I have a habit of fetishizing paper goods and writing utensils, hoarding books, and keeping a messy office. I’m given to obsession, and guitars have been a big part of that. I used to spend hours pouring over magazines and catalogues, wandering through guitar stores, and taking trips to other towns that had different guitar stores.
Guitars have talismanic aesthetics– the iconography of rock n’ roll, the “cover of Rolling Stone,” is almost catholic in its beauty. They are tools, art objects, and symbols of sexual power.
Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, via Dave’s Guitar
For the majority of my life, for the last 17 or so years, I’ve pursued guitar. I’ve owned several different guitars over the years. I’ve made a practice of pairing down the quantity of things I hold onto, and I’ve made a ritual of gifting the occasional guitar to a friend.
The act of giving things away has become a big part of my consumption cycle. When my wife and I moved from Tucker to Poncey-Highlands, we took 3 or 4 carloads of things and donated them. We did the same thing when we moved out of that apartment– I try to give away as much as I collect. I’ve given away or donated 6 guitars. Now, I own 2 guitars and a banjo. Two were gifts to me, and one I purchased using layaway. I really appreciated the item I had to buy using layaway– this happened during a financially weak period of my life; it took me three months to save the $350 to buy it. The guitar is a Seagull acoustic, made in Canada. There’s nothing really special about the item, but I would never sell it.
I agree with Alex’s post that categorizes objects as culturally positive, enhancing memory and providing a grounding effect to the individual. Much of my writing this semester has explored the alienation of the self that comes through possession. My personal relationship with this object reminds me of a time in my own life when I made sacrifices to obtain something that I felt was a worthwhile endeavor– much of the day-to-day consumption in my life has little connection to that very mindful act of buying a guitar. Do I care if I spend too much money on coffee? These little daily acts of consumption serve a foil contrasting against the awareness of mindful collecting.
Lately, I read articles on minimalism. I don’t want my objects to own me. I want my extended self to find utility and not alienation. My patterns of consuming are evolving. This semester has been a challenge point in my personal growth, and I’ve begun questioning consumption on a greater scale. There are certainly risks and rewards to consumption. Having the necessary tools and goods for survival in a modern world is an essential of life. Having every wanton desire fulfilled is not essential. In fact, having every desire fulfilled is potentially dangerous.
A study of lotterywinners observed that winning the lottery and magically being financially unencumbered didn’t make people any happier. Cultivating contentment yields better results than chasing gratification– this is my motto towards consumption today.
My alarm sounds at 6am and after sleepily hitting the snooze button a few times, I crawl out of bed at approximately 6:30am. Since I was out yesterday due to the invading germs elementary students habitually spread, I mentally prepare for the abnormally long day ahead as I drowsily ready for work. Without warning, my morning grouch of a husband begins to nit-pick about the neglected laundry. The sun isn’t even awake but we plunge into a recurring war of roaring finger pointing and grimacing insults. Esh. What a glorious way to start the day. I am but an object to satisfy the demands of wife, mother, teacher, student, and non-profit founder & director.
Photo from GalleryHip.com
7:15am. I arrive at school (work). Students flood my classroom. They peer at me, waiting as I rummage through my mind’s library of lessons. What am I doing? This teaching thing is challenging. They wait for an “order” just as soldiers do. Public school is run in similar fashion like that of military boot camp whereby teachers are the drill sergeants and students are drilled of their obligatory role to perform according to a universal standard. They are objects of our education system and I’m a contributor. For 45 minutes, five days a week, they are my objects to control and manipulate. This teaching thing is complicated and complex. I have no idea what I’m doing. I am also an object of the system, required to perform to certain standards.
Photo from InnovativelyOrganized.com
11:05am. It is now time for my lengthy 20 minute lunch. I scarf down some crackers while I read and respond to emails. A 5th grade teacher wants me to incorporate a project into my class time. A pediatric cancer mother is requesting financial assistance. I make a mental note to go by the post office tomorrow after work to send her gift cards for food and gas. I reach for my phone to call a local Olive Garden so I can fulfill our monthly promise of delivering a hot lunch to the families who are inpatient at Egleston and Scottish Rite. But I am distracted by a text from my ex-husband notifying me that one of our foundation’s kiddos have passed. I cannot cry. I do not have time to cry. Besides, objects don’t cry.
