” have caused us to grow immune to violence and become hyperaware of our body images, leading to psychological cases of narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial behavior, anorexia, or depression.

Through Lasn and other popular culture critics and researchers, it is evident that the technological era and commercial mass media has negatively impacted the American society by prompting the need to conform, eliminating any uniqueness or differences that define each individual. It has also created a sense of detachment between the self and the world and thrown many of us into a virtual world that lacks any form of physical interaction. Lastly, the excessive noise and information from our surroundings has meddled with our minds and led to an increased incidence of psychological problems. Like Lasn says, we need to stop this madness propagated by the corporate-driven mass media. Otherwise, an alternate world of cloned, detached, and crazy individuals will emerge.

Works Cited:

Anschutz, Doeschka J., et al. "The direct effect of thin ideal focused adult television on young girls' ideal body figure." Body Image 8.1 (2011): 26-33. Academic OneFile. Web. 23 June 2013.

Berger, Anja, et al. "Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100.4 (2011): 630-646. Academic OneFile. Web. 23 June 2013.

Lasn, Kalle. Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge—And Why We Must. New York: Eagle Brook, 1999.

Samuels, Robert. Common Culture: Breaking Down Borders—How Technology Transforms the Private and Public Realms. New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2009.

Reflection:

For this final out-of-class essay, we were told to write a book review for Culture Jam. I thought this was a particularly hard task to accomplish compared to the other essays because while this assignment was very broad, the other ones were more focused and narrowed down. Not only did I have a hard time choosing my stance, but I also had a bit of a hard time choosing my topic. Because Lasn is extremely passionate and, at times, exaggerative in his writing, it was hard for me to decide whether I wanted to write for or against his views. While I agreed with the majority of the things he said in his book, he was so pessimistic and patronizing at times that it made me scoff and strongly disagree with his views. Also, because Lasn goes over so many interesting topics in his book, it was very hard for me to decide on what I wanted to focus on in my essay. I have to say, writing an essay in response to a book critique is very different from writing an essay in response to a book that tells a story. Through this course, though, I was exposed to something I always took for granted—the American culture. I never really thought about what exactly popular culture is but I can say I have a pretty thorough understanding of what it is now. This course has taught me to become aware of and think critically about our culture.

In regards to my writing, I feel that I have grown more confident as a writer. I had always dreaded taking English courses in the past and, in general, dreaded writing. However, I have written so much over this past quarter that writing is just not that big of a deal for me anymore. In fact, once I get into the flow of writing, it becomes strangely fun and addicting. One thing I noticed is that I have a tendency to use quotes as the backbone of my essay so, at times, my writing becomes overfilled with quotes. As a result, this leaves out the more important personal thoughts and explanations. I tried to remain conscious of this as I was writing my last essay so I hope, in the end, I provided sufficient analyses. In addition to learning much about the American popular culture, I have also learned a lot about sentence level writing and essay organization/structure. With the lesson on body paragraphs in mind, I made sure that I had a solid topic sentence followed by an organized explanation/analysis.

Exceeding limits with the Nissan GTR

Every year, American businesses spend over fifty billion dollars on advertisements and, through its often unrealistic yet tempting messages, influence and shape the American society’s thoughts and behaviors. In “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals”, Jib Fowles analyzes how advertisers evade consumer caution and logic and target the “unfulfilled urges and motives swirling in the bottom half of [the consumers’] minds” to lure and manipulate them into buying their products (73). Their ads use emotional, psychological, and physiological appeals in order to tap into the human psyche and influence consumer behaviors. These appeals fall into fifteen different categories that Fowles has extracted from psychologist Henry A. Murray’s list of human motives, some of which include the need to achieve, the need for prominence, and the need to escape. By appealing to the people’s underlying desires and motives, advertisements are more likely to attract attention, affect communication, and encourage consumption. Through the reputation of six-time Olympic gold medalist, Usain Bolt, the Nissan GTR ad targets young and highly competitive individuals by appealing to their need to achieve, need for prominence, and need to escape.

