Examining Sociology through Literature
Class: Sociology
Grades: 11th and 12th Grades
Title: Society and Socialization
Unit Focus: The students will focus on the development and influence of socialization and society on their lives and those around them. In doing this, they will read, take part in group and individual activities, watch a case study video, hold a Socratic Seminar, and take notes.
Rationale: Reflecting on one's interactions with themselves and others makes them more sensitive to their surroundings and more aware of how they develop as humans.
Assessment: The class will be assessed in a variety of ways, including book reports, socratic seminars, group and individual projects, independent field research, reflections, quizes, discussions, and notes
Day One: Write Questions to Think About (See Appendices A) on the board. Give the students 15 minutes to answer the questions by themselves. Then, discuss the answers in class. Assign Examining Sociology Through Literature (See Appendices B), a book project over a book that has significance to sociology.
Essential Question: What is socialization?
Note: Depending on the book, students will address a variety of frameworks through the literature project.
|CS.3.S.1 |Discuss the process of socialization in human development |
|CS.3.S.2 |Analyze the role of socialization agents in human development: |
| |family |
| |school |
| |peer groups |
| |mass media |
Day Two: Create a Socialization web with notes from Chapter 3 as a class (see Appendices C). This web should be turned in at the end of the class and handed back the next day by the teacher.
Essential Question: What is socialization?
|CS.3.S.1 |Discuss the process of socialization in human development |
|CS.3.S.2 |Analyze the role of socialization agents in human development: |
| |family |
| |school |
| |peer groups |
| |mass media |
|S.4.S.2 |Examine the roles and role expectations which can lead to role conflict |
Day Three: The students will produce a visual representation on butcher paper of each level of social development from the chart on page 57 in the book. This visual can be either pictorial or through words. Each level of social development should be labeled. Students may work in groups or alone. While they are doing this, the teacher should circulate around the room, answering questions and offering positive feedback. Students will be graded on representation of each of the levels of social development with at least one image and a clear label.
Essential Question: How did societies change over time?
|SC.7.S.1 |Describe societal changes over time |
|SC.7.S.2 |Examine the factors that influence change in social norms over time |
Day Four: Read Horace Miner’s Body Rituals of the Nacirema (a study of Americans) out loud in class and discuss its social implications beginning with the Discussion Questions (Appendices D).
Essential Question: How should you view societies that are different from yours?
|FS.1.S.5 |Examine various types of sociological research methods |
|CS.2.S.3 |Examine the importance of norms and values to a culture |
|S.4.S.3 |Analyze various points of view relating to historical and current events |
Day Five: Reading day for Examining Sociology Through Literature (Appendices B). Students are also expected to do a research project/journal entry as assigned every 2 to 4 weeks. They will choose, usually from two topics, which project they want to participate in. These projects will be assessed based on a write up of their experiences. Give the Class Journal Entry 1 assignment (Appendices E).
Essential Question: Why is sociology important?
Note: Depending on the book, students will address a variety of frameworks through the literature project.
|FS.1.S.5 |Examine various types of sociological research methods |
Day Six: View the movie A Class Divided from Frontline. The video can be streamed live from if it can’t be found elsewhere (at the U of A library). The video revisits the blue eye, brown eye experiment. Free write for the last 10-15 minutes of class (depending on when the movie is over) about thoughts, reflections, and questions that the experiment brought to mind. Then, explain to the class that they will take part in a Socratic Seminar the next day, and that they will be graded in part by their reflections they were working on. They make take these home and work on them.
Essential Question: How influential is socialization in developing your beliefs and tolerance?
|CS.3.S.2 |Analyze the role of socialization agents in human development: |
| |family |
| |school |
| |peer groups |
| |mass media |
|CS.2.S.2 |Examine the effect of diversity and change on a culture |
|CS.2.S.3 |Examine the importance of norms and values to a culture |
|S.4.S.1 |Describe the effect of social status on social order: |
| |upper class |
| |middle class |
| |lower class |
| |professional |
| |nonprofessional |
| |unemployed |
|G.5.S.1 |Identify students as members of primary groups and secondary groups |
|G.5.S.2 |Examine the influence of group membership on student behavior |
Day Seven: Socratic Seminar about A Class Divided (Appendices F).
Essential Question: How influential is socialization in developing your beliefs and tolerance?
|CS.3.S.2 |Analyze the role of socialization agents in human development: |
| |family |
| |school |
| |peer groups |
| |mass media |
|CS.2.S.2 |Examine the effect of diversity and change on a culture |
|S.4.S.1 |Describe the effect of social status on social order: |
| |upper class |
| |middle class |
| |lower class |
| |professional |
| |nonprofessional |
| |unemployed |
|G.5.S.1 |Identify students as members of primary groups and secondary groups |
|G.5.S.2 |Examine the influence of group membership on student behavior |
|G.5.S.3 |Discuss the influence of formal organizations on the behavior of group members |
Day Eight: The students will create a short play at least two minutes long of each of the forms of social interaction from the chart on page 62. They will divide up into 6 groups, and each of the groups will be assigned one of the forms. Their social interaction should be written in a list on the board and left there after they finish so that all of the six forms of social interaction can be read by the class. They will have 25 minutes to develop their play, and the rest of class for performances. Students will be graded on accurate depiction of their form of social interaction.
