SHOPPING

For this essay, you will use Malcom Gladwell’s 1996 article, “The Science of Shopping” as the centerpiece of your essay; you will use some of the article’s ideas as “tests” to apply to the real world, and you will think critically about the article to evaluate the extent of its usefulness today, 20 years later. You will need to identify the broad point of Gladwell’s essay, identify a few key points that you will use and apply to real-life shopping experiences, and in your conclusion, explain how applicable you think this article is to shoppers or the retail environment today,

For this essay, you will have some freedom in what you choose to discuss, but I am asking you to practice following a specific structure. Your essay will need to contain:

Introduction (2+¶s)

Short anecdote. This should be a 1-2 paragraph first person narrative of your experience entering one of the stores you choose to talk about in your essay. Describe what it is like to go into this store in an attention-grabbing way—and make sure to mention a few of the physical features of the store you will analyze later, but don’t analyze them here. This intro is only to describe. You will build on and add to this description later.

Intro to the Gladwell article and the ideas you’ll be working with. In another part of your introduction, leading to your body, introduce the reader to Gladwell (who is he?), the article, what it’s about generally, and some of the main ideas/key points from the article you’ll be applying. You’ll need to briefly explain these concepts as well.

Body Paragraphs (2+¶s)

Analysis of shopping experience from anecdote. In your first body paragraph, you’ll analyze the shopping experience you described in your introductory anecdote using the ideas you introduced in “part b” of your introduction; in other words, you’ll present examples from real life and explain how they relate to the article.

Analysis of another shopping experience not from the anecdote. In the second part of your essay body, you’ll continue to analyze trends you see in the real world as related to the article.

Body Paragraphs/Conclusion (2+¶s)

Evaluation of the article or Gladwell’s approach. In your concluding paragraphs, you will need to choose an angle by which to evaluate Gladwell’s article, ultimately answering the question, how much does this article still apply to the shopping environment of 2016? It may not apply at all, apply somewhat, apply very much; in any case you’ll have to decide what you think and explain why you think so.

Return to your anecdote. For the very end of your essay, return to the first person point of view, and to an idea or image or experience from your opening anecdote, and somehow connect it to your evaluation. This essentially is a reflection, a good way to find some significance in your expository writing experience.

As you can see, this is a highly structured approach to writing what may be for you an unusually-structured essay. This structure depends highly on threads of ideas woven throughout as well as transitions between the major and minor parts of the essay.

(continued on reverse)

Other Concerns

MLA Citation Format and Works Cited Section. At the end of your essay, you will need to skip a few lines, put a centered title that says “Works Cited,” and then include a citation for Malcolm Gladwell’s article. We will cover this in class.

Grammar, etc. As with any essay, grammar counts.

Page Length. It’s hard for me to imagine a final draft of this essay being any less than 4 pages.

Formatting. Since I have space, here’s a reminder:

11-12 point font (something professional and readable)

Name, date, class, essay and draft # on the left

Center title (make it a good one, related to your essay’s subject matter and angle)

1” margins all around

Last name and page # on right side in header of each page (exclude the first page if you know how)