Assignment Task: As part of the course you asked to complete ONE of four possible papers. It is up to you to decide which paper to complete. You will sociologically analyze some component of social life using the concepts and terminology provided in this course.
Overview: In your essay, you will do a sociological analysis of your experiences/identity or of a set of observations you make. The goal is to analyze your examples/observations in a way that demonstrates your understanding of the sociological perspective. Your paper will be graded largely on the depth and accuracy of your sociological analysis, including how you well you utilize sociological concepts (found in your textbook/lectures) in your discussion. The criteria by which your essay will be assessed are shown in the rubric on the last page.
Essay Topics: You must choose one of the 4 essay topics on the following pages - no exceptions.
You do not have to address every question/prompt provided with the topics. They are provided to give you a sense of ways to construct a strong sociological essay.
Paper 1: Analyze Your Own Experience. Each topic in this category asks you to do a sociological analysis of a personal experience.
You'll be investigating:
1) How the social world has affected you, how you have responded, and
2) How you have in turn affected those around you.
Since this is your own experience, remember to keep the focus on a scholarly analysis. Your personal examples are what you analyze in order to reach a sociologically-relevant conclusion.
NOTE: These essays will be greatly strengthened by added attention to textbook content.
Choose ONE of the following Prompts
Choice 1) Statuses and Roles
You will be choosing a status you hold in your life (or have held in the past) and analyzing the ways in which you have been socialized into the roles associated with that status. A status is a recognizable social position that a person holds, such as: student, employee, athlete, performer, daughter/son, sister/brother, mother/father, girlfriend/boyfriend, wife/husband, etc. Roles are the duties and behaviors that are expected of an individual who holds that particular status.
Describe what agents of socialization have helped you learn about the roles and responsibilities of that status. Give an example of how this socialization process occurred, as well as some of the implicit and explicit messages and cues you received about what your roles in that status were.
- Who helped to socialize you (teach you) about the ways to be a "______" and what behaviors that entailed? Were the messages you got really obvious (explicit cues), or were some of them more subtle and implied (implicit cues)? Where did or do you get information about how to be a "______"? As you learn more about being a "____" has your behavior changed? How do your interactions with fellow "_____s" shape your understanding of what it means to be one?
Discuss whether the roles related to this status have changed over time for you. Mention any events or experiences that have caused them to shift.
In this essay you will be analyzing your own socialization into a particular status that you hold. Your essay should also briefly touch on the larger societal and cultural messages you observe about how to perform the roles associated with holding this status, as well as how the roles you engage in conform (or don't conform) to messages about what it means to be a "___".
Choice 2) My So Called Deviant Life
You will be analyzing your own experience(s) with deviance.
Everyone has engaged in deviance. For this essay you want to choose one or two interesting examples from your own life that illustrate dynamics of deviance. [DO NOT divulge any illegal activities that a professor would be obligated to report.]
First, how have other people affected your deviance? Have you found that social pressures contribute to your willingness to engage in deviant acts? Was your deviance context-specific or an act of group conformity? (In other words, was it "normal" behavior in your peer group, but considered deviant by others?)
Did you receive any formal or informal social sanctions for your deviance? Did those sanctions affect your future behavior? How did the experience(s) affect your identity, or sense of self (short-term and/or long-term)? If you got labeled by others, and what impact(s) did that have?
You might take a bit of time also to discuss how you have encouraged or discouraged others to engage in deviance and/or conformity.
In this essay, you should be critically analyzing your own behavior to illustrate dynamics of deviance, not just telling a story about your life. In this analysis, you should touch on at least a couple of the following topics: deviance as socially constructed, the role of social control for deviance, deviance as a continuum, primary and secondary deviance, labeling theory of deviance.
Paper 2:
ANALYZE MATERIAL CULTURE. Each topic in this category requires that you sociologically analyze cultural items created in U.S. society.
You'll be investigating:
1) What messages and meanings are conveyed through these cultural items, and
2) What these cultural artifacts demonstrate about U.S. society/who we are.
Since most of you have been extensively exposed to these same cultural items for a lifetime, try approaching this task by using an outsider's perspective - In other words, "make the familiar strange!"
Choose ONE of the following Prompts
Choice 1) Card-Worthy Occasions
You will go to Hallmark website, and analyze the images and/or messages in greeting cards. The website contains hundreds of examples of a variety of greeting cards.
Select at least 20 cards to analyze. I recommend choosing a genre to focus your analysis, such as an age group, a gender, or a milestone/event.
Spend some time looking for themes in the cards - in the images pictured on the cards and/or in the written messages. (A theme is something that appears numerous times and appears to be a common component in the type of card you selected.)
- Ideas: You might notice themes involving gender, race-ethnicity, or sexual orientation/preference. Or, the social construction of ideas such as family, relationships, or aging. Or, how U.S. society defines what moments/milestones are worth acknowledging/celebrating, and how. Or, how emotions, or humor, are evoked for different occasions. Etc.
Then, in your essay discuss the sociological importance of the themes you chose to analyze (i.e., items #1 and #2 above). You can write also about the things that were rare or not present in the cards and what that absence might indicate. In your conclusion, you are welcome to share your suggestions for creating cards that might better represent who we are, or provide more productive or diverse messages.
Choice 2) At the Movies
You will be analyzing the movies showing at Gallatin Valley Cinema (or, another mainstream theater that offers at least 8 movies at a time).
For any one week, write down the list of movies showing at the theater. Then go online and watch the official trailer for each one. (You do not need to watch any of the movies in full.) Current Gallatin Valley Mall movies.
You will be analyzing themes in the movies - in the characters and/or the stories.
- Ideas: Similarities and/or differences in storylines/plot/character types/lead or supporting roles, etc. You might pay attention to personality traits, relationship status, race-ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status or profession, sexual orientation/behavior, etc.
In your essay, sociologically analyze the most significant trends you observed. In addition to the trends you identify as important, you can discuss aspects of any movie(s) that strike you as unique, rare, or absent. You might also consider the intended audiences and what impact the film(s) may have on them (i.e., messages sent/received). DO NOT describe or analyze each movie separately. Rather, you will analyze the movies as a group. You want to focus this essay on what we can learn about U.S. society from the popular/mainstream films made and shown, and what films "teach" us when we watch them. In other words, don't spend so much time/words describing the films that you aren't able to do a strong analysis and sociological commentary.
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