SOCL 201 READER PROMPTS

SOCL 201 READER PROMPTS

READING 1 - Invitation to Sociology: Answer the following questions:

·         What is unique about the habitat of the sociologist?

·         Peter Berger describes a fascination of sociology. What is it, and how does it develop?

·         What is the first wisdom of sociology?

READING 2 - Anybody’s Son Will Do: Answer the following questions:

• Gwynne Dyer describes Marine Corps basic training as a machine. What specific components of Marine Corps basic training is the author referring to?
• How do the Marines capitalize on the romanticized notions of what it means to “be a real man?”
• It has been over a century since mass formations of men were of any use on the battlefield. Every army in the world still drills its troops. Why?

READING 3 - Hooking Up on the Internet:

·         Sociologists often address “multiple realities.” These are situations or scenarios that are presented in exactly the same manner but viewed entirely different by independent evaluators.

·         Zuboff describes Internet dating as “uncomfortable isolation” and Raney argues it “expands social networks.” Discuss how both Zuboff and Raney can both be correct.

READING 4 - Job on the Line: Answer the following questions:

·         What solutions can you offer to stop the massive layoffs and “downsizing” at manufacturing plants all over America, such as the one documented in Adler’s article about the Universal Manufacturing Corporation?

·         Should manufacturers be held responsible for the welfare of furloughed workers such as Mollie James, who worked for the Universal Manufacturing Corporation for thirty-four years? Why or why not?

READING 5 - The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All: Answer the following questions:

• How, specifically, do the poor subsidize a variety of economic activities that benefit the affluent? Specifically, how are affluent women rewarded?

• What cultural functions are served by having a poverty class? Be specific.

• Does this analysis suggest that poverty should exist? Why or why not?

• If poverty were eliminated, who specifically would pay the ultimate price? In your opinion, is that why poverty will continue to exist?

READING 6 - Invisible Man: Answer the following questions:

• Following the Civil War, the South passed Jim Crow laws to legalize discrimination. No such laws existed in the North. Even so, discrimination was practiced in the North for well over 100 years after the Civil war ended.

• How could discrimination be so deeply entrenched in a northern community for over 100 years after the Civil War concluded and nearly 30 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

• How was the discrimination practiced in the North similar to and different from the discrimination in the South prior to the Civil Rights Act?

• Is the scenario presented in Graham’s research more typical of racial discrimination or class discrimination? Explain your position.

READING 7 – The Power Elite: Answer the following questions:

• Mills describes how the extended family has been impacted by the industrial revolution. In your opinion, how has the modern family been impacted by computer technology?

• What is Mills definition of the “powerful?” What is Mills definition of “the elite?”

READING 8 – Social Class and Childrearing: Answer the following questions:

• Discuss the differences in childrearing strategies as they are practiced by middle-class and working-class parents.
• Differences in childrearing strategies among middle-class and working class parents were discussed in this article. Propose possible reasons why the author did not address the child rearing strategies of upperclass parents.
• What are some practical reasons why the childrearing strategies of the middle-class and working class differ?

READING 9 – Still Separate, Still Unequal: Answer the following questions:

• How does one’s K-12 education impact their life chances, personal choices of vocation, and other aspects of their adult life? (Note: Check note #4 at the end of Kozol’s article.)
• In your own opinion, why have the needs of inner city schools been ignored for so long? What, if anything, can be done to improve these schools?

READING 10 – Border Blues: The Dilemma of Illegal Immigration: Answer the following questions:

• What, according to Farai Chideya, are two of the most significant events that the world is experiencing?
• Why are these events so significant?
• What demographic shift is having a major impact on the United States?
• Why has it been so extensive?
• What has been decried as an “illegal alien invasion”? What is the reality behind these perceptions?

READING 11 -  The McDonaldization of Society: Answer the following questions:

  1.  You will use critical thinking, problem solving skills and research methods in identifying  

   sound and unsound reasoning. (For Help: Review Chapter 1, and use the information on sociological methods of research to critique the methods of research used in the reading)

 2. You will recognize and appreciate human diversity (both past and present) as well as the 

   diversity of ideas, institutions, philosophies, moral codes and ethical principles by 

   understanding cultures in their own  terms (cultural diversity & cultural relativism). (For Help: Review Chapter 2 to review culture)

3. You will examine how culture (values, attitudes, beliefs) influences the nature and quality   

    of life in terms of  problems, issues and choices that confronting people (sociological  

    imagination). (For Help: Review Chapter 1 to be refreshed on sociological imagination, and Chapter 2 to review Culture)

Apply all three guidelines.  The key element that I am looking for in these papers is that you use CRITICAL THINKING and that you provide an in depth analysis of the story at hand.