SOC 204 Room

Sociology, Eighth Edition...by Jon M. Shepard

Online Reader

4/01 - 4/22.............II. The Sociological Perspective/Imagination/Consciousness (1)

4/27 - 5/06............III. Science and Social Research (2)

5/11 - 5/13...........IV. Culture (3)

5/18 - 5/25.............V. Social Structure & Society & Socialization (5 & 4)

5/27......................VI. Groups (pp. 142-155)

5/27 - 6/03..........VII. Deviance and Social Control (pp. 175-190)

6/03....................VIII. Conclusion

ANALYSIS PAPERS

There will be five(5) Analysis Papers...each worth 20 pts (10 for doing it and 10 evaluated)...for a total of 100 pts. Topics can be found HERE

CONCEPTS QUIZ

There will be an in-class MC/TF Quiz worth 50 points.

MOVIE REVIEW

You will be asked to sociologically review a movie...worth 50 points. Eligible Movies are HERE. Review Instructions are HERE

INTERNET ASSIGNMENT

There will be an Internet Assignment worth 100 points. Instructions are HERE.

FINAL EXAM

There will be a Final Exam worth 100 points...a take-home essay exam. The Final is HERE

400 Points........Total

You are to pick ONE (1) of the following movies to do your Movie Review on...worth 50 points. I've picked these because each portrays society in a way we can relate to...with, of course, a "sociological imagination."

Each title is a link to a synopsis and review of the movie from All Movie Guide (AMG), pound for pound my favorite movie site on the Internet. You may, of course, use any movie site you like, but AMG is a good one. Click on the title and read about the movie.

After watching your movie sociologically (which is to say...not purely for entertainment, per se), use the following Guidelines to write your Review. These Guidelines are required as the format for your Review, although you can add issues and topics to them, as you wish:

Guidelines for Critical Academic Review of Entertainment Movie

Here are the movies:

The Truman Show

Pleasantville

Chocolat

Lord of the Flies
(Watch the earlier, 1963 version, NOT the glossy (and Americanized) version of 1990)

A Bug's Life

The Handmaid's Tale
(Click HERE for an "Essay on Book and Movie" by David H. Kessel

Read this short piece, Why Study Sociology? Is this anything like you envisioned sociology? Just how DID you envision it, if at all? What about this description stands out...what do you think of it? In other words, react to this material as a kind of "pre-test" as we begin the class.

NOTE: "Why Study Sociology" is a summary of Chapter 1 of Invitation to Sociology by Peter L. Berger. Although this IS OPTIONAL, there is aan Outline of Chapter 1 HERE...you might want to look this over, too.

ANALYSIS PAPER #2

It is one thing to ask you to think critically and sociologically...it's another thing to provide "tools" with which to do so. Peter L. Berger, again in Invitation to Sociology, provides such tools. He calls them the Motifs of Sociological Consciousness. He details four such motifs (themes) in Chapter 2. The motifs are...Debunking...Unrespectability...Relativization...and...Cosmopolitan. You can find an outline of these motifs HERE. You can also find a more detailed outline of them HERE (This is the complete outline of Chapter 2...scroll down a bit until you come across the Motifs).

So, after reading over this material (I highly suggest looking at the more detailed outline, especially), tell me about them. Remember, I'm suggesting that in order to think critically/sociologically one needs to debunk, investigate the unrespectable, relativize, and be cosmopolitan. So what's this mean to you?

In addition, I would maintain that to NOT utilize these motifs in sociological investigations and thinking, one would essentially be an ideological thinker. You will find an outline of "ideology/ideological" HERE. In other words, if you inverted the motifs, you'd have the components of ideological thinking...what names could you give these ideological motifs?

This is material already required and which we'll be discussing in class...so this is a look ahead to familiarize you with all of it.



ANALYSIS PAPER #3

As discussed in class today (4/22), C. Wright Mills...in The Sociological Imagination...posed three detailed questions asked by any possessor of a "sociological imagination" (no matter what discipline they may be in).These questions can be found HERE. The questions follow the short introduction...which if you haven't read yet, please do so. Each question (in green) has been broken down into its details.

