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Since I am a Junior and have not had too much experience, I will provide you with a sample of some essays that I have prepared for previous classes: two papers from History 67, one from English 88, and one from JOMC 140

My first two essays are from a North Carolina History class that I took my Sophomore year. It was a great class that covered North Carolina history since the Civil War. The first essay is on the Southern Farmers Alliance and their struggles during the Reconstruction period. The second one is about the white and black working classes in North Carolina in the early 20th Century.

The Southern Farmers’ Alliance in North Carolina

After Reconstruction in North Carolina, life returned to the way it was before the Civil War. The Southern Democrats once again took over the state government, and they reversed all of the efforts the federal government enacted to help the farming community. In fact, farming became even more difficult. Farmers had to deal with the rise of industry in the state, bad seasons, huge debt, and other catastrophes. To assist the farmers and to help relieve them of their stress, farmers joined in North Carolina to form the Southern Farmers’ Alliance, a group that developed in Texas and quickly spread throughout the South. With their help, the farmers got to promote their issues and rebuild their self-esteem. As a result of the Alliance’s efforts, a fusion between the Republican and Populist parties later developed, and the backbone of North Carolina finally got control of the government, at least for a short while.

The Farmers’ Alliance began in Texas in 1875 to help farmers in the frontier. Acting as a club devoted to "bettering the conditions of the agricultural classes" (7 The Populist Vanguard), it started to tackle the issues with which many members were concerned, such as dealing with stray cattle. Since the land was extremely rural, this alliance was often the only social setting that Texan families had in their lives. It gave them a feeling of community, which could only be felt, elsewhere in the church. But most importantly, the social group developed into a political group. The Alliance did falter at times, but there was always another county in Texas to pick up the Alliance from where it had fallen. Other counties and states heard about the successes and support of the Texas Farmers’ Alliance, so new chapters of the Alliance quickly sprang up throughout North Carolina as well as throughout the entire South to form the Southern Farmers’ Alliance. Besides the fact that the Alliance found many supporting members throughout the South, but they definitely became a political and social force that the rest of the South could not ignore. (3-16 The Populist Vanguard)

The ideas of the Southern Farmers’ Alliance appealed to the farming community in North Carolina. Through the group, they could now have a voice to shout out their hardships and spread their opinions. One Wilson County Allianceman exclaimed "I am an Allianceman and I don’t care if the whole world knows it. I have only been a member of the Alliance one year, and it is the only hope of the laboring classes to ever get any relief again in America" (The Progressive Farmer February 6, 1894). Life for these farmers was extremely difficult. After Reconstruction, a new system of credit came into being, the crop lien system. This system of credit said that one did not fully own one’s land until one had paid off one’s debt, whether it be to a planter or to a merchant. These planters and merchants lent seeds and supplies needed for farming and charged outrageously high interest rates. Therefore, the tenant farmers and yeomen who took out the loans in hopes to soon become independent landowners never fully escaped debt. The newly imposed stock laws also became a burden to North Carolina’s farmers. The new law required all livestock to be fenced in while crops were out in the open. This law reversed the very old tradition, which fenced in the crops while livestock was left to roam free in the neighboring lands to fatten up and get ready for slaughtering. Much debate and controversy resulted from this issue, and the rich planters and landowners succeeded in passing the law. Unfortunately, the majority of farmers all over North Carolina were poor, and the "closing of the open range, the stock law deprived many poor farmers of valuable resources that had always been available to them, and the loss was serious" (189 Many Excellent People).

Many different farming clubs formed before the Southern Farmers’ Alliance reached North Carolina, but finally, the Alliance’s start in North Carolina began with the help of L. L. Polk, the editor of The Progressive Farmer. Through his paper, Polk would announce new chapters of the Alliance and urge communities to start to form one themselves, and "week after week during the following year of the Progressive Farmer happily announced the birth and noted the progress of other clubs in various parts of the state". (248 Radical Protest and Social Structure). He was also able to spread his ideas about agricultural reform and the need to also reform the Department of Agriculture in North Carolina. The paper also tackled and voiced the concerns of many farmers. One issue which farmers supported was the free coinage of silver. The Progressive Farmer gave farmers the chance to speak out on such issues as in the case of one Allianceman who so greatly stated "give us free coinage and the great machinery of the world’s industries will run. Continue this single standard and the stagnation will grow worse" (The Progressive Farmer February 27, 1894). Sooner or later, the already existing clubs eventually joined up with the speedily growing Alliance. Though united under one name, the different chapters of the Alliance were very different in composition. Some Alliance leaders were of the elite and upper classes, while yeomen and poor whites started and headed other chapters.

