Assignment task:
Activity: Work to fix the introductions and citations in the paragraph below.
Don DeLillo characterizes the American National Identity as consumerism. The Gladneys are DeLillo's depiction of the typical American consumerist family. "That night, a Friday, we gathered in front of the [television] set, as was the custom and the rule, with take-out Chinese." (DeLillo 64) In this excerpt DeLillo ritualizes the process of a family night around the television. DeLillo does not simply state that this is a tradition passed down through culture, rather by using the word 'rule' he is invoking a moral imperative that elevates the event from a cultural phenomenon to a religious ritual. In another instance where consumerism is ritualized Jack is watching his daughter Steffie sleep when, "She uttered two clearly audible words, familiar and elusive at the same time, words that seemed to have a ritual meaning, part of a verbal spell or ecstatic chant. Toyota Celia (DeLillo 148)." This quotation shows that not only is consumerism an external ritual but it also permeates our unconscious to the point that we imitate commercials in our sleep.