As I say in the introduction and mentioned in class, these questions have been answered by different people in very different ways...some critically/radically...some far more ideological. Very different answers will be reached depending on the degree of critical-to-ideological thinking applied to them.

Here's what I'd like you to do: Pick one of the three questions...answer your selected question critically and then ideologically. Think back to the motifs (and their ideological opposites) you wrote about in AP2. Use the motifs for your critical answer...and use their ideological opposites for your ideological answer.

Remember..."a question" means the overall question in green AND the A.,B.,C's, etc. which are under it...the whole thing is one question.



ANALYSIS PAPER #4

After going over Formal Logic and Dialectical Logic in class today (5/6/04), I'd like to see what sense you can make out of it...along with the material in the Online Reader about it all. I'd like to you take a stab at evaluating yourself as to which Logic system you use the most in your thinking and when. So, go to Effects of Logic System in Everyday Life and evaluate yourself on the ten items listed. Don't worry about being "right or wrong" (that's being Formal logical, afterall), just try to be honest with yourself. After going through each of the ten issues, summarize what you have found or discovered.

REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO PRINT OUT THIS MATERIAL, IT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF A PAGE. SO, HIGHLIGHT AND COPY THE MATERIAL AND THEN PASTE IT INTO A BLANK DOCUMENT AND THEN PRINT IT OUT).



ANALYSIS PAPER #5

Remember those Course Objectives we spent time going over in the beginning of the quarter? Sure you do. Well, now...as a sort of "closure" to the course, I want you to evaluate YOURSELF as to how well or not well...to what degree...you "met" those objectives...yes, all nine of them. This isn't about your grade...it's about YOU in relation to we set out to do in SOC 204. So, evaluate yourself...do a thorough and serious job and you'll easily get the full 20 points for it. Do less than that and well, you know what'll you'll get. By the way, this is the one paper I keep for my records...thanks.

You are going to need access to a Computer for this course with access to the Internet. Whether its your own computer, your parent‘s, one in a Lab, a friend's computer, or one at a Library, they're not that difficult to find these days.

That means you'll need to have or to learn a basic minimum of skills in navigating the Internet. It's a tool that's quickly become a necessity in today's world...especially as it relates to academics. If you have no experience in doing this, don’t worry, there's plenty of help available...especially at LCC (Social Science Lab is on the 4th floor of Center Bldg) and on the Internet itself. I've put a link under MEMU (above) to a "beginners" tutorial which takes you through it step by step. I’m also willing to help get you started, if necessary.

Why? Besides being an immensely rich and important source of all sorts of information, the Internet provides the opportunity for providing reading material for academic classes...making materials accessible to anyone...anytime. This also cuts down on the amount of copying necessary...saving paper and money. My own website, The Sociology Shop, will be an integral component of this course...it will have a “room” for our class, links to required reading materials, a Message Board for our class, and the details of the course...including assignments and instructions you will need, plus, of course, due dates. The Online Reader...beyond the textbook...is, in effect, a substitute for asking you to buy a Reader, thus saving you money. Thus you need to become familiar with The Sociology Shop in general as well as familiar with our “Sociology 204 Room”...which you are “in” right now. We will be viewing it in class on a regular basis.

ALSO, you will need an EMAIL address for this course. There will be occasions I may need to email you individually as well as the class as a whole. Likewise, you may need to email me with questions or information and possibly, an assignment. If you don't have an Email account, please get one SOON...it is a requirement of the course, not an option. Many are free, such as Yahoo and Hotmail...and these can be accessed on any computer, anywhere. I will be glad to assist you in setting one up...just ask me. IF you already have one (or when you get one), please send me a message (indicating your name---sometimes usernames don’t reveal that) so I can enter your address into my address book and create the class list. Send it to socshop@yahoo.com Please pay prompt attention to this matter...Thanks.

I firmly believe in the use of this technology as a teaching and learning tool...it's an essential component of the course.