Expository Writing: Advertising ENL1A

University of California, Davis Catalog Description ………………... Course Details ……………………… Level/Audience …………….. Course Format ……………... Requirements ………………. Course Information ………………… Syllabus ………………………………. Computer Assisted Classroom Guide………………………………….. Assignments Sonja Streuber [email protected]

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Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

Catalog Description Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: completion of Subject A requirement. Composition, the essay, paragraph structure, diction, and related topics. Frequent writing assignments will be made. GE credit: Wrt (cannot be used to satisfy a college or university composition requirement and GE writing experience simultaneously).—I, II, III. (I, II, III.)

Course Details Level/ Audience • lower level • Freshmen, Sophomores • Average age 18-20 Course Format • one quarter • 20 sessions at 110 minutes. Requirements • UC Davis writing requirement—6000 words • 5 papers

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

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Course Information Sonja Streuber [email protected]

312 Voorhies (phone: 752-3362) Office hours: T 10-11, W 4-5, and by appt.

Welcome to English 1 Section 6! Spring 1996

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Tue and Thu 8-9.50 a.m. •

241 Olson

The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit-detector. This is the writer’s radar and all the great writers have had it. --Ernest Hemingway What ENL 1 Is About

What ENL 1 Is NOT About

Required Materials (for each class session)

Prerequisite

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English 1 is a how-to course, designed to help you broaden your skills in critical thinking, critical reading, and critical writing--all skills required for academic success at the college level and for professional success outside the academic environment. We will explore different analytical approaches to help us develop critical perspectives and employ different techniques of communicating these perspectives in well-organized, clear prose to an educated audience. To bridge the gap from private brain to public page effectively, we will focus on the process(es) of composition (pre-writing, revision and self-evaluation). In-class discussions and writing assignments will be organized around the theme of “Advertising America” and will address issues of ethnicity, class, gender, regulatory politics, and free speech. Examining these issues closely will challenge us to review ideas that are often taken for granted and to work out the complex and significant points behind our readings. These discussions, in which you will be offered the opportunity to gain enhanced powers of analysis, interpretation and expression, will be the basis of the assignments to come. In draft workshops and peer editing groups, you will analyze each others’ essays and develop/ apply strategies for revision. Although this course takes place in a computer classroom, it is not designed to be a seminar on word processing, programming, e-mailing, or web-surfing. We will use computers as tools to facilitate class discussion and to aid in developing your critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. The emphasis will be on communication and analysis, not on technology. Fowler, H. Ramsey et al. (ed.). The Little, Brown Handbook. 6th edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. Goshgarian, Gary (ed.). The Contemporary Reader. 5th edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996. An E-mail account [avail. free of charge @IT-CAP in Shields]. A Macintosh-compatible quality 3.5” floppy disk (1.4 MB). A manila folder for all your notes and for the umpteen handouts you will receive. Completion of the Subject A Requirement. If you are unsure whether you have fulfilled this requirement, please check with the admissions office.

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

Reading

All assigned reading should be completed before the class meeting for which it is assigned. Brief quizzes or checking reading notes will be customary at the beginning of class.

Writing

The total writing requirement for ENL 1 is no fewer than 6000 words of graded text. To fulfill this requirement, you will be writing four out-of-class papers, one final, and one section of the team project-paper at the end of the course. In compliance with Composition Program Policy, all papers must be handed in for you to pass the class, that is, to receive a C- or higher.

Due Dates

The essays will be assigned at least one week in advance of their due dates and will be returned to you one week to ten days after they have been submitted. All papers must follow the format below and must be handed in to me in person as hardcopies at the beginning of class on the day they are due (check syllabus for dates).

Late Paper Policy

You may take ONE penalty-free one-week (7-day) extension for any of the first three papers, as long as you inform me before the due date in writing or by e-mail. You are still responsible, however, for bringing a draft to the draft workshop (see below). All other papers must be handed in as hardcopies at the beginning of class on the day they are due. If you fall ill, or have a family emergency, please let me know before you miss a due date. Otherwise, I will take 1/3 grade off for every session that the paper is late, e.g. a B paper will turn into a B- for one late session, into a C+ for two late sessions, and so forth. PLEASE do not allow yourself to fall far behind and then try to hand in a bundle of work at the end of the quarter--you cannot improve your writing that way and might fail the course.

Paper Format

Please type all papers either in 12-point Times or Palatino and double-space, with standard 1” margins. All papers must be headed by your name, date submitted, number of the assignment and of the question you have answered, and by a creative and imaginative title. Papers must be paginated, stapled, and have a word count at the bottom. Please document all sources in parentheses (, ) in the text and in a bibliography at the end (MLAformat as spelled out in LBH 564-69ff.) and always attach all pertaining peer edit forms, including any annotated drafts from the draft workshops. I will take 1/3 grade off for improper format and for making me count words. Although I never lose anything but my keys, my wallet, and my glasses, please make sure to keep a soft- and a hardcopy of each submitted work.

Classroom Policy Participation

Our most important goal will be to create a democratic, team-based learning environment in which every member feels comfortable expressing her or his ideas. You can help this atmosphere by coming to class on time, prepared both to share your ideas and questions about the assigned readings and to listen carefully to others. This involves participating actively in spoken and/or typed discussions, giving respectful and thoughtful responses during group exercises, and resisting the temptation to keyboard while your writing partners are speaking. Thus, even if you attend every class but fail to participate, your participation grade will be affected. Keep in mind that you learn more from class discussion than from any text.

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

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Attendance

Draft Workshops

Regular attendance is crucial to your success in a class designed to improve your writing skills. Almost every class meeting will involve writing exercises and/or quizzes that cannot be made up at a later point. I also distribute a lot of handouts. You are therefore responsible for any and all assignments given, even in your absence. If you have to miss a class, it is your responsibility to let me know and to bring sufficient written documentation for the reason of your absence (doctors, insurance companies, funeral parlors, and team coaches usually have preprinted forms). Your peers will help you keep current on class work, so you may want to exchange telephone numbers and/or e-mail addresses with at least two other people in the class. In-class draft workshops are the most important exercises in critical reading, writing, and thinking and therefore an integral part of this course. In order for students to learn from each other and to receive input on their writing, it is very important that you come to class with a complete typed hardcopy (an intro paragraph is not enough) and three photocopies of your work on the designated days. Therefore, if you fail to bring a draft with photocopies for your writing team, the final draft of your essay will lose 1/3 grade (i.e. B to B-). If you fail to participate at all in a draft workshop for any reason other than illness or a family emergency, your final draft will lose 2/3 of a grade (i.e. B to C+).