Essential Question: What is one type of social interaction?
|G.5.S.4 |Examine social interaction: |
| |coercion |
| |conflict |
| |conformity |
| |cooperation |
| |groupthink |
| |social exchange |
Day Nine: Students will go to the computer lab and take the Myers-Briggs personality test from cgi-win/JTypes1.htm. Then, have them research their personality types, and summarize their findings. They should write a few sentences at the end of the summary reflecting on what has influenced the development of their personality.
Essential Question: How have you developed your personality?
|CS.3.S.1 |Discuss the process of socialization in human development |
Day Ten: Reading day for Examining Sociology Through Literature (Appendices B)
(Spring Break. Students have a week here to work on Examining Sociology Through Literature (See Appendices B)).
Essential Question: Why is sociology important?
Note: Depending on the book, students will address a variety of frameworks through the literature project.
Day Eleven: Answer the questions seen in Appendices G using the book. Students can work with a partner if they would like. These questions should be turned in on day thirteen with the quiz.
Essential Question: How do personalities develop?
|G.5.S.3 |Discuss the influence of formal organizations on the behavior of group members |
|G.5.S.4 |Examine social interaction: |
| |coercion |
| |conflict |
| |conformity |
| |cooperation |
| |groupthink |
| |social exchange |
Day Twelve: The students will create a visual representation of two of the four theories of social development seen on pages 66-71 (Freud, Piaget, Mead, or Cooley) on butcher paper. This visual be either pictorial or through words. Label the theories clearly. Students should work in groups of 2 to 4, and will give a one minute presentation at the end of class summarizing one of these theories. Students will be graded on presentation and visual representation. Students should study for a quiz tomorrow.
Essential Question: How do societies develop?
|CS.3.S.1 |Discuss the process of socialization in human development |
|CS.3.S.2 |Analyze the role of socialization agents in human development: |
| |family |
| |school |
| |peer groups |
| |mass media |
Day Thirteen: Quiz (Appendices H and Modified Quiz in Appendices I). After Quiz, students will create an expository text pyramid (Appendices J) to reflect their knowledge about the book they are reading for the Examining Sociology Through Literature Assignment (Appendices B). They may take this home and work on it if they need. It should be turned in tomorrow.
Day Fourteen: Students will perform bomb shelter activity in class (Appendices K).
Essential Question: What role does social status play in life?
|CS.3.S.2 |Analyze the role of socialization agents in human development: |
| |family |
| |school |
| |peer groups |
| |mass media |
|S.4.S.1 |Describe the effect of social status on social order: |
| |upper class |
| |middle class |
| |lower class |
| |professional |
| |nonprofessional |
| |unemployed |
Day Fifteen: Reading/preparation day for Examining Sociology Through Literature (Appendices B).
Essential Question: Why is sociology important?
Note: Depending on the book, students will address a variety of frameworks through the literature project.
Day Sixteen: Presentations for Examining Sociology Through Literature (Appendices B)
Essential Question: Why is sociology important? Depending on the book, students will address a variety of essential questions through the literature project.
Note: Depending on the book, students will address a variety of frameworks through the literature project.
Day Seventeen: Presentations for Examining Sociology Through Literature (Appendices B)
Essential Question: Why is sociology important? Depending on the book, students will address a variety of essential questions through the literature project.
Note: Depending on the book, students will address a variety of frameworks through the literature project.
Day Eighteen: Presentations for Examining Sociology Through Literature (Appendices B)
Essential Question: Why is sociology important? Depending on the book, students will address a variety of essential questions through the literature project.
Note: Depending on the book, students will address a variety of frameworks through the literature project.
Appendices A
Questions to Think About:
The following questions should be written on the board. When students come in, give them about 15 minutes to think about and answer the questions. Then, discuss the answers that the students gave.
1) Why do we form groups?
2) What groups are you in?
3) How do you socialize?
4) What roles do you play in your life?
5) What sorts of role conflicts do you encounter in your life?
6) What is status?
7) How do people develop personalities? Are they influenced by culture? Genetetics? Friends? Family? Church?
8) Do people ever judge you by who you hang out with? Is this fair?
9) What are the benefits of societies and groups?
Appendices B
Examining Sociology through Literature
Almost every book ever written was inspired by sociology. The subject does, after all, focus on the interactions of people and groups. Several of these books maintain significance over time, and have deeper meanings that can apply to the lives of people long after it is written. For this assignment, you will read one of these books, and evaluate the significance of their meanings in relation to sociology.
You have four weeks to read one of the following books:
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
The Chocolate Wars by Robert Cormier
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Native Son by Richard Wright
* Walden by Henry David Thoreau
* Passage of Darkness by Wade Davis and Richard Schultz
* Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
* Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the American Dream by Adam Shepard
* My Tears Spoiled My Aim: Other Reflections on Southern Culture by John Shelton Reed
* Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketer’s Schemes by Sharon Lamb and Lyn Brown
If you want to read a book of your own choosing, see me, and we will talk about it.