Finally 2:20pm! The bell rings to signal the end of the school day. As I am leaving, I am bombarded by a flux of students. Am I ever going to remember the name of every single student? A precious 1st grader asks me to come to his house to fix his computer. An excited 3rd grader begs me to take a look at her assignment on Google Drive. Another student tells me what he is dressing up as for Halloween. Some just want to give me a hug and I gladly accept. But I wonder why in the world do they want to hug me? I am not worthy to receive these hugs. No sense in arguing…this makes every teacher-thing I do worthwhile. This teaching thing is rewarding
On my way to school, I call my husband. We have a cordial conversation and he indirectly apologizes but never actually mutters the words, “I’m sorry.” But then again, neither do I. All in all, though, everything seems patched up from this morning’s crossfires.
Motivation By Drew Bewick
3:58pm. That’s a first…I am actually on time for once. Hooray for the small accomplishments! The victory is short-lived when I learned I overlooked and failed to complete two written assignments that were due last week. I feel a migraine approaching. This college thing is stressful and time-consuming. I realize that I am also an object of the education system…
7:20pm. Thankful to the medicine that extinguished my migraine, I have the bright idea to attempt at completing the homework assignment that was just given in my Statistics & Probability class. I get as far as writing the first question when I look up to find Greek splattered all over the board. Great. Evidently I have an abundant amount of time to teach myself.
9:30pm. I am finally home. To my surprise, my 21-month-old daughter is still awake. I kneel as she giddily runs to me. She knocks me over when she gives me a bear hug and a long kiss. My heart is filled and my day is made perfect. She is my object of affection and adoration. I am her object for survival and she is mine. I love it.
Mental Checklist by Alfredo Melendez
9:45pm. While giving her a bath, I enjoy the musical squeals of my daughter’s laughter. But, I overhear an argument in the kitchen between my husband and his mother. It’s about something I did…or didn’t do. I try to recall what I did in the brief time I have been home but my mental checklist only indicates that I must have breathed her air. I am an object that breathes.
Quarter after 10pm. My daughter is down for the night. I remind my husband about my scheduled GACE exam tomorrow. He’s irritated now. He asks, “How did you pay for it?” With sarcasm I reply, “With money.” But I desire nothing but to end this on & off again argument and attempt at adding humor to lighten the mood, “I offered a trade…one test for the annoying cats outside. But they just wanted my arm and leg. The audacity. And apparently bartering sex is frowned upon…even illegal. Can you believe that?” Humor failure. Well that is my cue to do one of my ‘object’ duties: laundry.
11:45pm. Craving to conclude the day, I climb into bed. I cannot sleep.
Brain By Issie Lapowsky
It’s a quarter past 1am. I’m about to loose it! I might as well get up and try to finish one of my forgotten written assignments. I take a look at the requirements for the reflection…nope, that is too complicated for my mind to process right now. I will instead do my timeline summary.
1:42am. I climb back in bed. I still cannot sleep. This is ridiculous!
Out-of-my-Mind Photo by Tonja Townsend Owens
2:15am. OMG! It is going to be another long day tomorrow. How do I even function by doing this shit? Yes, I have resorted to cursing. The accumulations of the day’s irritations have taken its toll.
3:00am. Who needs sleep??? Objects don’t sleep.
3:30am. My migraine has returned. I should have taken Benadryl but it is too late now. Arg!!!
My alarm sounds at 6am…I must have finally drifted off. A little over 2 hours of sleep. Awesome.
