Essay #1 is a Struggle

The topic I chose for my pop culture essay is Starbucks, which was probably a bad choice in retrospect. The artifacts that I plan on analyzing are the red cup controversy, seasonal menu items and advertising, and Starbucks' efforts to help the environment by making goals and organizations. My plan for writing is always to just dive right into the project until I'm passed the word count by twenty or so words. I also actively do research as I write in order to be sure that my writing is accurate. Later, I cite every resource that I used to research my topic. When I cite, I use the Purdue website's guidelines for citations. I am enjoying what I am learning about businesses and the environment, and I am finding it very interesting that a company like Starbucks can turn bad controversy into free advertising. Unfortunately, I am struggling with this project very much; I'm having a hard time with the prompt and understanding what I am supposed to say in the bulk of my essay. I also feel that my artifacts may not be specific enough based on what we learned in class. I have tried to narrow my artifacts down by mentioning the broad topic I plan to cover and then focusing in on a specific piece of the broader topic. For example, I mention seasonal menu items, and then I focus in on pumpkin spice lattes and the internet content they generate.