http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USep_tB_5oU
My commercial is by Hyundai, and it's called “All for One”. The commercial
shows a man that is giving up on a new design he is working on, but then people
from all over the company he works at come together to encourage him to try
again.
My working thesis statement is: America has a predominant
individualistic culture, but abandons this culture in favor of collectivism in
the realm of group loyalty. The idea of group loyalty is shown multiple times
in the commercial, for example when the team comes together to encourage one of
it’s members, and when the individual decides to try the design again in order
to stay loyal to his group.
For example,:
One of my sources is looking at culture through the lens of power, or hierarchy. The article says that humans have the basic need to be in a group, so the traits and goals of the individual should reflect the goal of collectivism, such as making self-sacrifices in order to keep strong relationships with the group. So, in the commercial, the man’s decision to try again could be because he thinks it’s the decision he has to make to stay a part of the group, or it could be because he feels pressured by the people who are higher up in the company that are telling him to keep trying.
Another one of my sources said that individualists stay in groups as long as the benefits of being in the
group outweigh the costs and commitment to the group. It said that they leave
groups to find new relationships as their personal goals change. The man in the commercial that is
encouraged to try again might be trying again was because his relationship with
the company is beneficial to him right now, so the benefit of keeping his job
outweighed the cost of trying again.
Please let me know what aspects of my argument or thesis statement I should work on, and if there are any additional pieces of information you think I should look up to make my argument stronger. Thank you very much for taking the time to comment!
-Melissa
Melissa! Great job on your presentation! One thought that you may be able to use in your paper is comparing the collectivism in American culture to another culture. You could also research to see if American culture has always rallied around the idea of collectivism or if it is a somewhat new idea.
ReplyDeleteMelissa you did an amazing job on your presentation and posting your topic on this blog! One thing that you could look at is whether collectivism has been here for many years or are many people starting to rely on this. Another thing you could look is at the statistics on whether more people are collectivism or individualism or rather (being as a team to being solo).
ReplyDeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteYour presentation was the best yet, I can tell that you prepared and understand your topic very well. I think that you could look as a whole how has the American culture changed. Were we always individualistic or did it start during the industrial revolution with the idea of laissez faire.
You could look at the reasons people come together as a group in the first place. For example, many people in the past would form unions so they could stick together. You could look at some of the reasons people form groups in the first place. Very good presentation though.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job in exploring the reason of valuing collectivism in American culture.You could explore the reason from the lens and perspective of philosophy, religon and history. Also, you could explore the reason why American culture despit valuing collctivism still is an individualism culture. That reason might work as a complementary to the topic.
ReplyDeleteim confused on what you mean that american society values individualism but also values collectivism in groups. it seems vague to me in the fact that, technically american society as a whole is already a group. then where is the collectivism?
ReplyDeleteWe have similar commercials and thesis statements Melissa! I feel like you know what you are doing and you already set yourself a clear direction. Talking about ideology can be broad and be careful about that
ReplyDeleteFrom my view, in American culture, only when his or her overall interest is consistent with the collective interest, individual will obey the rule of collective. Otherwise, individual will depart from collective even violate the collective interest.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of exploring where collectivism originated from. Dylan's comment about the industrial revolution as a possible origin was interesting. I think that the idea of collectivism has to be from the need for a group. It is simply because a group is more productive than individuals in certain situations. The industrial revolution could be one of the major points of technological collectivism, but I think it goes back even further than that. It could go back to medieval feudal society or hunter gatherer tribes.
ReplyDeleteGREAT presentation theres not much i can say!!
ReplyDeleteNICE JOB