Who Invented the Sony PlayStation

The Sony PlayStation was the first video game console to sell over 100 million units. So how did Sony Interactive Entertainment manage to score a home run on its first foray into the video game market? Sony and Nintendo The history of the PlayStation begins in 1988 as  Sony and Nintendo were working together to develop the Super Disc. Nintendo was dominating computer gaming at that time. Sony had not yet entered the home video game market, but they were eager to make a move. By teaming with the market leader, they believed they had a good chance for success. The Super Disc The Super Disc was going to be a CD-ROM attachment intended as part of Nintendos soon to be released Super Nintendo game.  However, Sony and Nintendo parted ways business-wise as Nintendo decided to use Philips as a partner instead. The Super Disc was never introduced or used by Nintendo. In 1991, Sony introduced a modified version of the Super Disk as part of their new game console: the Sony PlayStation. Research and development for the PlayStation had begun in 1990 and was headed by Sony engineer Ken Kutaragi. It was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1991, but the next day Nintendo announced they were going to use Philips instead. Kutaragi would be tasked with further developing the PlayStation to beat Nintendo. A Multi-Media and Multi-Purpose Entertainment Unit Only 200 models of the first PlayStation (that could play Super Nintendo game cartridges) were ever manufactured by Sony. The original PlayStation was designed as a multi-media and multi-purpose entertainment unit. Besides being able to play Super Nintendo games, the PlayStation could play audio CDs and could read CDs with computer and video information. However, these prototypes were scrapped. Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Kutaragi developed games in a 3D polygon graphics format.  Not everyone at Sony approved of the PlayStation project  and it was shifted to Sony Music in 1992, which was a separate entity. They further spun off to form Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SCEI) in 1993. The new company attracted developers and partners that included Electronic Arts and Namco, who were excited about the 3D-capable, CD-ROM based console. It was easier and cheaper to manufacture CD-ROMs compared with the cartridges used by Nintendo. Released in 1994 In 1994, the new PlayStation X (PSX) was released and was no longer compatible with Nintendo game cartridges and only played CD-ROM based games. This was a smart move that soon made PlayStations the bestselling game console. The console was a slim, gray unit and the PSX joypad allowed far more control than the controllers of the Sega Saturn competitor. It sold more than 300,000 units in the first month of sales in Japan. Introduced to the United States in 1995 The PlayStation was introduced to the United States at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles in May  1995. They pre-sold over 100,000 units by Septembers US launch. Within a year, they had sold almost two million units in the United States and over seven million worldwide. They reached the milestone of 100 million units by the end of 2003.

Rhetorical Analysis Analysis Of Ekburg.ru s...

In order to have an interesting essay it is important to grab the attention of the audience. This semester I learned that audiences determine lots of parts an essay has. Mainly, rhetorical strategies are the easiest ways to grab the attention of audiences. Pathos, ethos, and logos are all strategies that appeal to different groups of people and different kinds of subjects. For example, in my essay Image Analysis of EKBURG.RU’s Advertisement â€Å"Think of Both Sides† I target my audience with appeals. Pathos is my main appeal. I hope to analyze the image, but also help the audience understand the deep meaning in this advertisement. I use a picture and facts to appeal to the emotions of the audience and grab their attention. My audience is targeted to people driving over the holiday and anyone with a child because that is the main focus of the analyzed ad. I also wrote in a very serious manner because this is a serious subject. Clearly, this audience is of an older age t o understand the meaning of my essay. Throughout my essays this semester I stick to a purpose and have always learned to direct my attention back to that purpose. In order to write with a purpose my purpose must be clear and explained throughout my essay. One way I make sure my purpose is clear is through a thesis sentence. I have learned how to properly create a thesis sentence through this course and to explain my thesis through steps in each paragraph, then sum it up at the end with a conclusion. For example, in

Consumer Behaviour - Holiday Decision Making Process

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR: HOLIDAY DECISION MAKING PROCESS SUMMARY: Decisions are omnipresent in the daily lives of human beings. Being tireless decision makers, it stands to reason then that we understand the forces that drive decision making. The following report seeks to critically evaluate the long-held traditional ‘rational problem- solving and cognitive model’ of the consumer decision making process against the background of the holiday decision making patterns of the modern consumer. The one striking aspect of all the theories thus far was the portrayal of the consumer as a logical, rational decision maker who made complex choices based on reason, rational thinking and minimal risk-taking. The five cognitive stages that a consumer goes†¦show more content†¦The model places due importance on the notion of goal-attainment as a vital component of consumer behaviour (Schiffman, Kanuk and Hansen, 2007). The cognitive paradigm represents the ‘problem-solving, rational consumer’ and, to a lesser degree, the emotional consumer. It describes the process of various steps leading to the culmination, i.e, making a purchase. Most consumer behaviour models are based around this premise (Nicosia, 1966; Engel et al, 1973). However, several fundamental flaws were discovered in this theory. The most glaring one was the assumption that choices were knowledge-based and therefore the environment around the chooser was not taken into consideration. Behaviors, whether pertaining to work, pleasure or those of a discretionary nature tend to reflect causal historical explanations rather than rational ones. (Decrop, 2006) Moreover, on further observation, actual decisions are seen to be more spontaneous and less deliberate than the cognitive theory suggests. The spotlight shifted from the idea of pre-eminent rationality to the usage of subconscious ‘heuristics’ or short-cut decision rules. It is interesting to note that the process of holiday decision making is predominantly dynamic in nature. It is not marked by fixed sequential stages or an abrupt end once decisions are taken. Decisions are based on several attributes (landscape, climate, amenities etc.). However,Show MoreRelatedConsumer Behaviour : Holiday Decision Making Process2191 Words   |  9 Pagessolving, cognitive model’ of consumer decision making process, in light of the arguments given in the case study: ‘Holiday decision-making: an adaptable and opportunistic ongoing process.’ Every day, each one of us makes various decisions regarding different aspects of our daily routine. To be able to make these decisions, we need to be able to have alternatives. These decisions, however, are made after doing some degree of information search but not all consumer decision-making situations receive orRead MoreConsumer Behaviour Essay1310 Words   |  6 PagesCase Study: Consumer behaviour and holidays In this assignment I will be analysing the following; a case study presented on how holiday decision making varies from the traditional problem-solving model of consumer decision making. Q1 By analysing the traditional problem-solving of consumer decision making you can grasp that the market of holiday makers is more complex. The traditional method follows the concept that the consumers desire or needs creates a problem within the individual, which leadsRead MoreFactors That Affect The Holiday Choice Has Evolved Over The Ages Of Ages1090 Words   |  5 Pagesexperienced tourists between the ages of 8-12, are increasingly becoming a major influence behind family holidays. This age group have usually taken a number of holidays and have visited many different destinations across the globe. As outlined earlier Argyle (1996) makes reference to how a number of factors, age being one of them, have an effect on the holiday-taking decision-making process. This directly links to how tweens are generally now more cultured and have experienced more of life comparedRead MoreFactors That Affect The Holiday Taking Decision Making Process1318 Words   |  6 Pages Who makes the decisions in the family holiday-taking decision-making process? Critically evaluate this question by means of a detailed literature review. The purpose of this essay is to explore and document the different influences that can impact the holiday-taking decision-making process, particularly looking at the role of tweens and their voice regarding the role they play in up-front vacation decision-making. Also this essay will be looking at the role spouses play, howRead MoreA Report Of Buyer Behavior : The Consumer Decision Making Process882 Words   |  4 PagesBuyer Behaviour: The Consumer Decision-Making Process as it relates to purchasing a rental service in the classic car industry. Section 1: Introduction (about 150 – 200 words) The study of consumer behaviour examines consumer’s methods of purchasing and divestment of possessions, labour, concepts or knowledge by people, associations and companies to fulfil their necessities and desires (Keller Kotler , 2011). This is significant to marketers because with a good knowledge base about consumers theyRead MoreThe Case Household Appliance And Perfumes1336 Words   |  6 Pages The typical decision making process and that well-structured with the five processes is based on a special purposeful search by the customer. Once the problem has been recognized, customers need to acquire adequate information to resolve it. Information search is the process by customer surveys their environment for appropriate data to make a reasonable decision. The search process that consumer might follow for products category like in this case household appliance and perfumes, is differentRead MoreExplain Why It Is Important for Marketers to Understand the Consumer Decision Making Process918 Words   |  4 PagesConsumers are the centre of many marketers work. While the consumer is part of the marketing environment, it is also very important to recognise and understand the more personal and specific influences effecting consumers and the nature of the decision making process they use. Research suggests that customers go through a five-stage decision-making process when making any purchase. This is summarised in the diagram below: Figure 1, This model is important for anyone making marketing decisionsRead MoreFamily Communication Patterns : Mothers And Fathers Communication Style And Children s Influence On Family Decision Making850 Words   |  4 PagesFathers Communication Style and Children s Perceived Influence in Family Decision Making. Journal of International Consumer Marketing. 19 (2), 75-95 Belch, G. E., Belch, M. A., Ceresino, G. (1985) Parental and teenage child influences in family decision making. Journal of Business Research, 13(2), 163-176. Blichfeldt, B. S., Pedersen, B. M., Johansen, A., Hansen, L. (2010) Tweens Tourists: Children and Decision-Making. Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice, 2(1), 1-24. Blood Jr., R. ORead MoreInderstanding Consumer Behaviour Towards Luxury Products14749 Words   |  59 PagesA Report On Understanding Consumer Behaviour towards Luxury Products By Jitesh Sanghvi MMS – 137, Marketing Year 2009-10 K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies Research Understanding Consumer Behaviour towards Luxury Products Understanding Consumer Behaviour Towards Luxury Products By Jitesh A Sanghvi Under the guidance of Mar. Nilesh Talreja Senior Executive Interface Communication ______________ Designation SIMSR, Mumbai K J Somaiya Institute of ManagementRead MoreConsumer Behavior of an International Chinese Student Essay1236 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Consumer behaviour is defined as the behaviour that consumers undertake in seeking, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their personal needs (Nayeem 2012). Different consumer may have different choices in purchase that is dependent on various influences. High involvement purchase sets the best example of engaging in consumer behaviour in various aspects as complex buying behaviour occurs when the consumer is highly involved

Dwight D. Eisenhower free essay sample