Course Grade Breakdown

10% 10% 15% 20%

Grading

Most essays, regardless of the grade received, represent a good deal of hard work, and I will honor your efforts by giving extensive comments suggesting positive actions for future efforts. The increasing weight of the papers will reflect your accumulated skills and heightened ability to revise, argue logically, cite sources, and proofread. I will grade your essays according to the English Department’s Grading Standards and not according to a curve (see attached sheet), so that it is easier for you and me to monitor personal improvement. Because the later papers are weighted more heavily than the earlier ones, improvement is rewarded in this class. You may revise two of the first three papers for a higher grade. This revision must be preceded by a one-paragraph typed Revision Proposal and a Revision Meeting with me. I will accept only substantive revisions (extensions, reorganizations, reconceptions); simply cleaning up spelling and grammar errors does not constitute revision. Revised grades are an average of the original grade and the grade on the revision.

Revision Policy

Plagiarism: Definition and Policy

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Paper #1: Paper #2: Paper #3: Paper #4:

Analysis Based on Observation (1000-1250 words) Close Reading and Interpretive Analysis (1000-1250 words) Comparing and Contrasting Arguments (1000-1250 words) Resesarch Paper: Building an Argument from Multiple Sources (1500-2000 words) 20% Paper #5: Team Project: Combining Techniques (750-1000 words per team member) 10% Final (in-class) 15% Participation, In-Class Writing Assignments (other than Final) There will be an extra-credit assignment.

Plagiarism is the practice of passing off someone else's work as your own, whether as unacknowledged quotations or ideas. It also occurs when someone else writes any part of your paper. Such a violation of the Honor Code is not to be confused with receiving and responding to suggestions from others in draft workshops. Any case of plagiarism will automatically be forwarded to Academic Judicial Affairs and will result in lengthy hearings and mounds of paperwork. Penalties range from paper rewrites to expulsion from the university. I have attached a handout detailing university policy on plagiarism. If you have any questions about this or about the use and documentation of sources, please talk to me.

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

Conferences

I invite you to use my office hours liberally and to confer with me about any aspect of the course: clarification of grades, comments on papers and expectations, general or specific questions about the course material, papers in progress, ideas, etc.. I am generally very available, interested in how the course is going for you, and how you would assess your own progress. In brief: I am looking forward to working with you!

Grading Standards

see attached handout

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

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Syllabus English 1 Section 6 Spring 1996 TR 8-9.50, 241 Olson

Sonja Streuber 312 Voorhies (752-3362) [email protected]

Tentative Syllabus: Advertising America Date

4/2/96 (1) HW

4/4/96 (2)

HW

4/9/96 (3) HW

4/11/96 (4)

HW

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Reading Note: in CR, read the entire text(s) assigned; in LBH, read the yellow boxes carefully, skim the rest Course Intro Writing Process: Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing ************************************** CR Baldwin, “As Busy as We Wanna Be” (88-93); [5 pp.] LBH “Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing” (1-18, yellow box on 33, 41-54, 141-145 )--> from brainstorming to thesis to paper. Mac Survival Class (3 Apr. 4-6 in 241 Olson, and 4 Apr. 4-6 in 241 Olson) The Ethics of Consumerism (I) Observation: How do I observe? Why is everything an argument? How do I take notes and summarize? Organization: What is an essay?--brainstorming , thesis, and outline. ************************************** * CR Ehrenreich, “Spend and Save” (134-137); Ewen, “The Ends Justify the Jeans” (146-151) [10 pp.] LBH “Drafting and Revising the Essay” (55-74, know yellow boxes on 61, 71, 72). The Ethics of Consumerism (II) Observation: (continued) Organization: Opening paragraph, thesis, and outline (continued) ************************************** * CR Schor, “Work and Spend” (124-132); bring an advertisement to class and be prepared to talk about it in terms of Ewen’s and Schor’s arguments. [9pp.] LBH "Opening and closing an essay" (106-110). Consumerism and Advertising Observation: (continued) Organization/ Paragraphs: Advertising the paper--title, first paragraph, conclusion. ************************************** * CR Schudson, “Delectable Materialism” (166-167); O’Neill, “The Language of Advertising” (180-190) [12 pp.] LBH “Reading and Writing Arguments" (116-140).

Ass. distributed/ returned

Papers due/ Exams Ind. Conferences TBA

assignment 1 distributed (Observation and Analysis)

get a Login Id and a password from IT-CAP Diagnostic (graded, but doesn’t count)

Diagnostic returned

bring your thesis and your outline for assignment 1 (hardcopy)

1st draft due of assignment 1 for workshop (with 3 stapled copies)

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

4/16/96 (5) HW

4/18/96 (6)

HW

4/23/96 (7)

HW

4/25/96 (8) HW

4/30/96 (9) HW

Advertising: The Pros and the Cons Close Reading: What’s different from informational reading? Logic: What are Fallacies? How do I avoid them? ************************************** * CR Wolf, “The Beauty Myth” (239-248); Ebeling, “The Failure of Feminism” (236-239) [13pp.] LBH “Writing and Revising Paragraphs" (75-79, 82-86). "Paragraph Coherence" (87-93), "Linking Paragraphs in the Essay" (112-114) Advertising Gender: Beauty and the Body Close Reading: How does it govern my essay structure? Why critique? Logic: Fallacies (continued) Paragraphs: Topic sentences, paragraph development (expository). Transitions. ************************************** * CR Farrell, “Why Men Are the Way They Are”( 249-253); Allis, “What Do Men Really Want?” (253-259) [11 pp.] LBH "Developing an Argument" (134-146). Know all yellow boxes! Please e-mail me a one-paragraph proposal for your research paper by Monday. Advertising Gender: Performing, Paying, Pursuing? Close Reading: Comparing arguments Paragraphs: dealing with the opposition in writing. Focus. draft workshop: please bring draft and 2 stapled copies. ************************************** * CR Moog, “Sex, Sin, and Suggestion” (192-201); reread Farrell and Ebeling [9 pp.] LBH "Comparison and Contrast" (99-102). Advertising Sex Compare/ Contrast: Comparing arguments; setting up a table Paragraphs: Compare and Contrast--similarities. Transitions. ************************************** * CR Suh, “The Eye of the Beholder” (27-31); Rodriguez, “Your Parents Must Be Very Proud” (271-275) [8 pp.] LBH review “Transitions” (90) Advertising Multiculturalism: The Good, The Bad, and the Ethnic? Compare/ Contrast: How do I make an argument? Paragraphs: Compare and Contrast--differences. Transitions. ************************************** * CR Reed, “The Multinational Society” (289-293); Schlesinger, “The Cult of Ethnicity, Good and Bad” (294-297) [7 pp.] LBH review “Transitions” (90)

