Hi everyone,
Its the end of the semester and I've enjoyed being your instructor. A student asked me to review her draft for the final paper (The social construction of inequality). Here are my notes to her. You should find them helpful. Good luck and have fun with it!
I read your draft. Right now, and I know its incomplete as you said, I would have to give it around a C. This is what I would like for you to do:
1. Where's your argument statement? This should written in the first paragraph, but written LAST.
2. Be concsie. You give me a lot of information on what stratification is based on the textbook. I want you to condense that portion into three paragraphs. Since this portion is based on the textbook, bring up Kornblum's best points and examples- be brief but precise and throrough.
3. There isn't enough written in your paper based on what you read in the readings regarding social stratification and gender. Bring out the main arguments of each of the readings and discuss them by also bringing out the additional points in each of these readings.
4. Remember that you are ARGUING that social inequality is a social construction. Talk about this throughout the paper and say it in your opening paragraph. Talk about how you are going to use these readings as the majority of your paper to support your argument. It should be about 2-3 pages on just the readings. I know that I said three pages, but the more discussion the better.
6. Talk about your life experience as it relates to this topic. Use it as seasoning to spice the paragraphs, or you can summarize what you wrote in the body of your paper and use the summary as an opportunity to discuss your autobiography. Something else to talk about in a sentence or two during this part is any feelings about your past and how it relates to your future.
7. Grammar and spelling.
8. When you cite authors, make sure that you include their last names along with the page numbers. It shouldn't be just (p. 129), it should be (Marx, p. 129).
9. This drives me crazy. Use quotation marks if you're copying word for word out of the reading. I've read everything you have read, so I know when quotation marks should be there but you haven't placed them there.
10. Don't copy work. Its illegal, and I can tell very easily. I know you wouldn't dream of it, but it can be so tempting to use what someone else has said when they say it so much better. What you should do in that case is put it into your own words and then cite the author, (Donaldson 1998), and then put their book in your references section at the end of the paper.
11. Print your work out and read it out loud. Edit, it'll really make the difference between an A and a B- or even C.
Its not bad at all, but take the suggestions of condensing the textbook information breifly but thoroughly, writing about the main ideas from the assigned readings and making a verbal connection among them all, and citing and quoting. And organize your paragraphs so that they flow logically. Don't lose sight of your main point that ties all of these readings together. Cap off the paper with a concluding paragraph which should not be original. It should just restate what you already wrote. Actually, the opening paragraph and the conluding paragraph should be nearly identical.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Mid Term
Monday and Wednesday class: October 5 in class exam on textbook material. Short answer.
Tuesday and Thursday classes: Mid term paper due via email and corrected answers to the practice test due via email October 30. Both will account for you midterm, 50/50.
Tuesday and Thursday classes: Mid term paper due via email and corrected answers to the practice test due via email October 30. Both will account for you midterm, 50/50.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Paperless papers
All weekly papers will now be turned in via email. Email to me your answers to the questions. For those of you in the Monday 11AM class, you may bring your textbook annotations in to class and I will check them off in person so that you do not have to type them up. All comments on papers will be given in email format. Of course, you can always set up an appointment for further commentary.
Good Will Hunting
We started watching the movie Good Will Hunting in class this morning. The story focuses on a young man from Boston's poor southside. He has been in trouble with the law repeatedley, mostly for assault. He is close friends will kids from the same neighborhood, and he falls in love with a Harvard student from a different social class background than that of his. He is also required to participate in counseling and advanced math sessions as an alternative to serving jail time. Your task is to interpret this movie as a sociologist, picking up on socialization, social class (stratification), culture, deviance, and group life, leading you to your own critical analysis of the plot. Rather than being passive, you are an active viewer who is equipped with the sociological imagination. Have fun with this exercise!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Final Exam Schedule
Monday and Wednesday 11 AM class (GO1): 12/19/2007 11-1 PM C329
Tuesday and Thursday 11 AM class (CO1): 12/20/2007 11-1 PM C329
Tuesday and Thursday 12:30 PM class (DO1): 12/18/2007 11-1 PM C329
Tuesday and Thursday 11 AM class (CO1): 12/20/2007 11-1 PM C329
Tuesday and Thursday 12:30 PM class (DO1): 12/18/2007 11-1 PM C329
Paper suggestions
Some people asked me how to write their next paper. The best thing everyone can do is to focus on a main point. State that main point at the begining of the paper in the first paragraph and throughout the entire paper in each paragraph, support that point by using the readings. The textbook will give precision to your language by helping you to name concepts in a sociological way. So instead of speaking the way laymen do about who people are in society and their social experiences, you will be and sound sophisticated! Finally, conclude your paper with a paragraph telling me what you have discussed throughout the body and reiterate the main point from the first paragraph.
