The World Is a Text: Writing, Reading, and Thinking about Visual and Popular Culture

Introduction Reading, Writing, Culture, and Texts: An Introduction to the IntroductionSemiotics: The Study of Signs (and Texts)Systems of Reading: Making Sense of Cultural TextsThe “Semiotic Situation” (or the “Moving Text”)Texts, the World, You, and Your PapersRhetoric: Writing’s SoundtrackFrom Rhetoric to WritingReading the World as a Text: Writing’s Overture — Three Case StudiesCASE STUDY - Reading Public Space: Starbucks CASE STUDY — Reading Fonts: How Type Can Say a lot about TypeCASE STUDY - Can We Laugh?: Reading Art and Humor in Geico Commercials Reading This Text as a Text: Tips on Using this BookThe World Is a Text: Writing The World Is a Text: Reading So, the World Is a Text: What Can You Do With It?SECTION ONE - The World Is a Text: Writing A Short Guide to The World Is a Text: WritingPART I. How Do I Write a Text for College? Making the Transition from High School Writing by Patti StrongPART II. From Semiotics to Lenses: Finding an Approach for your Essaysby Dean Rader and Jonathan SilvermanLenses, microscopes, and windows Language and elements of literary interpretation Context, historical and other Race, class, gender, sexual orientation, region, age–and more Landing on an Approach: An Entrée to the Essay Itself Part III. How Do I Write About Popular Culture Texts? A Tour Through the Writing ProcessUnderstanding the Assignment Freewriting and Brainstorming Outlining Constructing a Good Thesis Building an Opening Paragraph: A Case Study Building Good Paragraphs Drafting the Whole Essay Editing and Revising, Editing and Revising, Editing and Revising Turning in the Finished Product Some Final Tips–A Recap PART IV. How Do I Argue About Popular Culture Texts? A Guide for Building Good ArgumentsKnowing Your Arguments Making Claims Using Claims and Support to Make Arguments: Some Helpful Tips Synthesis: Pulling it all togetherKnow Your Audience Use Common SensePART V. How Do I Get Info on Songs? Researching Popular Culture TextsResearching Non-Traditional Texts: One Method Nuts and Bolts Research Guerilla Research PART VI. How Do I Know What a Good Paper Looks Like? An Annotated Student EssayPART VII. How Do I Cite This Car? Guidelines for Citing Popular Culture TextsUsing Parenthetical References Building the Works Cited Page Plagiarism Works Cited Examples PART VIII. How Am I a Text? On Writing Personal EssaysSECTION TWO — THE WORLD IS A TEXT: READING1. Reading and Writing about the World around YouDean Rader, Reading and Writing about Your CampusJonathan Silverman, Reading and Writing about The RoadElisabeth Piedmont-Marton, Reading and Writing about FashionJonathan Hunt, Reading and Writing about a BicyclePeter Hartlaub, Reading and Writing about Video GamesCristina Deluca, Reading and Writing about Social Networking Sites: Making Friends andGetting “Poked”Lee Transue, Reading and Writing about Family Guy: The Semiotics of Stream ofConsciousnessBrandon Brown, Reading and Writing about a LaboratoryCatherine Zimmer, Reading and Writing about YouTube: The You in YouTubeDean Rader and Jonathan Silverman, Reading and Writing about Advertising: Two CaseStudies2. Reading And Writing About TelevisionHarry Waters, “Life According To Tv”Garance Franke-Ruta, “Beyond Fear: Heroes vs. 24 ”Peter Parisi, “‘Black Bart’ Simpson: Appropriation And Revitalization In CommodityCulture”Katherine Gantz, “Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That”Archana Mehta , Society’s Need For A Queer Solution: The Media’s Reinforcement OfHomophobia Through Traditional Gender RolesStudent Essay: Dave Rinehart, Sex Sells: A Marxist Criticism of Sex and the CityStudent Assignment: Hillary West, Media Journal: The Rosie O’donnell ShowThe Reality Tv SuiteHenry Goldblatt And Ken Tucker, “Reality Tv Bites–Or Does It: The New Soap Opera OrThe End Of Civilization. A