Blog Prompts

From time to time I'll post some potential prompts for your blogs. Feel free to ignore them, but if you're having trouble finding something to write about on your blog, these questions might help get you started:

Viewed in the context of Fred Davis's "Blue Jeans" piece, what effect does becoming a fashion trend have on the wristband? Why would Davis say the social cause becomes tainted as soon as it becomes a fashion? Why do we tend to have that kind of a reaction as well?

According to Chuck Klosterman, "In and of itself nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever 'in and of itself.'" How does that statement connect with the semiotic method as it's outlined in Signs of Life in the USA?

Do you buy Klosterman's argument in "Billy Sim"? does the game promote mindless consumerism, or do you side with its creator. What evidence is there to support an argument one way or the other?

If the SUV is associated with the American myth of the frontier what American myth does the growing hybrid trend (as indicated by "Hummer vs. Prius") connect with?

Why do the audition shows for American Idol feature almost exclusively excellent and terrible singers? Where are the thousands of auditions that hover somewhere in between? What American myth might the show be tapping into by featuring only the extremes?