The rich landowners who headed and formed some of the Alliance chapters which used to be chapters of the North Carolina’s Farmers’ Association. The Association’s main objective was to teach new agricultural techniques to make farmers’ work more efficient. However, only the rich and well-to-do farmers could afford to experiment with these new techniques. Since these efforts failed, mainly because the vast majority of the farmers in the state could not try these new techniques, the Association joined up with the Southern Farmers’ Alliance. The benefit of having the rich involved in the Alliance was their leadership. They were the ones who had previous experience in leadership roles, and they were also the ones who could run for political office and actually have a chance to win. The elite-run clubs were extremely well organized and highly promoted the ideas of education and expansion. (95-96 Radical Protest and Social Structure)

The yeomen had other ideas in mind when forming their own chapters of the Alliance. While they appreciated the elitist’s money and leadership skills, they did not quite agree on some of the main issues and goals. The main reasons for their objections were simply due to the fact that they did not have any money themselves. The elite proposed the idea of establishing an agriculture college, which sounded wonderful and helpful to them, but the yeomen realistically accepted the fact that they could not send their children to these agricultural colleges. Therefore, they did not support them. The elite also wanted to teach farmers the new and amazing agricultural practices discovered throughout the nation. But the yeomen, who had no money and were still in debt to merchants, could not afford to try these practices. Again, the yeomen did not support the wants of the elite Alliance members. So instead of working closely with the North Carolina chapter, they belonged and headed their own local chapters where they could focus on the early Texan issue of the Alliance which was co-op buying and collective action. (250 Radical Protest and Social Structure)

With the help of the Alliance, the farmers succeeded in the idea of collective action. They realized they themselves were not to blame for their hard times, and that by joining together as a group, they could overcome disaster. In order to become independent farmers, they must become dependent on one another to escape the hostile debt traps which merchants and rich landowners laid. And eventually, all sides joined together in order to get the public to hear their voices. The way to do this, was politics:

Unfortunately for the Alliancemen, the Democratic Party did not appear to be very enthusiastic supporters of their causes. Alliancemen were starting to believe "the farmers must be organized on politics if they ever expect any laws for their relief" (The Progressive Farmer April 10, 1894). The Democrats, noticing that these Alliancemen were dissatisfied, stressed the importance of white loyalty to the party, and this issue kept the Alliance from splitting from the Democrats for quite a while. It did not take much, though, to separate the Alliance from the Democratic Party. One of the key conflicts between the Alliance and the Democrats, which also led the Alliance to break away from the Democrats, was over the subtreasury plan. Alliancemen introduced the subtreasury plan to ease the debts of farmers. It "proposed at one stroke to expand the currency and finance farmers’ operations by advancing them money on crop stored in government warehouses. It promised to create from a flexible money supply, end deflation, and open a path of escape from debt and dependency" (244 Many Excellent People). Alliancemen put their hearts into this plan, and Democratic Governor Zebulon B. Vance promised them he would introduce the plan into the state congress. Much to the dismay of the Alliance, Vance did not support the plan; nor did he want Congress to enact the plan, saying, "’ I never gave any one reason to suppose that I would support the Bill, and only introduced it because in courtesy I could no refuse to do so’" (244 Many Excellent People). His actions dashed any hopes of the Democratic Party passing any legislation in favor of the farmers and the Alliance. Therefore, the Alliance and other farmers stepped up and joined with the People’s Party to take matters into their own hands. Allianceman Marion Butler, a former Democrat, said, "’Therefore I take this opportunity of announcing to the public, that as an Allianceman, who loves right better than wrong, who loves principle better than he loves the party of a lifetime, which now has the name only, that I can no longer affiliate with the Democratic Party’" (The Progressive Farmer January 23, 1894). As members of the People’s Party, which later fused with the Republican Party, farmers finally had a say in the North Carolina government, and they finally received legislation which benefited them.

The Southern Farmers’ Alliance provided much needed assistance to the farmers all over the South and especially in North Carolina. Uniting farmers throughout the region, they were able to share their voices with the public. They overcame their problems, despite the class conflicts, to push reform in favor of the farmer. And eventually, they were able to achieve success when they won seats in the legislature during the era of fusion.