Always cite throughout the paper with the author's last name and page number. After your final paragraph you will include References: to be cited in ASA style. Here's a link. http://www.calstatela.edu/library/bi/rsalina/asa.styleguide.html
Most of the papers I got were pretty good rough drafts. I say that becuase the main point/argument was somewhere lodged in the paper, sometimes at the end, sometimes in the middle. A good final copy will drag that main point/argument up into the first paragraph, and you will use the readings to support your main point/ argument. For example, if your main point/ argument is that most people lack the sociological imagination, I expect you to provide evidence from at least 4-5 readings for that point/ argument. You could use the "Teenage Suicide" reading to say that the people in the community lacked a soc imag and therefore mislabeled the teens and their deaths; that some minorities with eating disorders fail to understand their problem with bulimia and anorexia is shared by other women who suffered from sexism, racism, poverty, etc, and that even scientists have failed to make the connection between eating disorders of individual women and those larger social problems and thus lack a sociological imagination . I'm just giving you examples.
A word about improving the answers to the questions papers. Take the same approach as above, except first, answer the question correctly and succinctly in a sentence or two. Then, in the same paragraph, support your reply with information from the reading. You may directly quote if its a really wonderful passage. Otherwise, just explain to me in your own words how the reading argues the point being asked, and cite the page number that that particular evidence came from. Some people's answers contain only very short replies that don't explain anything. Pretend that I've never read the reading. Some answers don't contain the exact right answer, or only part of it. Some answers are only quotes, which on their own don't tell me if you understood either the question or the quote. Let's raise our standards.
I'm a littl behind on returning your papers, but you will have them back shortly and certainly before the midterm.
Always cite throughout the paper with the author's last name and page number. After your final paragraph you will include References: to be cited in ASA style. Here's a link. http://www.calstatela.edu/library/bi/rsalina/asa.styleguide.html
Most of the papers I got were pretty good rough drafts. I say that becuase the main point/argument was somewhere lodged in the paper, sometimes at the end, sometimes in the middle. A good final copy will drag that main point/argument up into the first paragraph, and you will use the readings to support your main point/ argument. For example, if your main point/ argument is that most people lack the sociological imagination, I expect you to provide evidence from at least 4-5 readings for that point/ argument. You could use the "Teenage Suicide" reading to say that the people in the community lacked a soc imag and therefore mislabeled the teens and their deaths; that some minorities with eating disorders fail to understand their problem with bulimia and anorexia is shared by other women who suffered from sexism, racism, poverty, etc, and that even scientists have failed to make the connection between eating disorders of individual women and those larger social problems and thus lack a sociological imagination . I'm just giving you examples.
A word about improving the answers to the questions papers. Take the same approach as above, except first, answer the question correctly and succinctly in a sentence or two. Then, in the same paragraph, support your reply with information from the reading. You may directly quote if its a really wonderful passage. Otherwise, just explain to me in your own words how the reading argues the point being asked, and cite the page number that that particular evidence came from. Some people's answers contain only very short replies that don't explain anything. Pretend that I've never read the reading. Some answers don't contain the exact right answer, or only part of it. Some answers are only quotes, which on their own don't tell me if you understood either the question or the quote. Let's raise our standards.
I'm a littl behind on returning your papers, but you will have them back shortly and certainly before the midterm.
Groups
Sorry for skipping some of our readings and chapters. I'm now back to the blog. Which reminds me about our latest discussion on ch.6 Interaction in Groups.
This is a really important chapter to understand because groups are the basic element of society. As we learned last week in socialization, no human being can become a social person with both an objective and subjective self if he is alone, (Mead). When one person interacts with just one other they are a dyad, and a triad if one more is added, (Simmel). Dyads are primary groups and are the most intimate groups in society. As Kornblum asks, just imagine if your significant other decided to bring a third person into your relationship. As more people are introduced into the group, it becomes more complex, meaning that more relationships are possible. As a group includes more members, the likelihood that it will break up [into smaller groups] increases. Thus, the number of people is a significant variable in understanding group cohesion. For larger groups like bureucracies to stay together, they must rely on formality (rules, contracts). Large organizations, which consist of many secondary groups, are rational whereas primary groups are emotional. On Thursday (CO1 and DO1) and Monday (GO1) we'll go over the readings in more detail as they give shape to the basic concepts in ch.6.