According to Jean Baudrillard, sociologist and philosopher, there are “three orders of simulacra” in which we can divide the course of history. In the first order, called “the counterfeit” or the early capitalism, people desired things because of their socially symbolic value. In other words, people thought in terms of signs: the different classes were recognizable through distinct objects, such as a particular attire, beautiful houses, expensive accessories, etc. In the second order, called “the series” or industrial capitalism, the large-scale factory production instilled a desire for things that was based on their sign value, namely the idea that people define their identity through the things they possess. People bought things that were not directly related to the idea of survival, but rather tied to the culture in which they lived. Finally in the third order, called “the hyperreal” or postmodernism (right after World War II), commodities became a language; the signifier became digital, a machine, DNA. Society began programming people to acquire things not because they operate as signs, but because they work as human language: the rapid technological development created an environment in which the media conditioned us to buy unnecessary objects. I believe that we are living in this kind of society nowadays. Indeed, we are conditioned to want something and, once we have satisfied this initial desire, we are programmed to immediately desire something else. It is a cyclical process including the following stages: a strong desire, the appropriation of the object and a temporary sense of satisfaction, and finally a new desire for something that replaces the previous object.
For example, for trivial it might be, the invention of the mobile phone is a revolutionary step in the postmodern technological wave that changed the way in which people live all over the world, affecting social customs and cultural conventions, as well as economic and political practices. At the same time, however, it has opened the door to a mechanism of alienation and self-destruction that probably was not foreseen when the first models were introduced to the market. Indeed, we are obsessed with mobile! Although this technology is supposed to bring people together through a global net of communication, it often drives them apart as norms such as etiquette and genuine conversation are ignored in favor of a more digital approach to social conventions. That is why recently it has become a fashion to ask the first person who reaches for his or her phone during a meal to pay for the bill.
In my experience, buying something is always tempting, and this temptation takes the form of clothes for me. The obvious benefits is that I can enjoy and display something new and beautiful, receive compliments from other people, have a confirmation of my sense of fashion and enhance my self-esteem. The equally obvious costs literally weigh on my wallet and reflect in a wardrobe that after a certain period of time I just want to replace, and figuratively traduce into a constant stress for the money I dissipate and the urgency of finding new storage in an already cluttered closet. There is a real disease termed “oniomania” for those who have the uncontrollable and compulsive desire to shop, a clinical addiction that might have disastrous results in one’s private life.
In an article entitled “Addition to Shopping Becomes a Serious Mental Disorder,” psychologist Nadezhda Yugrina claims that “shopping addiction resembles drug, gambling or alcoholic addiction. One should look for its reasons in the childhood of every particular individual. As a rule, such people suffered from the shortage of human care and tenderness when children. A person can grow in a normal family and receive good education, but experience a strong need in love. When such people grow up, they can find attention in various stores.” The first symptoms of shopping disorder were identified in the 1990s. This mental disorder is common mostly with women. “Researchers found out that about twenty percent of German women acknowledge their insuperable desire to buy something all the time. The addiction has conquered 40 percent of American women, whereas 52 percent of British females said they found shopping a lot more enjoyable than sex.”
In this case, people use things as a compensation and a form of extended self. To the disease of oniomania, it has been dedicated a movie called “I Love Shopping” in which the female protagonist has the uncontainable urge to buy clothes. Despite the happy ending, the movie clearly shows the costs of wanting things. The same addiction can be found in other female figures on the screen: Rachel Green from “Friends, ”Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex and the City,” Caroline Channing from “2 Broke Girls,” and so on.
In conclusion, there are many benefits and costs for wanting things. Although the reason why people desire material things changed in the course of history, there is still a strong connection between humans and the artifacts they produce, and it is a psychological, cultural, and social connection in nature. However, I believe that the costs of human desire are often superior to the benefits as we sometimes fall in a vicious circle in which we constantly desire things that we don’t need without ever reaching a complete and enduring satisfaction.
After reading all these interesting blog post and really asked to consider the idea’s behind the writers. I find that each individual look at consumption and fetish with consumption, and the connection with object from different experiences, and backgrounds totally different. However, ultimately has the same conclusion. In Sneezy article he poses a very interesting point. He made a statement “Food is good, we need to consume to survive”. However, I have a different aspect on it. I agree we need food to survive. But what I do think is that modern Americans are spoiled and totally abuse the idea, and confuse obsession and necessity. I think American is obsessed with having what they want, when they want, not particularly with food. I just feel like they’re so accustomed to having thing whenever they want. A great example is this image sneezy posted, it’s clear that this man do not need this to survive or even satisfy his hunger.