Escott, Paul D. Many Excellent People. Chapel Hill: The University of

North Carolina Press, 1985.

McMath, Robert C. Populist Vanguard: A History of the Southern Farmers’

Alliance. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975.

Schwartz, Michael. Radical Protest and Social Structure: The Southern

Farmers’ Alliance and Cotton Tenancy, 1880-1890. New York:

Academic Press, 1976.

The Progressive Farmer. January-April 1894.

The Black and White Working Class of North Carolina

The working class of North Carolina at the beginning of the 20^th Century had to

adjust to increasing movement towards industry. Not only did this divulge from the accustomed agricultural economy, but also, the lifestyles of both the black and white working classes changed dramatically. The 20^th Century emerged with the increase of white mill villages and racially segregated neighborhood, and while both environments formed from completely different ideas and desires, the mill villages and segregated neighborhoods both shared the desire for and stressed the importance of community spirit. Despite the control of either mill owners or, in general, the white community, the spirit of both societies remained strong. It was the relationships among the working class that helped them survive the realities of life.

Booming cities all over the state began to develop racially segregated neighborhood. With increasing populations and the success of industry, businesses could not afford to remain small-scaled. Businesses boomed and grew which formed a business district in many cities. Previously, business owners usually resided in the upper levels of their business, but in the 20^th Century, the larger businesses forced people to move away from the business districts. These people usually settled in areas containing others of similar financial status. Working class neighborhood developed, and with the increase and improvements in transportation method, the very rich could afford to leave the city and reside in suburbs among the other rich, white, and influential people. Those whites who worked mill jobs began to move to the outskirts of the cities to move closer to work. As more and more mill workers moved out to the factories, mill villages began to surround the city limits. Distinct black communities began to form in the larger cities as well. Driven to live in poor housing and low funded areas, the blacks found themselves no longer isolated from one another, but to have instead formed a community. (Class notes February 14^th, 2001)

Restrictions and limited independence were two common themes by which the white working class lived. By 1900, 92% of all NC textile workers lived in factory owned towns. A new type of society, the mill village, emerged onto the social scale of North Carolina. Mill owners established these villages in order to better control their workers and to prevent their workers from easily leaving their mill. They saw that the only way to keep a good and stable supply of workers was to restrict their independence. Cheap housing and factory-provided facilities attracted textile workers come and live in the mill villages, however, "once installed in a company-owned home, families found that they could stay only so long as they supplied the firm with a quota of hands…Those who failed to meet the quota usually had no choice but to accept a smaller house or simply leave" (Like a Family 127). The mill village structure sucked in working class families and left them with no other choice but to work for the mill or to go homeless.

Not only did mill owners provide housing, but they supplied other establishments as well. Owners built and funded any kind of store they deemed necessary, all the schools, and most of the churches in the area. Unfortunately for the promoters of education, the mill village saw a child’s work as a priority over a child’s education. It was common for parents and mill supervisors to pull children from school to go to the factories to work when needed. Parents needed the money that their children brought in, and owners needed the labor supply. As a result, educational opportunities struggled for many mill children. (Like a Family 127-129). Amazingly, mill owners even found a way to control textile workers’ religion. Ministers often followed the advise of manufacturers and preached sermons praising the value of work, and one mill worker easily summoned up the influence of the owners over religion by claiming, "’It’s just in the Bible that people is supposed to make their living by the sweat of their brow. They preached that’" (Like a Family 124-125).

Mill owners smartly set up their factory towns outside of the city so the works would be unable to vote or have any part in a local government. This insured that the manufacturers had complete control in every sense, even politically. The complete domination over the mill villages was very much like the paternal domination of a father over his family. The mill owners praised or scolded mill workers according to their behavior like a father would do to his children. As villages grew larger in the 20^th Century, owners had their own "police force" to watch over the doings of the working class community. There was nothing that the laborers could do without the mill owner’s knowledge. (Class notes February 14^th).

When the Democrats retook control over the North Carolina government, they made sure that they put the blacks in what they felt were their place in society. In fact the race issue helped the Democrats regain control. Even though slavery ended years ago, blacks continued to remain as the lowest of all the social classes. In order to keep the black population in this manner, North Carolina stressed segregation as a major factor in distinguishing the rights of blacks and whites. Segregation was a humiliating and humbling act that constricted the idea of black freedom. It prohibited blacks from seeking out any kind of opportunity, therefore, North Carolina, as well as the rest of the country, severely abused the rights of the black community. And as a result of this, the black community received much fewer benefits than the white community.

