The Yuppie Handbook, produced by Marissa Piesman and Marilee Hartley, is a literal “how to become an ‘80s Yuppie” handbook full of rhetorical devices like phrasing, humor, and imagery to develop a light-hearted taste for an easy read. Phrasing is exercised to pull off a simple voice so anyone can truly comprehend the information contained in the novel. This can be seen throughout the quotation with the utilization of short sentences packed with little snippets of details and facts about Yuppie life. Among the informal structure and phrasing, humorous tones are placed all around to remove the robotically harsh spirit. The authors poke fun at the ego of the ‘80s era when they judge how some cocky Yuppies of the generation believed they had an
In the present, many people focus on success in life while adjusting to modern society and its expectations, by using their contacts and friendships for personal benefit. In the past, friendship had a significant value in people’s lives; people met for dinner or social events, which consisted of spending more time with families and friends. Today, people favor spending their time alone, but avoid family events due to their lack of interest and insecurities about their social status. In the book The Gum Thief, insecurities are portrayed as a significant trait that causes the characters to lose their motivation towards success in life. The novel highlights that every individual has insecurities, which allows in experiencing the obstacles of life. According to The Toronto Star, “A terrific book….Coupland’s ear for dialogue is as sharp as his eye for social observation.” In the book The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland, Coupland depicts three different scenarios in which his characters – Roger, Bethany, and Steve and Gloria from a novel in the book called “Glove Pond” – lack the ability to transition their lives from dreams to reality. Their lack of success makes them experiment with lifestyle choices while dealing with the significant effects of their difficult past, their motivation to explore the world, and the subsequent changes in their lives.
You go pick one either because the picture is better or you saw the commercial the other day and you want it. During the length of this paper we will talk about two important writers, Kalle Lasn the writer of “The Cult You’re in” and Benoit Denizet-Lewis the writer of “ The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch”. They both talk about similar topics that go hand and hand with each other, they talk about the consumers “Dream”, how companies recruit the consumers, who cult members really are, how people are forced to wear something they don’t want, and about slackers. What is the dream we all have? Think about the main things that you strive for in life.
In America today, there are many different clothing stores. There are stores setting images for all ages, and styles. The majority of the upper-class stores are setting the American image for the young adult population. Many of the advertisements for these stores are somewhat similar. I have spent the last year and a half working in a clothing store called, “Abercrombie and Fitch”. Seeing this store change and grow with its image of vintage American clothing, I have found many rhetorical issues. Within this essay I will be discussing the many rhetorical issues of the clothing company “Abercrombie and Fitch”.
“Young urbanites(20-35) who see themselves as unique instead of as part of a generic, main-stream fashion culture and who have disposable income.”
Breazeale claims that society’s view of women has everything to do with how consumerism has been viewed primarily as a feminine attribute, and describes how men believe women are just poor consumers. Additionally, Breazeale describes how showing women in erotic, sexual ways made men feel that women were solely objects of their desire and nothing more. Breazeale effectively convinces the audience that society’s perception of women today has been significantly swayed by their constant portrayal as consumers through an in-depth look at Esquire Magazine and how it not only portrayed women as lavish, silly spenders, but simply as objects of the male
The ‘A&P’ written by John is about middle and, presumed, upper middle class life and the characters are ones that people can easily identify with. There is the teenage boy, Sammy, working a meaningless job ogling scantily clad teenage girls, a married man with children, Stokesie, doing the same, an uptight store manager, Lengel, who, in this case, is a man but could have easily been a woman in today’s society, the insecure teenage girls, who Sammy nicknamed ‘Plaid’ and ‘Big Tall Goonie-Goonie, following around their “leader,” the leader herself, Queenie, who is confident in her socioeconomic status as well as her appearance, the housewives who cover themselves in public, the cash-register-watcher, the ’sheep’ or the other people in the A&P doing their grocery shopping, and the butcher, McMahon. All of these characters allow any reader to identify with them in some way, whether past or present.
