6 Popular Culture
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6 Popular Culture Chapter Overview Teenagers are uniquely situated to engage in a discussion on country of Cash and the shine of Metallica. Most students feel pop culture. They wield the power to create trends, and yet inherent authority on the topic of pop culture, which can lead they are targets of larger forces that market those trends. to increased engagement and academic risk-taking, especially While they may be experts in the pop culture of today, from those students who are reticent to wade into the deep students have limited knowledge of the trends of yesteryear— waters of topics such as justice or money. For these reasons, those faded fads better known to their decrepit old English and for the opportunity to bond with students over music, TV, teachers who still recall the original (and rightful!) Trolls and and fashion, you may consider using this chapter at the begin- Transformers; the high-waisted pant and high-top sneaker; the ning of the school year. CENTRAL ESSAY: JAMES MCBRIDE, HIP HOP PLANET (2007) Length 4,243 words Difficulty Moderate: highly engaging topic, accessible language, lengthy, implicit claims, loosely defined rhetorical situation Topics music, cultural identity, commercialism, class Addressed Instructional Part narrative, part argument, McBride’s essay examines hip hop as a vehicle of culture. He connects the Tips American roots of the genre with its modern branches and extends the examination all the way to the fruits borne in places around the world. McBride describes his former position on hip hop at the beginning of the piece and then walks readers through his discoveries on the topic before making his current position known. In essence, McBride reveals the evolution of his position on hip hop as he describes the evolution of the genre itself. This unique form of organization can be used to demonstrate how a writer’s purpose informs the arrangement of the elements of argument. McBride’s variation in syntax mirrors the variable rhythms of the genre. Short, simple sentences pop amid sensory imagery and a powerful array of descriptive verbs. In addition to these stylistic traits, this piece is an exemplar of the following rhetorical strategies: • shifts in point of view •anecdote • strategic use of expert opinion CLASSIC ESSAY: MARK TWAIN, CORN-PONE OPINIONS (1923) Length 1,922 words Difficulty Challenging: unfamiliar words, challenging syntax, abstract concepts Topics conformity, popular opinion, influence on original thought, community Addressed Instructional Ah, Twain. Who else can make a joke about nudity sound so sophisticated? While not very long, this essay is Tips dense and populated with a thick forest of vocabulary. It may help to plan instruction around three sections: first, the opening anecdote (paras. 1–4); second, the extension of the argument (paras. 5–10); third, the listing of examples and the final conclusion (paras. 11–13). This piece is an exemplar of the following rhetorical strategies: • use of humor • anecdote • inductive and deductive logic • ethos 6-A The Language of Composition Copyright © Bedford/St. Martin’s. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter. Distributed by Bedford/St. Martin’s. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution. 07_SHE_06918_ch06Leaf_pp1.indd 1 22/03/18 11:51 AM OTHER VOICES: POPULAR CULTURE Text Length Difficulty Topics addressed Rhetorical Highlights Ray Bradbury, The 840 words Challenging: short, obscure role of the media, ethos, tone, allusion, Affluence of Despair references, jeremiad American culture, rhetorical question, (1998) narcissism metaphor, claims of value and policy David Denby, High- 2,834 words Challenging: commonly known American movies, inductive logic, claims of School Confidential: subject with dated allusions, stereotypes, art value, use of example Notes on Teen Movies analysis of the elements of a imitating life, high (1999) genre, evaluation of the genre’s school cliques impact on society Emily Nussbaum, The 3,862 words Moderate: accessible language, role and history of use of sources and Price Is Right: What familiar subject, industry television, influence examples, ethos, deductive Advertising Does to TV terminology, lengthy, context of advertising logic, claims of value (2015) provided for dated examples, contemporary examples Troy Patterson, How the 1,486 words Moderate: accessible length, motorcycle jacket, imagery to establish mood, Motorcycle Jacket Lost some unfamiliar vocabulary, fads in fashion, ethos, pathos, first-hand Its Cool and Found It terminology related to fashion teenage culture evidence Again (2015) Hua Hsu, How to Listen 1,455 words Moderate: short, familiar experience of ethos, first-hand evidence, to Music (2016) subject, frequent references