Jean Twenge , "An Army of One: Me"

Questions for Making Connections within the Reading:

1.  “An Army of One: Me,” is written in a lively style, with the author speaking in a number of different voices throughout: the objective analyst, the insider, and the skeptic, to name a few. As you re-read, mark the passages where Twenge’s voice shifts and identify the voices on both sides of the shift. When you’re done, review your markings. Is there a voice or a viewpoint that wins out in the end? Is there a voice that you feel is Twenge’s “real” voice or are all the voices hers?

2.  What kinds of evidence does Twenge use to make her case about Generation Me? After you’ve generated a complete list, identify the evidence that you feel is the most compelling and the evidence that seems less so. Where would you look to find evidence that would further strengthen Twenge’s argument? Is there evidence that could refute Twenge’s argument? Can arguments about entire generations be either verified or disproven?

3.  Twenge distinguishes between three psychic states: thinking about the self, having self-esteem, and being a narcissist. What is the relationship between these three states? If one is educated and trained in one of these psychic states, is there a way to experience another state of mind? Or is this training destiny? Does Twenge provide any evidence of what causes or enables a shift in perspective?

Questions for Writing:  

1.  As a member of Generation Me, Twenge is both a source for information about her subject and a translator who provides an inside view of how members of Generation Me interpret the world around them. Given this, how would you characterize Twenge’s method? How does she know what she knows about Generation Me? How would you go about collecting more information to test her hypothesis? Is definitive evidence available?

2.  If we grant Twenge’s argument about the values and expectations of Generation Me, what follows? Is it possible to reverse course or is it too late? Can social change be brought about through conscious effort? Or does the scale of the problem mean that what follows is inevitable? Has Twenge diagnosed a problem for which there is no cure?

Questions for Making Connections Between Readings:  

1. In “War,” Sandra Steingraber moves back and forth between her personal experiences growing up and a discussion of the unregulated release of toxins into the environment. She concludes her piece with the statement: “From the right to know and the duty to inquire flows the obligation to act.” Given Twenge’s description of Generation Me, discuss what “right to know,” “duty to inquire,” and “obligation to act” might mean to this group of readers? Does Steingraber provide a model for a kind of writing that can bring about social change or is she writing at a time when the “right to know,” “the duty to inquire,” and “the obligation to act” no longer mean anything? Is there some better way to reach the members of Generation Me than writing?

2.  Twenge identifies numerous characteristics that define the differences between the way Baby Boomers and Generation Me view the self. Using Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story,” test out Twenge’s theory. Do the characters perform as Twenge’s theory predicts? Does O’Brien? Are generations defined by wars? Was Vietnam a Baby Boomer war? Is the Iraq War a Generation Me war? Can O’Brien’s “true war story” be true for other generations?