Chapter 1 "Reading the Text" questions (part 1)

After reading your article, respond to the questions under "Reading the Text" that follow it (not the "Reading the Signs" questions). Please put the title of your article in your subject line. Please do this on or before Wednesday (9/21).

The Signs of Shopping

1. What does Norton mean when she claims that the suburban shopping mall appears to be a public place but in fact is not?
She means that it is not a public place because one does not have the freedom of speech, and whoever owns the mall decides what shops are in the mall. So, it is not a public place at all.
2. What is Norton's interpretation of Ralph Lauren's Polo line?
Her interpretation is "the polo mallet and the saddle, horses and dogs, the broad lawns of Newport, Kennebunkport, old photographs in silver frames, the evocation of age, of ancestry and Anglophilia, of indolence and the Ivy League, evoke the upper class". So, basically she thinks it's an upper class type of clothing.
3. How is shopping a subversive activity for women. according to Norton?
Shopping is a time for a woman to get away from being a "house-wife" and to spend some time alone with her friends. Then, the women will teach their daughters the same ritual.
4. How do mail-order catalogues create communities of shoppers, in Norton's view?
They allow the shoppers to shop 24 hours a day, so the shopper can have more time to shop.
5. What are the political messages sent by the Home Shopping Network, as Norton sees them, and how they communicated?
"You can buy as much speech as you can afford, that you are recognized by others in accordance with your capacity to consume". So, it identifies with and depends on semiotics.

The More Factor

1. The Frontier was a symbol for early settlers in the United States and It still is a symbol today. The frontier back then and today may seem like different things but, they have the same core meaning. That meaning is that there is always chance for opportunity. People in america know this, that is why they go out and start companies that might not make it. They are considered explorers on a new frontier. The frontier has also been the reason for economic booms for oil and natural(raw) materials.

2.The connection between the frontier and consumer behavior is that people will go out and do a certain thing, for example start a town out in the middle of no where even though they are not profiting anymore. Consumers set the rate for growth in the united states and at some times there isnt any growth, that is why people had towns out in the middle of the frontier that were deserted.

3. The decade the 80's has been considered a time when there wasnt frontiers. People were tied to a certain belief that there wasn't enough "playground" to do everything to the full capacity. They were being cut off so to speak. "The eighties were an object lesson in how people play the game when there is an awful and unspoken suspicion that the game is winding down". That was extracted from the reading and it proves a very good point that people will go with the flow. There is only a handful of people who would rebel against that and go out and start someting new with the chance of that new idea making them go belly up.

Blue Jeans

1. Jeans were linked with disreputability because of their association with deviant groups such as bikers and hippies. Then in the mid 1960's public relations campaigns would be undertaken by jeans manufacturers to break the negative image and to convince the public that jeans were suitable for a wide range of ages and occasions.

2. The jean "crossover" was largely because of an identity change. They went from being associated with hard work to leisure. This was more appealing to the consumer because jeans could be worn to socialize, to be outdoors, to relax, etc. The popularity of jeans was also influenced by the postindustrial affluence of the West.

3. By saying there is an ambivalence between "democracy and distinction" Davis was emphasizing the point that jeans became a symbol of status and social class. What a person wears is a "sign" that can be analyzed to reveal a lot about our culture. There will always be a competition between social classes and also between manufacturing companies as to who can be bigger and better.

4. Designer jeans were made to encode a symbol of status on whoever was wearing them. This symbol was interpreted as an instance of conspicuous consumption. For example the prominent Levi and Strauss and Co. label has had a major impact on fashion and those who wear them are portraying a message about the american culture's obsession with consumption and status.

The signs of shopping

1.)The mall lacks to be a public meeting, becasue though old and young people might be in the mall, they do not interact and are far seperated from eachother. Each store developes an audience which only a select few are selected.
2.)Ralphs polo line is developed for the vison of yesterday, today. It takes the old beutiful images of the olden days and convers them into clothes which people want to where in the present. it creates an atmosphere which induces its product to sell.
3.)While woman are shopping they are not with there familys, or helping around the house. Shopping is a way for woman to excluded them selves which other woman in a dominate femine envirinment. This environment then makes the woman want to shop more and more, and demote more time into shopping.
4.)Communites of shoppers develop by the catalog. this is done by having a magazine or catalog deliverd to your house,then you purchase the items. much of the time you may purchase something to benefit a service or relief effort. the communitey is developed by sharing your catalogs and ordering magazines to more and more people around your area.
5.)That cotes cost money, as you vote for your favorite band or song to play on MTV, as do you do the same thing for Home shopping networks. You vote to win an object, that is being sold to you with many gleaming postive attributes which you may have to buy.

