RA#3

          American culture is easy to deem as a globally adopted by countries across the world. This topic was addressed by Todd Gitlin, a published author, in his article "Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse & Co." where he describes the ways in which American culture is influencing and infiltrating into other societies on an international level. Throughout his writing Gitlin is using varying writing techniques to persuade his directed audience of his point.

Gitlin's purpose in writing this was to persuade his intended audience to agree with his claim. In this article he is claiming that American culture has become a global influence to countries everywhere, so much so that in fact there is hardly a place you can go that some form of American culture has not reached. The intended audience is a broad one, ranging from the every day person in America not realizing what an influence their culture has on an international level, to someone who does live in another country but never has given much thought to the foreign imprint on their own culture.

This was written in more of a casual way, though very organized and thoughtful the word choice was simply enough that it would be an easy read of an engaging topic, just what Gitlin needed to hold the reader long enough to persuade them of his point. At the beginning it was more formal with many fact and evidence given to the reader early on to validate the claim, which Gitlin restated many times throughout, but from there became more interesting to the reader with examples that though may not be backed by evidence paint a picture for the reader to help convince them. 

         Gitlin uses general persuasive techniques, those classified by Aristotle, to win over the reader so that they might also agree with his point. Logos is used to give his audience facts so that his argument seems well backed and valid. This was easy to see as he mentioned, "In 1999 in fact, film, television, music, radio, advertising, print publishing and computer software were the top export, almost $80 billion worth"(825). This piece of verifiable evidence backed up Gitlin's claim that American culture is in fact so popular with other countries that the revenue from such is vastly convincing of the international phenomenon of our culture.  Ethos was yet another rhetoric appeal used by Gitlin with his mentioning of American culture affects a begrudging France, "Less well know, and rarely acknowledged by the French, is the fact that terminator 2 sold 5 million tickets in France the month it opened"(825). This is factual evidence that is given context, with this example his point is backed up not only by fact but by giving the reader an example of his claim. Lastly he incorporated pathos to give that emotional appeal to the reader, for these rhetoric appeals are at their strongest when used in conjunction to one another, exemplified by his writing while speaking of a tribe of Tungusians living by the Arctic Sea, "In a community store sits a grandfather with his grandchild on his knee. Grandfather dressed in traditional Tungusian clothing. Grandson has on his head a revered baseball cap."(826). This story may not be factual but appeals to the readers while triggering an emotional response. All these persuasion methods used with a certain juxtaposition making for a convincing argument. 

         A prominent method used to develop Gitlin's claim was his use of exemplification which was used many times throughout. By giving the reader examples of what he claims was happening, instead of overloading them with facts, the reader is able to see on a broader scale of what he really means. In one case he has so many examples he simply lists them for the reader, "Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Bob Dylan, Micheal Jackson, Madonna, Clint Eastwood, the multicolored chorus of Coca-Cola, and the next flavor of the month or the universe..."(826). This was the most commonly used method of development throughout the reading. 

       The article "Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse&Co." is such a persuasive piece to read due the Gitlin's constant integration of rhetoric and developmental process in this writing coupled with the restating of this claim throughout. Due to all these properties of his writing the reader is easily convinced of the integration of American culture internationally in the world today.

 

What I Would Change About Society.

           Society everywhere places a set of standards to be upheld by those who wish 'fit in' or conform to the social norm. This holds true for our community as well where a very prevalent, and hard to achieve standard falls upon women: being thin. This standard of being thin set by the media causes girls to have an unhealthy body image which can lead to mental, as well as physical health issues.

          There is a difference from being fit and healthy than being thin, this fine line causes some girls to strive for a weight goal that is unhealthy for their height as well as body type.  We all have a healthy weight range for our age and height; this can be determined by using a BMI or body mass index calculator. However this healthy range is not what girls strive to achieve. What society has deemed beautiful is not a muscular fit body, it is a wasp thin waist, protruding hipbones and pronounced collar bones. This however has not always been the case. Years ago being thicker and robust was a sign of wealth, status and beauty in society. Women sought to gain waist to have curves and a sexy voluptuous body. To be thin at that time was to be under fed and not socially or financially well off. Back then there were advertisements to gain weight for women, unlike today's diet pill and rapid weight loss promotions.