I will give you class time once a week on Fridays to read. As you complete the book, you need to be thinking about the contributions it makes to the field of sociology. What statements does it make about society? Can it change the way people think about certain social issues?
When you have finished the book, you will need to present your findings to the class. You can present this in any way you wish, but….
1. There has to be a visual aid.
2. You have to summarize the book to the class
3. You have to be able to talk about its sociological contributions and raise a discussion among your classmates about these topics.
If you wish, you may work in small groups of two people. Ideas for the presentation might include a mock interview with the author, a poetry reading of a poem you wrote inspired by the book, a PowerPoint presentation, or a CD of songs that tell a story similar to the authors (accompanied by an explanation of their relevance). Visuals aiding in your presentation might include an artistic interpretation through a painting, a collage, a poster, a video, or a computer compilation (PowerPoint, website, etc.).
Appendices C
Socialization Notes: Write a web like the one below on the board and have students copy it down, leaving room for notes. Then, using Chapter 3, have them write the definitions of the words in the boxes and provide examples of each.
Appendices D
BODY RITUAL AMONG THE NACIREMA
Horace Miner
From Horace Miner, "Body Ritual among the Nacirema." Reproduced by permission of the American Anthropological Association from The American Anthropologist, vol. 58 (1956), pp. 503-507.
[pic]
Most cultures exhibit a particular configuration or style. A single value or pat-
tern of perceiving the world often leaves its stamp on several institutions in the
society. Examples are "machismo" in Spanish-influenced cultures, "face" in
Japanese culture, and "pollution by females" in some highland New Guinea
cultures. Here Horace Miner demonstrates that "attitudes about the body"
have a pervasive influence on many institutions in Nacireman society.
The anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different peoples behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs. In fact, if all of the logically possible combinations of behavior have not been found somewhere in the world, he is apt to suspect that they must be present in some yet undescribed tribe. This point has, in fact, been expressed with respect to clan organization by Murdock. In this light, the magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go.
Professor Linton first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago, but the culture of this people is still very poorly understood. They are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Creel the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east....
Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which as evolved in a rich natural habitat. While much of the people's time is devoted to economic pursuits, a large part of the fruits of these labors and a considerable portion of the day are spent in ritual activity. The focus of this activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people. While such a concern is certainly not unusual, its ceremonial aspects and associated philosophy are unique.
The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of the powerful influences of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses. Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone. Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls. While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. I was able, however, to establish sufficient rapport with the natives to examine these shrines and to have the rituals described to me.
The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live. These preparations are secured from a variety of specialized practitioners. The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts. However, the medicine men do not provide the curative potions for their clients, but decide what the ingredients should be and then write them down in an ancient and secret language. This writing is understood only by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm.
The charm is not disposed of after it has served its purpose, but is placed in the charmbox of the household shrine. As these magical materials are specific for certain ills, and the real or imagined maladies of the people are many, the charm-box is usually full to overflowing. The magical packets are so numerous that people forget what their purposes were and fear to use them again. While the natives are very vague on this point, we can only assume that the idea in retaining all the old magical materials is that their presence in the charm-box, before which the body rituals are conducted, will in some way protect the worshipper.
Beneath the charm-box is a small font. Each day every member of the family, in succession, enters the shrine room, bows his head before the charm-box, mingles different sorts of holy water in the font, and proceeds with a brief rite of ablution. The holy waters are secured from the Water Temple of the community, where the priests conduct elaborate ceremonies to make the liquid ritually pure.
In the hierarchy of magical practitioners, and below the medicine men in prestige, are specialists whose designation is best translated "holy-mouth-men." The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth, the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships. Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them. They also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics. For example, there is a ritual ablution of the mouth for children which are supposed to improve their moral fiber.
The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures.
In addition to the private mouth-rite, the people seek out a holy-mouth-man once or twice a year. These practitioners have an impressive set of paraphernalia, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods. The use of these objects in the exorcism of the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client. The holy-mouth-man open the clients mouth and, using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes which decay may have created in the teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes. If there age no naturally occurring holes in the teeth, large sections of one or more teeth are gouged out so that the supernatural substance can be applied. In the client's view, the purpose of these ministrations is to arrest decay and to draw friends. The extremely sacred and traditional character of the rite is evident in the fact that the natives return to the holy--mouth-men year after year, despite the fact that their teeth continue to decay.
It is to be hoped that, when a thorough study of the Nacirema is made, there will be careful inquiry into the personality structure of these people. One has but to watch the gleam in the eye of a holy-mouth-man, as he jabs an awl into an exposed nerve, to suspect that a certain amount of sadism is involved. If this can be established, a very interesting pattern emerges, for most of the population shows definite masochistic tendencies. It was to these that Professor Linton referred in discussing a distinctive part of the daily body ritual which is performed only by men. This part of the rite involves scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument. Special women's rites are performed only four times during each lunar month, but what they lack in frequency is made up in barbarity. As part of this ceremony, women bake their heads in small ovens for about an hour. The theoretically interesting point is that what seems to be a preponderantly masochistic people have developed sadistic specialists.
The medicine men have an imposing temple, or latipso, in every community of any size. The more elaborate ceremonies required to treat very sick patients can only be performed at this temple. These ceremonies involve not only the thaumaturge but a permanent group of vestal maidens who move sedately about the temple chambers in distinctive costume and head-dress.
