Advertising companies and marketing firms draw up consumer reports every day. They try to figure out some common characteristics of people who might consume their products, in order to enhance their particular media’s appeal. For instance, if the Gap thinks that middle-class mid-twenties to -thirties conservative women who are interested in being trendy but not trashy are watching Desperate Housewives on Sunday nights, the Gap will likely tailor their commercials according to the values they perceive their target audience to have (the models will be wearing knee-length shorts, not super-short ones). In order to examine ourselves as consumers, our first step is to look at who we are based on what we consume.

Your Writing Task:

Your task for this essay is to write an essay of about 3-4 pages in which you explain to us as a class what media you consume and what that consumption says about who you are and who advertisers might perceive you to be. You’ll have to do some thinking about what you watch/read/listen to and what those choices reflect about you. Then craft an engaging and well-organized essay in which you allow us to get to know something about you through the kinds of music/television/internet/ books/movies/magazines you read.

How to Go About It:

As with any inquiry-based writing, you’ll need to start with some basic questions. What do you read/watch/listen to on a regular basis? Think about what you pay for (movies, music, etc.) and what you don’t have to pay for (cable, internet). Think about what you consciously consume (I decide to watch LOST because I think it is a fascinating study of human nature) and what you passively consume (last night I watched Extreme Plastic Surgery Season 5 because I was bored and nothing else was on). How do all of these things fit together to paint a picture of the kind of person you are AND the kind of consumer advertisers might perceive you to be?

Who You Are Writing For:

Your classmates and me. Use this as an opportunity to share with us part of who you are, what you love, what you hate, what you’re interested in, what you’re entertained by.

Characteristics Your Paper Should Have (What I’ll be looking for):

Strong analysis: Your paper should demonstrate that you have thought critically and carefully about the media you consume and what meanings that consumption carries.
A specific focus: Obviously, you won’t be able to cover all of the kinds of media you consume in one 3-4 page essay. You should narrow your focus to a few key features of who you are and then use well-chosen examples to illustrate those features.
A vivid presentation: don’t just list the TV shows you watch; give us a few vivid and specific details to help us understand something about them (we don’t need a plot summary, of course, but a quick and meaningful description will do much to enhance your presentation).
Significance: You should always be pointing out why each item is significant, drawing us back to the focus you’ve chosen for what kind of consumer you are.
An engaging and informative organizational plan. Be careful here; this essay can be wildly unorganized if you aren’t careful about which ideas should go together and what order you should present them in.
Audience-appropriate style and an adherence to the conventions of standard, edited English. Clearly, if your classmates are your audience, you won’t be writing in ultra-formal prose. The most important thing is to communicate clearly and to pay attention to the conventions (grammar, mechanics, etc.) that our society has deemed acceptable (we’ll talk more about the politics of “standard” English in class).

updated spring 2006