Historians often remark on the similarities between the 1950s and the 1920s. Both were prosperous decades, both had economies led by the automobile and construction industries, both had pro-business administrations in Washington, and both seemed marked by a retreat from social reform. Beyond those superficial similarities, the differences are perhaps more informative. By the 1950s, the nation was rapidly becoming more suburban and less rural and urban. Twelve years of depression and five years of war had made the government, industry, and bureaucratic organizations far bigger and more impersonal. Further, the United States had become an activist member of the world community. In the 1950s prosperity at home became not only an end but an instrument to fight the Cold War. OVERVIEW As the introduction makes clear, the automobile and the culture of the highway were in many ways the ties that bound Americans to one another in the 1950s. Automobiles reflected the increasing abundance of the era, with newly designed models being presented yearly, graced in this decade by ever-more-upswept tail fins. The fears of many Americans during the Depression era—that differences of class might lead to social conflict—now gave way to concern that the rise of a consensus among Americans, in support of anticommunism and middle-of-the-road suburban values—might be breeding a suffocating conformity. The Rise of the Suburbs Two factors shaped suburban growth in the postwar era: the baby boom and prosperity. More children created a need for more housing, as well as for other goods and services. Rapid economic growth and government policies like the G. I. Bill made home ownership practical for far more people. Developers like William Levitt used mass production techniques to build housing rapidly at affordable prices. Levittown, begun in 1947, typified the new auto-dependent suburbs. The interstate highway system begun during the period symbolized a continuation of moderate New Deal-style involvement in the economy, in the guise of Eisenhower’s â€Å"modern Republicanism. † And the new highways encouraged suburban growth as the most popular form of housing. As highways paved the exodus to suburbs, cities began to decline. They were unable to provide recent African-American migrants from the South and Hispanics in the Southwest the opportunities that earlier immigrants had found. The Culture of Suburbia The new suburbs blurred class distinctions and celebrated the single-family dwelling, where family rooms and live-in kitchens afforded more space for baby-boom families. The notion of â€Å"civil religion†Ã¢â‚¬â€that civic-minded Americans ought to hold some core of religious belief, regardless of the particular creed—gained in popularity. Public leaders proclaimed religion a weapon in the cold-war struggle against Communism. At the center of this idealized world stood the mother and father of the family. Father, the organization man, worked increasingly in more bureaucratic settings, often for large conglomerate firms. Although more women than ever worked outside the home, the public image of the ideal mother promoted the notion that housework and family provided sufficient outlet for female talent. Though women more often worked and received more education, the social patterns of the decade segregated them more than in earlier eras. Emphasis on exclusive gender roles reflected a larger concern with sexuality. The research of Alfred Kinsey challenged a number of conceptions and taboos about normal sexual behavior. New sexual attitudes were also a consequence of increased leisure time. For most Americans, more free time meant more opportunity to gather in front of the television as the new medium became the center of family entertainment. The Politics of Calm Former General Eisenhower brought a gift for organization and political maneuvering to the White House. Reflecting the politics of the era, he resisted the demands of conservative Republicans to dismantle New Deal programs. He preferred his own brand of modern Republicanism. While initiating a number of modest social welfare programs, he rejected more far-reaching proposals of liberal Democrats to provide large-scale federal housing aid or a universal health care system. In the face of Democratic demands for government activism, Eisenhower maintained a pragmatic approach that led him to support programs like the Interstate Highway Act and the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, neither of which took any funds from general revenues. Still, partisan politics flourished. Issues about corrupt officials and the President’s health dogged the administration. Recessions hurt the Republicans in the Congressional elections of 1954 and 1958. Eisenhower’s personal popularity remained so high, however, that he easily defeated Adlai Stevenson in the 1956 election. The recessions marked temporary downturns in a generally expanding economy. Large multinational and conglomerate firms managed much of the private sector of the economy. Fears of excess concentration of corporate power were balanced by the stabilizing effects of diversity. New technologies such as computers made it easier to manage complex corporate empires. Nationalism in the Age of Superpowers The prosperity of the 1950s at home depended on maintaining a stable international system of markets and resources. Eisenhower shared responsibility for foreign policy with his experienced but somewhat belligerent secretary of state, John Foster Dulles. Under Dulles, U. S. anti-Soviet rhetoric became more confrontational, with an expressed willingness to push to the â€Å"brink† of nuclear war in order to counteract Soviet influence. As many nations worldwide clamored for independence and an end to the old colonial remnants of imperialism, both superpowers competed for the allegiance of former colonies and nonaligned nations. Although the Korean War ended in 1953, regional conflicts in Vietnam, Quemoy and Matsu, Hungary, Guatemala, Iran, and the Middle East all demonstrated how the cold war struggle inflamed international tensions. Often Eisenhower and Dulles supported covert action, as in Iran and Guatemala, when they wanted to topple popular governments that seemed to have a pro-Communist tilt. The death of Stalin eased some cold war tensions. While Eisenhower made moves toward conciliation (the Geneva Summit and his â€Å"Open Skies† proposal), they were offset by renewed rivalry (the U-2 incident, the race into space, Castro’s Cuban revolution). Nationalism, especially in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, posed special problems. A brief war between Egypt and Israel, France, and Britain closed the Suez Canal. A simultaneous uprising in Hungary found the