History hw 28 draf

1. Pountain, Dick, and David Robins. Cool Rules Anatomy of an Attitude (FOCI). New York: Reaktion Books, 2000. Print.

Traces back the history of cool and how its routes have remained the same. Talks about how cool is now primarily about consumption as advertisers now have the power to control what is in style and how we think we will look. The working definition is that cool is an oppositional attitude taken by individuals in order to express defiance.
I found it very interesting because it traced back the origin of cool in their perspective to West Africa. Also Compared cool in our American society to that of other countries.

2. Kerner, Noah, and Gene Pressman. Chasing Cool Standing Out in Today's Cluttered Marketplace. NEW YORK: Atria, 2007. Print.

Discusses how people who are more authentic and take risks in life have a higher chance at being cool. Interviews people on being cool and what it takes to be cool and analyzes what they say and forms opinions about it.
Interesting book but nothing groundbreaking. Most of the stuff that I saw from reading parts of it was all stuff that we had already discussed in class. Insightful but not original.

3. Wesemann, Tim. Book of Cool, The. Grand Rapids: Zonderkidz, 2004. Print.

This book gives brief and straight forward answers to questions posed by middle school boys on what it takes to be cool and if it is really worth it. It answers a lot of common questions that boys have about being cool that they may not be comfortable asking someone else.
This book could go in depth more about being cool. I like how it talks about how the cool we consider is not the only type of cool person that you can be and how cool is not the same as being happy in most cases. Interesting.

4. "How to Be Cool at School - wikiHow." WikiHow - The How-to Manual That You Can Edit. Web. 04 Jan. 2010. .

This article is put together by multiple people, both men and woman on how to be cool in high school. It states how the first day is always the most crucial to let people know what kind of person you are. The first impression will set the tone for the rest of high school.
I found this article a bit boring considering it is stuff that we have already discussed, it is not really helpful to children as it does not give specific examples.

5. "Be cool - AskMen.com." AskMen.com - Men's Online Magazine. Web. 04 Jan. 2010. .

This article is geared more towards the middle age men, it talks about how important it is to have a girlfriend. It is not so critical whether she is good looking or not, the more important thing is having one. It also talks about how it is important to not over call your girlfriend and friends. This is said to be key because if you over call it will make you come off as desperate.
Just from reading this article, it made me feel very degrading. It is written in a very grimey way and allows one to live a lifestyle that is truly meaningless.