The latipso ceremonies are so harsh that it is phenomenal that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple ever recover. Small children whose indoctrination is still incomplete have been known to resist attempts to take them to the temple because "that is where you go to die." Despite this fact, sick adults are not only willing but eager to undergo the protracted ritual purification, if they can afford to do so. No matter how ill the supplicant or how grave the emergency, the guardians of many temples will not admit a client if he cannot give a rich gift to the custodian. Even after one has gained admission and survived the ceremonies, the guardians will not permit the neophyte to leave until he makes still another gift.
The supplicant entering the temple is first stripped of all his or her clothes. In everyday life the Nacirema avoids exposure of his body and its natural functions. Bathing and excretory acts are performed only in the secrecy of the household shrine, where they are ritualized as part of the body-rites. Psychological shock results from the fact that body secrecy is suddenly lost upon entry into the latipso. A man, whose own wife has never seen him in an excretory act, suddenly finds himself naked and assisted by a vestal maiden while he performs his natural functions into a sacred vessel. This sort of ceremonial treatment is necessitated by the fact that the excreta are used by a diviner to ascertain the course and nature of the client's sickness. Female clients, on the other hand, find their naked bodies are subjected to the scrutiny, manipulation and prodding of the medicine men.
Few supplicants in the temple are well enough to do anything but lie on their hard beds. The daily ceremonies, like the rites of the holy-mouth-men, involve discomfort and torture. With ritual precision, the vestals awaken their miserable charges each dawn and roll them about on their beds of pain while performing ablutions, in the formal movements of which the maidens are highly trained. At other times they insert magic wands in the supplicant's mouth or force him to eat substances which are supposed to be healing. From time to time the medicine men come to their clients and jab magically treated needles into their flesh. The fact that these temple ceremonies may not cure, and may even kill the neophyte, in no way decreases the people's faith in the medicine men.
There remains one other kind of practitioner, known as a "listener." This witchdoctor has the power to exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched. The Nacirema believe that parents bewitch their own children. Mothers are particularly suspected of putting a curse on children while teaching them the secret body rituals. The counter-magic of the witchdoctor is unusual in its lack of ritual. The patient simply tells the "listener" all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember. The memory displayed by the Nacirerna in these exorcism sessions is truly remarkable. It is not uncommon for the patient to bemoan the rejection he felt upon being weaned as a babe, and a few individuals even see their troubles going back to the traumatic effects of their own birth.
In conclusion, mention must be made of certain practices which have their base in native esthetics but which depend upon the pervasive aversion to the natural body and its functions. There are ritual fasts to make fat people thin and ceremonial feasts to make thin people fat. Still other rites are used to make women's breasts larger if they are small, and smaller if they are large. General dissatisfaction with breast shape is symbolized in the fact that the ideal form is virtually outside the range of human variation. A few women afflicted with almost inhuman hyper-mamrnary development are so idolized that they make a handsome living by simply going from village to village and permitting the natives to stare at them for a fee.
Reference has already been made to the fact that excretory functions are ritualized, routinized, and relegated to secrecy. Natural reproductive functions are similarly distorted. Intercourse is taboo as a topic and scheduled as an act. Efforts are made to avoid pregnancy by the use of magical materials or by limiting intercourse to certain phases of the moon. Conception is actually very infrequent. When pregnant, women dress so as to hide their condition. Parturition takes place in secret, without friends or relatives to assist, and the majority of women do not nurse their infants.
Our review of the ritual life of the Nacirema has certainly shown them to be a magic-ridden people. It is hard to understand how they have managed to exist so long under the burdens which they have imposed upon themselves. But even such exotic customs as these take on real meaning when they are viewed with the insight provided by Malinowski when he wrote:
"Looking from far and above, from our high places of safety in the developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudity and irrelevance of magic. But without its power and guidance early man could not have mastered his practical difficulties as he has done, nor could man have advanced to the higher stages of civilization."
Appendices D
Discussion Questions
Objective: The students will read Horace Miner’s Body Rituals of the Nacirema (a study of Americans) out loud in class and analyze its social implications.
Essential Question: How should you view societies that are different from yours?
Materials:
1. Copy of Horace Miner's Body Rituals of the Nacirema
2. Essential questions written on the white board
Procedures:
1. Read Body Rituals of the Nacirema out loud in class.
2. Analyze the piece. Begin by discussing the following questions
1. Who is this article talking about?
2. What was the point of this article?
3. Can you think of things you do that others might see as strange?
4. Is it easy to misjudge other cultures when you look at them from an outsider’s point of view?
5. What can you do to try to avoid the misjudgment of other cultures?
Frameworks:
|FS.1.S.5 |Examine various types of sociological research methods |
|CS.2.S.3 |Examine the importance of norms and values to a culture |
|S.4.S.3 |Analyze various points of view relating to historical and current events |
Appendices E
Students are expected to do a research project/journal entry as assigned every 2 to 4 weeks. They will choose, usually from two topics, which project they want to participate in. These projects will be assessed based on a write up of their experiences.