Similarly in Daniels blog post, I’ve noticed the connection to Sneezy post. In Daniel post he talks about the need to be part of the modern word. In my experiences people are indulging in the world of social media because it’s a reflection of who they are, a senses of wanting to belong. I agree in breathes a sense of loneliness because social media and technology alienates and causes loneliness. On the surface it appears that it connects people. However, in my experience I have observed people in the same room not communicating with each other, but on social media. People are no longer communicating on an intimate level.
People have the desire and want for thing according to the influences of modern America, However, it does the change the fact that individuals connect to things according to their needs of society it determine the object of significance. Like the idea of baby wearing, in certain society it was used and relied on to cope and survive.
Throughout this course, our Expository writing class learned objects are ingrained and intertwined with all aspects of our lives. From functionality to pleasure, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. This age old saying shows how some objects and its consumptions proves beneficial for mankind, while other objects may prove detrimental. This line can be determined through examining the functionality of the object. Unfortunately this line is not always clear and with objects lingering on both sides of the spectrum. Objects such as medical equipment like needles, anesthetic, life-support systems, and diagnostic equipment such as x-ray machines, CT and PET scanners provides intricate information for diagnosing and saving lives everyday. Phones and car make the transportation of good, people, information and services simpler than ever. Yet what happens when those same needles and anesthetic are being consumed by a drug addict? How frequently do we hear in contemporary society smart phones are ruining social norms and daily interaction, that we concern ourselves more with technologies than our surroundings? Does the convenience of a car outweigh the amount of deaths it produces each year? Or justify the consequences of pollutions it produces each day? Consumption of objects of whether beneficial and detrimental remains contingent on what individuals use said object for. When Lakisha Rose discusses baby carriers in her post The Culture of Baby Wearing, the functionality of the device proves beneficial for both the mother and her child. But as Lakiesha describes the baby carrier, the convenience for carrying a child is not the only significant factor but primarily the connection it develops between the mother and child.She states However, I learned that this object help build a connection to with mother. The reason is obvious; mothers are carrying babies 90% of the day. Throughout the semester we have been learning about the relationship between object and writing, objects and people. Also the way object make us feel. The object’s functionality is not limited to the actual service it may provide us, but also emotions, memories, and experiences associated with said object. One one of the most significant purchases in my life remains the day I paid for my kid brother’s baseball season. Paying for his season costed me over five hundred dollars. Spending this cash meant at the time meant I would be limited to having no extra spending cash the remainder of the month with possible consequences on being late for some bills. Yet the ability of being able to help my parents out when needed, and bringing happiness to my brother outweighed essentially ‘the greater good’ which at the time meant putting priorities societies consider prominent aside for a reason I considered the greater good.
Through this experience I learned personal responsibility and discipline remains crucial for these habits of consumption. WIthout those traits, I would be found living in my mother’s basement. If all I did was ‘consume’ objects, I would have nothing substantial to show for myself except these possessions I own that do not amount to the things society values outside of possessions, such as respectable and moral person, signs of success and contributions to society. Yet again the line remains difficult to determine because without a certain degree of object consumption, businesses would fail, capital would cease to increase, halting development of crucial objects and overall advancement of society. I believe a healthy balance of object consumption is necessary but our contemporary society is still attempting to understand better this relationship. Our dependency to object is dangerous. But hopefully this age of materialism will be the fallacy humans learn from to ebb our dependence on object consumption.
Our overwhelming need for “stuff” is what has led to over-consumption and the exploitation of objects. The obsession many Americans have with acquiring things is what prompted the television show “Hoarders”—a show in which unnecessary items pile up and swallow their consumers; but the consumers are so attached to these objects or the purchasing and owning of these objects they just can’t seem to let them go.