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

paper 1 due (Observation and Analysis)

assignment 2 distributed (Close Reading) assignment 4 distributed (Research Paper)

paper 1 returned

proposal for research paper due (by e-mail) bring your thesis and your outline for assignment 2 1st draft due of assignment 2 for workshop (with 3 stapled copies)

assignment 3 distributed (Compare and Contrast)

paper 2 due (Close Reading)

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5/2/96 (10)

HW

5/7/96 (11) HW

5/9/96 (12)

HW

5/14/96 (13) HW 5/16/96 (14) HW

5/21/96 (15)

HW

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Advertising Multiculturalism: Taking a Stand Compare/ Contrast: (continued) Style Demo: Sentence linking by transitions draft workshop: please bring draft and 3 stapled copies. ************************************** * CR Greenfield, “The Black and White Truth About Basketball” (494499); Evans, “The Wrong Examples” (345-349) [9 pp.] LBH "Subordination and Coordination" (172-182) Advertising Multiculturalism: Black Sports/ White Sports? Compare/ Contrast: (continued) Style Demo: Sentence Combining (subordination and coordination) ************************************** * CR Kelly, “Why Do We Need Celebrities?” (339-344); Engle, “What Makes Superman so Damned American?” (handout) [ca. 20 pp.] LBH “Using Verbals and Verbal Phrases” (167-172) Celebrities and Other Myths Compare/ Contrast: (continued) Movie Excerpt: Superman Style Demo: Sentence Combining by Modification ************************************** * CR Rapping, “In Praise of Roseanne” (349-356); Baldwin, “The Hard Sell” (159-165) [13 pp.] LBH “Achieving Variety” (337-345) Celebrities: The Other Side Research Paper: Organization Style Demo: Sentence Variety ************************************** * CR Winn, “The Plug-In Drug” (316-324) [8 pp.] LBH "Avoiding Wordiness" (460-67). Advertising Television: Is it Really That Bad? Research Paper: Cause and Effect/ Effect and Cause Style Demo: Attacking wordiness ************************************** CR Greenfield,“Don’t Blame TV” (356-359); O. Rourke, “Why I Quit Watching TV” (360-363) [6 pp.] LBH “Documenting Sources.” (563-587) --> assemble the bibliography for your research paper Advertising Television: The Tone Is It! Research Paper: Cause and Effect/ Tone Research Paper: How do I include quotations? What is a paraphrase? MLA standards used when citing secondary sources. ************************************** CR Maggio, “Why We Need Bias-Free Language” (415-426); Kakutani, “The Word Police” (427-432) [16 pp.] LBH "Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers" (284-294), “Sexist and other biased Language” (449-451).

research notes and thesis for assignment 4 due bring your thesis and your outline for assignment 3

paper 2 returned

research notes and thesis for assignment 4 returned

1st draft due of assignment 3 for workshop (with 2 stapled copies)

paper 3 due (Compare/ Contrast)

intro, outline w/research, conclusion, and bibliography due for assignment 4 (Research Paper)

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

5/23/96 (16)

HW

5/28/96 (17) HW 5/30/96 (18)

HW

6/4/96 (19) HW

6/6/96 (20)

Advertising Language: PC or not PC? Resesarch Paper: How to avoid stylistic pitfalls. Style Demo: Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers draft workshop: please bring draft and 2 stapled copies. ************************************** * CR reread O’Neill, “The Language of Advertising” (180-190); Volk, “A Word from Our Sponsor” (176-180) [14 pp.] LBH "Voice" (218-20, 333-334, 465-466). Advertising Language: How Much Belongs into the Research Paper? Style Demo: Active and Passive Voice draft workshop: please bring new draft and 2 stapled copies ************************************** Brainstorm about the course; reread Reading Notes and be prepared to talk about them. Advertising--Summary Session and Team Project Style Demo: Removing “Nouniness” Beginning of Project Join a Project Team (4 to 5 people). Your team will be given one specific product to market and to create your very own advertising campaign. Today you will devise a flowchart and delegate the work amongst yourselves. ************************************** * In order to ensure the homogeneity of the project, you might want to continue communicating with each other outside of class. Your group should design (either verbally or graphically) one print ad and one TV commercial, both of which focus on different ends of your target group. LBH "The Comma" (355-377); "The Semicolon" (387-386) Team Project Style Demo: Punctuation Project Workshop ************************************** * LBH "Choosing and using words"(444-460) . Check "make," "get," "take," and "be" in your thesaurus and bring the results to class. Team Project--Demo Style Demo: ”Alternative Verbstyles”

paper 3 returned

1st draft due of assignment 4 for workshop (with 2 stapled copies)

2nd draft due of assignment 4 for workshop (with 2 stapled copies)

assignment 5 distributed (Project)

paper 4 due (Research Paper)

Last day to hand in optional revisions (see Course Intro on revision policy)

Team paper due

Course Final 1:30-3:30 p.m. in 241 Olson 6/12/96

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

FINAL

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ENL1-6 Streuber

Your Classroom Computer: A Step-by-Step Guide to a Happy CAI-Classroom LOGIN:

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At the login screen prompt, type in your usercode (such as "ez123456") and your pass word and hit return. Once you are logged in, you'll see two icons in the upper right corner of the screen: IR Mac is the name of your harddrive (the storage unit of your desk top computer); Olson File Server is the name of the centralized storage unit for Olson 241 and 247.

