As the article stated earlier, the market is more diverse than ever. Allow your brand to have a distinct identity - it can appeal to its own niche by crafting its image rather than pandering to the widest demographic. Could this mean that true authenticity necessitates not being universally accessible or likable?

Many argue that this is how he won the presidency. His unconventional statements and views made people believe he was unfiltered and authentic; yet perhaps they were specifically filtered to create this effect.

This is arguing that authenticity cannot require effort. It is inherently natural to whatever is characterized by it.

How are we being graded on the "quality" of our annotations - what if something that is low in quality is high in authenticity?

Ironically, the former clause in this sentence sounds like a rhetorical pit for its audience - conceding the audience's authority and superior capacity to create a sense of trust.

"Pays respect to it"? Or finds alternative ways to manipulate it?

This is a rather disheartening assertion to make about our world, but it is hard to refute satisfactorily. We like to feel that civilization has progressed past misrepresentation and into an age of opportunity, but perhaps we have simply made this misrepresentation more subtle and more acceptable.

Like in the Washington Post's article about ethnic food, we remain ignorant to the generalizations we make about cultures until we actually gain an interest in them.

This is saying that to be accepted as equal in American culture, your home country must stop transporting undesirables. While this isn't necessarily true, there are historical trends to substantiate this claim.

As a culture of people rises up the social ranks, so does their culture.

Presentation over substance?

Very true. Some people take authentic cuisine to mean created by chefs of the culture it originated from, while others take it as tasting like the culture's traditional food. It's hard to set circumstances for authenticity, even for food.

Indian food is accidentally conforming to the archetypal fatty American foods we typically consume. Our perception of it as inferior is preventing restaurants from actually producing quality cuisine, reiterating Charles Taylor's argument of mis-recognition generating conformity to these established negative stereotypes.

It's hard to specialize when you haven't yet been familiarized with the broad overview.

Sounds like a bit of a straw-man argument...

Perhaps this is part of the issue with the perceived inferiority of "ethnic food"; when its generalized to where its defining characteristic is being "not from here", there's little acknowledging how diverse and delicious it can be on its own merit.

Interesting how there can be such a blend of food cultures in one city... Is urban life truly a melting pot or simply pandering to the tourists' desire for an "experience"?

Negative-impact, positive feedback loop

Does the lack of privacy prescribed by our elevated exposure to media create more or less of a division between performer and spectator? On one hand, there is more knowledge of artist's real lives and less room to hide. On the other, sensationalism and the need to entertain and excite encourages fabrication and exaggeration of celebrities' lives, effectively putting on yet another show for the designated spectators.

Being defined by one's class/social standing leads to this pursuit of a "grander" identity.

Identity and recognition have been developing and evolving with humanity/civilization.

One's true nature is not seen through action, but reaction.

A geographic location being turned into an exploitable concept for the music industry... much like the idea of the gangsta rapper.

Much like the cultural phenomena of rap itself - regional rappers intimidating and challenging one another, yet ironically embodying the same spirit and sound.

We begin to see history not as an unraveling epic with each thread weaving into the next, but rather as a series of isolated events without proper context.

The whiteness of country music can be partially attributed to its recurring themes of perserverance through troubled times and notions of purity and absence of guilt. Country projects the idea of Americans as victims set on overthrowing their oppression.

This reminds me of the millennial trend of handing out participation awards - if everyone is receiving "honor", doesn't it lose its value?

Similar to Foucault's claims about the development of processes of confession

Identity is influenced by how it is perceived, drawing parallels to the argument for nurture over nature.

3) In this excerpt, Wordsworth is advocating the "Art imitates Life" approach to writing. While personification of an abstract idea can add weight and depth to a concept, it can also be seen as foreign and even pompous to the average colloquial man.

1) Wordsworth is observing another trend that has persisted even into contemporary times. The divide between rich and poor continues to diminish. Access to language and literature, once a luxury exclusive to the wealthy elite, is now readily available to the general masses. Literary works have even tempered their perspectives to appeal to this expanding market.

2) Wordsworth is implementing prolepsis here to realign his audience's expectations. He will be tackling language from a new, less structured viewpoint, so he addresses any confusion or frustration before delving into his argument.

lawl