Notes on Wasik

Recall that we will review Wasik's text "My Crowd" this upcoming Tuesday. Please reread the article and pay attention to the following notes and questions. These do not need to be answered formally. We will use them to guide our discussion of the text in class.

Also, note that there is a typo on the Rubric for Paper One, which misspells Wasik incorrectly as Watsik. There is no letter "t" in this author's last name.

• What is the concept of deindividuation and how does it apply to groups, mobs, and the loss of individual identity?
• Explain why Wasik chooses the hipster generation as a "mercurial" example of this concept of deindividuation.
• Which MOB was your personal favorite? Why. 
• Explain what the significance is behind Bill's claim that his occupation is within the culture industry.
• Why is boredom a principle trait of mobsters, especially in the media's portrayal of them?
• Describe the social experiments and artistic theories of Stanley Milgram. How are his ideas important to contemporary flash mobs? 
• How and why did the flash mob "die" when it was co-opted by consumer capitalism?  
• At the heart of Milgram's and Wasik's experiments is the question of conformity, control, and the malleable freedom of human nature. Examine your own sense of conformity. What do you conform to? How and why or why not?

(#2) Let's Argue About Flash Mobs

This assignment will require two developed paragraphs to complete your answer. In the first, argue in favor of flash mobs. That is, identify the "positive" qualities and results of flash mobbing. In the second, argue against flash mobs. That is, identify the "negative" qualities and results of flash mobbing and mobs in general. Each argumentative statement should constitute the topic sentence of these paragraphs.

Vitally, you should employ one distinct pattern of organization, or rhetorical device, in each paragraph. Be sure to head each paragraph with a label that identifies which pattern or device you are using to argue your point. See Hacker's textbook, pages 32-45, for information regarding patterns of organization and rhetorical devices.

Be sure that you include at least one direct reference (i.e., quotation) from one of the course texts in each paragraph. These references should be parenthetically cited according to APA or MLA format and thoroughly explained so as to best support the paragraphs' topic sentences.

Please post your answer to this prompt below as a comment. (Due before class meets on Tue, 2/19)