CREATE A MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Double-click on the "Olson File Server" icon (in the upper right corner of the screen). Double-click on the "Applications" file (from the Olson File Server menu). Double-click on "Word 5.0" (from the Applications menu). Double-click on the "Microsoft Word" icon. You should now have a window filling most of your screen headed "Untitled 1." Type your document.

SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT TO THE DESKTOP OR TO A DISKETTE:

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After you have written your document, go to the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click on the "File" menu and scroll down to "Save as. . .", hold for a moment and release. A box will appear on the screen with Save options. Under "Save Current Document As:" type . (for example, my document title would be "Streuber.intro"). Then, to the right of that same box, locate "Desktop" and click on it. If you want to save the document to a diskette, double-click on the diskette-icon you'll see in the "desktop"-window. Click on "Save" (or hit return). A summary info box will appear on the screen. Hit return again. Now you should be back to your document, which will be headed by its new title. Click on the "File" menu and scroll down to "Quit", hold for a moment and release.

DROP OFF YOUR DOCUMENT TO THE CLASS FOLDER:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6.

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Double-click on "Olson File Server". Double-Click on "Class Folders". Scroll down to "Streuber ENL1-6". Double-Click on "Streuber ENL 1-6". You should see two folders, "Drop Off" and "Pick Up." Double-click on "Drop Off." You will see a number of folders with names of exercises or assignments you've been working on. These icon have belts around them, meaning that access is restricted: you can put things into them, but you cannot see or alter their contents. This protects the work you drop off from being changed or deleted. Drop-off your document into the folder with the name of the assignment you're responding to.

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

7. 8. 9.

Go over to the icon for your intro document at the right of the screen or on your diskette. Click on it once and drag the outline of it over to the folder with the name of the assignment you're responding to and release. You will see a warning message that you will not be able to see the document you are about to copy: this message is perfectly normal. Click on "OK" and your document will be copied into the folder. Close the "Drop Off" folder.

PICK UP A DOCUMENT FROM THE CLASS FOLDER:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

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Double-click on "Olson File Server". Double-Click on "Class Folders". Scroll down to "Streuber ENL1-6". Double-Click on "Streuber ENL 1-6". You should see two folders, "Drop Off" and "Pick Up." Double-Click on the "Pick Up" folder. You should see a number of documents. Click on the icon of the document you'd like to pick up ONLY ONCE and drag its outline over to the icon of your diskette and release. The file will then copy onto your diskette. (NEVER open a document [double-click] while you are in the "Pick Up" folder--if you do, no one else will be able to get that document.) Close the "Pick Up" folder. Close the "Class Folders" folder.

JOIN A DAEDALUS INTERCHANGE CONFERENCE:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Double-click on "IR Mac" (your harddrive). Double-click the icon for "Daedalus 1.2". Enter your first and last name in the window on your screen and hit return. Pull down the Menu "Activity", keeping the mouse button pressed until you reach "Daedalus InterChange." Release the mouse button. Pull down the Menu "InterChange", keeping the mouse button pressed until you reach "Join a Conference." Release the mouse button. Scroll until you find the name of a conference beginning with "ENL1-6" (for example, "ENL16 Ehrenreich/ Ewen"). Klick on the conference name ONCE, then klick on "OK". You will get a segmented window: the lower part is your notepad. What you type here is only for you to see. Once you type something and klick on "Send," your contribution to the written class discussion will appear on all the screens in the classroom. I will keep text files of all our Daedalus-discussions in the PickUp Folder for you to copy to your diskette. To do so, please refer to "PICK UP A DOCUMENT FROM THE CLASS FOLDER."

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

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Assignments ENL1/3

Streuber due dates:

1 April 1996 9 April thesis and outline (hardcopy) 11 April 1st draft (typed + 3 stapled photocopies) 16 April final version (see First Day Sheet on format) 1000-1250 words (3-4 pages) 10%

length: weight:

Paper #1: Analysis Based On Observation--Consumerism Objective: In class, we have discussed the techniques of observing and of structuring one’s observations in writing. We have seen that this structure very often relies on what one prefers to notice about a physical object or a text and that the observations thus lead to a summary that already carries an argumentative slant. In addition, all of our readings have focused on cultural observation: Baldwin has shown us how our techno-culture hyperactivity overpowers our desire to relax because we feel the “quintessentially” American urge to “consume” our own time. Ehrenreich characterizes this urge to consume as our fear of choosing between traditional “puritanical” values and permissive, commercial values. I am asking you now to take your own look at the consumer culture around you and to describe, summarize, and analyze your own findings. Please base your analysis on a summary of the text listed in each question and let your summary guide you through your “research.” Please keep in mind both texts as models of how good writers present and analyze their observations. To help you in your writing process, I have attached a sheet with useful information.

Texts: Baldwin, “As Busy as We Wanna Be” (88-93); Ewen and Ewen, “The Ends Justify the Jeans” (146-151). Ehrenreich, “Spend and Save” (134-137);

Method: Question 1 requires several interviews with note-taking, and question 2 (the harder one here) asks you to envision and describe a scenario. Responding to ONE of the topics below, you will write a critical essay about the relationships between people and the consumer situations in which you encounter them. This means that you will analyze how the behaviors you have observed or envisioned explain the larger cultural trends to which the authors of our texts point. In all cases, your analysis should show your reader how the data you have collected (or, in question 3, created) have (re)shaped your outlook on present-day American culture and where (and why) this reader should agree with your perspective. To the draft workshop, please bring your thesis and outline, your typed draft, and 3 stapled photocopies of this draft. When you hand in the final draft (hard copy!), please make sure to include your rough draft, all peer edit sheets, your outline, and your notes. Please do a wordcount at the end. 1.

