Consumerism

1.Whats consumerism ? Consumerism is defined by the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods . Good morning/afternoon fellow classmates , today I’ll be discussing how the powerful images conveyed in Bruce Dawe’s texts Americanized and Abandonment of Autos, and a cartoon by Clay Butler, raise issues and concerns about consumerism. | 2. To start off, Bruce dawe’s text Americanized effectively portrays negative views on consumerism. Dawe uses an extended metaphor which involves a mother and a child symbolizing America and less powerful countries. The significance of using a mother and a child effectively conveys how the less powerful countries constantly need guidance from America. | 3.Throughout the poem, it is shown that the mother has power over the child which represents how America dominates them. This again shows us that the smaller countries cannot look after themselves and are heavily influenced by the American lifestyle. the quote “ today, I’ll let you play with mummy’s things “ portrays how the less powerful countries use American products and that the products are constantly seen as a necessity. Dawe effectively uses the idea that the countries will lose their culture and identity through consumerism. | 4. Another text by Bruce Dawe, ‘Abandonment of Autos’ suggests many ideas about consumerism. The poem is a response to the abandonment of a consumer item, a car. The quote “ It is the urban arab’s farewell to his steed” is used by Dawe to represent a man abandoning his car. The car is personified as the man’s steed which shows that the man treats and values the car well. The significance of this is that it portrays how people value their possessions more than family and friends. | 5.Another quote showing this idea is ‘final affectionate pat’ which shows the man patting the car as if it’s a living thing. Dawe conveys another idea of how people are judged by their possessions in this poem. The quote ‘sharp faced men are forever