The Horrors of Hoarding (From “Hoarders)
However, we need things. We really do. Do I need my lace doilies or my rock collection? No, not in the sense that I couldn’t survive without them. But I need things for my own mental stability, personal well-being, and emotional growth. The things which we consume can end up consuming us if were not careful–the ultimate paradox. This overabundance of objects can smother our identities and lead us towards an existence which forces us to sleepwalk through our lives. On the contrary, things can be extremely helpful in our daily lives. Cars make it easier to travel long distances, phones make it easier to communicate over long distances, and clothes are just awesome to have sometimes. The act of consuming is definitely one that requires balancing. For instance, I try not to spend too much time on the computer and more time outside, with no electronic devices on me. That separation of self and object is good for me. I’d like to not rely on my things so much; if the apocalypse comes soon, I’ll need to know how to make a fire and survive off of plants without Google as my aid. A lot of my friends express this mindset that they don’t want anything and can live off the land. They have a profound desire to connect with nature and shun all things material. For example, my friend Alice*name has been changed* is in Costa Rica–I was recently told that there her cell phone and purse had been stolen; her response: “yeah, it’s okay, I guess it’s just a sign from the universe that I don’t need those things.”
However, my friend’s abhorrence with objects doesn’t take into account their cultural significance. For instance Lakeisha says
“Baby wearing wasn’t something special like it is in western cultures, woman worked hard and it was just what they did to cope. Mothers worked hard and didn’t have time to entertain babies. It was used to make life easier, each country in the world use a different type of baby carrier to fit their needs. For example, it depended on the climate, type of work they did. In addition, to the culture and traditional wearing position.”
Objects can benefit us socially and culturally–providing us with insight at foreign lifestyles and linking us to other beings as well as allowing us to become more in touch with who we are.
My daily routine consists of the same pattern.. After turning off alarm at 4:15 A.M. on my iPhone 6, I roll out of my comfortable bed groggily, stumble to the bathroom, hi on hte light and while waiting on the shower to heat up, I grab my Colgate toothbrush and toothpaste and began brushing my teeth. After I clothed myself, I start my car, and while it warms up, I brew myself a cup of coffee, grab a banana and soon I’m out the door. WIthin minutes of waking up, I am totally dependent on objects around me. Without my phone, how would I ever wake up on time? WIthout my shower and toothbrush, how can I ever expect to keep up my hygiene and appear presentable in society? WIthout clothes? UNfortunately society won’t permit me to live as a nudist.
Objects dictate our lives. Living in a materialistic world, one cannot help put only attempt to fight the urge to keep up with the latest fashion, technologies or cars. Everyday, society reminds us what objects are ‘necessary’ for a happy, productive, fulfilling life. Yet in our contemporary society, pushing aside the massive amount of propaganda directed towards consumers, what objects can be deemed truly necessary?
Growing up, my parents never placed significant evidence on materialistic objects. My family and I lived in a modest house, in a modest surbia. My father, a frugal man, would rather save than spend. My mother, an artist, enjoyed creating new out of old. Hene their lack of materialism rubbed on me. When I discovered this project would be based around objects, I felt lost. How can I write about objects when i feel no personal connection or attachment to such things. But once I began this course, with experiments such as the Reflective Free Writing and the Photo Study Project, I discovered I could write well when describing objects I developed a connection with. These connections I developed with objects formed through different reasons. Some objects such as the blacket my grandmother made for my when I was five remains significant to me and only me through the memories and experiences I associated with my blanket. Objects such as currency and my car provide necessary functions that would make everyday living difficult. WIth this newly discovered concept I learned most objects are deemed ‘necessary’ though individualistic prerogative. For some objects like phones or cars, the need or want for an object remains completely subjective. Yet objects like toilet paper, and warmth and shelter are necessary for man’s survival.Objects’ significance is determined through individualistic opinion and also the emphasis a society may place on such objects.
During this project, I primarily employed logos ( by explaining my reasoning), as my rhetorical device. Objects and its condemnation of necessary or not is subjective. Hence I chose to rely on logic and reasoning to convey this. Preference and opinions fall into pathos.I believe if I attempted to use emotion to convey my message concerning objects, it would appear I have an emotional attachment to objects myself ruining my personal ethos. Overall I enjoyed this project. I enjoyed the combination of research and then combining that research with creative writing. I enjoy historical context and by being able to write my opinion with absolute freedom and few restrictions concerning my writing remained a new concept which I enjoyed immensely. My major complaint was the amount of technical issues I had with this project. Entering my own information into the template was simple. But any additions I added to the original template proved troublesome. My primary problem was when I added new rows, the new categories would not adjust the date to accurately fit in the timeline. The car and tree slide belonged further up but manually moving them in the columns still would not change their position. My final technical issue was entering dates. I had many dates before the year one A.D. but the system never allow me to enter B.C. dates rendering my timeline’s dates not as accurate as possible. All in all, other than my frustrating technical issues, I’m proud of my final product.
