"AFFLUENZA"

Age of students: 19-20 years old (4th year of study)

General topic of the unit: Money

Topic of the class: Affluenza

Goals:

Practical:

• intensification of spontaneous speaking skills;
• improving of listening skills;

• improving the articulation and communication skills.

Developing:

• development of willingness to engage in foreign language communication;

• develop the capacity of linguistic self-control.

Educational:

• tolerance, ability to work in pairs.

Description of the activity:

1. Warm-up discussion
Read and think of the quotation. How do you understand it?

          "You can be young without money, but you can't be old without it."

2. Introduction of the topic
Look at the title of our lesson. "Affluenza is an invented word, made from putting two words together: affluent and influenza. 
Check up the definitions of these notions in the dictionary:

Dictionary.com 

3. Reading and speaking
Read a review of Oliver Jame's book "Affluenza". Then answer the questions with the partner:

• According to Oliver James, why do we feel the needs to buy material goods?
• What four things do sufferers from "affluenza" value most?
• Explain what the reviewer means by "it feeds on itself".
• What do you think the advice "be beautiful rather than attractive" means?
• Would you like to read this book? Why (not)?

REVIEW

The sick society

Affluenza by Oliver James

In his earlier book Britain on the Couch, Oliver James
asserted that 'advanced capitalism makes money out of
misery and dissatisfaction, as if it were encouraging us to
fill up our emotional emptiness with material goods'. In this
book, he explores the idea further, and it's terrific. Alot
of readers, wanting to put their finger on why the affluent
world they live in makes them so uneasy, will want to
cheer. Here he is saying, loud and clear, that capitalism is
bad for your mental health. And then he tells us why this is
the case, and what we can do about it.
'My focus,' explains James, 'is on why we are so messed
up, not with giving a false promise of the possibility of
happiness.' So why are we so messed up? It's because of
what James calls 'selfish capitalism', or, more catchily,
Affluenza, a virus-like condition that spreads through
affluent countries. In these countries, notably English speaking
ones, people define themselves by how much
money they make. They are also ruled by superficial values
- how attractive they look, how famous they are, how
much they are able to show off.
It's a wonderfully clear and cogent thesis. Affluenza, as
defined by Oliver James, is clearly recognizable as our way
of life. It spreads because it feeds on itself; when you try
to make yourself feel better by buying a car, or building
muscles in the gym, or spraying on a fake tan, or having
a facelift, you actually make yourself feel worse, which
makes you want to buy more things.
The author's antidote for Affluenza is simple: look inward,
not outward. Don't be a sheep. Try to be 'beautiful' rather
than 'attractive'. Embrace the family. Don't see life as a
competition. Don't watch too much TV. Simple, perhaps.
But will it be enough?

4. Listening

4.1. You are going to listen a lecture given by Michael Norton, who has recently been researching the relationship between money and happiness. Before you listen, which do you think his conclusion will be? Choose from a-c.

     a. never makes people happier, regardless of what they do with it.
     b. can make people happier if they spend some of it on other people.
     c. always makes people happier even if the amount of extra money is small.

4.2. Now answer the questions:
    1. What is the paradox that puzzled Norton?
    2. What did he and his colleagues think the reason for this was?
    3. What did the research show?

4.3. Listen the second part of the lecture again and choose the correct answer.

4.4. Are you convinced by the results of Norton's research? Why (not)?

Home assignment:

• Listen to the song "A Lady of a Certain Age", which is connected with our today's topic. Write everything what you think about the main heroine and her fate in the comments. 

Conclusion:

• To analyse the work and participation of each student;
• To give them points/grades;