How often do you buy things that you don’t need?
On what occasions is it important to buy gifts for people? What gifts would you get for someone who already has everything they need?
Do you feel good when you buy new stuff? If so, how long does the good feeling last?
The article we're going to read talks about some of the strange things that people buy as gifts. Click the button to see if you can correctly identify each one. Which one would you most like to receive as a gift?
The text we're about to read is what's often called an 'opinion piece'. These are articles which appear in newspapers, but which put forward a confrontational stance on a topic on which the writer tells us they have a particular interest. You'll notice that the language in these types of article is challenging, but for different reasons than the dense academic text that we've looked at relating to the obesity crisis. This is because the language here is creative and contains novel structures and unusual word combinations. It is also much more loaded with emotion. For example, in the first paragraph the author talks about a confection of plastics and electronics, dubious entertainment and a hedonic stimulus. This kind of language is designed to make as big an impact on the reader as possible, and to craft specific and imagery that invoke extreme emotions such as disgust. The result is that it leaves us in no doubt as to the writer's feelings on excessive consumerism. However, to fully understand his meaning, we need not just a dictionary but some imagination and creative thinking!
Share your examples of non-academic writing that you noted down from Page 1 of the preparation materials.
How personal is the writing?
What examples of emotional vocabulary can you find in the other paragraphs?
What new vocabulary did you note down generally? This could be language from Pages 8-9 or anything else that you noted down.
The writer, George Monbiot, uses a lot of unusual word combinations such as a festival of junk (para 6) and smart phone upgrades of ever diminishing marginal utility (para 3). Do you think this kind of language use has a positive or negative impact on the text? Does it make it more interesting and expressive, or does it just make it harder to understand?
The author refers to the fact that only one in every hundred items that are bought are still used six months later. Why do you think this is? Can you think of any examples of goods you’ve bought that this has happened to?
In the third paragraph the author claims that we are ‘screwing the planet’. What examples does he use to support this?
In the last paragraph, Monbiot blames governments, the media and advertisers for associating consumption with prosperity and happiness.
Do you agree with this?
How do you feel about consuming less?
What would be the reaction if you tried to convince your friends and family to consume less? Would you be met with opprobrium and ridicule?
The article was written in 2012. Since then, has the problem of over-consumption got better or worse?
Why would we avoid using this kind of language in academic writing?
Decide whether the UK news outlets that we looked at on Page 12 of the preparation materials are examples of tabloids and which are broadsheets.
Which could be useful sources of information for assignments?
How might the international news sources on page 13 differ in terms of how they report world events? Are they all equally reliable?