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This Week

Sophomores
Your homework over the weekend was to read ch1-4. Tonight, please fill out the character log on p17 (or make your own) with details from the chapters. Questions #1-5 on p18-19 of the STUDY GUIDE are due Wednesday. Read through ch10 for Thursday.

Seniors
Please read over the following discussion of Baudrillard's theory on culture: "On Simulation." Please bring a list tomorrow of examples of this theory in practice in our everyday lives. In class, I gave you categories of food, beauty, health, and environment. You could of course add entertainment, which we've already discussed quite a lot. Our discussion tomorrow will generate topics to focus on for Thursday, when we will formulate thesis statements and evidence. The essay will be written on Friday in response to the following prompt:
Have we crossed over into Baudrillard's final stage of "simulacra," where "our models for the real have taken over the place of the real in postmodern society," or where the artificial has become preferable to the real? Or do we still value "authenticity" and "real" experience over the artificial?  What are the implications for human society, both positive and negative? Write a 500-word argument answering the above question(s), focusing on a single industry or phenomena.

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