You probably began your life in a crib bedecked with toys. Through childhood you lusted for them--Match Box City, a Cabbage Patch doll, the Game of Life. Even now you value the adult versions--jet skis, collector dolls, Gameboys. But have you ever thought about toys, how they affect children, parents,
and society?

You can begin to prepare for your English 101 Common Final by thumbing through toy catalogues. According to the Toy Manufacturers of America, about 150,000 commercial playthings are available, and Americans buy 1.6 billion every year. How much thought goes into the manufacture and sale of toys? Consumers may believe that safety and play value are the prime motivators behind toy design. indeed, some toy companies, such as Lego, operate "laboratories" to test toys. But is marketing a more primary consideration? In Buy Me! Buy Me! a toy designer states, "Today's toys begin with what looks good on television." No wonder that the ten best selling toys of 1985 had televison shows connected to them. As a result of these shows, children feel they need many characters, props, and scenery changes to play. Can toy consumers resist media pressure and buy toys that stimulate children's imaginations rather than corporate profits?

Anthropologists have long contended that toys reflect cultures. During the Revolution, French children toyed with
small guillotines. In the age of video games, American children play Mortal Combat, earning the right to behead or impale a computer image. Do toys change as well as reflect society? Super slim Barbie was introduced in 1958, and anorexia became prevalent in adolescent females--post hoc fallacy or contributory cause?

Finally, did the first toy given to a child by an adult begin the assault on family values? Germaine Greer writes
in the introduction to The Madwoman's Underclothes, "Mariuzzils little niece had no toys but she had a dozen people to play with; watching her, I realized that toys are hideous things, decoys we use to deflect children from their natural love-objects, and I felt ashamed."

Like Greer's quote, the excerpts provided for this exam focus on different ways of viewing toys. Read the articles carefully, discuss them with others, and draw your own conclusions. Better essays will synthesize concepts from
the readings. In addition, the following activities may enhance your thinking on this topic.

PREWRITING ACTIVITIES
 

Brainstorming: In small groups, brainstorm systems for classifying toys, i.e. inert, mechanical, electric, and electronic.
Clustering: Use toys as your center word and see what happens.
Experiencing: Go in pairs to a large-store, look at the toys, and discuss what you see. (You might try this with a child and/or a senior citizen.)
Journaling: The essay "Children Don't Need Toys" (Skwire 137) coins the term VIT (very important toy). Write about a VIT from your childhood.
Synthesizing: Decide what packet material would be helpful in answering each question. Remember some articles may provide material for more than one question.

If you want to read about toys at greater depth, complete versions of the articles excerpted here, along with other materials, are on reserve at the front desk of the library.

You are encouraged to prepare for this common exam; on past exams, students who planned essays ahead of time invariably did a better job on the final. You may use a dictionary and a thesaurus; computerized sections may write on computer. You may bring into the exam one 3" by 511 file card containing outlines or notes; in addition you may bring this test packet.

In English 101 this semester, you wrote about topics in at least four ways. You investigated the causes or effects leading to or from certain actions; you grouped similar things into categories or divided a single thing into its parts;
you looked at similarities or differences between two things; and you advanced a thesis, supporting it with examples. The exam questions are based on these same four writing patterns.

During the final exam period, you will be assigned two of the following topics and be allowed to choose ONE of the two. Write a well-developed, multiple-paragraph essay in response to the topic. Make sure that your essay addresses the issue raised and follows the organizational pattern that is specified.
 

1. Stereotyping IS or IS NOT alive and well in contemporary toys. (Thesis developed by example)
2. Compare/contrast what influences adults' and children's selections of toys. (Thesis developed by comparison/contrast)
3. Classify fifteen toys using your own OR Daiken's system,
and conclude your paper with an example of a toy which may supercede the system. (Thesis developed by classification)
4. Analyze how toy marketers create products and expand demand. (Thesis developed by causes)

Attached References:

Carlsson-Paige, Nancy and Diane E. Levin.  "Whatever Happened to Annie Oakley?" Who's Calling the Shots? Philadelphia: New Society Pub., 1990.

Daiken, Leslie. Children's Toys Throughout the Ages. London: Spring Books, 1963: 182-185.

Oppenheim, Joanne F. By Me! Buy Me! Pantheon Books, New York, 1987: 40-43.

Shrieves, Linda "Boomers wallow in nostalgia with return of childhood toys." The Phoenix Gazette. Thursday, October 8, 1992: E4.

Sullivan, Kevin. "Brainwashing: Teachers object to talking doll's lament over math class" The Phoenix Gazette. Wednesday, September 30, 1992: A13.

Valdez, Joyce. "Ethnic toys, dolls still reflect Anglo-dominated society." The Arizona Republic. Monday, June 15, 1992: B1.