U. S. unprepared to act. To discourage Soviet gains in the Middle East, the administration won approval for the Eisenhower doctrine and briefly sent troops to Lebanon. The launching of the Soviet space satellite Sputnik in 1957 made Americans fear they had lost their edge in defense technology. In his farewell address, Eisenhower warned not to allow such unrealistic fears to lead to over-spending on the military-industrial complex. The Cold War along a New Frontier The roots of social upheaval in the 1960s lay beneath the calm surface of the 1950s. John F. Kennedy opened the new era with his call to â€Å"get the nation moving again. † As a Catholic and playboy son of the wealthy Joseph Kennedy, Jack Kennedy seemed an unlikely presidential candidate. Yet he showed superb organizational skills, laid to rest the religious issue, and bested Richard Nixon in televised debates. For all that, Kennedy won the election by an unprecedentedly narrow margin. As president, Kennedy was not instinctively a liberal. Still, he brought to the White House a crew of pragmatic liberals convinced they could reach â€Å"New Frontiers. That meant practical reforms at home and a more dynamic policy to contain Communism abroad. Kennedy shared with his advisers the belief that they could use power when and where it was needed to get optimal results. The new administration turned its attention abroad to the instabilities of the Third World, hoping to counter them with programs like the Alliance for Progress, the Peace Corps, and â€Å"special forcesâ₠¬  military advisers. Almost immediately, the aborted invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs raised doubts about Kennedy’s judgment. So, too, did his confrontation with Khrushchev in Vienna and the Soviet decision to build a wall in Berlin. Kennedy countered by stepping up aid to South Vietnam. And when intelligence sources discovered in October 1962 that the Soviets had placed offensive missiles in Cuba, the President faced the worst crisis of the nuclear age. Using restraint, he rejected air strikes in favor of a blockade. Privately he offered Soviet Premier Khrushchev a face-saving way out of the crisis. The next year Kennedy negotiated a nuclear test ban treaty, which slightly eased the heated-up Cold War. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students have been given the following topics as learning objectives. After reading the chapter they should be able to: 1. Explain how mass automobility affected American lifestyles in the 1950s. 2. Discuss the impact of organizations and the pressures for conformity on suburban living, for both men and women. 3. Distinguish Eisenhower’s â€Å"modern Republicanism† from both New Deal reformism and Taft conservatism. 4. Compare the Eisenhower-Dulles â€Å"New Look† approach to the Cold War with the concept of containment pursued by Truman and Acheson. . Discuss the Kennedy administration’s application of pragmatic liberalism. 6. Explain how Kennedy’s cold war foreign policy led to crises in Cuba and Vietnam before Soviet-American tensions eased. ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION The chapter opener emphasizes how central the automobile was to society in the 1950s. The impact, however, was different for adolescents than for adults, an issue stu dents will be sensitive to. Students should also be able to distinguish between physical and social mobility, yet see how the two concepts complement each other. Another comparison worth discussing would be between automobile-centered communities and those built around railroad or trolley lines. What was the difference between the massive public works program like the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system and earlier public works projects under the New Deal? In dealing with suburbia, it is useful to compare the traditional value of detached, single-family dwellings—the new suburban ideal—with prevailing urban realities. How did the concept of civil religion suit the needs of suburban life? Central, too, in the 1950s suburb was the tension between vestiges of the nineteenth-century cult of domesticity and the suburban version, reincarnated. Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique is a good source, and an excerpt appears in the Student Study Guide. You can compare the pressures on organization-bound husbands and suburban wives, especially the need for conformity. Dwight Eisenhower seems to have been an ideal President for the 1950s, moderate and reassuring. How did his concept of modern Republicanism satisfy the desire to leave New Deal reformism behind? How did his election serve to moderate anticommunist hysteria? In what ways did Eisenhower fail on this issue and civil rights? You might also emphasize the ways that the media distorted many of these issues. In foreign policy, Eisenhower shared the stage with Dulles. Students should be able to identify the ways in which the two men were similar and different in attitudes and strategies. Most important was their call for an offensive approach to containment (brinkmanship). What do students think of this concept and why did it show such limited results? In the realm of politics, students may understand from the Reagan years the importance of media images in politics. That same awareness can be easily applied to Kennedy and his administration. Richard Goodwin’s Remembering America offers some interesting insights into the inner workings of the Kennedy political organization. Discussion of Kennedy’s success in muting the religious issue can lead students to consider future prospects for women and minority presidential candidates. Most students seem to have a distorted image of Kennedy, usually too positive or, of late, too much informed by gossipy accounts. It is useful therefore to discuss the limitations of pragmatic liberalism as Allen Matusow does in The Unraveling of America. Matusow underscores how cynical some of the Kennedy circle could be. What also should be brought out is that Kennedy, once a supporter of Joseph McCarthy, succeeded in wresting the anticommunist issue from the Republicans. What then, one might ask, was the cost—with possible topics for appraisal including the cold war space and nuclear arms races, the showdown in Cuba, and the commitment to a corrupt government in South Vietnam. The implications of the Cuban missile crisis in bringing the nation to the brink of nuclear annihilation are well elaborated in Graham Allison’s The Essence of Decision. LECTURE STRATEGIES The decade of the 1950s sits squarely between contrasting