Point-Counterpoint”[US1] Laurie Ouelette And Susan Murray, “Reality Tv: Remaking Television Culture”Richard M. Huff, “Real Or Not, It Doesn’t Matter”Stephanie Greco Larson, “Reality Television: American Myths And Racial Ideology”[US2] [US3]3. Reading and Writing about the Visual ArtsThe Is it Art? SuiteE. G. Chrichton, “Is The Names Quilt Art?”Diana Mack, "It Isn't Pretty But Is It Art?"Steve Grody, “Graffiti: The Anatomy Of A Piece”Student Essay: Theresa George, “The Multifacted Nature Of Street Art”Alan Pratt, “Andy Warhol: The Most Controversial Artist Of The Century?”Student Essay: Anne Darby, “#27: Reading And Writing About Cindy Sherman AndGender”Scott Mccloud, "Sequential Art"The Reading A Photograph SuiteThomas Hoepker, Frank Rich, And David Plotz, “One Photo, Two Lenses: FrankRich And David Plotz On One Of The Most Controversial Photos of 9/11 ”Gert Van Langendonck, “Award-Winning Photo Puts Subjects On Defensive”Errol Morris, “Liar, Liar Pants On Fire”The Censorship SuiteJ. S. G. Boggs, Life Size & In Color/American Supreme JusticeAndres Serrano, Piss ChristMapplethorpe, JoeDread Scott, What Is The Proper Way To Display A Us FlagAvalos, Hock And Sisco, Welcome To America’s Finest Tourist PlantationGrany Fury, Kissing Doesn’t KillSerrano, KlanswomanAndy Cox, Citybank PostersKara Walker, Camptown LadiesChris Ofili, The Holy VirginAlma Lopez, Our LadyRenee Cox, Yo Mama’s Last SupperThe Boondocks Cartoon4. Reading And Writing about Race And EthnicityMichael Omi, "In Living Color: Race And American Culture"Amy Tan, "Mother Tongue"Jim Mahfood, "True Tales Of Amerikkkan History Part Ii: The TrueThanksgiving"Beverly Daniel Tatum, “Why Are All The Blacks Sitting Together In The Cafeteria?”Malcolm Gladwell, "The Sports Taboo"Zebedee Nungak, “Qallunaat : Inuits Study White Folks In This New Academic Field”Teja Arboleda, "Race Is A Four-Letter Word"Betty Shameih: Censoring MyselfStudent Essay: Amy Truong, “Gender Expectations and Familial Roles within Asian American Culture”The Native American Mascot SuiteC. Richard King And Charles Fruehling Springwood, “Imagined Indians Social IdentitiesAnd Activism.”Ellen J. Staurowsky, “You Know, We Are All Indian:” Exploring White Power AndPrivilege In Reaction To The Ncaa Native American Mascot Policy”S. L, Price, “The Indian Wars”A Suite of Mascot Poems by LeAnne HoweA Suite Of Cartoons"Dude, I'm Honoring You.""Way Cool Outfit""Can You Imagine"5. Reading And Writing About MoviesRoger Ebert, “Great Movies: The First 100 ”Mary C. Beltrán, “The New Hollywood Racelessness: Only The Fast, Furious, (AndMultiracial) Will Survive”Bell Hooks, "Mock Feminism"Louise Erdrich, "Dear John Wayne" & Sherman Alexie, "My Heroes Have Never BeenCowboys"Jason Silverman, “Deciphering I: Robot- Random Thoughts From An Evolving Film Critic”Jill Birnie Henke, Diane Zimmerman Umble, And Nancy J. Smith, “Construction Of TheFemale Self: Feminist Reading And Writing About Of The Disney Heroine”Student Essay: Whitney Black, Star Wars And AmericaThe Sicko SuiteMick Lasalle, “Need A Doctor, That’s Too Bad”Kyle Smith, “Botched Operation”Maggie Mahar, “Sicko And Healthcare Reform”Arthur Caplan, “Nothing Funny About Sicko”Interchapter: Reading And Writing About ImagesAmerica, Cowboys, The West, And RaceThe Images Of GenderThe Semiotics Of ArchitectureLandscape, Earth, And ExcavationLaundryTwo FlagsNeighborhoodsCarsSignsPrivate Symbol/Public Space: The Virgen Of GuadalupeTwo Photos By Diane ArbusDinersMapsAdvertisements“Primitive” Art?Signs?: Two Murals By RigoTexas PostcardsThe American Signs On Route 66 Suite6. Reading And Writing About GenderDeborah Tannen, "Marked Women, Unmarked Men" Annette Fuentes, “Out Of Style Thinking: Female Politicians And Fashion” Paul Theroux, "Being A Man"Student Essay: Pjeter Dushku, “Pedro Almodovar and Gender”Alfonsina Storni, “You Would Have Me White”Maxine Kingston, “No Name Woman”Siobhan