CHOOSE ONE OF THE PROMPTS TO WRITE
1. Compare key and defining societal and cultural elements that the artifact calls our attention to regarding the society represented. How do the experiences of people in the artifact illustrate different understandings of intersections of facets of human identity (e.g., age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, health, ability, etc.)? What do you think makes these understandings unique compared to any other society? Identify and briefly describe how the artifact symbolizes, represents, and/or depicts two institutions.
2. Choose one dyadic relationship represented in the artifact and write an essay about how the relationship changes over time. Identify the different phases in the relationship. Be sure to relate your discussion of this relationship to society, power, and inequality. What social institutions* influence the relationship? Describe these influences? How is this relationship shaped by the institution(s) you've chosen? Do the characters in any way reinterpret the meaning (i.e., purposes, goals, rules) of the institution(s)? Do the characters resist the social forces exerted by the institution(s)?
3. If you've chosen a narrative artifact (e.g., text, film, song, music video, etc.), write an essay that is a mini case-study of one of the characters in the artifact, and discuss how at least three institutions shape that character's identity. Why and how does this character speak to/reflect lived experiences described in course materials?
4. Discuss social bonds and social conflicts in the artifact. How do bonds and conflicts shape what the people learn, believe, and/or experience in terms of social division/inequality (see Part II of the textbook) and the Self? What lessons do individuals learn about what it means to be members of groups? Identify at least two primary agents of socialization in the artifact and give examples of the lessons they teach. What do you think this artifact says about interpersonal relationships in the society it comes from?
5. Write an essay about how the artifact discusses/portrays the institution you've chosen [family/education/economy/authority/religion/science] by using symbolism. What objects are used as symbols for the institution itself and other concepts, issues, and/or experiences relevant to this course? How are the symbols used? How are individuals and/or groups represented in the artifact? What relationships do you see between individuals, groups, and institutions in the artifact? What do you think the uses of symbolism to represent institutions, groups, and individuals says about the society the artifact comes from?