Consumerism in Teenagers

Ms. J. Fischer

English 10R

“Children between the ages of two and seventeen watch an annual average of 15,000 to 18,000 hours of television, compared with 12,000 hours spent per year in school.”

-The Journal of the American Medical Association

The Introduction:

Walking down the hall you can’t help but notice the Coach Bags, I-pod Touchs, AE Shirts, North Face Jackets, Ugg Boots, Holister Shirts, and Driod’s. Why do student’s buy thease name brand items? Why not Arizon brand or Voits? Are they not good enough? You will have a chance to investigate how consumerism affects different age groups in America.

The Task:

1. You will be designing a parody ad and giving a short presentation designed to inform and educate fellow students in your class the dangers of advertising.

2. You will also publish a paper on how the novel The Gospel According to Larry helped you become aware of consumerism in teenagers, and what you plan on doing in your life to lessen the impact of consumerism, and what others can do to lessen it in their lives.

The Process:

1. In your groups you will create one parody ad for presentation to the class.

As you are aware, parody ads are a way to analyze advertisements. You turn the message of the advertisement around to show that it is ridiculous or untrue. You can point out a deeper truth, something missing from the ad, or to turn the meaning of the ad in on itself.

Your parody should be more than a joke; it should make some sort of critical political/cultural/social statement. Whether the issue is related to the environment, health, labor, media concentration, or another cause, you might want to do some research to strengthen your point.

Make sure that the criticism of the product or the ad is clear. Before you settle on an idea, ask yourself: If this parody ran in a national magazine, would readers understand it?

Example of a Parody Example#2

2. Using the PPA guidelines below, each group will complete all the following work sheets. You will use this information to outline your paper.

1. The Problem- This has already been identified for you. It is consumerism in teenagers in the United States.

2. Gathering evidence - use attached worksheet

3. Identifying the cause - use attached worksheet

4. Evaluating existing public policies - use attached worksheet

5. Develop solutions - use attached worksheet

a. Review all of the information collected on the worksheets and make sure all of the information is accurate and complete.

b. Using the completed PPA worksheets, complete an outline for your paper.

c. After completing an outline for your paper, now write the rough draft.

d. After completing the rough draft, you will complete a peer-editing sheet, make revisions, and prepare your 3-4 page paper.

e. After making the final touches to your final paper, be sure to create your MLA Works Cited page in proper MLA citation format.

The Resources:

Advertising to children is big business

The Consumerism Epidemic in America

America's Crazed Consumerism

Consumerism in America

The Evaluation

The Parody Ad:

	5	4	3	2	1
Information	All major elements are modified to reflect facts about the product	Most elements are modified to reflect facts about the product	Some elements are modified to reflect facts about the product	It is difficult to determine the meaning of the ad	No elements are changed and the ad does not make sense
Organization	Presentation has a clear, logical and interesting sequence	Presentation is logical and can be understood	Presentation is primarily logical but deviates occasionally	Presentation is difficult to follow at some points	Presentation is unorganized and can’t be understood
Clarity	Students use a clear, loud voice that can be easily understood	Students are clear and can be heard by most of the audience	Students are clear but difficult to hear	Students cannot be heard or understood	Students cannot be heard
Cooperation	All work productively & participate in all aspects of the project	All participate in the project but may get off task slightly	Unequal participation among group members	One or more group members does not present	Group members are unable to work together

The Paper: Using the 6+1 traits of Writiing

	5	3	1
Ideas	This paper is clear and focused. It holds the reader's attention. Relevant details and quotes enrich the central theme.	The writer is beginning to define the topic, even though development is still basic or general.	As yet, the paper has no clear sense of purpose or central theme. To extract meaning from the text, the reader must make inferences based on sketchy or missing details.
Organization	The organization enhances and showcases the central idea or theme. The order, structure, or presentation of information is compelling and moves the reader through the text.	The organizational structure is strong enough to move the reader through the text without too much confusion.	The writing lacks a clear sense of direction. Ideas, details, or events seem strung together in a loose or random fashion; there is no identifiable internal structure.
Voice	The writer speaks directly to the reader in a way that is individual, compelling, and engaging. The writer crafts the writing with an awareness and respect for the audience and the purpose for writing.	The writer seems sincere but not fully engaged or involved. The result is pleasant or even personable, but not compelling.	The writer seems indifferent, uninvolved, or distanced from the topic and/or the audience.
Word Choice	Words convey the intended message in a precise, interesting, and natural way. The words are powerful and engaging.	The language is functional, even if it lacks much energy. It is easy to figure out the writer's meaning on a general level.	The writer struggles with a limited vocabulary, searching for words to convey meaning.
Sentence Fluency	The writing has an easy flow, rhythm, and cadence. Sentences are well built, with strong and varied structure that invites expressive oral reading.	The text hums along with a steady beat, but tends to be more pleasant or businesslike than musical, more mechanical than fluid.	The reader has to practice quite a bit in order to give this paper a fair interpretive reading.
Conventions	The writer demonstrates a good grasp of standard writing conventions (e.g., spelling, punctuation, grammar, usage, paragraphing) and uses conventions effectively to enhance readability. Errors tend to be so few that just minor touchups would get this piece ready to publish.	The writer shows reasonable control over a limited range of standard writing conventions. Conventions are sometimes handled well and enhance readability; at other times, errors are distracting and impair readability.	Errors in spelling, punctuation, usage, and grammar and/or paragraphing repeatedly distract the reader and make the text difficult to read.
Presentation	The form and presentation of the text enhances the ability for the reader to understand and connect with the message. It is pleasing to the eye.	The writer's message is understandable in this format.	The reader receives a garbled message due to problems relating to the presentation of the text.

The Conclusion

Having completed this WebQuest, you are now an expert on how consumerism affects the lives of everyone. You have developed an advertisement parody to deal with this particular problem, and you are ready to continue thinking critically on how you and others affect our society.