Focus on one of the following two questions,
1. Imagine a continuation of Stephen Cruz’s life in which he gives up his teaching job and returns to the business world. What might his career have been like over the past thirty-five years? How
would you expect Cruz to fare in the business environment today?

2. Compare Stephen Cruz to Gary Soto and Mike Rose (both from last week’s reading) in terms of their attitudes toward education and success. Whose views are closest to your own, and why?
B. “The High Price of Materialism,” by Tim Kasser (short video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGab38pKscw&feature=youtu.be
In your response, please address as many of the questions below as you can: What are your first reactions to the video and to Kasser’s perspective on materialism? How plausible do you find the idea
that consumer culture makes us desire material goods in ways that are ultimately damaging to our personal well-being, our interactions with others, and even the sustainability of the planet? … If
Kasser is right about the negative effect of materialism on personal well-being, why isn’t this phenomenon more widely understood? How can cultural myths about the desirability of money and success
thrive in the face of the negative consequences of materialism?
C. The High Price of Materialism
Respond to one of the two questions below:
1. Using any single “page” of the video as a model, sketch four or five drawings that combine Kasser’s ideas with images from your own life. For example, you may want to illustrate the kinds of
advertising you see, the items you buy, the brands you like, the kind of work you do, and any social or psychological price that you think you are paying for material things. (You will want to take
photos of your drawings and upload them on this forum.)
2. Do you agree with Kasser that the “goods” life is not necessarily the good life? Write a paragraph or two about the relative importance in your own life of material possessions compared to such
other values as social relationships, spirituality, community involvement, or adventure and excitement. Might seeing this video influence the way you value material goods or the way you understand
consumer culture?
D. Making It in America (About Adam Davidson’s essay) attached. Discuss how Adam Davidson’s essay interrogates not only the state of the American manufacturing industry but also the American
mythology of class mobility as he explores what it takes to make it in America.