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Ways that mass media has influenced american culture
Shopping in American Culture
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When James J. Farrell, professor of history, American studies, and American conversations at St. Olaf College wrote his article “Shopping for American Culture,” there were more malls than high schools within the United States. Malls were also generating more than 46.6 billion dollars in sales tax, which is “almost half of all state tax revenue.”1 Farrell recognizes these statements in the introduction of his article. In fact, he uses these statistics and determines that because of the population going to malls, shopping centers accurately reflect American culture. James Farrell suggests that to truly understand Americans and their culture, one must go to the places in which Americans congregate (malls). He supports the idea that shopping, even if money is not spent, is therapeutic and “fun” (Farrell 250). At the same time, however, he also admits that consumption is planned and manipulated to create the most income. To do this, retailers enforce classic American values that encourage capitalism and consumerism. Finally, Farrell submits that individual stores within the mall tell an exciting and different story. However, Farrell does not admit that, while the malls of America do demonstrate the capitalist nature of America, they are not flawless descriptions of American culture as not everyone enjoys the mall and the people that go to the mall are not going to analyze the structure at the mall. For example, Farrell claims that everyone enjoys going to the mall. “Yet we also go to buy more important things--an identity, a secure sense of self, a set of social relationships, a deeper sense of community, an expression of who we are and who we would like to be” (Farrell 252). This assertion is based on the assumption that everybod... ... middle of paper ... ...d whites, to gay people and their heterosexual friends, to teenagers and senior citizens. The mall looks and feels different to poor people than it does to the affluent” (Farrell 252). If Farrell were to include more evidence, his article would be even more believable. Works Cited Kowinski, William. “Mallaise: How to Know if You Have It.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Eds. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Pearsman Longman, 2007. 248-255. Print. 325. Lewis, George. “Community Through Exclusion and Illusion.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Eds. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Pearsman Longman, 2007. 248-255. Print. 312. Farrell, James J. “Shopping for American Culture.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Eds. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Pearsman Longman, 2007. 248-255. Print. 248-249.
Postrel develops her support of national retailers throughout the essay, offering the opinion that it isn’t the stores that give places their character, but instead, aspects like the terrain, weather and culture that do (Postrel 347). While terrain, weather and culture can set apart regions, such as New England from The Deep South, and Southern California from the Midwest, it’s the community that gives each town their own special character. A community consists of the residents, their restaurants, hardware stores, pharmacies, ice cream parlors, farmers markets, and so on. These places, and the interactions that occur daily at each establishment, are the fabric that differentiate them, and create the breeding ground for diverse characteristics to flourish. While Postrel argues that wildly different business establishments across America in the past is a myth , it’s actually not necessarily that the products that varied from store to store, but more the aforementioned factors that truly set ...
The Black Codes were legal statutes and constitutional amendments enacted by the ex Confederate states following the Civil War that sought to restrict the liberties of newly free slaves, to ensure a supply of inexpensive agricultural labor, and maintain a white dominated hierachy. (paragraph 1) In southern states, prior to the Civil War they enacted Slave Codes to regulate the institution of slavery. And northern non-slave holding states enacted laws to limit the black political power and social mobility. (paragraph 2) Black Codes were adopted after the Civil War and borrowed points from the antebellum slave laws as well as laws in the northern states used to regulate free blacks. (paragraph 3) Eventually, the Black Codes were extinguished when Radical Republican Reconstruction efforts began in 1866-67 along with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment and civil rights legislation. The lives of the Black Codes did not have longevity but were significant. (paragraph 3)
X, Malcolm. "Learning to Read." Rereading America. 9th ed. Boston/NewYork: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 189-97. Print.
Wardle, Elizabeth and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2011. Print.
Milgram, Stanley. “The Perils of Obedience.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Eds. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. Boston: Longman, 2011. 692-704.
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.
Alexie, Sherman. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me.” The Arlington Reader: Context and Connections. 3rd Edition. Eds. Lynn Z Bloom and Louise Z Smith. Boston:
Colombo, Gary. “Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing.Ed. Gary Colombo, Ed. Robert Cullen and Ed. Bonnie Lisle. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin, 2010. 1-6. Print
...ed the lifestyle of Canadians. Their effect on Canadians contributed to the making of our consumer capitalist society. While department stores introduced several innovative ideas to the business world, their negative impact significantly contributes to our materialistic lifestyle. Donica Belisle’s “Retail Nation: Department Stores and the Making of Modern Canada” clearly define these aspects and describe the mass retailers relationship between the public, its stakeholders and Canada’s national identity. The author’s well researched information and various perspectives of a situation support her arguments effectively. In conclusion, Donica Belisle’s book excels in its presentation as it is well written and well organised. She successfully communicates her main points and eliminates bias by presenting both sides of a story, making this a good book for others to read.
Mellix, Barbara. ?From Outside, In.? Writing Lives: Exploring Literacy and Community. New York: St. Martin?s, 1996. 75-84.
The survey offers insight into shopper partiality toward each store identifying the general attitude for the respondents toward each shopping area. Survey results were captured through a telephone based survey of 150 local residents conducted by the Archimedes Group, Indiana, PA (Weiers, 2008).
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Tenth edition. Edited by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Longman Publishers, pp. 371-377, 2008.
middle of paper ... ... Westport, CT: Greenwood Press [cited 12 September 2011]. Available from: http://www.questiaschool.com>.
Perrault, Charles. “Cinderella.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 236-240. Print.
Goss argues that developers and designers of the built environment, specifically shopping centers and malls, use the power of place and understanding the structural layout of the space to boost consumption of the retail profits. Shopping centers are separated from the downtown area of shopping, either by distance and/or design. These establishments emerge for many to be the new heart and location for public and social life. In his article The "Magic of the Mall": An Analysis of Form, Function, and Meaning in the Contemporary Retail Built Environment, Goss also argues that the regulation of the spaces within the mall creates an atmosphere of "community" rather than one that is "public". This article’s main argument is that developers manufacture an illusion of doing more than just shopping when designing malls and shopping centers.