Journal Entry #1
Take a Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes
This week, you are going to make observations about the way you dress and how it effects the way people perceive you.
Directions: Dress in clothes that you would never normally be caught dead in. For example, if you normally dress pretty nice, you might consider dressing down to tattered, dingy clothes. Just make sure that it is school appropriate (I don’t want any angry parent phone calls). Go into a public place like the mall, library, or Wal-Mart, and spend an hour or more walking around and observing people’s reactions to you. Do you feel that they treat you differently than they would if you were dressed in your “normal” clothes? Do people treat others in certain ways solely based on their appearance? Make sure you don’t mention to anyone what you are doing. Act like everything is totally normal. Document your findings and your reflections in a one page journal entry. Include a picture of yourself to humor me.
Due February 26th
Journal Entry #2
Choose from the following two research projects. You have two weeks to complete your project.
1. Write out a list of groups or cliques in school. What traits account for defining theses groups? Ask several other people to comment on your list so see if they agree with your classifications. Turn in your list and at least three comments about your list from other people.
2. During a 24 hour period, every time someone asks, “how are you?”, stop and actually give an honest answer. What happens when you respond to a polite question in an unexpected way? Document your responses and reflections in a one page journal entry.
Due: Tuesday, March 11th
Other ideas for Research:
1. Spend a few hours walking or driving around a local community, and make note of residential patterns: who lives where, and why? What social forces help explain such patterns?
2. Go to at least two high-school sporting events, and observe the event from a sociological perspective. What functions do sports serve for your school, and what patterns of inequality do they reflect and/or reinforce?
3. Conduct an interview with at least three of your classmates, on the topic: “What do you expect to gain from going to college?” Prepare a list of specific questions you think are relevant, conduct the interviews, then comment on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of your questions.
4. Ask 12 people, over the age of 25, whether they think our society is getting better or worse, and why they hold that opinion. Is there agreement or disagreement? Why?
5. Watch two episodes of a police show – COPS or AMERICA’S MOST WANTED, and list the types of crimes committed, and the types of people who have committed these crimes. What conclusions about deviance could be drawn from these shows, and are these conclusions correct or not?
6. Sit down with parents, grandparents, or other relatives, and try to assess the social class position of your own family over the last three generations. Have changes taken place? If so, what caused this mobility?
7. Visit the social services offices that oversees financial assistance to people with low incomes in your community. See what you can learn about how they are dealing with the 1996 welfare reform that limits poor people’s benefits.
8. Keep a log book noting any advertising involving low income countries (coffee from Columbia, for example), that you see on television of other media. What image of life in low income countries does the advertising present? Do you think these images are accurate?
9. Visit the web site for the National Organization of Women () OR another political action site (get approval first). What issues does NOW find most important for women? How is this organization using this web site to advance its political goals?
10. Visit a discount store such as Wal Mart or K Mart, and select an area of the store of interest to you. Do a little “fieldwork” inspecting products to see where they are made. Does your research support the existence of a global economy?
11. After each national election, newspapers publish an analysis of who voted and for whom (elections are the first Tuesday in November. Analysis are usually published within a few days after – New York Times, etc.). To what extent do various groups vote for different candidates (women, racial and ethnic, ages, religions, income levels, etc.)? Why?
12. Develop a series of questions for an interview two married couples, each from a different generation (parents, grandparents). Ask about why they married, when they married, what their married lives were like, and what changes in today’s world stand out to them.
13. Do some research (library, guidance, etc.) about the effects of the 1975 special education laws for children with physical disabilities, and how this district has enacted these policies?
14. What social movements are represented by groups/clubs in school? Interview at least two different club leaders to determine their goals and strategies. Compare these two and hypothesize as to why the differences.
15. Interview at least two elderly people (65+), about the social changes they have witnessed over their lifetimes. Compare the two lists.
16. Using one of the methods described in chapter two, investigate some sociological phenomenon of your choosing. Make sure to clear it with the instructor first.
17. Read a book which you feel has sociological relevance (ask instructor for approval). This can be fiction or non-fiction. Write a summary of the book and its sociological relevancy.
18. Develop a survey which addresses some form of prejudice. This needs to be worked out in advance with me, but does not require a formal write-up. A rough draft, a questionnaire or interview sample, an overview of your sample population, and some sort of excel pie graph which summarizes the results.
19. Go to any public place where there are many people you don't know. Keep a written or VIDEO journal of your attempts to get people to hug you. Based on an MTV music video, this experiment should give you a real sense of the different personality types, racial and sexual stereotypes and taboos, etc. Then write a one page paper summarizing your experience and findings.
Appendices F
Lesson Plan: Socratic Seminar about “A Class Divided” for Sociology
Objectives: Students will analyze the blue eye, brown eye experiment seen in the film “A Class Divided” by examining its contributions to Sociology through a Socratic Seminar
Materials:
1. Copy of Frontline’s “A Class Divided”
2. Paper
3. Writing Utensils
4. Socratic Seminar Feedback Form
Procedures:
1. Day 1:
a. View the movie “A Class Divided” from Frontline. The video can be streamed live from if it can’t be found elsewhere. The video revisits the blue eye, brown eye experiment.
b. Give the students about 10 minutes at the end of class to write down discussion ideas and reflections about the film. Among these ideas should be things along the lines of “How does this film relate to Sociology?” and “What was the significance of the change in test scores?” Allow them to elaborate on the questions they wrote and to develop some potential answers if there is time.