The Nissan GTR ad emotionally appeals to its audience by evoking the sense of achievement through the competitive nature of six-time Olympian, Usain Bolt. Bolt, dubbed as “the fastest man in the world”, is the first man ever to win six Olympic gold medals in the sprinting event. As a sports hero, his widely recognized achievement represents “a prominent American trait” that “advertisers like to hook on to because it identifies their product with winning and success” (Fowles 80). Through his successes as an Olympic sprinter, Bolt is considered both a champion and a worthy competitor. Even though he has already achieved a high level of success, the caption of the Nissan GTR ad asks “What if the world’s fastest man went even faster?” Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world, but he can be even faster with the Nissan GTR. The ad implies that, if you buy its product, you will have the ability to overcome anything and be victorious, alongside Bolt. You will not only achieve greatness, but you will also have the potential to achieve brilliance and exceed your limits. The Nissan GTR ad does not contain a lot of words, but with this short and sweet phrase, Nissan taps into the audience’s need to achieve and appeals to their inner strive for success. Like John E. Calfee says in his essay, “How Advertising Informs to Our Benefit”, ads are impressive in that they have an “astonishing ability to communicate a great deal of information in a few words” (95). He explains this is because “economy and vividness of expression almost always rely upon what is in the information environment” (95). The Nissan GTR speaks volumes to the American population because America is a fast-paced society that values independence and competition. The GTR will not only give you the practical benefit of transportation, but it will also give you a competitive edge to achieving your goals by allowing you to go “faster” than the average population.

Through his achievements, Usain Bolt has become a worldwide sensation and gained the reputation as the fastest man in the world, appealing to the consumers’ need for prominence. In the Nissan GTR ad, a caption reads “Usain Bolt, Nissan GT-R owner” next to a fierce-looking Bolt. By using Bolt as the face of its product, Nissan implies that if you purchase and drive the Nissan GTR, your reputation will gain the same fame and glory associated with Bolt, tempting and appealing to your “need to be admired and respected, to enjoy prestige and high social status” (Fowles 81). A well-known and successful Olympian drives the GTR so you, who are equally prestigious and admirable, should drive the GTR as well. In addition to the reputation of Bolt, Nissan also uses the placement of the ad’s subjects to elicit feelings of prominence. The image of the Nissan GTR juxtaposes that of Bolt and both subjects are positioned in the center of their respective frames. Each one of these images also superimposes onto a simplistic, one-tone backdrop, ridding the ad of any unnecessary background distraction. This places all of the attention onto the subjects and immediately directs the audience’s gaze towards the subjects. The placement of the subjects is symbolic of the spotlight that follows any celebrity, politician, historical figure, athlete, or any other famous person worthy of attention and, in return, emits the feelings of prestige and worthiness. Like Bolt, the owner of the Nissan GTR will be worthy of being admired and respected.

Usain Bolt, who we immediately associate with the word “speed”, appeals to the consumer’s need for escapism. Some of the tactics Nissan uses to deliver this sensation of freedom or escape are the usage of the color red and the intentionally chosen stance of the ad’s subjects. The Nissan GTR ad predominantly uses the color red to represent and sell its product. Usain Bolt, wearing a red tank, is immersed in an all-red background, and the Nissan GTR itself has a red paint coating as well. Red is a bright color typically associated with fiery heat or passion. It also represents boldness and competition. These words can all be used to describe both Usain Bolt and the Nissan GTR’s nature and speed. With their aggressive and competitive qualities, as well as speediness, the consumers can find the strength within them to “duck out of their social obligations to seek rest or adventure” (Fowles 82). The ad primarily appeals to men who like fast, masculine cars and are bold and competitive in nature. It suggests that the Nissan GTR will allow these individuals to take control of their desire for freedom and excitement, make a firm decision, and escape from any restraints or responsibilities that hold them back in their everyday life. The ad solidifies this message with the stance of the subjects. Bolt, wearing a fierce expression on his face as he meets the audience’s gaze head-on, is crouched down in a running stance. Similarly, the Nissan GTR faces forward, with its headlight glaring ahead, as if ready to take off. Both the stance of Bolt and the positioning of the car arouse the desire and need to escape by encouraging the audience to take action and flee. The small text next to the Nissan GTR reads, “0-100km/h in 2.8s”. The Nissan GTR is a car, which functions to transport people. With the Nissan GTR, you can drive off and escape from reality in a fleeting moment. In this moment, you are “invited to momentarily depart [your] everyday life for a more carefree experience, preferably with the product in hand” (Fowles 83). The Nissan GTR appeals to the young and competitive population by promising them an escape from everyday chores and responsibilities, in exchange for an exciting adventure. Advertisers promote the feelings of escapism because the sensation of pleasure often accompanies the opportunity to escape and seek a carefree experience.