Cultural Research You have applied for a job as a reporter with The Sacramento Bee and have to submit a sample article on whether, why, and how puritanical and permissive messages in consumer culture influence people’s desire to consume. After reading Ehrenreich’s essay and summarizing its most important points/ definitions, you have decided to interview at least four people (if possible, from different age groups and different social and ethnic backgrounds) on their consumer habits. Before doing your research, do not forget to prepare a questionnaire for your sample population. You might, for example, consider the following ideas (which are designed as “mind-warmers” only, not as structural outline!):

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Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

• •

•

Where in the lives of your interviewees do the messages come from? How strongly do they result from parental or peer pressure, or from larger social expectations, for example, in the context of gender roles? Why are they important? When, where, and how do your interviewees feel the influence of these messages most? At what times do these messages dictate their behavior, maybe even to an extreme (for example, an addiction to spending, or complete stinginess)? Which message is more present and harder to control: the permissive or the puritan one? What is your interviewees’ greatest consumerist anxiety? Loss of money, loss of desire to buy, empty store shelves (as in Russia, for example)? How is this anxiety influenced by ethnicity, education, class, and/ or gender?

Although you may be left with a great variety of intriguing responses, please focus on one or two specific points and think about the connection between your findings and the points Ehrenreich makes. Pick the idea that, in the context of your preparatory reading, seems most challenging to you, to help you draw a careful and unique conclusion about how true Ehrenreich’s definitions hold for the population of the greater Sacramento area. For your writing process, please refer to my attached suggestions. 2. Consumer Ethic 2050 You are participating in the Essay Contest "Deborah Baldwin 2050." Directions ask you to summarize an essay by Baldwin about the 1990s and to pursue its argument into the context of the technological advancements we can realistically expect by the year 2050. You have decided to begin your essay with a short portrayal of Baldwin's ideas about the Great American Time Crunch and about our desire to improve ourselves through incorporating more and more technology into our lives. Then you decide to write a scenario that envisions a day in the life of an American college student in the year 2050. You might, for example, consider the following questions (which are designed as "mindwarmers" only, not as structural outline!): • What does his or her learning environment (at home and on campus) look like and why? How does it reflect the Time Crunch and the student’s desire for personal improvement? • What does the library look like and how does this student read his or her books? Does he or she do something else at the same time? How does he or she write termpapers or take exams? • What does, say, the gym he or she frequents look like and why? How do new exercise machines reflect the desire for physical and intellectual improvement that Baldwin talks of? • What role do the media and other communication devices play in this scenario, especially when it comes to time management? • Would this student look back nostalgically at the 1990s as a "simpler" time? Although you may be left with a thousand ideas for a science-fiction story about flying saucers with matter-antimatter warp core engines, please remember that you are supposed to write an analytical essay that examines a realistic scenario!!! This scenario should show and explain how Baldwin's ideas about the increasing time warp and technology will affect student life in 2050. Make sure to test all your "observations" for their relevance to the points you've summarized from Baldwin's essay and to analyze your observations with Baldwin in mind.

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

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ENL 1-6 Sonja Streuber

1 April 1996 Attachment to Assignment 1: Helpful Suggestions for your Writing Process

1.

Structure (=You as the Analyst):

Having taken your notes and/or gathered your data, try to come to a clear understanding of what your findings tell you about the influence of our culture on us. This statement will be your thesis. In order to lend some critical background to your paper, you may then want to start your essay off with a brief summary of those points in Baldwin, Ehrenreich, or Ewen, that apply best to your observations. You may also use these essays as a basis for your thesis, agreeing with, disagreeing with, or modifying, their points. Ideally, the introduction you have now written will almost automatically give you an idea of how your data should be classified to support the various aspects/ implications of your thesis--that is, you will now have your outline. Then, convert the most effective points in your outline into sentences that explain how these points relate to your thesis. You’ve now got your topic sentences , which express the central idea of your paragraphs and need to be illustrated by your data. Start writing. 2.

From Writer-Based to Reader-Based Prose (=You as the Reader):

Reread your first draft from the critical position of your intended audience (for example, assume that you were I) and ask yourself whether your text exhibits a coherent sense and whether everything you’ve mentioned supports your thesis. If you discover that you are trailing away from your initial thought, you may want to either reshape your thesis or reconsider your structure (always remember: you are in control, not the text on the page, and nothing is eternally hewn in stone, as long as you have time to revise!). 3.

Style (=You as the Stylist): Keep in mind that the beginning of your paper should advertise the body--you will need to think up a provocative or playful title and to create an eye-opening first sentence. If you use such stylistic niceties as word-play (or puns or jokes), you might want to make sure that they recur in the conclusion to enhance the effect and drive your point home.

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Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

ENL1-6 Streuber

15 April 1996

Paper #2: Close Reading and Interpretive Analysis Due Dates:

23 April-- thesis and outline (hardcopy) 25 April--1st draft: typed + 2 stapled photocopies 30 April--final version (see First Day Sheet on format) Length: 1000-1250 words (3-5 pages) Weight: 10%

Objective: For paper #2, you will do a Close Reading of an advertisement that appears in a magazine. To back up some of your points (and to practice including sources), you will incorporate one or two of the texts we have read about consumerism and advertising in The Contemporary Reader.

Background: As we have seen in class, Close Reading means to look critically at a "text," to dissect it into its parts (such as the single steps of an argument, or different pictures on a page) and to evaluate how successfully these parts work together in "getting the message across." This means that Close Reading also examines how the "language" used in the text/ picture supports, undermines, or complicates the overall message. Be an alert and critical reader to uncover underlying assumptions, and try to determine where the ad you’re analyzing is being sneaky, evasive, or trying to convey messages that are too obvious to pass without being challenged.

Suggestions for your writing process: Start by taking notes about what the ad is selling and how it is selling it. This means that you will want to determine what the product is and how it is being presented to its potential customer, first in terms of actual page layout and then in terms of generating consumer desire. To do so, you will have to examine carefully how other objects, people, and texts are arranged around the product. Then, investigate how these objects, people, and texts relate to each other, to this product, and to the ad's general message. Next, you may want to think about the audience that the product and its presentation target and you may want to determine what psychological strategies marketing people have used to pitch the product to this specific audience. Finally, decide what this advertisement reveals about trends in advertising this specific type of product. You might, for example, argue that clothing ads tend to objectify women for the male reader, that ads for mutual funds use a strongly puritanical message to reach a yuppie-audience, or that off-road cars are pitched to an urban reader. Formulate your thesis, then weed the irrelevant observations out of your notes. Arrange the relevant observations in a logical sequence. Then write your outline, stating in one sentence how the observation you want to discuss in each paragraph proves and develops the thesis of your essay. Please remember that, regardless of the direction of your argument, you need to ground your assertions in a detailed analysis of the ad that you've chosen and to explain how your assertions relate to your thesis. Draw on your observations of the ad for evidence, but make sure that a logical sequence of ideas (as promised in your thesis), and not a series of random observations, structures your paper. In your argument, I'd like you to incorporate one or two of the articles we've read so far from The Contemporary Reader. You may cite a passage, argue against one, or you may use one solely for support. You must, however, refer to a text or texts at least twice in your essay, and one of these times must be a direct reference, i.e. a quotation from a text. Even when you refer indirectly to a text (that is, when you paraphrase), you must still cite your source. See pp. 564-85 in The Little, Brown Handbook for guidance; we'll also do a citation exercise in class. Please bring your ad to the outline presentation on April 23 and to the draft workshop on April 25 and be sure to attach it to your paper (together with your outline, the peer edit forms, and the annotated drafts). Any questions? Please let me know!

