The Vibration Of My Pocket

Andrew Leonard's "Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization" argues that the Black Friday shopping spree has begun to get out of hand in the previous years. Leonard explains that consumerism is a great thing for America, but showing Americans that it is okay to go crazy when shopping for deals is not the way to approach the buying markets. He mentions a Target advertisement and states that, "The Crazy Target Lady is not a joke. Watch her cannibalize her gingerbread man, or strategize her reverse psychology shopping techniques... she is America. She might be a lunatic, but it's a culturally approved lunacy" (Leonard 166). The author emphasizes how Americans embrace the acts of the target lady as funny and amusing, but during Black Friday shopping, some shoppers will take the night to the extreme like the advertisement does. He does remind us that there is light at the end of the tunnel, by reporting how shoppers are seeing the problems with the night of crazy shopping. I agree with Leonard that there are problems with Black Friday ads, and that consumers are realizing Black Friday shopping is taking away from Thanksgiving.

Black Friday shopping is a controversial issue in the United States; while many believe the day after Thanksgiving is a part of holiday festivities, others view it as destructive. Throughout “Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization,” Andrew Leonard argues that the chaos of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in which crowds of Americans shop all night for extremely low prices, lessens the sophistication of Americans and the true meaning of the holidays. People become so consumed in the idea of endless sale prices that they forget to embrace what they already have, such as family, food, and shelter. He believes that Black Friday shopping has become out of control and describes the negative effects of excessive consumerism. he explains how most consumers act completely insane while Black Friday shopping and how society encourages this behavior by creating commercials and advertisements. Furthermore, Leonard states that it hurts the economy and damages one’s mental health. While Leonard is probably wrong when he claims that Black Friday shopping is completely troublesome to America’s well-being, he is right that consumerism overpowers the true significance of Thanksgiving.

Dr. Ward, claims the phone “acts as a 'supernormal stimulus’, one that can ‘hijack’ attention.” “Supernormal” describes the phone to be a stimulus that is extremely above the average stimuli. “Hijack” strongly describes how the phone is “controlling us.” For one of the tests done on college students, he finds the results “striking.” By using “striking”, he expresses his shocked reaction. He comments to another test with: “the evidence that out phone can get inside our head so forcefully is unsettling.” He uses “forcefully” to show a strong action for phones having access to our minds. By using strong diction, Nicholas Carr is able to solidify his claim of phones hijacking our

I somehow knew what my aunt would say to me when I answered the ringing phone in my hand. There was an unexplainable, sickening feeling in my abdomen that told me something was wrong. Hesitating, I frantically tried to think of what else it could be before finally clicking “answer.” The cold surface of my phone pressed up to my ear, and my aunt spoke words that I will never forget.

“I thought you were by yourself, because I didn’t see your family. So I got nervous.”

“Well you had this look of depression the whole time we were walking. Just a moment ago you let out a sigh. Is there anything you need to tell us? You know that me, Will, and Anna all care about you.”

“What are you doing here?” She heard her mother hiss angrily, “My husband is not

“Here we are.” She points to several shelves. “I would recommend starting with this one.” She pulls out a book and hands it to Ellie. “When you are ready you can check out as many as you

"She's fine. I was actually talking to my mother, and she told me that Alexis talked about you"

“I forgot! I need to see if Jen is still there so I can ask her out,” he

"Not much" He replied. My mother angled herself peeking around to see what was going on.

“Kaylie, you are not allowed to know just yet, as a precaution. Do you happen to have any other questions?”

"She was in bed when I got home, but when I woke up she wasn't there. She's probably on a run or at the grocery store."

“Let’s forget about the movie. Are you sure no one saw you leave your mother’s house?”

It takes me a minute to realise what Lachlan’s talking about, my phone is vibrating in my pocket again. Its loud, annoying ring tone echoing through the empty stadium. A private caller has been hassling