The Nissan GTR ad tempts its young, bold, and adventure-seeking audience by targeting their needs for achievement, prominence, and escapism. It suggests that, like Usain Bolt, you can achieve anything you set your mind to and, with the Nissan GTR, you can surpass those limits. The Nissan GTR will also place you in the center of attention, worthy of respect and admiration, and upgrade you to a status comparable with that of Bolt, as suggested with the placement of the car. Finally, with the car’s bold red color and fast design, you will be granted with the ability to escape from everyday stresses and worries in exchange for the opportunity to relax and enjoy life. Ultimately, these various needs can be fulfilled with a simple purchase of the Nissan GTR.

Reflection:

I found the sentence focus exercise very interesting to do because it brought back memories from high school. In order to make myself sound “smarter” or make my writing sound more “fancy”, I tended to get wordy with my writing. After going through undergrad and taking a couple college English courses at Davis, though, I realize that I have changed my style of writing to one that is more direct and straightforward. That doesn’t mean I don’t ever use passive verbs or different forms of the verb “to be” anymore, but I do use them to a lesser extent now. Even though we were told to avoid using these verbs, it was kind of hard not to use it at all. It’s not that it’s impossible to do. It’s just that, sometimes, the meaning or impact of the sentence just doesn’t come across as strong or as good with more direct and specific verbs. That is just my opinion, though.

In regards to the out-of-class essay on advertising, I am glad that we were given all of those writing exercises and assignments even though there were quite a few and they kept me busy over the weeks. It ultimately made writing the essay, as a whole, a lot easier because I was able to think about it over a long period of time rather than think about it and crank it out last minute. It helped me a lot with time management and prioritization.

How Technology Has Isolated and Distracted the Society

In “The Judgment of Thamus”, Neil Postman claims that “every technology is both a burden and a blessing; not either-or, but this-and-that. …Nonetheless, we are currently surrounded by throngs of zealous Theuths, one-eyed prophets who see only what new technologies can do and are incapable of imagining what they will undo” (364). While the general population is aware of the idealistic possibilities of new technologies, they ignore or do not focus on what good these technologies can undo at the same time. It is hard to imagine life without technology because the society is so immersed within it. However, back in the days, people enjoyed a relatively slow-paced life without technology and spent a good bulk of their time outside of their homes, interacting with family, friends, and nature. Nowadays, technology has become so prevalent that it is hard to find an individual who does not interact with technology at least once a day. Technology has been predominantly beneficial for the society by allowing doctors to find cures for what used to be known as “fatal” diseases. It has also allowed people to communicate with each other within seconds, to travel across the country, and to buy almost anything without leaving the comforts of their homes. However, with the convenience and efficiency of technology, people have become ambitious multitasking individuals absorbed within their own private worlds.

The development of highly mobile and accessible technological devices, such as the laptop, smartphone, and iPod, has caused people to isolate themselves and spend progressively less time interacting with others. Robert Samuels’s “Breaking Down Borders: How Technology Transforms the Private and Public Realms” stresses how the development of technology has blurred the borders between public and private and caused people to become “so involved in their own mediated worlds that they forget where they actually are and what they are supposed to be doing”. New technology allows people to “personalize their own media and decide on their own what culture they want to consume” but it also prevents them from “seeing culture as a social and public activity” (361). It has become extremely easy for people to set up their own little private space, with their laptops, iPods, and earphones, within the larger public area. This allows them to express individuality through their “personal culture”, but also allows few opportunities for public interactions. This promotes isolation, which results in a sense of detachment from the rest of the world and negatively impacts the human lifestyle. Human beings are social animals whose thoughts and behaviors are primarily shaped through social learning and imitation. Therefore, not only is familial interaction vital for healthy socioemotional and language development within children, but social interaction is also important for an adult’s physical and emotional well-being.