The More Factor

1. The frontier, accroding to Shames, is opportunity and optimisum for Americans as a whole. The frontier, as a symbol, has shaped the way Americans do things in life and give Americans the vision of if it's worth doing at all. The frontier gives Americans hope, this meaning that there is always a chance/opportunity for everything. Like when he discusses that people often start buisnesses that may not make it, but there's always a chance it might. Also, the frontier was reason for the streak of economic booms and raw materials.
2. He makes the connection that in a sense the economy has been the frontier, sayng that instead of space, we have more money. The frontier is now a part of us. He talks about how we praise and glorify the new fads and fashions that are out there by calling them the Frontiers of Taste. How nuclear energy is called the Last Frontier and solar energy is the Last Frontier; all of which are people consuming these things. Americans, consumers in general are setting these rates for growth in our country.
3. Shames talks about the decade of the 1980's as being very nostalgic for the frontiers. It was a decade of fear. Fear in a sense that the world, the "playground", was not big enough to go and bring new ideas into it and fear that the world was no longer going to be able to expand. This decade, the authir discusses there being "unspoken suspicion", which to me means that everyone already knew what was happening around them, and didn't care to speak out about it; they were just going with the flow and wanting to fit in with everyone else.

The Haunted Superstore

1.a. The first shopper is in control and they take what they want and only what they want.
b. The second shopper enjoys the shopping environment and is “comfortably susceptible to all the attractions of the place”.

2.a. The department store is more of a palace. It is more comfortable and is an enjoyable place to be in. It is more elegant than the supermarket. She uses quotes by Emile Zola saying “the cathedral of modern commerce”.
b. The supermarket gets more of a bad name. It is described as the “jungle and “trap” from books written in the 60s.

3. The consumer used to be part of the “consumer society” and they only represented shoppers. Often represented as being mostly female. Now they are no longer fools and are the model of modern individuality. With this “the consumer ceased being a female.”

4. She tries to support it by telling the histories of the shopping centers. Along with how they have changed. I don’t think it really supported it because I grew up with two sisters and they always wanted to go shopping. Plus when you go to Malls the majority of people you see are female pulling their boyfriends around. Not to forget there are always satirical jokes about women shopping.

What's in a Package

1) In a traditional marketplace, people do the selling of the products, adding a social obstacle for buying a product. In a supermarket, however, packages replace people, so packages do the selling with their appearance and lack of social awkwardness.

2) When Hine says modern retailing replaces people with packages, he is stating that the package of a product is the purchasing motivator rather than the person trying to sell it.

3) Packaging stimulates the desire to buy through giving a powerful image to a product which would otherwise have no character. A product's packaging represents the features and freshness of a product.

4) Japanese attitudes toward packaging are completely different from American attitudes. The Japanese are far more elaborate with their packaging, as they try to reflect their culture and sell their products through presentation. Americans, on the other hand, try to ignore culture and package their products in a way where the consumer doesn't think about the packaging of a product.

The Signs of Shopping

1. A true public space allows the freedom of speech and the right to assemble. Also a true public space can be filled by any entrepreneur, not just a selected few.
2.Norton interprets Ralph Lauren as a clothing line for the wealthy symbolized by a polo mallet and saddle, horses and dogs, the broad lawns of Newport, Kennebunkport, old photographs in silver frames, the evocation of age, of anncestry and Anglophilla, of indolence and the Ivy Leage. She also assumes that every one in America is familiar with Ralph Lauren.
3.Shopping is considered an escape from the duties of a normal house wife. It has become a time that a wife can claim for herself.
4.Communities are formed in the mailing list. The products you buy help the catalogue decide what your hobbies are. Your address is shared with other catalogues related to your hobby. The sharing of your address forms a sort of community for your hobby.
5.The political messages from the home shopping network are that you can buy as much as you can afford, and that people judge you by how much you can buy. These ideas are communicated by the partriotic theme. This suggests freedom or freedom to buy.

the haunted superstore

1. _the two kinds of shoppers that the author describes are the motivated shopper with a list who just goes in there to get things done. maybe this person will stray for a moment, but overall sticks to the plan. the other shopper uses the shopping experience to unwind through their drifting through the store and picking things up as they see fit.
2. _the author states that the department store represents luxury and the supermarket represents functionality and standard products. department stores sell clothes and things which are not necessary to buy every week like the food products that are sold in supermarkets. visiting a department store shows that a person can buy things that are frivolous and it has a more "i can do this for fun" factor. supermarkets are very "i save money" and "i did this myself" factors. her supports on her analysis are adequate because they just make sense.
3. _the consumer was largely dominated in society as a woman, as she did most of the shopping (department and supermarket). it was a fitting assumption because traditionally the woman stayed at home, so obviously she would have more time to shop.
4. _since most women do not stay home all day, the man and the woman more equally should and do share the responsibility of shopping. her argument does make sense to me, and i do agree - but her evidence could definitely be improved and expanded upon.