eras of hardship, turmoil, and change. It followed the Great Depression and World War II, during which consumer goods were scarce, food was rationed or unaffordable, and even marriage and birth rates fell (Generations of the Republic, Part 5: The Modern Family). On the far side of the fifties, civil rights protests, assassinations, the movements of the New Left, and the Counterculture shaped world sharply at odds with the â€Å"placid† decade preceding it. One approach to treating the fifties is to set it firmly in context, so that students see it not as some aberration or backwater calm unrelated to what precedes or follows it, but as a logical part of the century’s pattern of historical development. The abundance of th e fifties is a natural rebound from the constraints of depression and war: the boom in housing, Levittowns, and suburban growth; the boom in babies, education, and the rock ‘n’ roll teen culture. And as we shall see, the sixties, with their expressions of revolt and protest, follow naturally from the culture of abundance, affording students an opportunity to think about goals beyond the mere making of a living, and impelling African Americans and other minorities to seek to share in an abundance that became more widespread during the 1950s. An opening lecture might set the culture of abundance in national and international context; our metaphor for doing that was to see Eisenhower, the man who organized D-Day and a consummate master of the military bureaucracy, as the â€Å"organization man† at the center of political affairs. In an age of superpower confrontation, the ideology of brinkmanship heightened the rhetoric of cold war confrontation (for good material on John Foster Dulles, see Townsend Hoopes’ The Devil and John Foster Dulles), but Eisenhower’s more pragmatic caution lent a moderating brake to Dulles’ hard-line approach. Robert Divine’s Eisenhower and the Cold War provides good background information. One dramatic way to highlight the technological rivalry as well as the political overtones of the superpower confrontation is by focusing on the Sputnik crisis, with good material available in Walter MacDougall’s Heavens and Earth. For the culture of abundance at home, it may be worth expanding in a lecture (or perhaps two) on the dual contrast between the â€Å"Organization Man† in the workplace and the home-making women of the suburbs. For the first, William Whyte’s Organization Man has a test at the end of the book that could be administered to students, designed to show them how to beat the organization. And of course, the â€Å"organization woman† at home—queen of the kitchen, driving the kids to piano lessons, fulfilling herself through motherhood—is vividly described in Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique. For the underlying material culture of the era, Thomas Hine’s Populuxe provides superb illustrations showing, for example, how the parabola influenced both the design of lawn chairs and Chrysler’s â€Å"Forward Look. † There are plenty of visuals here that could be used either on an overhead projector or as slides prepared from the book, illustrating the often delightfully bizarre way this generation expressed abundance through the design of its homes, automobiles, and furniture. Review and Test Questions MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. The chapter introduction uses the automobile as a symbol for the 1950s in order to make the point that: a. culture of mobility developed, featuring abundance and a high degree of movement, especially to the suburbs. b. the variations and yearly changes in car design reflected the diversity and divisions in American life. c. government programs no longer focused on people (as in the New Deal), but on things (as with the Interstate Highway Syste m). d. car-buying adults were more influential than children and their toys in shaping American culture. (pp. 934-936) 2. â€Å"If the 1950s had a symbol,† says your text, â€Å"it was: a. the Bomb. † b. Sputnik. † c. the automobile. † d. the suburban home. † (pp. 934-936) . An earlier chapter pointed out that by 1920, more than half the American population lived in urban places. By 1960, 40 years later, half the population lived in: a. the Sunbelt. b. western states. c. cities of 100,000 or more. d. suburbs. (p. 936) 4. According to the text, all of the following contributed to the explosive growth of suburbs EXCEPT: a. television, which drew Americans toward center cities. b. the baby boom, which created a need for housing. c. the automobile, which made the suburbs accessible. d. the return of prosperity, which made TV, houses, and cars affordable. (p. 936) 5. All of the following help explain the rise of suburbia EXCEPT: a. â€Å"white flight,† which lured rural residents to the glamour and high living standards of metropolitan areas. b. the â€Å"baby boom,† which provided a large number of young families seeking their own houses. c. availability of cheap single-family houses on their own lots. d. availability of a transportation system that allowed commuting to a job elsewhere. (pp. 936-938) 6. Which one of the following was NOT a major social or economic trend of the post-World War II era? a. a booming residential construction industry, especially in suburbia b. ffluence for many Americans who had income to spend on cars and other consumer goods c. a high birth rate d. an uncritical cultural consensus enthusiastically supported by intellectuals and middle-class suburban parents alike (pp. 936-938) 7. The suburban lifestyle flourished in the 1950s, but there were problems, including all EXCEPT: a. pressures toward organiza tional conformity. b. impoverishment of the inner city. c. disruption of the nuclear family. d. anxieties about juvenile delinquency. (pp. 936-940) 8. All of the following factors account for the baby boom EXCEPT: a. the U. S. ad one of the highest marriage rates in the world. b. the U. S. had one of the highest birth rates in the world. c. Americans placed a high value on a woman’s right to choose for herself about childbearing. d. Americans placed a high value on motherhood and larger families. (pp. 936-938) 9. As Henry Ford had been to mass production of automobiles, so William Levitt was to the mass production of: a. ships. b. houses. c. baby products. d. religion. (pp. 942-943) 10. American life in the 1950s has been described—then and since—as a time of â€Å"consensus. † Which of the following evidence supports that blanket judgment? . attitudes toward civil rights b. â€Å"highbrow† and â€Å"middlebrow† comments on mass