How does our position in the world shape the way we think about identity, society, and culture?

When we are immersed a specific culture for an extended period of time it changes the way we think about identity, society, and culture. The way companies present their products or services in the media impacts these cultural identities that each person has about their own culture as well other people's culture. American culture is very based upon having material things and having a high status. Many Americans view our culture as the best and supreme to others, eve though this is not the case. For example, McDonaldization explains the crossing of cultures through the famous American fast food industry. McDonald's has successfully moved their business outside the boarders of America and into other countries. Americans have this idea and identity with McDonald's. People see McDonald's as a prosperous example of American ingenuity and a success story in our capitalistic economic system. McDonald's portrays their products and high achievement as ultimate success and the general American society agrees with this. However others do not always see McDonald's as such a great, role model business. Often McDonald's crossing into other cultures can be identified with poor eating habits and spreading Western looks, values, economic practices and use of natural resources. Also the workers of McDonald's will also have a very different view of the company. It is a very labor intensive job that is an hourly paying job. The employees of McDonald's may feel like the working conditions are less than satisfactory or that they do not receive good benefits. The position of someone (for example the worker vs. the consumer) also changes the view of certain aspects of society.

Not a "Scholarly Source"

Whale Wars-http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/

• The website does not have one specific author, it is institutionally affiliated. Animal Planet, which is a television station, supports this section of their whole website.
• There is not a space for open comments, however Whale Wars has a Facebook, Twitter, and email newsletters. Viewers and the public can email Animal Planet, however it is not openly displayed. You have to navigate through the website to find the e-mail link.
• The audience is supposed to be for everyone who watches television, even more specifically people who watch animal planet. Also it is intended for people who are concerned with conservation and working with the environment
• The purpose of Whale Wars is to inform the public about what is really going on with the whaling industry.
• The website clearly only shows one side of the argument. It provides links to some google sites related to whaling and sample Whale War clips. There are also links to Animal Planet's other websites and television shows.
• There are no primary sources. However, the Whale War clips show actual events. The amount of editing is not displayed or suggested.
• It is easy to navigate even though the contact information is hard to find. There is a search engine.

Analyzing Websites

Japan Whaling Association->GOOD SOURCE

http://www.whaling.jp/english/

• This website shows the Japanese's perspective on whaling
• This is the actual website of the JWA, so it can be used as a primary source
• It is a great representation of what the JWA wants to portray to the public and what they want to portray themselves
• Has a portion that provides a Q&A
• This will provide great counterarguments for why whaling should be permitted

Greenpeace International->GOOD SOURCE

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/whaling/

• This shows the American anti-whaling perspective
• This gives information on how whaling harms the environment
• Information on how to contribute to stopping whaling in provided
• Greenpeace is a reliable organization
• Related articles about what is going on in the whaling are provided

Whale Wars: Animal Planet-> BAD SOURCE

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/

• This is a good example of Japanese whaling but it is very biased
• Only shows Japanese whaling, not the whaling habits of other countries
• the show is dramatized and can be edited
• The show is being reviewed only by the TV channel's standards and the company's standards, not exactly what is factual

Sea Shepard->BAD SOURCE

http://www.seashepherd.org/

• This again is dramatized
• May have some good facts, but obviously biased
• Once again only Japanese whaling is being observed
• This is a website about a group who specifically is attacking, so it may warp some facts or neglect to add important information
• Any information that may make whaling seem not as bad will not be presented in the site

Websites are great for finding sources, but there are a lot of drawbacks. Unfortunately websites are often biased, so it is hard to find sites that provided all perspectives. However websites are great to analyze how organizations want to present themselves. Websites usually have links to other related websites that may or may not be useful, but it expands the scope of your research.