An era of variation and economic growth, the 1980s was the decade of consumerism and financial successes. Thus, the yuppie culture (Young Upwardly Mobile Professional Person) was born: comprising young self-indulgent, well-paid professionals, living an affluent lifestyle. Due to the expansion of the middle classes, materialism, style and technology were at the forefront: alongside a society controlled by popular culture and icons. The decade was determined by many factors including world events, politics, society, demographic and economic data, technological developments, influential icons, television, music and movies at the side of leading art and design movements. All these crucial components governed the fashion of this generation.Without
Coming for a middle class family, Sammy knew that he had to follow the rules if he ever wanted to get something better in his life; it didn’t matter how “better than the others” he was, he lived under the same economic roof. The supermarket policy required everyone to be dressed properly when going in, but these girls didn’t care, they were more valuable than a policy; and Sammy didn’t mind it. “Sammy rejects the standards of the “A & P” and in so doing commits himself to individual freedom” (M. Gilbert Porter 1155). He finds it rather an honor that someone of the girls’ class would even come inside A & P, “Queenie remembers her place, a place from which the crowd that runs A & P must look pretty crummy”(Updike 161). The A & P people, they are all valueless, they don’t even care to notice each other, not even to notice Sammy; but these girls are different, and everybody notices them. “I bet you could set off dynamite in an A & P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their list, but there was no doubt, this jiggled them”(Updike 159). Sammy’s artificial mentality is shown as he, judging by the girls’ image, starts to imagine the parents of the girls socializing with their friends, “the men in “ice-cream coats” and the women “in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks”(Updike 160). Also comparing his parents’ parties, “ at which Schlitz is served in “tall” glasses with ‘They’ll Do It Every Time’ cartoons stenciled on” (Updike
After World War II subsided, American soldiers returned to a country different from the one they left years earlier. Wartime production drove America’s economy out of depression and Americans saw an unprecedented increase in spending power. This postwar society founded itself upon consumerism and conformity, transforming the middle and upper-middle class into a leisure class, the working class into the middle class, and classifying individuals by the items they own. “A Consumer’s Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America,” by Lizabeth Cohen details this new society and the New Yorker advertisements and short stories reflect upon the consumerism. The advertisements convey the life of luxury, leisure, and happiness that
It also hints at the average American’s values, as he regards materialistic goods higher than basic essentials. So why do consumers spend money—typically on credit, money they do not have—on these glamorous objects? Julia Halpert, a journalist writing for The Fiscal Times, has the answer in her article “Millennials: Young, Broke, and Spending on Luxury”. Halpert expertly employs Jason Dorsey, a millennials expert, who explains that “brands represent a lifestyle and luxury goods provide a strong visual representation ‘that either I've made it’ or ‘I want to tell you I've made it’”. This justification demonstrates the common narcissist agenda, that possessing material goods are essential and it makes you socially above another person. A narcissist purchases luxury goods to show off, to display his elevated status and wealth in comparison to others. He wants to garner the jealousy and attention of others and create an environment that concentrates only him. And he, the narcissist, learns through celebrities and the
Bradbury predicts that cheap products produced in bulk and then sold to the masses as “must have” items helped lead to the conformity of the 1950s. The post WWII economic boom of Bradbury’s era is evident through that, “household furnishings and appliance purchases climbed 240 percent… [and] the median family income rose 30 percent in purchasing power.” (Nickles) The market for mass produced goods seemed to only increase during this time period because consumer purchases put off during the war years were now bought in bulk. Due to the economic high time, advertisers were able to promote a product’s ‘unique selling proposition’, bribing people to select one brand over the other (Super). The growing materialism shows how cultural values were being abandoned for a much easier, less complex lifestyle of consumerism which produced little disagreements or contrasting opinions. Bradbury demonstrates his precautions towards this through Mildred’s overriding materialistic desires when she proclaims, “It’s really fun. It’ll be even more fun when we can af...
These teenagers represented a large force in America’s population; they began to start college and reject the conformity lifestyle and values that their parents had set in place and cherished. Even if the entirety of the baby boomers were seen as rebellious, only about ten percent of the baby boomer population displayed the strong counterculture. While many of the baby boomers were focused on education or the war in Vietnam, the counterculture displayed such a powerful contrast of the previous decade. Although this counterculture was such a small portion of the population, the sociopolitical disparity of the counterculture was widely talked about and displayed through the media. These rebellious teens embarked on a lifestyle full of drugs, sex, fashion, and music innovation (“Flower Power,”
Jay, Meg. The defining Decade: Why your twenties matter and how to make the most of them now. New York: The Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group, April 2013. Print.
Jet Blue’s target market focuses on a large social group known as the “Middleburbs”, which includes a mix of homeowners and renters as well as high school graduates and college alums. With good jobs and money on hand, the members of Middleburbs tend to have plenty of discretionary income to experience nightlife and casual-dining restaurants, shop at midscale department stores, and travel across the United States and Canada. However, Jet Blue more importantly is focusing in on the segment within the Middleburbs known as the “Blue-Chip Blues”. Blue-Chip Blues is known as a comfortable lifestyle for ethnically-diverse, young, sprawling families with well-paying blue-collar and service jobs. The segment's aging neighborhoods feature compact, modestly