culture c. t he â€Å"beat† generation d. employee attitudes within large corporate organizations (pp. 940-941) 11. Church membership in the 1950s: a. for the first time in the twentieth century declined to less than half the population. b. for the first time in the twentieth century grew to more than half the population. c. grew steadily in the suburbs but declined sharply in cities and rural areas. d. became irrelevant to the consumer-oriented culture of the suburbs. (pp. 940-941) 12. Religion in the 1950s: . was increasingly seen as unimportant to everyday life. b. was usually a unifying factor in the conformist communities of suburbia. c. was one way Americans in suburbia maintained a sense of identity and community. d. was marked by declining church membership in most faiths. (pp. 940-941) 13. Which stereotype of women was most common in the 1950s? a. independent and career-oriented b. an equal partner in American democracy c. domestic and motherly d. genteel and cultured (p. 944) 14 . Popular design features that marked the houses of suburbia included all EXCEPT: a. imple, formal lines and uniform color schemes. b. picture windows but larger, more private master bedrooms. c. split-level construction. d. live-in kitchens and family rooms. (pp. 942-943) 15. Alfred Kinsey’s famous mid-century research dealt with: a. conformity. b. human sexuality. c. juvenile delinquency. d. business prosperity. (p. 945) 16. Modern Republicanism in practice meant: a. social liberalism. b. fiscal conservatism. c. selective cutbacks in New Deal programs like farm price supports. d. significant hikes in military spending. (pp. 946-948) 17. At the heart of the sustained economic growth of the 1950s were: a. large, diversified conglomerates. b. new high-tech telecommunications and entertainment businesses. c. the construction and agricultural sectors. d. government fiscal measures that prevented recessions. (p. 948) 18. What phrase did President Eisenhower coin to describe the vulnerable neighbors of a country like Vietnam threatened with a communist takeover? a. â€Å"sitting clucks† b. â€Å"at the brink of war† c. â€Å"our firm friends† d. â€Å"a row of dominoes† (p. 953) 19. For corporations in the 1950s, diversification and conglomeration were: a. edges against major recessions. b. keystones of federal economic policies. c. innovations not previously characteristic of American firms. d. ways to avoid becoming involved overseas. (pp. 948-949) 20. Which of the following statements about the domestic policy style of the Eisenhower era is most accurate? a. As president, General Eisenhower w as predictably an activist and decisive leader. b. â€Å"Ike’s† presidency stressed moderation and behind-the-scenes negotiation. c. As a staunch conservative, Eisenhower sought to eliminate as many New Deal welfare state programs as he could get away with. d. Eisenhower used his personal popularity to persuade the Republican-dominated Congress to enact most of his legislative proposals. (pp. 946-948) 21. At the height of the Cold War in the 1950s, all of the following were true EXCEPT: a. The United States tended to rely on nuclear weapons in order to save money. b. The hostility between the U. S. and U. S. S. R. grew more and more intense and uncompromising. c. The two superpowers competed for the allegiance of the newly independent nations of the Third World. d. Unrest, nationalism, and even revolution plagued the countries of the â€Å"Third World. † (pp. 951-953) 22. Which of the following statements about the foreign policies of the Eisenhower era is NOT true? a. In the final stages of the French-Vietnamese war, the United States was subsidizing the costs of the French war effort. b. The CIA orchestrated covert operations in the Middle East and Latin America that toppled governments. c. In 1956, a joint French-British force invaded Egypt after Gamal Nasser seized control of the Suez Canal, but the U. S. sided with Egypt against its NATO allies. d. The summit meeting scheduled for 1960 between Dwight Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev was never held because of the Berlin blockade. (pp. 951-953) 3. The â€Å"new look† in Cold War policy, identified with Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles, proclaimed U. S. commitment to: a. limited war in peripheral areas b. â€Å"summit† negotiations with Soviet leadership c. deterring the Soviets from all-out war by threatening a full nuclear response to any aggressive act d. continuing the Truman admi nistration’s approach to containing communism through primary reliance on our allies (pp. 954-956) 24. In the final stages of the French-Vietnamese war, the United States: a. adopted a policy of strict neutrality. b. was subsidizing the costs of the French war effort. . deployed nuclear weapons in support of the French. d. contributed ground combat troops in support of the French. (p. 953) 25. The dramatic proposal Eisenhower made to the Soviets at the 1955 Geneva Summit was: a. phased disengagement. b. limited deterrence. c. 54-40 or fight. d. open skies. (pp. 955-956) 26. Just before leaving office in 1961, President Eisenhower warned Americans of: a. the growing Russian hostility toward China. b. the dangers of the â€Å"military-industrial complex. † c. the threat from internal communist agents. d. the risks of a â€Å"missile gap. † (p. 958) 27. All of the following offered, directly or implicitly, conscious dissent from the consensus-oriented, organizational culture of the 1950s EXCEPT: a. abstract art. b. rock and roll. c. the TV preachers. d. the beats. (pp. 949-951) 28. All of the following offered, directly or implicitly, conscious dissent from the consensus-oriented, organizational culture of the 1950s EXCEPT: a. Jackson Pollock. b. Jack Kerouac. c. Elvis Presley. d. Marilyn Monroe. (pp. 949-951) 29. In the election of 1960, which of the following were key components in Kennedy’s victory? a. religion b. race c. ethnicity d. all of the above e. none of the above p. 959) 30. The cornerstone of Kennedy’s foreign policy in Latin America was a program known as the: a. Alliance for Progress b. Peace Corps c. NATO d. Voice of America (p. 961) COMPLETION 1. The National Defense Education Act of 1958, passed in response to [the launch of a Russian satellite or Sputnik] authorized federal funding of science and for eign language programs in public schools. 2. The National Defense Highway Act created today’s system of [interstate] highways. 