2. Day 2:
a. The room can be set up before the class or during with the aid of the students. The desks should be divided into two even groups, and the arranged in an inner circle and outer horseshoe.
b. If the students have never participated in a Socratic seminar, they may need a little coaching. You can discuss with the class who Socrates was, that he believed that all human problems and questions could be solved through discourse/discussion. Tell them that they are going to hold a discussion about the ideas that the film circulated in the classroom. Specify that this is a discussion, and not a debate. The group they are in should work together to form ideas and move towards conclusions.
c. Then, hand out the Socratic Seminar Feedback From. Allow the students to read over the criteria that have been selected by the teacher. This will give them an idea of how to perform.
d. Then, tell the outer circle that they will be evaluating the performance of the inner circle by filling out the worksheet as the inner circle discusses the film.
e. After answering any questions the students might have, allow the inner circle to begin their discussions. Give these students about 12 minutes to talk.
f. After the time is up, allow the outer circle to critique the performance of the inner circle for about 5-8 minutes.
g. Then, have the circles switch roles so that the inner circle moves to the outer circle and the outer circle moves to the inner circle.
h. Repeat d-f.
Assessment:
The students will be assessed based on their brainstorming sheets from Day 1 and their Feedback Form from day 2.
Frameworks: This lesson has the potential to touch on most of the frameworks, but will vary from class to class.
|FS.1.S.5 |Examine various types of sociological research methods |
|CS.2.S.2 |Examine the effect of diversity and change on a culture |
|CS.2.S.3 |Examine the importance of norms and values to a culture |
|CS.3.S.1 |Discuss the process of socialization in human development |
|CS.3.S.2 |Analyze the role of socialization agents in human development: |
| |family |
| |school |
| |peer groups |
| |mass media |
|S.4.S.2 |Examine the roles and role expectations which can lead to role conflict |
|S.4.S.3 |Analyze various points of view relating to historical and current events |
|G.5.S.1 |Identify students as members of primary groups and secondary groups |
|G.5.S.2 |Examine the influence of group membership on student behavior |
|G.5.S.4 |Examine social interaction: |
| |coercion |
| |conflict |
| |conformity |
| |cooperation |
| |groupthink |
| |social exchange |
|SP.8.S.3 |Examine the effect of race and ethnicity on group behavior |
|Socratic Seminar Name______________________ Hour______ |
|Feedback Form Date____________ |
1. Rate the Inner Circle’s performance on the following criteria (circle the appropriate number):
Did the participants…. Poor-----------Average----------Excellent
dig below the surface meaning? 1 2 3 4 5
speak loudly and clearly? 1 2 3 4 5
cite reasons for their statements? 1 2 3 4 5
use the film to find support? 1 2 3 4 5
listen to others respectfully? 1 2 3 4 5
stick with the subject? 1 2 3 4 5
talk to each other, not just one or two others? 1 2 3 4 5
paraphrase/interpret accurately? 1 2 3 4 5
avoid inappropriate language? 1 2 3 4 5
ask for clarification to avoid confusion? 1 2 3 4 5
support each other? 1 2 3 4 5
avoid hostile exchanges? 1 2 3 4 5
question others in a civil manner? 1 2 3 4 5
seem prepared? 1 2 3 4 5
make sure questions/statements were understood? 1 2 3 4 5
2. Name specific persons who did one or more of the above criteria well.
3. What was the most interesting question asked?
4. What was the most interesting thing to come from a participant?
5. What was the best thing you observed?
6. What was the most troubling thing you observed?
7. How could this troubling thing be corrected or improved?
Appendices G
Using Chapter 3, answer the following questions. You can work in pairs if you would like.
1. What is a bureaucracy?
2. Is a bureaucracy a voluntary or involuntary organization?
3. What did Weber think about bureaucracies?
4. What are the three main types of leadership? Define each of them or draw a picture depicting each type.
5. How did Charles Horton Cooley say that personality and self are developed? What about George Herbert Mead? Freud? Piaget?
6. What does Goffman’s Theory of Dramaturgy say?
7. What is the Iron Law of Oligarchy?
8. What does Garfunkel’s theory of ethnomehodology say?
Appendices H
Sociology Quiz
Write the answers on a separate sheet of paper. Make sure your name is on your answer sheet!
1. The theory that many of our daily activities might be explained as self-conscious efforts to control the impressions we make on others is known as what?