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

17

ENL1-6

Streuber

Paper #3 --Comparison/Contrast Due Dates: Length: Weight:

7 May (Tuesday)--thesis and outline (hard copy) 9 May (Thursday)--First draft with 3 stapled photocopies and your own peer edit sheet 16 May (Thursday)--Final draft due 1000-1250 words 15% of grade

Objective: In this paper you will compare and contrast two thematically related texts (or persons). This means that you will analyze and interpret the texts’ arguments and styles (or the persons’ biographies and behaviors) and come up with your own interpretation. This interpretation will show how looking at one text or person from a certain perspective illuminates the other. To back up some of your points, you will use relevant quotes from your sources at least three times in your essay. Background: As we have seen in class, a good compare-and-contrast paper does not simply point out that its two subjects under inspection are similar or different--that would be too obvious. Besides a clearly structured analysis of the arguments and interpretations in (or the several parts of) your subjects, a good paper always contains an interpretation that makes a point about both subjects.

Topic 1: Comparing and Contrasting Two Texts Compare and contrast two essays from The Contemporary Reader that deal with a similar topic, and include in your paper your position on the topic. For instance, you might compare Schudson's "Delectable Materialism" to Schor's "Work and Spend", or compare either to O'Neill's "The Language of Advertising." No matter which two you pick, keep these questions in mind: What are the core arguments of each article? What is their interpretation of their subject? How are these perspectives similar? Different? And, after comparing and contrasting the two, what is your interpretation or opinion on their topic? (Please feel free to use articles in The Contemporary Reader that have not been assigned.)

Topic 2: Comparing and Contrasting a Hero and a Star Consider these definitions from Christina Kelly's essay "Why Do We Need Celebrities?": "[C]elebrities are not the same thing as heroes. Heroes existed way before celebrities ever did, even though celebrities now outshine heroes in the public consciousness. The traditional definition of a hero is someone who sacrifices him or herself for a higher purpose: to save other people or to support an idea. They are usually the founder of a new religion, nation, or way of life" (340). "Worshiping celebrities leaves you with a distinctly empty feeling. Experts say it's because celeb worship doesn't teach that you have to make sacrifices if you want to achieve anything worthwhile. But adulation of true heroes can inspire people to make sacrifices, both to help themselves and society at large. Now, in case you still doubt that celebrities are not heroes, let me convince you that achievement or even talent has little to do with celebrity. Even though talented people occassionally become celebrities, the easiest way to become one is to be marketed correctly" (340). Think about (a) someone you consider to be a hero and (b) someone you consider to be a celebrity. Be sure to pick two persons with similar biographical backgrounds--for instance, two actors, two politicians, two basketball players, or two musicians. Research their biographical backgrounds in at least two popular magazines. Using your knowledge and your research, write an essay in which you compare and contrast these persons and point out why you think one of them fits into Kelly's definition of the hero, and why the other does not.

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Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

Suggestions for Your Writing Process: The focus of this paper is the comparison and contrast of two thematically related works. Use a mindmap for your outline to make sure you don’t compare and contrast apples with oranges. In your writing, though, please minimize summary and instead concentrate on your analysis and interpretation of the similarities and differences. Remember: you must offer some interpretation of your own: for Topic 1, it must be on the topic of the two chosen essays (consumer treatment in advertising, for instance, in the example given above); for Topic 2, it should be your own analytic and interpretive comparison of the two persons, based on Kelly’s definition. Please remember to cite your sources, to compile a "Works Cited" list, and to include a word count at the end of your essay. Any questions? Please let me know!

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

19

ENL1-6

18 April 1996

Streuber

Paper #4: Argumentative Research Paper Due Dates:

23 April--proposal (by e-mail) 2 May-- research notes and hypothesis (hard copy) 21May--intro, outline with research, conclusion, and bibliography (hard copy) 23 May--First draft with 2 stapled photocopies (draft workshop) 28 May--Second draft with 2 stapled photocopies (draft workshop) 30 May--Final Draft Length: 1500-2000 words Weight: 20% Objective: This assignment encourages two forms of scholarly exercise: research and argumentation. You will write a nontraditional, well-researched argumentative paper on a topic of your choice, but outside the area of your major discipline. Non-traditional means that you are not allowed to select any of the "classics" for your research, such as abortion, illegal immigration, the death penalty, animal testing, gun control, etc.. This limitation is to prevent you from reduplicating someone else's research and argument on a topic that has already been amply treated and that would be too broad to manage in a 5-7 page essay. Most people view this assignment either as an occasion to collect, organize, and evaluate practical information (what are the advantages of graduate training in engineering?), as a "legitimate" excuse to pursue more idle interests (what do we know about the minds of cats?), or as a chance to combine original field research with an out-of-the-way topic (how do the trends in UCD bathroom graffiti relate to trends in American "serious" art?). Try to see your project as a means to discover something about the world outside your department, and you'll be less likely to feel intimidated by masses of information. Required Research and Helpful Hints Before you begin your research, please read Chapter VIII in the Little, Brown Handbook carefully. On p. 506, you will find a very good suggestion for a schedule which will help you plan your research and writing activities. Concentrate especially on the sections about "Finding and Limiting a Researchable Topic" and "Evaluating Sources." Your research should draw on a minimum of two print sources that you will find at the Shields Library. But that's not all. Besides these two print sources, your research should include two of the following: "scouting" or observing your subject, telephone or personal interviews with knowledgeable people, a written or recorded opinion poll. This is to provide you with direct, first-hand information. If you would like to include other media, such as company pamphlets, a movie on your subject, or photographs you have taken, feel free to do so. Gather your information on flashcards or on easily accessible computer files. When dealing with texts, pamphlets and movies, you will have to jot down their theses and quotations you might want to use later. Before you close any book, make sure you have the page number of the quotation or paraphrase written down in your notes! Before you rewind any movie, make sure you have the names of the characters and a short description of the scene written down! This will prevent you from having to do the same work twice. Document your sources as early as possible! This will prevent a time crunch at the end of your writing process. Follow the MLA format for parenthetical documentation and be sure to write a correctly formatted "Works Cited" list. You will find the relevant information in chapter 37 of the Little, Brown Handbook. Any questions? Please let me know!