In their responses for Blog Post #7, Daniel, Sneezy Deezy, Lakisha, and Alex all take up issues related to how we produce ourselves and our culture through the consumption of objects. For example, Daniel muses about how post-modern consumerism may contribute to the construction of an extended, but ultimately alienated self:
Here, I reach the crossroads: Belk and Marx present related, but contrasting points of view- does having enhance or alienate the self? I tend to think it’s a paradox– both things are happening in real time– the multifaceted existential concepts of self (Sartre via Kinneavy) could, at once, be at odds with one another within the individual, creating a sense of an enlarged and alienated self.
Sneezy Deezy explores how desires created by the marketplace may be feeding (pun intended) our unhealthy obsession with food. It’s an obsession unhealthy not only because it might make us physically sick, but also because it may distract us from significant intellectual work:
Do you think that Americans are obsessed with food? If so, where do you think this tendency to place our emotions on our eating habits comes into play? Is this why obesity and other health problems are an issue? Society focuses so strongly on food that people are becoming famous for their eating habits, or their food creations. For instance, The Guy who Survived on Pizza for 25 Years , now has his own documentary and is famous for having a complete obsession with pizza–his fridge is stocked full with the item–he only eats cheese pizza and claims to never eat pizza. Surprisingly, this so-called “Pizza King” is still healthy, according to his doctor, but is his obsession with one food? The main existence of food is to provide sustenance. What else does it provide and is this a beneficial thing or is it detrimental?
Image “Consume” by What What on Flickr.
Where Daniel and Sneezy Deezy take a look at how modern or post-modern consumption practices may be contributing to social alienation and mental and physical deterioration, Lakisha and Alex take an interest in how consumption of objects may actually help us form personal and cultural bonds that sustain individuals and strengthen societies. As Lakisha observes, baby carriers not only make it easier for mothers to return to the labor of everyday life while caring for an infant, they can also promote bonding between mother and child by encouraging physical closeness between them. In thinking about how objects help forge connections between individuals and their culture–as well as between individuals and their families–Alex argues that cultural heritage objects function as aids to remembrance and communication of the cherished social experiences and learning processes from which they emerged.
Image “consume” by Nathan Siemers on Flickr.
Taken together, these four blog posts seem to suggest that, although consumption of objects–food, tools, art, etc.–is essential to human existence, satisfying our need for things can involve costs as well as benefits. What are some of those costs and benefits? How do you balance those costs and benefits in your own habits of consumption? What personal experience have you had that might help to illuminate the risks and rewards of our desire for things?
Carefully read or re-read the posts by Daniel, Sneezy Deezy, Alex, and Lakisha. Use those posts and some of the resources to which they link and cite as a starting point for some careful examination of your own consumption practices. Have you ever had to make a purchasing decision in which convenience or personal preference suggested one course of action, and the “greater good” weighed in favor of another? What is the most significant purchase or use of an object you’ve ever made, and why was it so important? How do you see the costs and benefits discussed in these four posts and their sources playing out in your own consumption practices?
Posting: Group 1
Commenting: Group 2
Category: Wanting Things
In your Blog #8 post, you should do more than offer a list of answers to these questions. Rather, you should frame your post around the description of a central experience or practice from your own life, and an examination of what that experience demonstrates about the relevance of consumption to you as an individual and perhaps culture or society more broadly. Please carefully read and follow the guidelines and posting information for this blog as they’ve been outlined in the Blog Project Description.