A. Garfunkel’s Ethnomethodology C. Goffman’s Dramaturgy
B. The Iron Law of Oligarchy D. Parkinson’s Law
2. Any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves is known as what?
A. a reference group C. a secondary group
B. an aggregate group D. a primary group
3. What type of leader is most productive, and can accomplish the most tasks in the smallest amount of time?
A. Democratic Leader C. Laissez-Faire Leader
B. Authoritarian Leader D. Primary Leader
4. What is an example of an ascribed status?
5. Was Weber for or against bureaucracies?
6. Is a bureaucracy a voluntary organization? Explain.
7. Name a form of social interaction.
8. What is a role conflict that you have encountered in your life?
9. Did you enjoy the Socratic Seminar? Why?
10. What did the movie “Class Divided” tell you about segregation?
11. Put these societies in order from the most simple to the most complex, and tell me in words or with a picture one characteristic of each of these societies:
Industrial, Horticultural, Pastoral, Agricultural, Postindustrial, and Hunting/Gathering
Appendices I
Sociology Quiz
Write the answers on a separate sheet of paper. Make sure your name is on your answer sheet!
1. The theory that many of our daily activities might be explained as self-conscious efforts to control the impressions we make on others is known as what?
A. The Iron Law of Oligarchy
B. Goffman’s Dramaturgy
2. Any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves is known as what?
A. a reference group
B. a primary group
3. What type of leader is most productive, and can accomplish the most tasks in the smallest amount of time?
A. Authoritarian Leader
B. Laissez-Faire Leader
4. Was Weber for or against bureaucracies? Yes No
5. Is a bureaucracy a voluntary organization? Yes No
6. Is a doctor a form of ascribed status? Yes No
7. Name a form of social interaction.
8. What is a role conflict that you have encountered in your life?
9. Did you enjoy the Socratic Seminar? Why?
10. What did the movie “Class Divided” tell you about segregation?
11. 11. Put these societies in order from the most simple to the most complex, and tell me in words or with a picture one characteristic of each of these societies:
Industrial, Horticultural, Pastoral, Agricultural, Postindustrial, and Hunting/Gathering
Appendices J
Use the book you are reading for you Examining Sociology through Literature project to create an expository text pyramid using the following guidelines:
1. Identify the social topic of your book using one word.
2. Describe the topic using two words.
3. Describe the setting for this topic using three words.
4. Describe a problem of this topic using four words.
5. Describe an event or fact concerning the topic in five words.
6. Describe an event or fact concerning the topic in six words.
7. Describe an event or fact concerning the topic in seven words.
8. Describe the solution to the problem (or potential solution if you haven’t finished) in eight words.
APPENDICES K
Bomb Shelter (Human Behavior) Lesson Plan
WHAT HUMANS NEED: BOMB SHELTER (HUMAN BEHAVIOR)
LESSON PLAN FOR SOCIAL STUDIES
RATIONALE:
Most humans spend very little time each day trying to obtain the basic necessities of life: oxygen, water, food and health. However, there are places in the world where people’s entire existence is focused on meeting these basic needs. In this learning activity, students will consider the things necessary for meeting human needs and consider the results of failure to meet basic physiological and psychological needs.
TIME: One class period.
STANDARDS:
|S.4.S.1 |Describe the effect of social status on social order: |
| |upper class |
| |middle class |
| |lower class |
| |professional |
| |nonprofessional |
| |unemployed |
EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS:
Ø Following directions
Ø Working in teams
Ø Listening effectively
Ø Clarifying
CSS STANDARD INDEPENDENT LIVING and COMMUNICATIONS
Ø Planning for and managing resources to be self-supportive
Ø Making educated life choices concerning relationships and making good choices
Ø Using creative problem-solving
OBJECTIVES:
Ø Students will consider the role that social status plays in life
Ø Students will consider the physiological, emotional and material requirements necessary for human prosperity and well-being
MATERIALS:
Ø prepared handouts on bomb shelter activity
Ø large sheets of construction paper
Ø various colored markers
ACTIVITY:
Script:
We have considered the basics needs and wants on several levels throughout the activity we previously completed today. Now we need to consider what we all need to survive together. Distribute the bomb shelter activity. Break the students into groups of at least 4 each to read and discuss the activity.
Each group selects a recorder, a reporter, one who keeps order and an observer. The recorder must complete a work sheet to be displayed in the classroom that compiles their decisions as to who will stay in the shelter and who will leave. (Rules and expectations for this portion of the activities are precisely spelled out in the introduction to the scenario).
A presenter will review for the class the choices made and the reasons the choices were made. The students are to be reminded that they must come to a common conclusion and work together toward that end. Since the biographies of the people involved carry various names of the students doing the activity, this will add a dimension to the discussion.
The one who keeps order is responsible for directing discussion.
The observer is asked to state how well the team functioned during the discussion.
ASSESSMENT:
Points are awarded to the group who reached a consensus without rancor, name-calling, or angry retorts.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO SURVIVE TOGETHER?
We have one task to complete. Listening to the different ideas of others and communicating our own, can be a way to understand more about ourselves, thus making it easier to live with others. That is one of the goals we are going to work toward with this exercise. The first step is to read the following scenario. After reading, we will break up into groups to discuss our choices. In these discussions, the goal is to listen to what is important to our survival, individually and together. Each group will have to come to some important decisions as a team.
SCENARIO:
Several years from now, I invite ten of you to my home for an evening of food and fun. In the middle of the evening, the Civil Defense sirens begin to blast. Radio broadcasts announce that enemy planes with nuclear bombs are fast approaching our city. I have prepared for this disaster with a well- equipped bomb shelter below the ground of my home, so immediately I direct you to enter it. Not too long after we all go below ground, a shattering blast shakes the earth and I realize that this situation is more serious that anyone originally thought. When we finally get word on the radio, we discover that the damage and radiation is devastating and no one can come above ground for at least one month without being poisoned and killed instantly.