Technology has become so prevalent that personal computers have also been introduced to classroom settings, where students typically benefit the most from peer interactions. In “The Judgment of Thamus”, Neil Postman discusses the many side effects of technological advancement he believes people should be aware of, one of them being the replacement of or competition with old technologies. He talks about how the introduction of computers into classrooms could meddle with orality, which he believes is the most effective way instruction and knowledge can be communicated. Postman writes, “orality stresses group learning, cooperation, and a sense of social responsibility… Now comes the computer, carrying anew the banner of private learning and individual problem-solving” (373). Private learning, through the computer, limits students to their own thoughts whereas peer interactions and in-class discussions encourage deeper, rather than more superficial, thinking. Orality not only allows successful students to act as role models, but also allows students to convey their own thoughts and knowledge to others, which promotes concise elaboration and, therefore, a better grasp on the material for the students themselves.

Not only has technology discouraged social interaction, but it has also encouraged a distractive method of attacking daily tasks and responsibilities. The society’s non-stop multitasking and ambitious needs to accomplish as much as they can within a given amount of time have actually caused people to become more distracted and unproductive, rather than efficient, with their time. In his essay, “Breaking Down Borders”, Samuels also stresses the breakdown of the barrier between work and play. While working or doing schoolwork, many people believe they can multitask and save time by simultaneously keeping in touch with their friends, filing taxes, making future plans, or completing other daily tasks. Samuels asserts that multitasking “prevents us from concentrating on any single activity” and this “constant switching between work and leisure activities creates a fragmented sense of self” (361). Ultimately, multitasking is not only inefficient, but it also encourages carelessness with work. This is because people are not placing their full attention on one task but, instead, are trying to juggle it with many other activities at the same time. As a result, their minds become scattered when they switch over from one task to another. Although many tasks can be completed this way, they are not completed at a very high quality.

Frontline’s Digital Nation documentary studies the effects of multitasking and finds a similar pattern amongst MIT and Stanford students. While students believe they are being productive by engaging in both academics and leisure activities, studies show that any form of multitasking actually results in inefficiency. Professor Clifford Nass of Stanford University claims that this has taken a toll on the students’ writing abilities. “Instead of writing an essay, [students] write in paragraphs. They write a paragraph and then they say, ‘Oh, now look at Facebook for a while’ or they write a paragraph and say, ‘Oh, a chance to play poker’. …So, what we are seeing is less of a notion of a big idea carried through and much more of little bursts and snippets.” Although the students have the ability to produce quality writing, there is a lack of connection between the body paragraphs of their essays. The constant distractions prevent a student’s brain from pursuing a linear thought and, therefore, prevent their thoughts and ideas from being further developed. These thoughts and ideas become cut short whenever students multitask or decide they deserve a short break.

In conclusion, the advancement of technology has altered our lifestyles by creating a world of isolation and distraction. Where there used to social interaction, we now have individuals isolated and consumed within their own world. Where there used to be a sense of peacefulness and focus, we now have hectic schedules filled with distractions. This not only affects our productiveness and efficiency, but it also affects our physical and emotional well-being. That said, with every new technological invention, we must learn to approach it with caution and critique its effects on our society. That way, when we hit something potentially threatening or damaging to the society, we will know how to react.

Reflection:

Honestly, for the longest time, I was one of those technophiles that Neil Postman talked about in “The Judgment of Thamus”. Prior to my psychology class (during my freshman year of undergrad), through which I was first exposed to the correlation between TV viewing and violent child behavior, I had never thought twice about watching TV or surfing the Internet. I had never considered the negative effects or burdens that technology could potentially bring upon us. I was pretty much ignorant. From then on, though, I started picking up on some of my own interesting habits and behaviors. I realized I was one of those people who had that multitasking syndrome. I would check my email, Facebook, or sports scores and browse through online clothing stores whenever I got the chance to. I would reward myself for every paragraph I wrote or every few pages of the text I read. Because of this, it took me a lot longer to finish my work than it could have taken me if I hadn’t been distracted by all those other activities. It’s so easy for us to forget to take a step back and observe our own behavior, but that is something I will be doing more often from now on.