My daily routine consists of the same pattern.. After turning off alarm at 4:15 A.M. on my iPhone 6, I roll out of my comfortable bed groggily, stumble to the bathroom, hi on hte light and while waiting on the shower to heat up, I grab my Colgate toothbrush and toothpaste and began brushing my teeth. After I clothed myself, I start my car, and while it warms up, I brew myself a cup of coffee, grab a banana and soon I’m out the door. WIthin minutes of waking up, I am totally dependent on objects around me. Without my phone, how would I ever wake up on time? WIthout my shower and toothbrush, how can I ever expect to keep up my hygiene and appear presentable in society? WIthout clothes? UNfortunately society won’t permit me to live as a nudist.
Objects dictate our lives. Living in a materialistic world, one cannot help put only attempt to fight the urge to keep up with the latest fashion, technologies or cars. Everyday, society reminds us what objects are ‘necessary’ for a happy, productive, fulfilling life. Yet in our contemporary society, pushing aside the massive amount of propaganda directed towards consumers, what objects can be deemed truly necessary?
Growing up, my parents never placed significant evidence on materialistic objects. My family and I lived in a modest house, in a modest surbia. My father, a frugal man, would rather save than spend. My mother, an artist, enjoyed creating new out of old. Hene their lack of materialism rubbed on me. When I discovered this project would be based around objects, I felt lost. How can I write about objects when i feel no personal connection or attachment to such things. But once I began this course, with experiments such as the Reflective Free Writing and the Photo Study Project, I discovered I could write well when describing objects I developed a connection with. These connections I developed with objects formed through different reasons. Some objects such as the blacket my grandmother made for my when I was five remains significant to me and only me through the memories and experiences I associated with my blanket. Objects such as currency and my car provide necessary functions that would make everyday living difficult. WIth this newly discovered concept I learned most objects are deemed ‘necessary’ though individualistic prerogative. For some objects like phones or cars, the need or want for an object remains completely subjective. Yet objects like toilet paper, and warmth and shelter are necessary for man’s survival.Objects’ significance is determined through individualistic opinion and also the emphasis a society may place on such objects.
During this project, I primarily employed logos ( by explaining my reasoning), as my rhetorical device. Objects and its condemnation of necessary or not is subjective. Hence I chose to rely on logic and reasoning to convey this. Preference and opinions fall into pathos.I believe if I attempted to use emotion to convey my message concerning objects, it would appear I have an emotional attachment to objects myself ruining my personal ethos. Overall I enjoyed this project. I enjoyed the combination of research and then combining that research with creative writing. I enjoy historical context and by being able to write my opinion with absolute freedom and few restrictions concerning my writing remained a new concept which I enjoyed immensely. My major complaint was the amount of technical issues I had with this project. Entering my own information into the template was simple. But any additions I added to the original template proved troublesome. My primary problem was when I added new rows, the new categories would not adjust the date to accurately fit in the timeline. The car and tree slide belonged further up but manually moving them in the columns still would not change their position. My final technical issue was entering dates. I had many dates before the year one A.D. but the system never allow me to enter B.C. dates rendering my timeline’s dates not as accurate as possible. All in all, other than my frustrating technical issues, I’m proud of my final product.
Baby carriers have been around for a very long time. Parents dating back to the early 1900s, wore a wide range of long cloths, shawls and scarves to snuggle their babies. In my opinion this was very creative. These items were formed into baby wearing. The idea was to allow their hands to be free by attaching their babies to their body. This allowed mother to do chores around the house. Men also wore them, but for a very long time men worked out in the field doing hard labor. However, as time progressed and women went out to work baby wearing became even more popular.
Baby wearing wasn’t exactly something special it’s just what was done to cope, because mother work so hard, it just wasn’t enough time to stop and cater to baby. In fact many types of traditional carrier are used in developing countries. Baby wearing was considered totally normal, basically a necessity and way of life. Each country or area of the world has a traditional baby carrier according to their culture. For example, Mexican people use the Rebozo, with babies usually on their back. European mothers used a mixture of wrap, pouches and cloth carrier to name a few.
When studying this object it was interesting, this object was used for different reason. It started as a way of managing mother busy life. As equally important this object formed an attachment between mothers and babies. Also, allowing the baby to still have the sense on feeling comfort, basically feeling snuggled as if they were still in their mother’s womb.
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