What is the authors main argument in this essay? What position is the author taking about the topic? Where does he stand on the issue/s he presents?
Make a short list of the various strategies – the types of evidence and reasons the author uses to support his conclusions. Which do you find to be effective support? Weak support? Reference at least two quotes from the piece.
How would you describe the authors tone? Do you think this is a help or hindrance to his persuasion?
Make a pros and cons list for the capitalist, democratic society the author describes throughout the essay.
Do you agree or disagree with the authors main argument? Do your best to explain and support your position.
Define at least two words/terms in the essay that you were not familiar with or find significant. Provide the sentence/page number.
Twitchell asserts that “We live through things. We create ourselves through things. And we change ourselves by changing our things.” Can you give a personal example of this – a material good/item that’s had an impact on your identity (or served as a reflection or symbol of your identity)?
What does Twitchell mean by this: “ commercialism is more a mirror than a lamp. In the demonizing it, and seeing ourselves as hopeless an innocent victims of its overpowering force, in making it the scapegoat du jour, we reveal far more about our own eagerness to be passive.”
Compared Twitchell’s perspective on consumerism to Singer’s. If the two men met one another and we’re discussing this topic, what do you think they would say to one another?
Make one connection between something Twitchell discusses in this essay and your own observations of (or experiences in) our current day.
