Contradictions are statements that assert claims that cannot really be true. We could also think of contradictions as statements or arguments that seem inconsistent. For example, the McDonald's memos said that the McDonald's brand essence should work because parents "want the kids to love them...it makes them feel like a good parent" (Schlosser 50).This statement is a contradiction because if McDonalds' actually cared about parent-child relationships they would strongly encourage parents to develop relationships based on trust, mutual respect, and love - not a happy meal or a visit to a Playland. Contradiction is a form of saying one thing and doing another. We could also think of contradiction as a form of conflict. When one thing disagrees with another thing, they contradict.
For this blog, students should find a contradiction in a text from the course. They should then compose a blog that 1) names the contradiction, 2) explains the contradiction, and 3) investigates what they think the contradiction means. Students shouldn't feel the need to take a side, but rather to identify the conflict from a neutral position.
In the above example, the contradiction between McDonald's advertising and its corporate memos points to the tension in the need for marketing to exploit emotional insecurities in consumers in order to win their business. This tension means that the company whose slogans and commercials appeal directly to positive emotions only work because those positive emotions replace the negative emotions that already exist in family life between parents and children. Ironically, working parents are working long hours in part because "McJobs" pay so little. Little leisure time leaves parents with no time to cook homemade meals, and no energy to play with their own children. They then take their children to McDonalds, which is a reason they are so tired and poor in the first place. Without saying whether or not McDonald's is good or bad, the contradiction between McDonald's advertising, its motivations, and its "reality" allows us to explore how the fast food system works.
The contradiction will probably appear in one or more places in the text, or in a couple texts. Students can focus on whatever passage or moment they want to focus on. Students should quote and cite examples in their blog.
It will be up to each student to choose whatever contradiction he or she concentrates on. They should introduce their contradiction by giving it a specific name. They should remember to introduce any course texts to outside readers.
In this blog, students will practice: summary, direct quotation, citation, and analysis.
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