Blacks even had problems finding adequate jobs. Few blacks could afford to own their own land, so many were reduced to work as tenant farmers on land that the elite owned. It was even difficult for blacks to find works in mill villages and the booming textile industry:

The comparison of black and white schools was excellent proof of the mistreated black community. In 1920, North Carolina spent about $7.40 on education per white child and only $2.30 on education per black child. (Class notes February 21^st, 2001). The black schools were old, overcrowded, and in much need of repair. One school had 88 children show up for school on average which resulted in many being sent away due to lack of room. (Schooling in the New South 211). Even the educational reforms reflected the white attitude towards their black neighbors. Industrial education was the only type of education offered to the black community because it "promised to cultivate a new sense of self and social place among African American school children, convincing them to accept their subordination as a normal and inevitable fact of life" (Schooling in the New South 182). Most of the courses taught domestic skills to females and provided males with the necessary technical training for them to find a low class job. The idea of providing a truly upper academic education for blacks was not commonly supported.

Though the mill villages and the black neighborhoods were completely different in every way, they did have one thing in common. Despite the restrictions either the white community or the mill owners pressed upon them, both communities were able to unite the people in their society. A strong bond amongst fellow workers grew out of their troubles. In a sense, the mill workers and black workers created their own tiny world which allowed them to deal with the harsh realities of life, and "through kinship, shared work experiences, and a common culture, individual communities were woven together into an elaborate regional fabric" (Like a Family 144).

Families in these communities did not just include immediate relatives, but instead, it extended out to neighbors and friends. Women would help with childbirth, provide new mothers with clothes, and help out families who were sick and needed assistance. Widows and single individuals did not have to deal with their hardships alone, but were quickly accepted among neighboring families. Families would adopt orphaned children despite their already large immediate family. A tight-knit community provided relief for people in this insecure era. Neighborhood formed support groups and provided a source of entertainment that all could enjoy through visits and community activities. (Like a Family 140-146).

Throughout their struggles, the black community remained a strong unit amongst themselves through the help of the church. Churches quickly became the backbone of the black neighborhoods. Not only did they provide assistance to the poor, but they also provided the type of education not found in the black schools. It was in Sunday school classes that children received academic instruction. But most importantly, the churches preached about the importance of uniting as a community instead of remaining as individuals. Alone, the black man was a helpless force, but together, they could be strong. (Class notes February 21^st, 2001)

North Carolina and its citizens had to deal with a new social and urban structure with the increase of mill villages and racially segregated black communities. Both working classes had to deal with limited independence and overbearing bosses, advisors, and social classes. Yet both communities managed to survive and strive through the hard-times by uniting as one in their neighborhoods and mill villages. They formed their own small world to deal with the uncontrollable realities of a very harsh larger world.

Hall, Jacquelyn D. Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton

Mill World. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1987.

Leloudis, James L. Class Lectures. University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill.

Leloudis, James L. Schooling in the New South. Chapel Hill: The

University of North Carolina Press, 1996.

Here is an essay that I wrote for a Southern English class that I took Fall semester of my Junior year. It was a great class to take and the professor was very interesting and energetic. For our essay, we had to compare two short stories in any manner that we want. Take a look and see what I chose to do:

The Introduction of the Stranger in the Southern Town

The introduction of the stranger to the Southern community can bring unrest to the otherwise stable and ordinary rural town. The Southern community relies on the stability and predictability that only consistency provides. In a rural town, everyone knows everyone else’s business, and an outsider is not someone anybody should trust. A stranger to the town can only mean change, which most Southerners despise. Along with the stranger, new ideas and ways of life creep into the everyday lives of the townspeople. However, the stranger can act as the instigator for positive change. The majority rules in the Southern town, and an outsider can give hope to those with less power and influence. The stranger can open doors that others might not have known even existed. Doris Betts’s "The Glory of His Nostrils" and Truman Capote’s "Children on Their Birthdays" both explore the reaction of the Southern community to the introduction of a stranger and how the new arrival affected the lives of the townspeople involved.

