The following is a selection from the mid-term essay questions which students who took this course previously submitted. Please keep in mind that most of the questions tend to be narrower in scope than the ones which you will encounter on the exam. Also, the essays on the exam will require you to address two authors chosen from a list of four or five. The essay will be worth 75 points.

In thinking through possible answers for these questions in preparation for the midterm, pay particular attention to formulating a clear, interesting, and arguable thesis statement. For more information about thesis statements and some examples, see the writing assignments handout.

The following instructions will appear on the midterm:
"Choose ONE of the following essay questions. After reading the question carefully, sketch a brief outline of your ideas. Your essays should be clear, to the point, and legible. They also need to have a clear thesis statement and to cite evidence from the readings. Each question requires you to discuss TWO of the authors listed. (Note: Items separated by a slash count as one example. You may discuss one or both of those items, but, either way, you will get credit for just one example.)"

1. How do fashion and consumption create a language in which people attempt to say something about themselves? In your answer, discuss the viewpoints of two of the following: Barthes, Neich, Veblen, and Hansen.

2. How would Veblen, Bourdieu, Hebdige, and Barthes each (choose two) attempt to interpret one's class through that particular person's fashion and consumption?

3. In the last century, there has been an increased focus on personal agency in anthropology; that is, what role the individual plays in the development and maintenance of culture. Discuss the role the individual plays in the system of fashion and consumption according to the theories of two of the following five authors: Veblen, Hansen, Hebdige, Neich, and Bourdieu.

4. How does the identity of the consumer reflect in the objects that are consumed? How do two of the authors or cases we have read discuss consumption as a way to portray a certain cultural identity? Choose from the following: Product(RED), Hebdige, Hansen, and Bourdieu.

5. Apply Veblen's notion of conspicuous consumption by women as representing men's status as well as the ways in which fashion is a tool in the battle for social status to Hansen or Hebdige.

6. So far this semester, we've studied about sociological/anthropological versus semiotic approaches to the study of dress. What are the advantages and disadvantages to each approach? What models do you think scholars should use to explore the significance of fashion and consumption? Discuss using two of the following authors: Veblen, Bourdieu, Barthes/Neich/McCracken, Hansen, Hebdige.

7. McCracken argues that language as a metaphor for clothing is no longer accurate, and that "the time has...come to bury this metaphor." Explain why he feels language as a metaphor for clothing no longer works. Would Hansen or Hebdige agree? Why or why not?

8. You are most likely familiar with the saying, "You are what you eat." Can we also say, "You are what you wear"? If so, how, in what ways, and with what significance? What issues of agency and constraint affect how we can use clothing to express identity? Discuss using two of the following authors/topics: Veblen, Fiske/Product(RED), Bourdieu, Barthes/Neich, Hansen, Hebdige

For more information, contact:  aleshkow@holycross.edu