What's in the Package?

1. The supermarket is like the traditional market in the way that the supermarket competes for consumers. All the package materials at the supermarket are like the different vendors at the market trying to sell an item to the buyer.

2. People used to be the one convincing consumers to buy, now there are know people persuading, and the appealling packaging is what gets the item purchased.

3. Packaging creates a certain feeling or emotiohn within the consumer. This gets the consumer on an emotional level helps to create a desire for the product.

4. Americans expect packaging. They expect products to look impressive and innovative. Japanese are the opposite. THe Japanese have packaging the resembles the culture of Japan and is supposed to be appreciated.

Hines Insights into Packaging

1)Traditional market places are where the employees/people sell the products which can become/create a social obstacle for purchasing a product, whereas in a supermarket packages/or products are the employees by attracting people by their appearance.

2)When saying modern retailing replaces people with packages, Hine is saying that the appeal of the product is much more important then the person selling it.

3) According to Hine Packaging stimulates the desire to buy through a very vivid and powerful image.

4) According to Hine Japanese attitudes toward packaging are different from American attitudes. The Japanese have much more in depth/detailed packages expressing their culture and great presentation. Americana really dont focus on the packaging of a product at all, mostly azbout what is in the package.

The Haunted Superstore

1. There are two different kinds of shoppers; one being a motivated type of shopper, that goes in and gets what they need and leaves, the other shopper using the shopping experience to their advantage and getting things as they see them.

2. A dept. store is a high class, nicer place to shop. A supermarket tends to be more hectic place to shop.

3. Consumers are known as shoppers, a majority of them being women. Now the consumer has equalled out and more men are doing the shopping.

4. I don't agree with her, because I have female relatives that LOVE to shop.

The More Factor

1. According to Shames, the frontier was a symbol of America because Americans were always looking for opportunity and the bigger and better things. The mindset was to start something grand and new and make it big and keep expanding. Not much has changed because Americans still jump at the chance to become big and love the thought of opportunity. In the end this frontier has expanded America and allowed it to grow.
2. The American frontier and the consumer behavior go hand in hand because we control both. The frontier only progresses when we the citizens explore and build causing the frontier to grow. At the same time, the economy (consumer behavior) is controlled by how much the people produce and consume resulting in rapid growth or declining of the economy.
3. Shames describes the 80's as "an era of nostalgia" because of the dissapointment and regret. The frontiers were now worried that there would be no more land for more expansion. They wanted to redo the mistakes they made and earn more, but room was running out. They yearned for the land they once had to produce big and great things and become wealthy and expand

What's in a Package

1.Most all selling is done without people, the social aspect of sales is eliminated, "It replaces people with packages."

2.He is saying that instead of someone trying to sell you something, the package is trying to sell itself with is on it and how it is presented.

3.Packaging gets the consumer to buy a product by trying to grab our attention and stimulate us emotionally and mentally with what is on it and how it is presented

4.Japenese packaging is designed to be elabortae and beiutiful so that it can be appreciated while american packaging is designed to be "unthinkingly accepted."

Blue Jeans

1. Davis said this because back in the 1960s, the groups associated with jeans were bikers and hippies, both of which had an opposition to the dominant conservative classes.

2. Jeans crossover was made possible because of many changes of indentity. They were seen as clothes of leisure, ease, comfort, casualness, sociability, and outdoors. Their horizons were broadened.

3. I believe that him saying "democracy and distinction" and "left" and "right", he was obviously talking not only of politics, but the classes that go in hand with those parties. Democrats were more hard-working individuals, and jeans were right there for them. On the other hand Republicans where of higher class, and jeans had eased their way into the hands of those people.

4. The advent of designer jeans all goes to the label on the jeans. When people see the label, an interpretation was made. People's minds started going, and they started to analyze who was wearing what type of jean. They do get there reaction from from those around them as well. They have become more of a sign, and people seem to just feel the need to analyze them.

Blue Jeans:Reading the Text

1. In the 1960's, jeans only seemed to be worn by the workingman, not by the casual public.

2. These articles of clothing have no distinction of wealth, status, or elitism. It makes it easirer for people to confront each other.

3. Jeans were viewed in two different ways. The first view allowed jeans to be an apolitical atricle of clothing, and the other view gave the status of having no class.

4. Even with the "non-status" clothing making its way into public fasion, it seemed to only purpose for having designer jeans its to have a symbol of status.