When Dr. Benjamin arrives in Richdale, the setting for "The Glory of His Nostrils", the townspeople have a negative reaction. The author describes Dr. Benjamin as a big man, about "six and a half feet tall, black-haired, black-eyed, with a mustache above his mouth which was almost curly" (Betts 124). His large characteristics stick out in this ordinary town. He sticks out to the townspeople as a monster or someone of whom to be wary. The cabdriver and the clerk treat Dr. Benjamin with respect until they find out about his occupation. Having a career as an abortionist adds to the monster-like quality and makes him someone the townspeople should dislike even more. His beliefs counter-balance those of the town, and because of this, the townspeople are afraid to associate or even be friendly with him. Once the clerk finds out what Dr. Benjamin does for a living, he "takes [took] one despairing look around, seeing the room turned into surgery, the lamp relocated, carpet stained, unspeakable things dropped in the wastebaskets" (Betts 126-127). To prove that Dr. Benjamin is even more unwelcome, no one calls him by his first name. The community does not give him the opportunity to develop a first name basis relationship. Immediately upon his arrival in Richdale, the stranger, Dr. Benjamin, is an unwelcome presence in the community.

The South is an extremely religious region of the country, and abortion is not something that Southerners commonly or willingly accept. Not even the Baptist preacher attempts to reach out to this man. When inquired about the strange man in church, all the preacher knows is the man’s last name. Because Dr. Benjamin is a stranger to the South, he cannot understand the strong devotion to religion, and observes the South’s religious patterns in a way that one would observe a separate culture. Going to church for Dr. Benjamin is the same as going to an Aztec ruin and experiencing the culture of the ancient tribes. His fascination and amazement with religion in the South leads the people of Richdale to think that religion might not play such an important role in the rest of the country, and perhaps, they might question the role that religion should play in their own community.

With his entrance into the town, Dr. Benjamin interrupts the lifestyle of the community. But when Dr. Benjamin and Wanda Quincey, the woman who becomes "insane" after the death of her husband, meet, a dramatic change of events ruins the focus of gossip for Richdale. For the past three years, one month, and a week, the people of Richdale have tracked the movements of Mrs. Quincey. A small town thrives on routine and the knowledge of what goes on in everyone’s lives, and this community obsesses over the actions of Mrs. Quincey. She is a part of their everyday conversation and habit, such as who she telephones today or what crazy expression will she say today. After Dr. Benjamin and Wanda meet, she no longer makes her phone calls or follows her daily routines. The people believe that Dr. Benjamin has taken advantage of this poor crazy woman. In their eyes, he has invaded Wanda’s life, and has destroyed her routine. The people conclude that this interruption is a sign of Dr. Benjamin putting Mrs. Quincey in danger. They cannot imagine that his presence in her life could result in anything good since he is a stranger, and even worse, an abortionist.

However, Dr. Benjamin is more of a blessing than a danger for Mrs. Quincey. As personal and close-knit as Southern communities claim to be, it takes a stranger to help Wanda. Her problems and antics are amusing to the townspeople, and as long as she is not threatening to anyone else, the people of Richdale see no need to get involved in her life. Since the time that the community pronounced Wanda as crazy, she has had no visitors and no one to whom she can reach out. Dr. Benjamin notices how she stands out among all the other townspeople, and he is the only one to reach out to her. He observes her differences and wants to help. The death of her husband keeps Wanda in a trap, and Dr. Benjamin provides the escape. She even notices the confinement, claiming, "’I have begun…to fall very slowly into Quincey’s grave’" (Betts 136). However, after she meets Dr. Benjamin, Wanda opens her eyes to a world beyond the death of her husband and the small town of Richdale. She is free to feel the love of another man and is willing to accept the love of Dr. Benjamin. He gives Wanda the therapy she needs and helps her to believe that she is not crazy like the town imagines her.

The townspeople in Capote’s story, "Children on Their Birthdays", have a mixed reaction to Miss Bobbit, the 10 year old newcomer to the town. While adults see her as odd, yet harmless, her female peers view her as a threat. She is seen as an invader into the social structure of the youth of the town. Her good looks and bouncy personality threaten to take the boys’ attention from the town girls. Not one white female her age makes an attempt to get to know Miss Bobbit, and her presence makes "the girls pull[ed] their hair-ribbons nervously, suspiciously, and look[ed] very put out and prune-faced" (Capote 26). The boys do try to introduce themselves to Miss Bobbit, but only because they view her as an unattainable and beautiful object. The fact that no one calls her by her first name also reflects the idea that Miss Bobbit will always remain an outsider.

