This document is one of four curriculum guides designed to provide the curriculum coordinator with a basis for planning a comprehensive program in the field of marketing as well as to provide marketing and distributive education teachers with maximum flexibility. Introductory information provides directions for using the guide and information on careers in general retail merchandising. This guide covers the following eleven areas of instruction: advertising, communications, display, human relations, marketing economics, management, mathematics, merchandising, operations, product and/or service technology, and selling. The basic format for each instructional area is the same and contains the following elements: cluster instructional objectives to facilitate the organization of instruction; the essential common and specialized competencies; suggested learning activities; and references. This marketing series includes a master guide on general marketing (CE 017 042) and three curriculum guides which cover general retail merchandising (CE 017 039), wholesaling (CE 017 040), and food marketing (CE 017 043). A planning guide (CE 017 041) accompanies this series and four related business curriculum guides (ED 114 560, ED 133 434, and ED 146 356-357). (BM)