Analyzing My Text's Cultural Setting

In this post I will answer the provided questions regarding my text's cultural and social setting.

Reyes, Jonathan, "Cannabis Rally in Lincoln, NE (12)." 5/7/2011 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic

When/where was article published?

• The article was published on The Week, which is based out of New York, on 11/9/2014. 

Where is author from?

• The author, S.E Smith, is from northern California.

What time/place is the author referring too?

• The author is referring to modern day America, where the issue of legalization is surrounded by a lot of debate.

1. What value, ideas, norms, beliefs, even laws of the culture play an important role in the text?

• The belief that alcohol and tobacco are norms in our society, but weed is viewed as such a morally corrupt entity is an important factor of this writing. Also, the author addresses a common value in the American belief system, which is that we like to make money, and utilizes this aspect of our society to make her argument. The author uses the text to takes a stance on a very heated issue, surrounded by a lot of protests and debates, in her home state of California, and in America as a whole, that was going on when she published the article, and is still going on right now.

2. Does the text address these cultural values, beliefs, etc., directly or indirectly?

• The text addresses these values directly. The author is very outright with her beliefs. She states an idea, which is based of a popular belief, and uses support to prove that assertion right away. Smith's willingness to bluntly express her feelings about the issue of marijuana legalization is very effective.

3.What is the relationship of the text to the values, beliefs, etc.?

• The author of the text is accepting of certain beliefs, such as the fact that the government and workers like to make profit, and the fact that legalization would provide our country with a lot of economic benefits. Smith is strongly apposed to the belief that alcohol and tobacco are acceptable, but marijuana isn't. She seeks to change this belief of marijuana naysayers by proving cannabis's beneficialness from a monetary perspective, rather than a moral one.