African Americans in small Southern town lack the freedoms that the whites maintain. White citizens constantly bully blacks and lower their self-esteem. The small town in "Children on Their Birthdays" is no different, and it takes Miss Bobbit to show the town that blacks deserve the respect of the community. When a group of boys start harassing Rosalba Cat, a little black girl, as she walks down the street, Miss Bobbit runs to her rescue and saves Rosalba from this abuse. The white characters’ actions amaze Miss Bobbit who does not see Rosalba as only a black girl, but as a lady. She condemns their actions, saying, "It is a well-known fact that gentlemen are put on the face of this earth for the protection of ladies." This is probably the first time that someone calls Rosalba a lady, yet it is from a stranger and not a member of her community. Normally, the South dislikes its blacks citizens from relaxing on white property, but Miss Bobbit does not allow Mrs. Sawyer, the woman from whom she and her mother rents rooms, to turn Rosalba away from the porch. Mrs. Sawyer can do nothing but tolerate this new practice because "Miss Bobbit has [had] a certain magic" (Capote 30).

Another thing that keeps the community from accepting Miss Bobbit, at first, are her views on religion. Because religion remains an important part of a Southerner’s life, the community feels obligated to attend church, whether they want to or not. Miss Bobbit breaks away from the norm and refuses to attend, claiming, "the way to tame the Devil is not to go down there to church and listen to what a sinful mean fool he is" (Capote 31). She believes that she is confident enough in her relationship with God, as well as the Devil, to not use church as a means of proof. Instead of fearing the Devil, Miss Bobbit understands him. And with this understanding of his character, she can even manipulate the Devil into helping her escape this town.

With the arrival of Manny Fox, the con artist, Miss Bobbit switches from the role of a stranger to the role of a community member. Manny Fox becomes the newcomer, and he is the one to watch and question. The focus shifts from Miss Bobbit’s odd behavior to what he plans to do in the town. Miss Bobbit prevents Manny Fox from conning the community, making him fulfill his promise to the townspeople, thus strengthening her membership in society. Her actions also open the community to a world far beyond their small town. Her ability to accomplish her goals and dreams inspire others to believe that they encompass the ability to live past their own expectations. She does not let anything prevent her from going after what she feels she deserves.

Overall, the introduction of the stranger in the Southern community affects the lives of its respective townspeople. Though he or she faces resistance upon arrival, it is up to society to decide whether or not the town will accept the stranger as a member of the community. In Betts’s "The Glory of His Nostrils", the town of Richdale shuns Dr. Benjamin and condemns his behavior before he has the chance of gaining widespread approval. In opposition to this point, the town in Truman Capote’s short story, "Children on Their Birthdays", welcomes Miss Bobbit, although, this occurs after the arrival of the corrupt Manny Fox. Whether the stranger is a little girl or an abortionist, good or bad, the impact that a stranger has on a quiet Southern town leaves a lasting impression.

The last essay is one that I wrote for Issues in Mass Media. This was such an amazing course and the professor was so great. I really enjoyed this classes and we covered all sorts of topics from stereotypes to political cartoons. I definitely recommend this class to someone who needs to take a craft course in the Journalism school. But here is a warning....it is very difficult! For this essay, I chose to write about the effects of advertising on teenage girls. I looked at Cosmo Girl! and wrote about how the advertisements as well as the text could influence teenage behavior.

The Effect of Cosmo Girl! on the socialization of teenage girls

According to Croteau and Hoynes, "socialization is the process whereby we learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our culture and…develop a sense of self" (Croteau 14). Media products play a significant role in the socialization of American youth and also know of their power in the evolution of social structure. They seek the insecurities and instability often found in the average teenage girl and use their influence to make a huge profit out of one of the largest target markets in America. Teenagers turn to these magazines to figure out their role in today’s society. If one looks at both ad and copy, girls believe that they must dress a certain way, wear the right kind of makeup, and must be in a heterosexual relationship in order for mainstream society to accept them.

By taking a look at Cosmo Girl!, one may see the type of influence teen magazines have over the average teenage female As parents remind their children that it is good to behave, magazines use the same idea in their ads and copy to remind teenage girls that it is good, for example, to be thin and popular. What Cosmo Girl! shows in its magazine are the types of things which teens try to emulate. Most of the ads in Cosmo Girl! show thin and white girls surrounded by boys and friends. The articles on the cover of the magazine deal with teenage crushes and makeup, and there is even a quiz that will girls if they are boring. (Cosmo Girl!, September 2001) This magazine is a very powerful teacher to today’s teenage girls.