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Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

After your Research Your sources will help you decide on a specific question about your topic. They will also help you shape your own argument into a thesis and will provide support for this thesis throughout your paper. This is why you will need to integrate all your sources as you develop your outline; that is, do not simply report what one source says about the topic, then another, then another. A thoughtfully argued paper will evaluate several points of view for their strengths and weaknesses, rather than simply choosing one to agree with. If you run into unforeseen problems, please talk to me! Timeline Tuesday, April 23: Proposal (by e-mail) The one-paragraph proposal states the topic of your research, what you already know about it, and gives a description of your planned research methods. This will help focus your thoughts, get some feedback, and plan your research early on. Thursday, May 2: Research notes and Hypothesis (hard copy) By now, you will have completed the field research, read one of the two required print sources, taken notes, and have developed a probable thesis for your paper. This is to help you evaluate your research as early as possible and to catch any problems before the Midterm-crunch in your other classes. Tuesday, May 21: Introduction, Outline with Research notes, Conclusion, and Bibliography In this phase, you will have proved, disproved, or reshaped your hypothesis by evaluating your research, sifting the most important facts and voices, and arranging these facts and voices in a logical order. You will have developed your perspective and your argument into a sophisticated thesis that follows a well-developed introduction. You have given considerable thought to your argumentative logic and anticipated and refuted the most valid points of your opposition. This will inspire a very strong conclusion. The paper already exists in your head. Now, the only thing to do is write. Thursday, May 23: First Draft Workshop Your team members will see your paper for the first time, and, since you've become the expert on your topic by now, some of the writing may be understandable only to other experts on this topic. The input of your team will show you where points need to be clarified and where the language needs to be simpler, so that your argument will convince also a non-specialist reader. Tuesday, May 28: Second Draft Workshop Over the weekend, you will have revised your paper and turned all writer-based prose into reader-based prose. A second feedback from a different writing team will help you evaluate the quality of your revision work and the audience appeal of the text. Thursday, May 30: Argumentative Research Paper due at the beginning of class Congratulations! You've made it through the big course project long before the Finals crunch!

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

21

ENL1-6 Streuber

Paper #5: Team Project--Application of Course Skills Due Dates: Length: Weight:

June 6--Presentation and Final Draft 750-1000 words 20% of grade--10% team grade, 10% individual grade

Welcome to Madison Avenue! Objective: For your last paper, you will integrate your analytical skills and your expertise in the course theme with the skills of 3-4 of your peers. Together, you will form a consulting team responsible for an entire advertising campaign on the product you have “won” in the product lottery, i.e. you will produce a little consecutively paginated booklet with individual chapters that explains how you would market a product and why (see exact description below). This booklet will represent a unified team effort in designing, organizing, and executing the campaign. The writing tasks required comprise all of the strategies you’ve learned in this course, so that you can select the one--in agreement with your team members--that has worked best for you. How to Approach This Assignment: You will have to cooperate like a consulting team within an advertising department, which means that, in your first meeting, you will

• • • • • •

brainstorm about the product and its effect on the prospective consumer’s life. brainstorm about the profile of your prospective customer, in terms of ethnicity, gender, class, education, and age. find a campaign motto and an advertising slogan. find a central image and/ or spokesperson (hero or celebrity) you’re going to use in your ads. decide on the advertising medium, that is, what magazines and TV stations you want to advertise on. design a project plan. Such a plan involves assigning chapters to specific team members, setting timelines for partial projects and chapters that need to be coordinated, and devising a timeline to reintegrate the chapters into one coherent whole.

In your second meeting, you will • bring a draft of your chapter for a draft workshop. • discuss the layout of the print ad and the storyboard for the TV commercial. • develop ideas on how to give the presentation, so that your customer will buy your product. In your presentation meeting, you will • have the booklet completely formatted to give to your customer (me!). • have each team member give a 5-minute talk about his or her chapter. • present all additional information you have collected or created (graphics, recordings, etc.).

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Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

Remember that advertising is a very competitive industry. Your campaign MUST remain top secret (unless you want any of your competitors to steal your ideas). Format: Your proposal should reflect your teamwork, but each written and/or graphically designed part must still be identifiable as the work of the individual team member (that is, it must have your name on it). Your booklet should, furthermore, contain a title page and a table of contents and be paginated consecutively. Chapter titles are:

1.

Description and Analysis of Product and its Consumer Market (like paper#1--Observation and Analysis).

2.

Mission Statement. This chapter describes and analyzes your strategies for product introduction. It is the central chapter that will convince the prduct manufacturer to buy your campaign. The chapter should address such points as campaign slogan, celebrity spokesperson, consumer incentives (i.e. free giveaways), sponsoring of events to give the product more public presence, etc.. (like paper#4--Argumentation)

3.

Description of advertisement plus rationale in what magazines to place it (combination of papers #2 and #3--Close Reading and Compare/ Contrast)

4.

Description of TV commercial plus rationale on what stations and in what timeslot to place it (combination of papers #2 and #3--Close Reading and Compare/ Contrast).

Please try to work as professionally as possible and feel free to include as much outside information (i.e. polls, surveys, other commercials or print ads that compare to yours, texts from The Contemporary Reader) as you like. Keep in mind that good writing includes not only the clear presentation of your concept, but also an interpretation. Questions? Please feel free to ask! Have fun!