3. Crucial to the increased reliance on the automobile was the creation of this highway system, paid for by taxes on [gasoline (and tires and other auto parts)]. . Consistent with suburbia’s leisure-minded lifestyle was a new household technology that burgeoned in the 1950s: [television]. 5. [Guatemala or Iran] was one of the places where the CIA orchestrated covert operations that toppled the government. 6. When [the French] asked the United States to intervene against the Viet Minh in 1954 in Indochina, President Eisenhower refused the request. IDENTIFICATION QUESTIONS Students should be able to describe the following key terms, concepts, individuals, and places, and explain their significance: Terms and Concepts Interstate Highway Act |civil religion | |organization man |conglomerate | |modern Republicanism |mass automobility | |New Look |br inksmanship | |covert operations |Open Skies | |Eisenhower Doctrine |U-2 |Sputnik |Sunbelt phenomenon | |beatniks |abstract expressionism | Individuals and Places |St. Lawrence Seaway |Billy Graham | |William Whyte |John Foster Dulles | |Jacobo Arbenz Guzman |Nikita Khrushchev | |Beirut, Lebanon |Gary Powers | MAP IDENTIFICATIONS Students have been given the following map exercise: On the map on the following page, label or shade in the following places. In a sentence, note their significance to the chapter. 1. Quemoy 2. Dien Bien Phu 3. South Vietnam 4. Taiwan 5. Hanoi ESSAY QUESTIONS (FACTUAL) 1. Identify three factors that explain suburban growth after World War II. 2. Explain how each of the following affected (or were affected by) the growth of the suburbs: the federal highway system, the film industry, housewives, African Americans. 3. Describe the key features of conglomerates and diversified corporations. 4. What connections were made during the 1950s between popular culture and juvenile delinquency? Why were such connections made and were they convincing, in your opinion? 5. Explain how social class, religion, and ethnicity affected suburban communities. 6. Explain the role of nuclear deterrence and covert operations in Eisenhower’s foreign policy. ESSAY QUESTIONS (INTERPRETIVE) 1. Compare the quality of life in the suburbs with the quality of life either on farms or in cities. 2. What impact did the rise of large organizations have on the American tradition of individualism? 3. Compare and contrast the Eisenhower-Dulles conduct of foreign policy with that of Truman-Acheson. . â€Å"Highbrow† critics condemned the suburban culture of the 1950s and the popular culture of the mass media. What claims did the critics make? What economic and social developments were they reacting to? In your opinion, were the criticisms justified? 5. How did Dulles and Eisenhower counterbalance each other in the making of foreign policy? What were the principal swings of foreign policy during the Eisenhower administration? Critical Thinking EVALUATING EVIDENCE (MAPS) 1. Locate Quemoy and Matsu on the map, â€Å"Asian Trouble Spots† (page 953). Why would they be a point of contention between the Nationalist and Communist Chinese governments? 2. Looking again at the Asian map, explain Eisenhower’s domino theory about Vietnam. What information other than geographic data would you need to evaluate whether or not the theory was valid? 3. Looking again at the map on page 953, what countries, if any, would you say were vital to American security? What makes them vital? EVALUATING EVIDENCE (ILLUSTRATIONS AND CHARTS) 1. In the painting Easter Morning (page 935), how many details of â€Å"ideal† suburban life are shown? What aspect of 1950s culture is Norman Rockwell satirizing? . What underlying message does the photograph of a demonstration fallout shelter (page 957) give about the notion of surviving a nuclear war? In what ways does it convey that message? 3. In the graph, â€Å"Internal Population Movement after World War II† (page 939), what trends are shown to continue after the war? How does that continua tion contribute to an explanation of the â€Å"Sunbelt phenomenon? † To the rise of the civil rights movement? CRITICAL ANALYSIS Students have been asked to read carefully the following excerpt from the text and then answer the questions that follow. The increased willingness to see sexual pleasure as an integral part of marriage received additional attention in 1948, with the publication of an apparently dry scientific study, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Its author, Professor Alfred Kinsey, hardly expected the storm of publicity received by that study or its companion, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). Kinsey began his research career as a zoologist with a zest for classifying data. During the 1940s he had turned to collecting information on sexual behavior. Based on more than 10,000 interviews, Kinsey reached conclusions that were startling for his day. Masturbation and premarital petting, he reported, were widespread. Women did not just endure sex as a wifely duty; they enjoyed it in much the same way as men did. Socioeconomic factors of race, class, ethnicity, and age often dictated sexual preferences. Extramarital sex was common for both husbands and wives. About 10 percent of the population were homosexual. It is difficult in more sexually liberated times to appreciate the impact of Kinsey’s work and the controversy surrounding it. Commentators called his first volume â€Å"the most talked about book of the twentieth century. † Social scientists, with some justice, objected that Kinsey’s sample was too limited. (Most of his subjects were Midwestern, middle class, and well-educated. ) Later studies challenged some of his figures (for example, the percentage of homosexuals in the population). More strident critics of the day charged that Kinsey was a â€Å"menace to society† who would destroy the morals of the nation. Kinsey replied that he had published a â€Å"report on what people do which raises no questions about what they should do. Polls indicated that most Americans felt comfortable about having such research published, perhaps partly because they found liberation in the discovery that behaviors once treated as sinful or perverse were widely practiced. Questions 1. Why do the authors think it is more difficult today to understand the impact of the Kinsey report than when it was first published? 2. To what extent is a value judgment implied by their phrase â€Å"in more sexually liberated times? † 3. What research results that Kinsey reported might have offended social conservatives? Why did some people believe Kinsey was a subversive or a menace? 