Now that we have completed our third essay, I am finding it easier and easier to write. That’s not to say my writing has improved dramatically, but I think I have finally gotten back into the groove of writing. It had been a while since I had taken a writing class so it was hard for me to crank anything out at the beginning. Therefore, I was surprised at how much easier it was for me to write this last in-class essay compared to the very first one. Perhaps it was because we were given the prompt prior to the exam and I had prepared some of the material beforehand, but the in-class essay was definitely less stressful this time around.

Discipline as the Essence of the Ballet Subculture

Imagine your life as a professional ballet dancer. You wake up early in the morning, only to pain and soreness all over your body. You then prepare yourself for a day in the studio, training and rehearsing for upcoming performances. While classes typically only last for a couple of hours, rehearsals may take up to half the day or even the entire day, with only short breaks in between. Not only are hours long, but training also requires rigorous mental and physical workouts. Once you finally pull yourself through rehearsals, it is time for you to get ready for a scheduled night performance. It is not until past 10 or 11 that you finally have some time to relax. However, the following day, the cycle starts all over again. As you can see, the life of a dancer is extremely time-consuming and energy-draining. It requires much dedication and self-discipline. In the end, though, it all pays off because you love what you do and you have the satisfaction of knowing you were a part of an extravagant production.

Attending the ballet is an unforgettable experience. The performance leaves the audience mesmerized, with its stunning sets and costumes, entrancing music, dramatic choreography, and, most importantly, lovely dancers. The dancers’ movements across the stage create pieces of art that make their performance so visually appealing. I believe that the aesthetics created by the “perfection” of the dancers’ bodies and movements is vital to what we call a magnificent performance. Therefore, the discipline it takes to maintain that ideal dance figure and master the techniques and style of ballet is the essence of classical ballet dancers.

When you think of a ballet dancer, you immediately picture a delicate-looking woman with a small bust, thin waist, and long limbs. In the world of ballet, there is a collective understanding that a dancer must look a certain way and achieve a certain body standard. As Jenifer Ringer of the New York City Ballet says, “We do have to be honed to a fine point. … We do need to be thin” (The Oprah Magazine: “Real-Life Black Swan”). Nowadays, the dancers’ body image has transitioned from one of healthiness to one of extreme thinness, reflecting our own society’s unrealistic portrayal of the perfect female body. There are cultural expectations to be thin and the ballet subculture reaffirms these values by promoting and seeking dancers with a lean and delicate frame. In fact, according to Roberta Anding, the registered dietician for Houston Ballet, “most dancers weigh only 85 to 90 percent of what is considered ideal body-weight” (McGuire, “Food Obsessed?”). Thinness is highly valued in the ballet subculture because, not only do female dancers need to be carried by a male dancer, but they also have to display feathery gracefulness. Because ballet dancers are perfectionists united by the strong belief that ballet is a physical art form that requires dancers to look a specific way, many push themselves to the extent that they fall vulnerable to eating disorders and other health risks. While gaining too much weight may cause a professional ballerina to lose her contract and job, losing too much weight may also place the dancer’s health and body in such a critical state that she can no longer dance. Because of this ballet dancers are constantly at war with their own body. A dancer’s dedication to maintaining the “perfect” dance body signifies her value of self-discipline.