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

23

Product 1: You’re working for Mercedes and supposed to market their new electric car--the size of a VW bug, current market price $30,000. The car doesn’t have a name yet.

Product 2: You’re working for Mattel and supposed to market their new Ken doll--as the complement to Business Barbie, they’ve come out with Househusband Ken.

Product 3: You’re working for Burger King who is introducing its first grilled veggie burger. Says it all, doesn’t it?

Product 4: You’re working for Nike, which has brought out new basketball shoes with a pulse counter in the anklepad--retail price $ 120.

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Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

ENL1-6 Spring quarter 1996 Streuber

June 12, 1996, 1:30-3:30

Final Exam 1.

The Language of Advertising

In her essay, "A Word From Our Sponsor," Patricia Volk writes, "You don't have to go to school to write great copy." Drawing on Charles O'Neill's essay, "The Language of Advertising," and on the principles of good writing that you've learned in this course, write an essay in which you disagree with Volk and explain in detail why you think that she's wrong. You must quote at least once from both essays. Required Texts: Patricia Volk, "A Word from Our Sponsor," The Contemporary Reader, 176-180. Charles O'Neill, "The Language of Advertising," The Contemporary Reader, 180-190.

2.

Essay Critique

Based on all the principles of good writing that you have learned and practiced in English 1 this quarter, write an evaluation of the essay on the back of this page. Apart from commenting on stylistic and mechanical problems in the essay, your evaluation should concentrate on ideas, their organization, and their logical development , and on paragraph coherence, development and the use of support in view of a college-educated audience. Remember that being a critical reader means more than merely "trashing" a paper. It means explaining problems and suggesting ways of solving these problems through effective revision. *****

Technical Instructions: How not to lose your Final. SAVE YOUR FINAL OFTEN AND SAVE TO THE DESKTOP:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Go to the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click on the "File" menu, scroll down to "Save," and release. A box will appear on the screen with Save options. Under "Save Current Document As:" type .final. To the right of that same box, locate "Desktop" and click on it. Hit return. A summary info box might appear on the screen. Hit return again. Now you should be back to your document, which will be headed by “.final.” Once you’re finished writing, click on the "File" menu , scroll down to "Quit," and release. ONCE TIME IS UP, DROP OFF YOUR FINAL TO THE CLASS FOLDER:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Double-click on "Olson File Server". Double-click on "Class Folders". Scroll down to "Streuber ENL1-6" and double-click on "Streuber ENL 1-6". You should see two folders, "Drop Off" and "Pick Up." Double-click on "Drop Off." Locate the folder entitled “Final.” Go over to the icon for your final at the right of the screen. Click on it once and drag the outline of it over to the folder named “Final” and release. Ignore the warning message that will pop up. Click on "OK" and your document will be copied into the folder. Close the "Drop Off" folder and click on the Apple-icon on the menu bar. Scroll to LOGOUT and release.

Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising

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The student received this assignment:

You have read Joan Barron's essay, "Overscheduling Children: Dangers in Personal Development." Please comment on the author's thesis that today, children lead overscheduled lives and that leading a life as a "little adult" can be damaging to the individual child's psychology. ...and wrote this essay: Growing Up Is Hard to Do! "When I was your age I never had it so easy." Surely, there is nobody who hasn't heard the above phrase echoed more than once by our elders. Its as though this lesson on how we should appreciate what we have is inherent in all generations, serving as a sort of retribution to those of us in our youth, however are we truly better off than out parent's or grandparent's generations? Certainly, we can boast of our "finer things," as the microwave, VCR, and cruise control have become common everyday accepted jargon. But along with the new luxuries, the process of growing up has come under society's scrutinizing eye. Today, at younger ages children are being forced to realize the commitment to family, school work, and moral values. However, with younger generations facing increasing responsibility, it is more difficult to grow-up today than it was yesterday. Family life always requires a good education for the future. Thinking about school and the future can be draining. Today, getting an education and a positive start on life is not from the formula of finishing high school. The struggle for success is more difficult for every new generation. As far as today's students are concerned, competition in the job market is fierce and does not appear to lessen. The need for specialization is a necessity as information systems are being taught in more detail. No longer is the personal computer described in terms of a keyboard and monitor, now the computer salesman confuses his customers by going over the "mega-bite hard disc," "high-res graphics," and "lasermatrix printer'. Indeed, many children are experiencing the mental, physical, and emotional pressures to succeed in school. At age thirteen, Japanese children, in addition to attending public school, are enrolled in "cram-school." A five hour a day supplement in college preparation. In Germany, children by age ten are tested to determine what occupation they may pursue. With the mounting pressures for success and determing aptitude. Society is cheating children out of their childhood; fun and television have been supplanted by books and school. The responsibilities of adulthood are approaching children at younger ages. Maybe things are easier today than they were years ago. But then there were still heroes like Superman around who were present in every child's head as the superheroes who would improve their lives. Society has killed these dreams because with an ever-changing technology they take away what is a stable belief in a child's life. And even if our termpapers today are written on a computer that will if not the thinking then at least do the typing for you that doesn't make them any easier. Are 64 MB RAM really a good substitute for Superman? I think not. Compared to 50 years ago, technology has become a much bigger part of our lives. But our lives have become much harder, too. What is in one year is out the next. For example, the 1950's represented a time of identifying with the middle class values, of a home, two-car garage, and a dog. Conversely, the 1960's was an era of protest and individualism. Adjusting for new trends and social values are the challenge to every new generation. This shifting from one extreme to another, from conservative to liberal, from family to individual represents difficult challenges. On top of this need to adjust, society is confronting children with the issue of sex. As the AIDS scare has become the topical issues of the 1980's; it is no surprise that the fact that many state health directors are requesting a mandate for AIDS education to be taught in the high school and as far down as the junior high level is being publicized more and more. Surely, such a proposal would have been unheard of ten years ago. We are living in a cycle of constant change. Where the goal of each generation is to be better off than it's predecessor. In order to strive for a higher standard of living, responsibilities of adulthood are being taught at younger ages. I am sure that our children's generation will be caught up in a more difficult process of growing-up. The carefree environment's of youth are growing shorter. Let us pray that we do not turn tomorrow's generation into machines and robots. (726 words)

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Sonja Streuber * Teaching Portfolio * Expository Writing: Advertising