Acting Out Culture : Reading and Writing

by Miller

• ISBN13: 9780312454166
• ISBN10: 0312454163
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-10
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

Students are bombarded every day with media messages laden with rules: how true patriots should act, how healthy people eat, what real women should look like.Acting Out Cultureis the first thematic composition reader to focus students' attention beyond what rules and norms govern their everyday behavior tohowthe rules themselves have been shaped over time. The author, James Miller, has drawn on his cutting-edge expertise in cultural analysis to help students inquire into those social norms and respond with writing that positions them as citizens making informed decisions about their world.

Author Biography

JAMES S. MILLER is an associate professor of American Studies and American Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he teaches a range of courses on twentieth-century popular and literary culture. His scholarship focuses on issues of public memory and middle-class identity in twentieth-century America, as well as the role of commodity culture in shaping historical consciousness. His essays exploring these topics have appeared in such journals as American Studies, the Journal of American Folklore and The Public Historian. His book, Managerial Memory: History, Heritage and the Invention of White-Collar Roots, will be published by the University of Michigan Press in Spring 2008.

Table of Contents

Preface for Instructors	p. v
Introduction for Students	p. xvi
How We Believe	p. 3
Introduction	p. 4
Rule Maker/Rule Breaker: Holiday Shopping vs. Buy Nothing Christmas	p. 8
Statistical Citizens	p. 10
Two Cheers for Materialism	p. 28
All Consuming Patriotism	p. 39
Then and Now: Feeling (In)Secure	p. 44
Do the Right Thing: Cognitive Science's Search for a Common Morality	p. 46
I Do. Not.: Why I Won't Marry	p. 60
People Like Us	p. 67
The Great White Way	p. 73
Scenes and Un-Scenes: Political Protest	p. 77
Putting it into Practices: Scripting Belief	p. 83
How We Watch	p. 85
Introduction	p. 86
Rule Maker/Rule Breaker: Mary Ellis-Bunim vs. Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth	p. 90
Unspeakable Conversations	p. 92
Watching Torture in Prime Time	p. 109
Patriarchy Gets Funky: The Triumph of Identity Marketing	p. 114
Frames of Reference	p. 123
Cuteness	p. 134
Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture	p. 144
Then and Now: Wearing Your Identity on Your Sleeve	p. 148
Watch Me! Webcams and the Public Exposure of Private Lives	p. 150
Scenes and Un-Scenes: Picturing Disaster	p. 158
Putting it into Practice: Keep an Eye Out	p. 165
How We Eat	p. 167
Introduction	p. 168
Rule Maker/Rule Breaker: Whole Foods vs. Michael Pollan	p. 172
Big Organic	p. 174
The Wages of Sin	p. 197
In Gorging, Truth	p. 204
Add Cake, Subtract Self-Esteem	p. 217
Then and Now: How to Make Meatloaf	p. 232
Mate de Coca: Never Say No	p. 235
America's Wandering Families	p. 249
Scenes and Un-Scenes: Giving Thanks	p. 263
Putting it into Practice: Consumer Profiling	p. 269
How We Work	p. 271
Introduction	p. 272
Rule Maker/Rule Breaker: Wal-Mart vs. Jim Hightower	p. 276
Finding a Coach in the Land of Oz	p. 278
Let's Party Like It's 1999	p. 290
The Consequences - Undoing Sanity	p. 299
Then and Now: Dressing for Success	p. 310
Fifteen Years on the Bottom Rung	p. 312
How to Choose a Career That Will Not Get You Rich No Matter What Anyone Tells You	p. 326
This Mess	p. 333
Scenes and Un-Scenes: A Woman's Work	p. 343
Putting it into Practice: Working Hard or Hardly Working?	p. 349
How We Fight	p. 351
Introduction	p. 352
Rule Maker/Rule Breaker: Video Game Developers vs. Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence	p. 356
AWOL in America: When Desertion Is the Only Option	p. 358
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning	p. 368
Love and War in Cyberspace	p. 380
Then and Now: From Gangster to Gangsta	p. 398
Being Strong	p. 400
Return of the Madhouse	p. 419
Make Metaphor No More? Sportspeople Rethink Their Words of War	p. 428
Scenes and Un-Scenes: We Are the Champions	p. 434
Putting it into Practice: Community Conflicts	p. 441
How We Learn	p. 443
Introduction	p. 444
Rule Maker/Rule Breaker: The U.S. Department of Education vs. Jonathan Kozol	p. 448
The Baby Genius Edutainment Complex: The New Smart Baby Products	p. 450
From Degrading to De-grading	p. 472
Reasonable Disagreements	p. 484
Then and Now: Monkeying Around with Science	p. 504
Against School	p. 506
Learning in the Shadow of Race and Class	p. 515
The Case of the Purloined Paper	p. 524
Preparing Minds for Markets	p. 530
Hopelessly Hooked on Help	p. 543
Scenes and Un-Scenes: Looking at Learning	p. 557
Putting it into Practice: Educational Scripts	p. 563
How We Talk	p. 565
Introduction	p. 566
Rule Maker/Rule Breaker: The U.S. Military vs. The Servicemenbers Legal Defense Network	p. 570
Fighting for Our Lives	p. 572
The Ways We Don't Converse Now	p. 594
Trashing the L-Word	p. 607
Stop Them before They Joke Again	p. 616
Then and Now: Talking Dirty	p. 620
You Are Not Alone: College Newspapers Discover the Sex Column	p. 622
Big World: How Clear Channel Programs America	p. 628
The Perfect Voice	p. 644
Scenes and Un-Scenes: My Fellow Americans	p. 654
Putting it into Practice: Speaking Out/Talking Back	p. 659
Index of Authors and Titles	p. 664
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.