COMM 390: * Revised semester reading assignments * IMPORTANT * / Do not pass 'Go'; do not turn in your "Get Out of Jail" card / READ! READ!! READ!!!

PLEASE MAKE NOTE OF THESE REVISIONS AND LET YOUR CLASSMATES KNOW ABOUT THEM. THEY REPLACE THE READINGS IN THE SYLLABUS.

As revised, there are two reading assignments. They are:

1. Arthur Asa Berger, "Ads, Fads, & Consumer Culture: Advertising's Impact on American Character and Society." Read as much as you can, as fast as you can and finish it as soon as you can.

Then:

2. Jean Kilbourne, "Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel." Read as much as you can, as fast as you can and finish it as soon as you can.

The books are fairly straightforward, and you should be able to read them pretty quickly. For advice on reading strategies, see a 2001 handout on strategic reading from Dartmouth College. It's called "Six Reading Myths," and I can practically guarantee you it will teach you things you didn't know before about reading. I have a Ph.D. in English, and it totally changed the way I read for my work. I can't recommend it highly enough. I am very serious about this.

Reason for the new schedule of assignments: When I got home this afternoon and started reading ahead for Wednesday's class, I realized my original schedule of assignments was ping-ponging you back and forth betwee Berger's book and Kilbourne's. The new schedule will give you an overall context from Berger, and a more narrow focus on gender roles and what society might do that would be less corrosive of women, men and families than some of the present stereotypes we see in advertising.