to listening to music, use of sources, claims of another text being reviewed, modern ways of value abstract topic finding music, popular opinion Angelica Jade Bastién, 1,953 words Accessible: engaging subject, superhero movies, claims of fact and value, Have Superheroes Killed contemporary references, clear definition of a “Star,” deductive logic, open the Movie Star? (2015) position influence of thesis Hollywood and comic books on culture Mark Greif, Get Off the 2,443 words Challenging: lengthy, spans a American culture, persuasive appeals, claims Treadmill: Living Well in wide range of topics, subject not consumerism, of fact and value, the Age of Plenty (2016) necessarily immediately relevant advertising, health stylistically rich, shifts to students’ lives and fitness in tone Justin Peters, The Ballad 2,226 words Moderate: lengthy, in-depth influence of cable use of second-hand of Balloon Boy (2016) analysis of a single example to news, media and evidence, claims of fact, support position, accessible entertainment inductive logic, shifts in language tone, sarcasm Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize 825 words Accessible: short and sweet, music and literature, first-hand evidence, ethos, Banquet Speech (2017) musical icon, straightforward artistic influences, historical example rhetorical situation intersection of high and low culture Teacher’s Edition 6-B Copyright © Bedford/St. Martin’s. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter. Distributed by Bedford/St. Martin’s. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution. 07_SHE_06918_ch06Leaf_pp1.indd 2 22/03/18 11:51 AM VISUAL TEXTS: POPULAR CULTURE Text Medium Difficulty Subject Rhetorical Highlights John Singer Sargent, painting Challenging: most students will mother and her children, color harmonies, linear Mrs. Carl Meyer and Her require additional context family relationships, wealth perspective, overlap Children (1896) (particularly new vs. old money), assimilation Andy Warhol, Myths painting Moderate: well-known artist, but pop culture, iconic Americana, monochromatic harmo- (1981) some students may need addi- high and low culture nies, value, pattern, tional context for some of the shape subjects from “Formation” music photo Accessible: widely recognized Southern culture, Light, linear perspec- video (2016) and highly engaging subject re- appropriation, female tive, complementary empowerment, hip hop music colors, CONVERSATION: THE VALUE OF CELEBRITY ACTIVISM In a world where everyone carries a potential platform for activ- • Andres Jimenez, Why Celebrity Activism Does More ism in his or her pocket, students are keen to examine soci- Harm Than Good: Following a persuasive anecdote, this ety’s reactions to celebrities who speak out on controversial article criticizes the actions of some of the most well- topics. These sources bring together many views on the issue known celebrity activists and offers words of caution to of celebrity activism and draw upon both older examples of outsiders who seek to take on international causes. celebrity activists, such as John Lennon, and contemporary • Jeffrey Kluger, Jim Carrey, Please Shut Up about figures, like Bono. The questions raised in these texts guide Vaccines: Acerbic and sarcastic, this column lays into students away from the bilateral question of whether celebri- three celebrities who spoke out against vaccinations and ties should speak out or take action, and leads them to analyze calls out the consequences of their actions. the complex nature of the relationship between celebrity and • Georgia Cole, Ben Radley, and Jean-Benoît Falisse, society and how public figures use their social influence. Who Really Benefits from Celebrity Activism?: This arti- cle uses multiple sources to support the authors’ position • C. Wright Mills, from The Power Elite: This excerpt from that celebrities should not “obscure the complex dynamics Mills’s most well-known work on America’s rich and of power and socioeconomic relations in favour of a powerful explores the underpinnings of the cult of celebrity. simple, catch all, solution.” • Dave Gilson, Dr. Clooney, I Presume? (illustration): Rich • Joshua Ostroff, Beyoncé and Why Celebrity Activists in irony, this image—taken from an online interactive Matter: This piece takes a strong position on the impor- map—shows various celebrities’ activities, such as tance of celebrities who voice their opinions, connecting “Acquired a child,” in each African country. fame to public opinion and to public policy. • Brad Knickerbocker, West Memphis Three: Internet • Jay Kaspian Kang, Should Athletes Stick to Sports?: Campaign, Hollywood Drove Their Release: This article Occasioned by the public protests of NFL players who highlights how celebrity intervention led to the release of knelt during