Immediately I realize that we have thirteen people (including me) in this shelter which has enough food, water and oxygen to last thirteen people two weeks, or to last seven people for a month. When I tell everyone this information, we decide together that for anyone to survive, six people must be sacrificed for the seven to survive. Six people must be voted out of the shelter. As it is my shelter, it is agreed that I will stay. Now the task begins to choose the other six who will stay in the shelter.
FEMALES
MICHELLE: She is a psychologist who is a few years older that all the rest of you. It is clear that she is respected. She clearly shows that she understands the total situation and is completely in control, showing the years experience she has as a director of a local mental health counseling center. However, she is rather cold and impersonal, has made no real deep friendships, yet she has helped to keep the nervousness down and people’s spirits up. She has already settled several arguments. She is a good organizer and decision maker.
ERICKA: She is studying nutrition and is a very attractive woman. One of the first things she did was assess the food supply and figure out how to cook it for the most nutrition and how to conserve it to make it last. She has a real touch and has made even the worst food taste and look good. She is so efficient that she pushes it to the point of being bossy and domineering.
REVAYLE: She is a brilliant scientist who has a PhD in radiation and radiation poisoning. She also has extremely good looks and a very strong faith. She also knows how to be a team player. However, during her life she has been very pampered and spoiled and therefore she is very upset that she will have to wear the same clothes for a month. She is not happy that she will not be able to completely shower and wash her hair everyday. She is also complaining that she will have to sleep in a room with all these people.
DANIELLE: She is the most beautiful of all the females. She is also smart and funny. She is loved by everyone; men and women alike. She is also a famous writer and actress who has traveled extensively, and has enough money to buy and sell all of us many times over. She has kept the entire group entertained by acting out many of the lines form scenes of past movies she was in. Her sense of humor keeps everyone laughing.
JANAY: She is the most organized of all the females. She has to be; she is a nurse with an E.R. specialization. Her experience with trauma treatment has given her a calm demeanor and excellent problem-solving skills. The first thing she did was evaluate the rations, categorize the supplies and sub-divide the living space for the females. Although she is extremely patient, she is also extremely stubborn when she feels she is right.
NICOLE: She is married to Stephen. She is usually a great person with a terrific personality. She is also cooperative and helpful, a former elementary school teacher and an excellent homemaker. However, at this time, she is really upset and nervous over this entire situation and is currently extremely moody and scared. She is this way because she is seven months pregnant.
MALES
STEPHEN: Nicole’s husband. He is a doctor with a specialty in Genetics. He has outstanding credentials and is world known for his accomplishments. He has developed a new AID’s protocol that is working. He has an excellent attitude and has fortunately remembered to bring his medical bag. It is important for him to have it with him because of his wife’s pregnancy. He has been worried about the last two months of her pregnancy. He absolutely refuses to stay unless his wife stays.
DANTEZ: He is an excellent mechanic who made friends with all of us easily. He is the reason why we have stayed in touch over the years. He is a terrific organizer, socializer and has a terrific personality. Although he never finished high school, he has special training in air-filtration systems, air purifiers and oxygen supply. He also has many years experience in heavy construction and welding. Despite his understanding of the technical and mechanical aspects of survival, he has no self-control where the food and water supply are concerned. He eats way too much, but agrees that he will compromise.
DERRICK: He is a minister and is very soft-spoken and easy going. Before he became a minister, he spent his early career in the Military as a highly trained electronics expert and has been working on devising communications system. He is calm, optimistic, and has such a strong faith in their total survival that he is an inspiration to the group. His presence is very reassuring. He has helped keep everyone together. His only real problem is that he is diabetic.
LARRY: He is a really nice guy who is a professional athlete. He is highly respected because he not only is such a talented athlete, he is a gentleman and a genuine nice person. He is so strong physically, he is the only one who was able to lift the heavy metal plate by himself. This is the heavy plate that had to be placed over the shelter door to protect everyone. At one point, his bodily strength also was used to stop a very serious fight that had broken out between Dantez and Derrick.
BRANDON: He is a building contractor with the City of Detroit. Although he is really quiet and really does not have much to say, he has assessed the shelter and has figured out how to improve the space to make it more comfortable. He loves to cook, but has already had a conflict with everyone about how the food should be cooked and rationed. As he is used to giving orders to his work crews, he also likes to give orders in the shelter. Actually, when he is giving orders is about the only time he speaks.
DOMINIQUE: He is a true romantic. His smile, his ability to play music, tell stories and his sense of honest fun and great sense of humor have helped to keep everyone in a good mood. He has a PhD in Music Theory, has taught music on a college level and has an I.Q. of 150. He gets along well with everyone, but has already offended several of the women with his flirting and putting the moves on.
-----------------------
Socialization:
Status:
Ascribed Status:
Achieved Status:
Groups:
Social Institutions:
Roles:
Role Conflict:
Secondary Group:
Primary Group:
Agents of Socialization:
Personality:
................
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