I thought that it was interesting to hear what people had to say about the relationship between socialization and interaction in groups. For example, we discussed which primary and secondary groups each of us belongs to right now, and then we elaborated by breaking down group membership by the three main stages of socialization: primary, secondary, and adult. Of course family remained a primary group in people's lives throughout the life course, the only difference being that most adults have both a family of orientation and a family of procreation. The child in primary socialization associates mainly in primary groups, usually limited to family, maybe some playdates, and daycares which provide individualized attention (so different from the college lecture hall). At the secondary stage adolescents continue to associate with family, but friends they meet at school or church or other activities become an increasingly important primary group, and their association in secondary groups increases with more time spent at school or in club/ sport activities. Finally, many American adults increasingly spend most of their time in secondary groups (commuting, workplace, grocery store, PTA, ad infinitum). For example, most American adults work in a formal environment. We learn that as people age, more time is spent in secondary groups. This is a positive correlation. As a result, important close relationships often start out as secondary groups relations. Marriage partners and friends are often people we once worked with or associated with in gesellschaft/ formal environments held together by severe structures, rules and contracts.
Wednesday's class involved a discussion of social categories and how a person or group's marginalized status in society may encourage people to identify more with social categories such as ethnic or "racial" groups rather than desire to assimilate into the host/dominant culture. Many of you explained that you are Americans with cultural heritage from another country. Given socialization, how could we not inherit the logic and traditions of our parents? Some of you said that you understand that many adults plan to return to countries of origin, for example the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. This desire to return to a country of origin suggests that some minorities identify as part of a social category (minority, Latino, etc.) rather than assimilated American residents. How interesting it is to think about their experiences as transnational- being part of two countries at the same time.
This is a really important chapter to understand because groups are the basic element of society. As we learned last week in socialization, no human being can become a social person with both an objective and subjective self if he is alone, (Mead). When one person interacts with just one other they are a dyad, and a triad if one more is added, (Simmel). Dyads are primary groups and are the most intimate groups in society. As Kornblum asks, just imagine if your significant other decided to bring a third person into your relationship. As more people are introduced into the group, it becomes more complex, meaning that more relationships are possible. As a group includes more members, the likelihood that it will break up [into smaller groups] increases. Thus, the number of people is a significant variable in understanding group cohesion. For larger groups like bureucracies to stay together, they must rely on formality (rules, contracts). Large organizations, which consist of many secondary groups, are rational whereas primary groups are emotional. On Thursday (CO1 and DO1) and Monday (GO1) we'll go over the readings in more detail as they give shape to the basic concepts in ch.6.
I thought that it was interesting to hear what people had to say about the relationship between socialization and interaction in groups. For example, we discussed which primary and secondary groups each of us belongs to right now, and then we elaborated by breaking down group membership by the three main stages of socialization: primary, secondary, and adult. Of course family remained a primary group in people's lives throughout the life course, the only difference being that most adults have both a family of orientation and a family of procreation. The child in primary socialization associates mainly in primary groups, usually limited to family, maybe some playdates, and daycares which provide individualized attention (so different from the college lecture hall). At the secondary stage adolescents continue to associate with family, but friends they meet at school or church or other activities become an increasingly important primary group, and their association in secondary groups increases with more time spent at school or in club/ sport activities. Finally, many American adults increasingly spend most of their time in secondary groups (commuting, workplace, grocery store, PTA, ad infinitum). For example, most American adults work in a formal environment. We learn that as people age, more time is spent in secondary groups. This is a positive correlation. As a result, important close relationships often start out as secondary groups relations. Marriage partners and friends are often people we once worked with or associated with in gesellschaft/ formal environments held together by severe structures, rules and contracts.
Wednesday's class involved a discussion of social categories and how a person or group's marginalized status in society may encourage people to identify more with social categories such as ethnic or "racial" groups rather than desire to assimilate into the host/dominant culture. Many of you explained that you are Americans with cultural heritage from another country. Given socialization, how could we not inherit the logic and traditions of our parents? Some of you said that you understand that many adults plan to return to countries of origin, for example the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. This desire to return to a country of origin suggests that some minorities identify as part of a social category (minority, Latino, etc.) rather than assimilated American residents. How interesting it is to think about their experiences as transnational- being part of two countries at the same time.
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