Influence of the consumer culture on our society.

Your final written assignment will be a five-page essay (1000-1200 words, typed and double-spaced) that draws on course texts and external reference sources to analyze the popular cultural artifact stated in the prompt. Artifacts can include any object made by a human being, such as a media product, narrative, etc. Choose one of the following paper topics and respond to it. You may also devise your own topic as long as it draws on our course material and after consultation with me. All papers should be emailed as an attached document to: linda.liu@umb.edu. Please label your paper file in the following way: LAST NAME.FIRST NAME_FINAL PAPER. As part of this assignment, you are required to refer to the following sources: • Source 1: At least one course reading • Source 2: One external bibliographic source (an article or essay that is not from our course readings) that you find through your own research GUIDELINES FOR WRITING • Think of the topic you choose as a thesis statement that you will argue for, using supporting evidence from your chosen artifact and research sources. • Be specific about your choice of artifact to avoid over-generalizations. For instance, it would be better to choose a specific TV program rather than TV in general. Avoid spending a lot of time summarizing the plots of the artifact; instead, analysis should be primary. • Explain the ideas of your research sources, but do not end with just a summary of their ideas. You should establish a dialogue with your sources in which you agree or disagree with them using your own writing voice. • Consider the counter-arguments to your thesis and attempt to account for them as you argue for your own thesis. • Cite your sources using a style book of your choice (e.g. MLA, Chicago Manual of Style). All quotations from sources need to be cited according to the rules of your style book. You can find citation guidelines in the “Final Paper” folder on our Blackboard site. TOPIC – CONSUMER CULTURE: Juliet Schor argues that our contemporary culture can be characterized by recent developments in the sphere of consumption that she calls “new consumerism.” This involves the “upscaling” of lifestyle norms, the pervasiveness of conspicuous luxury goods and “competitive consumption,” and a growing gap between incomes and consumer desires. Describe how Schor differentiates the new consumerism against pre-1970s consumer culture. Using kids + money or Minimalism: A Documentary about the Important Things, discuss the ways in which you see new consumerism working or not and whether or not you think new consumerism can be extended to characterize consumer culture in general. If you choose Minimalism as your artifact, discuss how it relates to Schor’s “politics of consumption”? The link below is for the class reading on cosumer culture. http://pages.ucsd.edu/~aronatas/Schor%20et%20al%20New%20Politics%20of%20Consumption%201999.pdf (Juliet Schor – The New Politics Of Consumption)