          The social media through advertisements such as commercials of thin, seemingly 'perfect' girls or magazines that have them plastered all over it has become so engrained into daily life it has become what is thought of as 'normal'. No matter where you turn you see headlines of 'weight loss', 'I lost 30 pounds' and the social media bashing those who have put on a few pounds. It is a sickening cycle for women in society there is no happy medium with criticism waiting around every corner from ones peers and even worse: one's self.  These 'perfect' girls all over the media, many of them airbrush and virtually altered to appear as they do, cause normal girls in every day life to have unrealistic, but most of all unhealthy expectations for their own bodies. These expectations lead to girls have negative body images which cause them to feel the need to improve themselves through drastic measures.

           These drastic measures can range from skipping a meal, to not eating at all. At first they might try to approach changing their body to be more like the one socially acceptable by dieting and exercise but many become discouraged by the lack of instant gratification. This discouragement leads them to finding alternate methods of weight loss which is the reason behind the eating disorder epidemic of today. Girls feel the need to starve themselves to look the way society expects them to look like. This can start as early as elementary school for these girls, what happened to a care free childhood? It has been tarnished by the unhealthy expectations of the media. These expectations are literally killing girls everywhere and yet this image is still so coveted.

           This is to me one of the worst elements of society for it affects girls of all ages not only in our own community but in others. This image leads to health issues and in some extreme cases death. It is something that the media needs to address and fix through the promotion of a healthy women who is proud of her body, not a under weight one. There is a fine line between healthy and unhealthy and society needs to realize this not only for the sake of girls today but for the future generation that will look to ours for advice and guidance.

RR#3 Under the Sign of Micky Mouse&Co.

                  Around the world there are many stereotypes pertaining to cultures of countries but no reputation is better known than that of America. Whether considered a famous, or infamous culture the stereotypical lap of luxury, carefree lifestyle of America is known, and an influence across the globe.  Todd Gilton, a published author and faculty member of Columbia University, addressed this world spread influential American stereotype by writing Under the Sign of Micky Mouse & Co. Gilton painted a picture of American culture and what it means to different countries around the world.  Written to a broad audience with the hope of showing others how America has shaped the world we live in today, it is an insightful article.

                American culture affects counties across the globe; from entertainment to trends other countries mirror this culture whether they want to or not. Gilton uses the French as an example who stereotypically do not have the most positive opinions of Americans as a country that despite not wanting to be has been affected by American culture. For example Gilton tells the reader, “Less well known, and rarely acknowledged by the French, is the fact Teriminator 2 sold 5 million tickets in France the month it opened”(825).  France was not forced into showing this film; they did so due to the knowledge they possessed about the popularity of this American film and the revenue that went along with it.

               Yet another prime example given by Gilton to show this influential culture Americans live in was, “...The little Japanese girl who asks the American visitor in all innocence, ‘Is there really a Disneyland in America’”(826). Despite there being a Disneyland in Tokyo she still wonders about the Disneyland in America, the originals that was such happiness and splendor surrounding them in advertisement and reputation. Such places in America have reputations that are known worldwide.

                However influential and well-known Hollywood and American attractions are there are aspects of more simplicity such as brands and fashion trends that also dominate the globe.  American originated brands such as Coca-Cola have spread to nearly every country as well as American trends such as baggy, low riding pants for men and the stereotypical causality of the backwards baseball hat.   

                The message of influence by American culture is not negative, it is stated quite positively that this universal adoption of the American ways give us all something to connect upon and relate to one another. In a sense the knowledge of American culture and adoption of such is a world spread bonding aspect, something we all can relate to. So whether one likes, or dislikes American Culture Gilton shows that it is an unavoidable influence most places in the world.

MLA Information

Haydar, Maysan. "Veiled Intentions: Don't Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering." True Women and     Real Men (n.d.): 402-07. Print. 
             This article is an academic journal which is defined by wikipedia as being, "An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research. Content typically takes the form of articles presenting original research, review articles, and book reviews"(wikipedia.org). I find that Library 10 is helpful to a certain extent, such as with practicing citing. However, I do not feel like I am learning very much new material, much of what is taught on library 10 was all covered in my high school English curriculum. Never the less I find it to be helpful with refreshing my memory and after talking to a few classmates I was informed that not all high schools teach MLA citation or formatting to their students. For many people it was new to them or they had forgotten what small amount they learned in high school. I do believe that it is a valuable tool that should be used in conjunction with English 1A so that class time does not need to be eaten up by teaching MLA formatting and citation.