The editorial page (page 34) of the magazine sends a very important message to its readers. The editorialist claims "there is no reason for us to be anything but ourselves, you know? I guess that’s where true confidence comes from" (Cosmo Girl! 34). This is a great lesson for all girls to follow, but the magazine article and ads do not promote individuality and inner-beauty unless it is the kind of individuality that the rest of America accepts. The writers know that most girls would rather fit in with the popular crowd in school than rejoice in their individuality. The social structure for today’s teens is for them to hide any abnormalities and to reject those who are different. Outside beauty is what girls work so hard to achieve; not inner-beauty. With this knowledge, those in the teen magazine business concentrate on anything that will create more profit. The editorial even plugs in the fashion store Old Navy, who happens to have its own advertisement later on in the magazine, although the store is irrelevant to the article. The repetitious articles about beauty and fashion, and its focus on outside appearances do not relate to Cosmo Girl!’s celebration of individuality it claims to have in the editorial.

As I observed the rest of the 224 page magazine, I found 71 articles, some of which took up two pages. Of these 71 articles, 37 related to beauty and health, 20 related to fashion, and the rest related to entertainment and other. There were 34 ads with attractive, white teenagers and young adults, while there were only 7 with black models and only one with another race. None of the ads showed any person who might have been slightly overweight. The articles in the magazine focus on relationships, fashion, and style. The majority of the articles also contain what the editors of the magazine say are the best makeup and clothing articles to buy, how much they cost, and where to find them. Cosmo Girl! definitely lacks the exceptional and outstanding articles written to improve a teenager’s life, and these statistics do not help Cosmo Girl!’s focus on self-love and inner-beauty.

Sexuality is a common theme that teenage advertisers focus on in their ads. Girls often wish to act older than their age and turn to these magazine ads which often provide models for them to copy. In Cosmo Girl! I count ten ads which I believe to contain extremely provocative and sexual images. One of these such ads, on page 55, contains a beautiful white woman wearing a very short skirt with her legs spread apart and a shirt that is halfway unbuttoned. It was an advertisement for Hotkiss, a clothing brand, and one might not be able to tell what Hotkiss was until one looked it up on the Internet. This company is telling their teenage viewers that if they buy their clothes, they will have the same sexual confidence and power that this woman in the ad possesses. This is not a message that parents would want their teenage daughter to absorb.

Continuing with the sexually provocating theme, Caboodles placed an ad a couple of pages later (page 80). Caboodles, which sells accessories designed for the teenage market, has an ad with two teenage girls out having fun late at night. However, all that the audience can see is the shiny, glitter-covered arms and legs of these teenagers with a very excited senior citizen watching them while his wife gives him a disapproving look. Only in the bottom corner does one see what the company is trying to sell. It is what appears to be a perfume bottle of some sort with the Caboodles logo. Outside appearances are extremely important to the average teenager. Girls will do whatever it takes to look beautiful. A teenage girl gets the idea from this ad that their main objective is to be attractive to all men of all ages whether the men are married or not. The Caboodles company’s ad portrays an adulterous theme in its advertising which is not healthy in the socialization process of teenage girls.

One excellent advertiser is Philip Morris (page 103 and 104) who tries to prevent American youth from smoking cigarettes. However, the ad does not focus on the fact that smoking is unhealthy and may cause health problems. Instead, it tells its readers that smoking is not cool and will make you smell bad. Philip Morris knows that a popularity is very important to teenage girls, and they felt that if they portrayed smoking as something that is not cool, then there message to not smoke would come across to more kids. The choice to make smoking seem unpopular and not stress its unhealthy effects plays on the fact that teenagers commonly think that they are invincible to health problems and therefore do not think cigarettes will harm them. But if a teenage girl goes to school and sees the popular crowd at school smoking cigarettes, the idea of smoking as the unpopular thing to do will then be useless. The key issue of smoking-related health risks would not register with the girl because they are not stressed in the ad and will not play a factor in her decision to smoke.

Teen magazines affect the socialization process of today’s teenagers. The magazines realize that teenage girls strive to achieve popularity and use this fact to influence one of the largest target markets in America. Teenagers are interested in relationships, fashion, and entertainment, and those topics compose the majority of what one will find in most teen magazines. Magazines are a business and utilize society’s expected role of a typical teen to make a profit.

Cosmo Girl!. September 2001.

Croteau, D and W. Hoynes. Media/Society: Industries, Images,

And Audiences. London: Pine Forge Press, 2000.

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