High Level English that requires reading

The engaging vignettes in Roland Barthes’ Mythologies make us aware of the profound depths

contained within common cultural objects. From wine to toys to soap, Barthes’ deconstructs the “what-

goes-without-saying” of the “falsely obvious,” in order to demonstrate the “ideological abuse” carried

within this objects (10). His fragments in Mythologies persistently demonstrate the cultural and

ideological work performed by the everyday objects of modern consumer culture.In this assignment, you will choose an object from your own culture to explore mythologically à la Barthes. The more specific you can be about this object the better. In this process, you’ll want to follow Barthes in thinking about the “what-goes-without-saying” of the object; the way that its representation as a cultural object makes the historical, cultural, or political seem “natural.”