Why women are in favor of Victoria Secret.

Last week, we read Marie D. Smith’s “Decoding Victoria’s Secret.” Let’s recap Smith’s thesis: According to Smith, women don’t buy Victoria’s Secret because it’s comfortable, they don’t buy Victoria’s Secret because it’s a quality product, and they don’t buy Victoria’s Secret because it is perceived as a good value. In fact, Marie Smith claims there’s another explanation for the popularity of Victoria’s Secret: women, in spite of the advances made by the modern feminist movement, still struggle to make men happy by embracing old-fashioned, and potentially harmful, notions of femininity. You realize, of course, that Marie Smith disapproves of Victoria’s Secret advertising campaigns, which leads to “ambivalence, confusion, and guilt,” and which reduces women to sexual objects for men to admire. But, you think Marie D. Smith is wrong, or, at the very least, that her analysis is incomplete, and you are going to defend Victoria’s Secret, showing your reader than buying lingerie does not necessarily mean that women believe that their sex appeal defines self-worth, or, perhaps, show your reader that feminism and Victoria’s Secret can co-exist. So, your task: you are going to write me an essay explaining why women really buy Victoria’s Secret underwear, and why wearing Victoria’s Secret underwear is not a demeaning example of male oppression. A bad way of approaching this prompt: telling your reader that Victoria’s Secret is really a great value! Why is that not a good approach? Because you need to address Marie Smith on her own terms. She’s not worried about the practicalities of ladies’ underwear; she’s worried about the social implications of Victoria’s Secret’s continuing popularity. Don’t write a paper extolling the quality of Victoria’s Secret products. Just as you did in your last essay, you will use the opening paragraph to establish the terms of the debate by summarizing Smith’s claims and then, in a thesis statement, give the reader your own, countering, claim. I’m looking for an opinion here, but don’t just spout a bunch of assertions. I’d like your opinion supported with specific examples from your experience, the experiences of women you know, and from sources like internet discussion forums and popular culture. Copy Smith’s strategy as you conduct your own research! Prompt Three will require at least five outside sources. Two or more of your sources will be articles we’ve read, or articles that you have found on your own. At least three of your sources will be from primary or media sources. ********************** You’ve selected a prompt? Great! Now let’s talk about the essay requirements. As always, we’ll begin our discussion of the writing process by talking about the so-called “writing situation,” which will help you understand the assignment’s basic requirements. By settling on a writing prompt, you’ve already identified your essay’s subject, although you’re still on the hook for tailoring your examples to suit the assignment’s relatively short length. We’ve already discussed the purpose of the essay. You are joining, and contributing to, an ongoing conversation, with the goal of convincing your reader to think about your topic in a new, and different way. Your audience is me, of course, and your classmates: we are educated readers, already likely to be interested in your topic, and we’ll almost certainly have some understanding of your topic in advance even if we don’t know all the specifics. Tailor your discussions to your reader! The sources of information you’ll be using for this essay will come from the readings we’ve already done, any supplemental reading you’ve done (or will do) on the subject, primary research, and media research. By primary research, I mean you will talk to people, including friends, family members, and colleagues, and use them for information about your topic. Primary research may also include examples from popular culture, including movies, television programs, internet discussion forums and blogs, as well as personal interviews. For examples of how, exactly, you’ll be doing this, you should refer to our readings! Rosin, Simpson, and Smith all rely on this kind of research. Rosin, for example, combines interviews with examples from movies to make her argument. Simpson uses a variety of popular culture sources, drawing from movies, televisions programs, and advertisements to make his point. And Smith does the same thing: she uses interviews, catalogs, television commercials, and discussion forums to illustrate her claims. Copy these writers. Finally, we’ll talk about the essay constraints. This essay should be a minimum of 1000 words, and should contain a minimum of five sources. Two or more sources must be from our readings (or articles you have found on your own) and three or more sources must be primary, or must come from media sources. You may use personal experience if, and when appropriate. Your paper must use in-text citations, following MLA format. Now that we’ve got the writing situation out of the way, let’s talk assessment: how will I be grading this paper? I will be focusing on five very specific elements: ______________________________________________________________________________ Essay Two Assessment Criteria Introduction Your essay should begin with an introductory paragraph that is between 200-250 words long. The introductory paragraph will summarize the argument you will be considering in your essay. Your own introductory paragraph may be a little more nuanced than that: Regardless, your introductory paragraph will summarize the claim that you will be considering in your own essay. As part of this summary, you should use a direct quotation from the author you will be responding to. If you are responding to Simpson’s claims about the metrosexual, you will want to include a direct quotation from Simpson. But, use your quotations effectively, focusing on especially vivid or expressive language. Again, be wary of quoting too much! Maybe three or four lines of your introduction might be direct quotations, but any more than that should make you reconsider things. Remember: you’ll be using direct quotations only so that I can understand your analysis better. I’m interested in your writing. Your introduction will count for 20% of your essay’s total grade. Thesis Statement The last sentence, or group of sentences, of your introduction will be a thesis statement. Don’t let the language here trip you up: a thesis statement is nothing more than the argument, or basic claim, you’re going to be making in the essay. Remember the template I gave you in your introduction? The thesis to this essay is the “more accurate to say” stuff. The thesis of this essay is your opinion on the topic. You can revisit the discussion of what makes a good thesis by finding Section 1c in your handbook. For our purposes, your thesis will be your position on the topic, and should be one, or maybe two sentences long. Your thesis should be the last sentence, or sentences, of your introduction. I will be looking for a strong thesis that responds directly to one of our readings, and that adds something new, and interesting, to the topic. Your thesis will count for 20% of your essay’s total grade. Body Paragraphs You will be developing your thesis—the paper’s main point—through body paragraphs. I am looking for at least three—but you’ll almost certainly write four or five—body paragraphs in this essay, and these paragraphs should be between 200 – 300 words long. Your body paragraphs should be unified around a single main point, and should open with a topic sentence that announces that point. An example? Nice, simple topic sentence that points us back to our thesis (“Victoria’s Secret relies on a male-constructed image of feminine beauty”) while announcing the main point of the paragraph, which analyzes pictures of Victoria’s Secrets and their seductive facial expressions. Finally, you will develop the main point of your individual body paragraphs using specific examples and illustration. In fact, if you ever struggle to meet the word count requirements of these body paragraphs, think to yourself, “for example?” There are other paragraph organizational strategies you may want to experiment with, including comparison and contrast paragraphs, or classification paragraphs—remember a few weeks ago, when you read about these various types of paragraphs?—but all paragraphs, regardless of how they are structured, are built using specific examples that illustrate that paragraph’s topic sentence. Your body paragraphs will count for 20% of your essay’s total grade. Evidence and Research A successful paper depends on the evidence you use to support your claims. In this essay, and in pretty much all your college writing, you will use outside source material to make your arguments more developed, and convincing for your readers.