O’ Connor: “Playing Doctor: The Pro-Life Movement’s New Plan For FamilyPlanning”Student Essay: Elizabeth Greenwood, “Unreal City: Gender And War”Third Wave Feminism SuitePatricia Pender, “Buffy as Third Wave Feminist Icon”Student Essay: Lara Hayhurst, Putting the “Me” Back in Medical Drama: Grey’s Anatomy’s Adventures in McFeminismStudent Essay: Gwendolyn Limbach, “La Femme Veronica”: Intelligence as Power inVeronica Mars Student Essay: Catherine Kirifides, Classically Different:, Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette Takes a New Look at What It Means to Be a Girl7. Reading And Writing About Space: Public And Private Frances Halsband, “Campuses In Place”Daphne Spain, Spatial Segregation And Gender Stratification In The WorkplaceWilliam L. Hamilton, “How Suburban Design Is Failing Teenagers”Kenneth Meeks, “Shopping In A Group While Black: A Coach’s Story”Robert Bednar, Making Space On The Side Of The Road: Towards A Cultural Study OfRoadside Car Crash Memorials”Hugh Hardy, “Media And The City”Student Essay: Matt King, “Reading The Nautical Star”The Mall SuiteNancy Backes, “Reading The Shopping Mall City”Dolores Hayden, “’Planned Sprawl’ And The Rise Of The Mall”James Farrell, “The Politics Of No Politics”William Severini Kowinski, “D. C. Panoply–And The First Black Mall”8. Reading And Writing About Advertising And JournalismRobert Love, “Before Jon Stewart: The Growth Of Fake News. Believe It”Clint C. Wilson And Felix Gutierrez, "Advertising And People Of Color"William Lutz, "Weasel Words"David Mcgowan, “The America The Media Don't Want You To See”Teresa J. Donzal and Jerome Kernan, “Reading Advertising: The Why And How Of ProductMeaning”Student Essay: Brittany Gray, “Hanes Her Way”Student Essay: Arianne Galino, “Sister Act: A Destructive Form Of Writing”The Future Of Journalism SuiteMark Glaser, “Techno-Optimism: Reasons There’s a Bright Future for Journalism”Paul Farhi, “Rolling the Dice”Jay Rosen: “Bloggers vs. Journalists is over”Michael Kinsley, “Extra! Extra! The future of Newspapers”Jeremy Caplan, “Forum: the Future of Newspapers”The Iraq War SuiteDaniel Schulman, “Mind Games”Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR): Media Advisory, Iraq and the Media A CriticalTimelineMatt Sanchez, Live from Baghdad: The press’s war.Jack Shafer, “The press dun good in Iraq. But they could have dun better”Meteor Blades, “Red State, Blue State: Hometown News”John Hockenberry, “The Blogs of War”9. Reading And Writing About RelationshipsMargaret Atwood, “Fiction: Happy Endings”Andrew Sullivan, “If Love Were All”David Sedaris, “To Make A Friend, Be A Friend”Tracy Seeley, “My Mother’s Hands”Emily Nussbaum, “Say Everything” The College Relationship SuiteStudent Essay: Emily Littlewood, “Can You Handle The Commitment?: Three Typesof College Relationships”Libby Copeland, “Boy Friend; Between Those Two Words, A Guy Can Get Crushed”Laura Kipnis, “Off Limits: Should Students Be Allowed To Hook Up With Professors?”Kathleen Dean More And Lani Roberts, “Case Study # : Harmful Hug”Deni Elliot And Paul Martin Lester, “When Is It Ok To Invite A Student To Dinner?”10. Reading And Writing About MusicKevin J.H. Dettmar And William Richey, "Musical Cheese: The Appropriation Of SeventiesMusic In Nineties Movies"Student Essay: Fouzia Baber, "Is Tupac Dead?"Student Essay: Sarah Hawkins, "Right On Target: Revisiting Elvis Costello's My Aim IsTrue"Student Essay: "Smells Like Teen Spirit," By Matt ComptonAlessandro Portelli, "Coal Miner's Daughter"The Authenticity SuiteDavid Sanjek “All the Memories Money Can Buy)Stephen Metcalf, “Faux Americana: Why I Still Love Bruce Springsteen”Carrie Brownstein “More Rock, Less Talk: Live Music Turns Off the Voices in Our Heads”Kelefa Sanneh, “The Rap Against Rockism”11. Reading and Writing about Technology[This chapter is on line at www.prenhall.com/silverman .]CreditsIndex [US1][US2][US3]