1. Start by phrasing your main claim. A claim is a debatable statement—an assertion that reasonable people might agree or disagree with. Your main claim will serve as the centerpiece of your argument. Of course the claim you make here need not be the final version! You can revise it again and again. A question is not a claim. A question cannot, by definition, be a claim. A claim is an assertion, not an interrogation. Do not phrase your main claim as a question.
This was my statement last semester:
My work is meant to convince the audience
that people do not engage in nature like they
used to. Society has been entangled by
materialistic consumer habits which have been
brought upon by corporate marketing material.
This semester: _______
2. Write three or four research questions related to your topic. NONE of these questions may be phrased in such a way that would allow for a “yes” or “no” answer. Research questions are questions you ask yourself about your topic, the answers to which you do not know, and may never know. Don’t waste your time asking questions with easy or obvious answers. And of course you need not attempt to answer the questions here. Just focus on asking them. Remember who, what, when, where, why and how. You might ask a question for each of these.
What product/industry is the number one item sold?
What culture defies consumerism by not buying into advertising manipulations?
Why do we purchase so much junk?
Are stores that specialize in an item or trade more successful than mass merchandise retailer stores?
Who invited mass merchandise retailer stores?
In the past, mass merchandise retailer stores were feared and questioned as it compromised specialized stores and mom and pop businesses, why are they so welcomed now?
When will people turn away from consumerism and return to basic essentials and needs?
Will the age of "going green," actually help our earth?
How many companies are exploiting the agenda of going "green"?
3. Describe specifically why your chosen topic interests you and might or might not interest your readers.
I recently recognized that I have developed a terrible habit of consumption. When I began to investigate this problem, I tried to pin point why I was buying things. I soon realized that I associate going shopping as an activity. From there, I realized I need to re-evaluate my priorities. I created lists of what I thought was beautiful and what made me happy. I realized that most of the items that I listed related to nature. With that list in hand, I figured out my problem, I was trading valuable time with nature and the outdoors for spending and consuming. Working on this project has helped me. I've had more opportunities to involve myself in better activities and I have dedicated time set aside for me to interact with nature.
4. Describe your feelings and biases about the topic. In what ways might these influence your research or affect your handling of the topic?
I have a feeling of strong devotion for this topic. I think I could call it more of an urge. An urge to resolve this habit and "return" to nature. I think that my interest in this topic will guarantee dedication, as well as the demand and weight of importance on my workload.
5. Identify three or four key words or terms related to your topic and give me their etymologies, focusing on the ones most interesting or relevant to you. If you don’t know what an etymology is, look it up. Etymologies can be found all over the place. Wikipedia is a great place to start. Failing that, try any good online dictionary. Do not simply copy and paste the etymologies. Write them down. Type them out. Understand them.
Product:
Advertising:
- advertise etymology:
- early 15c., "to take notice of," from M.Fr. advertiss-, prp. stem of a(d)vertir "to warn," from L. advertere "turn toward," from ad- "toward" + vertere "to turn" see versus). Sense shifted to "to give notice to others, warn" (late 15c.) by influence of advertisement. Original meaning remains in advert "to give attention to."
- consumerism etymology:
- 1944, "protection of the consumer's interest," from consumer + -ism. Also, "encouraging consumption as an economic policy" (1960). Related: Consumerist (1965, n.; 1969, adj.).
Market:
- market etymology:
- mid-12c., "a meeting at a fixed time for buying and selling livestock and provisions," from O.N.Fr. market (O.Fr. marchiet, Fr. marché), from L. mercatus "trading, trade, market" (cf. It. mercato, Sp. mercado), from pp. of mercari "to trade, deal in, buy," from merx (gen. mercis) "wares, merchandise," from Italic root *merk-, possibly from Etruscan, referring to various aspects of economics. Meaning "public building or space where markets are held" first attested mid-13c. Sense of "sales, as controlled by supply and demand" is from 1680s. The verb is 1630s, from the noun. Market value (1690s) first attested in writings of John Locke. Market economy is from 1951; market research is from 1926.
Garden:
- garden etymology:
- c.1300, from O.N.Fr. gardin, from V.L. hortus gardinus "enclosed garden," via Frank. *gardo, from P.Gmc. *gardon (cf. O.Fris. garda, O.H.G. garto, Ger. Garten "garden," O.E. geard "enclosure," see yard (1)). The verb is first attested in 1570s. Related: Gardened; gardening. Garden variety in figurative sense first recorded 1928.
- flower (n.) etymology:
- c.1200, from O.Fr. flor, from L. florem (nom. flos) "flower" (see flora), from PIE base *bhlo- "to blossom, flourish" (cf. M.Ir. blath, Welsh blawd "blossom, flower," O.E. blowan "to flower, bloom"). Modern spelling is 14c. Ousted O.E. cognate blostm (see blossom). Also used from 13c. in sense of "finest part or product of anything." The verb is first recorded early 13c. Related: Flowered; flowering. Flower children "gentle hippies" is from 1967.
Nature:
- nature etymology:
- c.1300, "essential qualities, innate disposition," also "creative power in the material world," from O.Fr. nature, from L. natura "course of things, natural character, the universe," lit. "birth," from natus "born," pp. of nasci "to be born," from PIE *gene- "to give birth, beget" (see genus). Original sense is in human nature. Meaning "inherent, dominating power or impulse" of a person or thing is from c.1386. Contrasted with art since 1704. Nature and nurture have been contrasted since 1874.
Nature should be avoided in such vague expressions as 'a lover of nature,' 'poems about nature.' Unless more specific statements follow, the reader cannot tell whether the poems have to do with natural scenery, rural life, the sunset, the untouched wilderness, or the habits of squirrels." [Strunk & White, "The Elements of Style," 3rd ed., 1979]
Naturist "participant in the movement for communal nudity" is from 1929.
Extra: Some important quotes from The Encyclopedia of American Girls.
-Consumerism has also become a vital arena which many girls explore new identities and embrace or challenge the values of the dominant culture.
-At the same time, however, consumer culture has also steered girls toward prescribed gender role and culturally acceptable aspirations.
-In the girl, they believed the had discovered an unproblematic consumer, impressionable, loyal, and perhaps most important-influential.
-They also taught girls about culturally prescribed ideals of femininity and how to achieve them through consumption. Advertisements frequently reinforced traditional gender norms, addressing girls as future wives and homemakers.
-Though marriage was still years away, numerous advertisements reminded preteen and adolescent girls that maintain their charm and good was a key ingredient in achieving social success and presumably in enhancing their marital prospects.
-Barbie linked teenage liberation with consumption, teaching girls to associate femininity and being grown up with the joys of shopping, going to the beauty parlor and having a boyfriend.
-Toy manufacturers and toy retailers have also perfected an entire aesthetic code for marketing to girls. Toy stores often demarcate the girls' toy aisles with pink and pastel colors, a sharp contrast to the boys' aisles with their bold primary colors. These visual cues let girls know what section of the store they are supposed to feel at home shopping. Toy markers are so committed to these distinct gender-coding formulas that the even try to revive sluggish sales of girls' toys by "pinking them up
-As a result, girls' consumerism has often given rise to heated debate about the growing authority of the marketplace and the demise of family values and childhood innocence.
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