4. Kinsey considered his work to be scientific research. What statements in this excerpt reveal that the reactions to his results were as much philosophical or political as sociological or academic? Can a case be made that his research did have philosophical or political consequences? 5. What (if any) elements of the Kinsey report do you think would remain controversial today? PRIMARY SOURCE: Betty Friedan Attacks the Feminine Mystique* In 1963, Betty Friedan jolted the myth of the contented suburban housewife when she published The Feminine Mystique. Friedan tried to explain how the image of independent career women, popular in the 1930s, had become trivialized into a cult of domesticity and submissiveness. She further wanted to urge women to expand their horizons and develop a stronger sense of personal identity. By the end of 1949, only one out of three heroines in the women’s magazines was a career woman—and she was shown in the act of renouncing her career and discovering that what she really wanted was to be a housewife. In 1958 and again in 1959, I went through issue after issue of the three major women’s magazines ithout finding a single heroine who had a career, a commitment to any work, art, profession, or mission in the world, other than â€Å"Occupation: housewife. † Only one in a hundred heroines had a job; even the young unmarried heroines no longer worked except at snaring a husband. These new happy housewife heroines seemed strangely younger than the spirited career girls of the thirtie s and forties. They seem to get younger all the time—in looks, and a childlike dependence. They have no vision of the future, except to have a baby. The only active growing figure in their world is the child. The housewife heroines are forever young, because their own image ends in childbirth. Like Peter Pan, they must remain young, while their children grow up in the world. They must keep on having babies because the feminine mystique says there is no other way for a woman to be a heroine. Here is a typical specimen from a story called â€Å"The Sandwich Maker† (Ladies’ Home Journal, April, 1959). She took home economics in college, learned how to cook, never held a job, and still plays the child bride, though she now has three children of her own. Her problem is money. Oh nothing boring, like taxes or reciprocal trade agreements, or foreign aid programs. I leave all that economic jazz to my constitutionally elected representative in Washington, heaven help him. † Questions 1. From reading this passage, how would you define the feminine mystique? 2. How would you describe Friedan’s tone? What words or phrases influence your reading of it? 3. What historical sou rce material does Friedan use to document her case about changing women’s attitudes? 4. What does Friedan’s choice of sources tell you about her view of the role the media play in shaping popular values? 5. If you were a historian, what would you do to test Friedan’s interpretation of the causes of the rise of the feminine mystique? 6. Based on Friedan’s brief description of â€Å"The Sandwich Maker,† sketch a hypothetical story you would write that would be consistent with what the women’s magazines were publishing. How would the happy homemaker reconcile her need for more money with her obligations to family? 7. Check your version against either the original or Friedan’s summary of the story in The Feminine Mystique. Filmography: Film Options for the Classroom Frank Lloyd Wright (Ken Burns Lynn Novick, 1998) Fabled architect’s enduring influence on American material culture. Avalon (Barry Levinson, 1990) The patriarch of a Jewish family hands down history in postwar Baltimore. Family of immigrants in pursuit of the American Dream. Goin’ to Chicago (George King, 1994) Documentary chronicle of the great migration of 4 million African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the north after World War II—profoundly changing American urban culture forever. West Side Story (Robert Wise, 1961) Film adaptation of Broadway musical, updating the Romeo and Juliet story to multicultural, late 1950s, New York City environment. Ten Academy Awards, music including â€Å"America. † Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer, 1967) Racism revisited in upscale America. Mixed racial marriage perplexes liberal sensibilities. The Wild One (Laslo Benedek, 1954) Placid Eisenhower years revisited. Marlon Brando vehicle for the alienated 50s. When asked what he’s rebelling against, he responds, â€Å"What have you got? † Blackboard Jungle (Richard Brooks, 1955) Underside of American postwar prosperity in a New York City public school. Sidney Poitier personifies troubled youth in the symbolic context of Bill Haley’s rock and roll classic â€Å"Rock Around the Clock. Rebel without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) Tortured high school student defines alienation for an entire generation of youth. The â€Å"generation gap† on film. James Dean becomes a cultural icon. The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967) Important cultural marker as landmark film of the decade. The new generation reject s â€Å"plastic,† seductive middle-class values embodied in Mrs. Robinson. Film expresses culture. Anthem of alienation. The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, 1971) Study of small town American life in 1950’s Texas. Truly nostalgic—in the original sense of the term—†a painful return home. American Grafitti (George Lucas, 1973) Coming of age in the early 1960’s, in the context of the California Dream. Homage to small-town life. Study of social rituals and malaise. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols, 1966) Edward Albee 1962 play brought to the screen. Emotionally defeated history professor, his wife, and guests dramatically explore the nature of personal history in relation to contemporary identity. Has much to say about how any past is interpreted and informs the present. Pleasantville (Gary Ross, 1998) Be careful what you dream for. 0s nostalgia proved problematic via 90s high-tech. An artistic backlash against neo-Purit anism. Distributed in the context of Kenneth Starr’s Clinton crusade. The idea of the movie, testifies the director, â€Å"came to me the day after Newt Gingrich was swept to power. † Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975) Patriotism, country music, and political assassination combine to give a view of trends in the South and the nation during the supposedly placid 50s. *From The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedman, by permission of W. W. Norton Company, Inc. Copyright 1974, 1963 by Betty Friedan.