Ballet dancers are able to master the techniques and standards of ballet through rigorous mental and physical training. A professional ballet dancer’s life gives little room for any activity but dance. Many professional dancers even drop out of high school and do not attend college in order to dedicate their time and energy to training and rehearsals. Because of ballet’s demanding hours, a dancer pursuing a profession in ballet requires a lot of self-discipline growing up. Sergei Polunin, a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, claims ballet was so constricting that it caused him to “miss out by never having [the] street life [to do] stupid things” (Channel 4 News: “How hard is the life of a professional dancer?”). Unlike other teenagers, pre-professional dancers begin intense vocational training at the age of 16 and have little time for a social life. Because of this, they miss out on a lot of normal and typical teenage experiences. Polunin describes a typical day as a dancer: “I don’t do many classes. Sometimes I don’t eat all day, then have four meals between 8pm and 4am. I go to bed really late—if I just sleep I won’t have a life outside ballet”. Even as a professional ballet dancer, sleep has to be sacrificed for a social life because the entire day is consumed by training and rehearsals. Ballet is an art form that has its own unique set of standards. It places great emphasis on posture and body alignment, which are essential to the aesthetics of a performance. Unlike other forms of dancing, there is always a correct or an incorrect method of executing a movement. Although, on stage, the movements look as if they are executed with ease, those turns, jumps, and leaps are actually very difficult to imitate. This is because ballet postures, forms, and movements are actually not natural to the human body. They are practiced until they become natural to the dancer. Unlike other forms of dancing, which give dancers more freedom and room for exploration, ballet movements are very precisely executed through extreme body control. Technique is at the core of ballet. With technique, the dancer’s trained body can be easily manipulated by the choreographer for creative purposes. It takes self-discipline to physically manipulate the body in ways that are not natural to the body. The ability to make these movements look graceful and effortless is honed by years of experience and dedication.

The satin pointe shoe, which is vital to a ballet dancer’s performance and reputation on stage, also helps demonstrate the ballet subculture’s essence of self-discipline. Pointe shoes look dainty, but learning to dance or even stand on toe shoes takes lots of practice. This is because the entire weight of a dancer’s body is balanced on the very tip of the shoes. Typically, a dancer must have several years of training before she can start dancing on pointe shoes because her feet, ankles, and legs have to be strong enough to endure the stress of dancing on pointe. Regardless of how many years of experience a dancer has, though, dancing on pointe shoes may still lead to the formation of bruised nails, calluses, or bunions and the blistering or bleeding of the feet. The ability for a professional dancer to endure these pains and push through a performance calls for great perseverance and self-discipline. Dancers must constantly push themselves and endure pain in order to create beautiful dance movements.

Self-discipline is at the core of ballet. Attaining the ideal dancer’s figure requires restraint and constant maintenance while mastering the technical art of ballet requires commitment to its rigorous training schedule and endurance of the harsh physical demands on the body. Both of these tasks require a dancer to persevere and improve herself until the desired results are reached and, therefore, require much self-discipline. It is the dancers’ value of self-discipline and their strive for perfection that set them apart from other subcultures.

Reflection:

For this unit, the class focused on analyzing the essence of a specific subculture. I learned that subcultures essentially share the same properties or characteristics as cultures. Both refer to a grouping of people who are united by similar behaviors, customs, morals, values, beliefs, and etc. The only difference is that a subculture reflects a smaller group of people. So, within a larger culture, we can have many different subcultures. For example, within the American culture, we have a variety of groups, including hippies, goths, punks, LGBT, hipsters, rockers, rappers, teens, and etc.

As usual, I have concluded that I am an extremely slow reader, writer, and thinker. I also noticed that it is difficult for me to gather my thoughts and convey them into words. Sometimes, I feel like my writing does not successfully portray or convey my intended thoughts. Even though I clearly know what I want to write about in my mind, it is hard for me to translate and transfer them into words. Lastly, I feel like there is always some kind of detachment between my thesis and the analyses and explanations of my body paragraphs. That is something I need to work on.

An American Artifact: The MacBook

In Common Culture, Petracca and Sorapure define culture “as the distinct practices, artifacts, institutions, customs, and values of a particular social group” (2). Culture provides each social group with its own distinctive characteristics and customs, which ultimately marks each individual within that group with a distinguishing factor also known as his or her identity. American culture is so vast due to its diverse population. However, when we think of American, some words immediately pop up in our minds. Worldwide, America has become recognized as a “multitrillion-dollar brand” that publicly sells “democracy”, “opportunity”, and “freedom” (Lasn xii). Due to rapid technological advances, America has become a manufactured world in which materialistic things, such as brands and products, have taken over. Since its creation, the Macbook has become one of the best selling laptops in the U.S market. Through its representation of technological innovation, big corporate businesses, and the “typical” American life, I believe that the MacBook is one “living artifact” that best symbolizes American culture.

