unit 7 Things; The Throw-Away Society

Unit7Things:TheThrow-AwaySocietyTherearemanythingsthatwewouldthrowawayifwewerenotafraidthatothersmightpickthemup.——OscarWildeThePictureofDorianGrayDiscussionDoyouknowhowtosortgarbageintorecyclablesandnon-recyclables?Doyouthinkitismuchtroubletodistinguishrecyclablefromnon-recyclables?Why?1.Supposesomethinghasgonewrongwithyourwatch,yourMP3,yourcellphone,orwhateverelectronicgadgetyouhave,wouldyoutakethetroubletohaveitrepaired,orwouldyousimplythrowitawayandgetanewone?2.Nowadaysmoreandmoredisposablegoodshavefoundtheirwayintoourlife.Thinkofsomeexamples.Doyouthinkitisawelcometrendofmodern,fast-pacedlife?Ordoyoudisapproveofthisbecauseitcausesagreatwasteofourlimitednaturalresources?TheThesisDefinitionThethesis,themainideaorcontrollingidea,tellswhatyouaretryingtodemonstrateorprove,thatis,whattheessayisallabout.WhatMakesaGoodThesisAgoodthesisshouldbeaclearstatement,makingtransparentnotonlyyourfocusofdiscussion,butalsoyourstandontheissueraised.Anexpositorywriter'smainconcernshouldbetopresentorexplainanideaorideasasclearlyaspossible.Toplacethethesisproperlyisoneofthemanyeffectivewaysthatmayhelpthewriterachievethispurpose.However,thewritermayalsoimpressthereaderwithanideabyrepeatedlystatingit.Toffler'srestatementsofhisideaprovethemselvestobeofgreathelpnotonlyinkeepinghisdiscussioncoherent,butalsoinmakinghisideaemphatic.LocationManytimes,writersofexpositionprefertheirthesestobearrangedatthebeginningsoastosavethereaderguessworkandenablehimtofollowunambiguouslythedirectiontheyareleadinghimupto.Butthereisnotafixedformulaastowheretopositionthethesisinanessay.End-positionaswellasmid-positionisjustascommonaspre-position.EvidencefromTextToffleropenswithanillustration,pointingoutaphenomenonthatexiststodayinhissociety.Hemakeshisideafullyapparentwhenhereacheshisconclusionwherehestates:This[throw-away]mentalityproduces,amongotherthings,asetofradicallyalteredvalueswithrespecttoproperty.Thisarrangementmightseempuzzling,atleastattheverybeginning,astothesensetheauthorintendstomake.However,thereaderissoonguidedontotherighttrackwhenhehasfinishedreadingthefirsttwointroductoryparagraphs,whicharepurposedtopreparehimfortheideatofollow.Inthethirdparagraph,Toffler'sideais,forthefirsttime,directlystated:…thatman'srelationshipswiththingsareincreasinglytemporary.Andthisideaisrepeatedseveraltimesthereafter(forinstance,atthebeginningofPara.7)tillfullyexpressedinhisconcludingparagraph.Therearesomereasonsthatmightaccountforthisdelayofannouncingthethesis.Onereasonmightbethattheideacannotbemadeclearuntilasufficientnumberofillustrationsand/orexplanationsaregiven.Anotherprobablereasonisthattheideawhenpositionedtowardstheendoftheessaymaygainspecialemphasis.Stillanotherreasoncouldbethatthethesisitselfcanbequitecontroversialandsuchadelaymayenablethewritertowinmoreeasilythereader'sagreementwithhisidea.MoreExamplesfromtheTextThepointTofflerisarguingforinthisessayisveryclear:Theaffluentmodernsocietyisbecomingmoreandmoreathrow-awaysocietyandtheunderlyingcause,asstatedinhisownwords,isthatman'srelationshipswiththingsareincreasinglytemporary(SeeendofPara.3).Topresenthisargument,Tofflerusesanexampleinthefirstthreeparagraphsofthistext,theexampleoftheBarbiedoll,whichisobviouslyawell-chosenexampleforitswide-spreadpopularitythroughoutthecountry.Tofurtherdevelophispoint,TofflerprovidesmoreexamplesandillustrationsinPara.7,Para.9,andParas.10-12respectively.Para.7providesalonglistofthrow-awayobjectsfordailyusetoillustratethethrow-awaycultureinwhichtheyoungergenerationareembedded.Para.9givesexamplesofotherindustrializedcountriesinwhichthethrow-awayculturehasbeengraduallyfosteredsincethelate1950s.Paras.10-12givetheexampleoftheintroductionofpaperclothesproductstoshowpeople'spsychologicalneedforthrow-awaythingsandthetrendtomaintainatransientrelationshipbetweenmanandman-madeobjects.InPara.6themethodofcomparisonandcontrastisusedtoshowthedifferencebetweentwogenerationsintheirvaluejudgments.Itisnotjustasimple,superficialdifferenceinbehavior,butitisthebasicdifferencebetweentwovaluesystems,twocontrastingviewsoflife.InPara.9theUnitedStatesandSweden,etc.arecontrastedtoshowhowthelatter,followinginthefootstepsoftheformer,wasgraduallytransformedfromamoretraditionalsocietyintoathrow-awaysocietyinthe1950s–1960s.atwelve-inchplasticteenageraplasticteenagedolltwelveinchestallNotethatinanadjectiveconsistingofanumberandanoun,thenumberandthenounarehyphenated,andwhenthenumberisintheplural,thenounformremainsunchanged,e.g.afive-year-oldchild,aten-daytrip,a200-pagebook.eminentlydress-upableabletobedressedupinaperfect/elegantwaydressupputondifferentclothesorformalclothesdress-upableThesuffix-ableisaddedtodressup,meaningabletobedressedup.Theadjectiveeminentnormallymeansdistinguished,e.g.aneminentstatesman.Theadverbeminentlymeanselegantlyinthiscontext.1.WhatisthefunctionoftheBarbiedollexamplecitedatthebeginningoftheessay?Whyisthisnotanisolatedexample?Itisusedtointroduceandillustratethethesis,whichoccursattheendofthethirdparagraph:man'srelationshipswiththingsarei