Today, in the United States, everything can essentially be done through technology. We can communicate with friends, keep in touch and up-to-date with old middle and high school acquaintances, shop for clothes and other materialistic items, learn how to cook, stream movies and TV shows, play games, store massive media files and documents, and even fulfill college graduation requirements. The list goes on and on. Conveniently, all of these tasks and virtual interactions can be carried out with a single item called the laptop. As individuals who are trying to juggle with multiple tasks and activities and trying to accommodate for the fast-pace American lifestyle, we now use the laptop for everything. Because of technological innovations, we are able to carry our entire life around with us. Laptops can be seen everywhere, including the library, coffee shops, and college campuses. Not only do we keep our eyes glued to the laptop screen when we are at home, but we feel the need to carry it everywhere we go. As a result, much of our time is spent in the virtual world or, as Lasn calls it, “unreality”. If people are not on their iPhones or browsing the net, then they are watching TV or playing video games. People hardly take the time to explore, enjoy, and appreciate nature anymore. This is because, as Lasn asserts, “we face more and more opportunities and incentives to spend time in cyberspace or to let the TV do the thinking” (22). Technology has ultimately taken over the American culture by manipulating and luring the American society into its manufactured desires.

Due to the pervasive advertisements of these manufactured products, individuals have become branded by the mass media. As an Apple Inc. product, the MacBook represents one of the big corporate businesses that have taken control of the American culture. Over the last five or more years, Apple products have flourished, sold, and contributed to a big proportion of America’s mass consumption. Today, Apple is one of the most highly successful companies in the United States. Everywhere you go, there is a person talking on or using the iPhone. Because of its successful advertisement and sudden rise to popularity, there is much hype surrounding the iPhone. Everyone wants one because that is the new trend in American culture. Individuals have been bought into the hype of acquiring one of these high-tech products. This represents the large influence and control big corporations, like Apple, have on the American society. They have manipulated Americans into conformity by warping their emotions and evoking a need of their produce within them. Independence and spontaneity are no longer valued due to the conformation and branding of the American society.

Not only have Americans themselves become branded, but so have their lifestyles. We no longer live the natural, easygoing life, but succumb to the lavish comfort of an American lifestyle. Recent generations have been spending more and more of their time, or even life, on the laptop. As soon as children return from a day spent at school, they log on their laptop, eat dinner, and then spend the remaining of their night on the laptop again. This goes on in a cyclic fashion. The laptop represents a stationary life spent in a virtual world. According to Lasn, “in [a] world of unreality, it’s easy to forget you’re a citizen and that the actual world is an interactive place” (22). In a sense, we have become lazy and seek the comforts of our homes, where there is only so much we can do. As Americans, we rate comfort as one of the most valuable things. This explains why some of us are willing to pay $10,000 for a nice mattress and $100,000 for the comforts and convenience of a luxurious car.

As a symbol of technological innovations, multinational corporations, and the comfortable and stationary life, the MacBook helps us define American culture. As we observe these characteristics and customs of our culture, we need to reflect on whether this is how we want to be viewed and represented.

Reflection:

So far, English 1A has made me think deeply about what exactly “culture” and “pop culture” mean. I had never thought of culture as anything more than a quality that gives each group or society its own charact eristic identity. However, it is much more detailed and complex than that. It consists of our knowledge, customs, characteristics, values, beliefs, laws and morals. It is also shared, learned, adaptive, and symbolic. In addition, through Lasn’s Culture Jam, I have learned not to just take things as they are, but to also form my own thoughts and decisions about them myself. Although I had learned from psychology that TV violence increased aggressiveness in children, I was never aware of all the other “mental pollutants and information viruses” that may threaten our “ecology of mind”. Technology and the mass media have caused us to spend excessively more and more time in the manufactured world of unreality rather than the natural world of reality, causing us to absorb a lot of things that are potentially harmful to our minds.

I have always known that I am a slow reader, writer, and thinker but the past couple of weeks have confirmed and reminded me of this fact. It takes time for me to process what I am reading and I typically have to read a passage a few times in order to understand what it is saying. As a writer, I have learned that I need to start managing my time and organizing my thoughts better. I had problems with finishing my in-class essay on time, even though it was a computer-based exam. I realized that as the time started counting down, I became very nervous and my thoughts became scrambled. I need to keep my focus and pace myself.