Student-Suggestions for Discretionary Assignment

2. Spend at least an hour watching people engaged in some type of collective activity. What do you observe about their awareness of surroundings, tensions, interactions, collective behavior, eye contact, closeness to each other, speed at which they walk, interactions with authority figures, cultural differences, and/or anything else you consider significant. How does the idea that “nothing is as it seems to be” affect what you observe and decide about it? (50 pts.)

3. Select three (3) “role sets” and observe how they work. Examine and detail the various points Berger and Kessel make about roles, especially concentrating on the expectations and obligations of each role. (30 pts.)

4. Survey several magazines for advertisements. Describe each one and identify the stereotypes that are communicated by it. Cover at least four(4) ads. (40 pts.)

5. Carefully observe and analyze how a group to which you belong attempts to enforce conformity to its norms. Identify the social control mechanisms that are employed. (25 pts.)

6. Analyze an article from a newspaper as to the dominant type of Logic being used (FL and/or DL). If it is largely an FL-dominated piece (as it will probably be), critique specific parts of it in terms of how it would read differently from the perspective of Dialectical Logic. (35 pts.)

7. Explain a college education from the perspective of Conflict Theory and Order/Equilibrium Theory.......utilizing your own experiences. (25 pts.)

8. Keep a log of all the ethnocentric statements heard over the radio, television, in casual conversations, in newspapers, or even on bumper stickers. Pick at least five(5) different statements and analyze how these impact on our society. (50 pts.)

9. Describe a “tour” of your home, school, neighborhood, or overall community as if you were an “alien.” How would you, as this alien, describe the artifacts and general behavior ....... all without definitive knowledge of them? (40 pts.)

10. Break a “minor norm” in some way (i.e. dressing inappropriately, disrupting a line, eating from another’s plate, staring at someone in an elevator, giving an inappropriate/unexpected response, etc.). Describe 1) how you felt while violating the norm; 2) was it difficult or easy; 3) how did others responded to you; and 4) how did you feel about their responses. (25 pts.)

11. Choose two magazines.., one with an upper or middle class orientation and the other with a working class orientation. Compare and interpret the lifestyles presented in the articles and advertisements in each of them. (30 pts.)

12. Prepare a list of 5-10 “ethnic jokes” and analyze how they perpetuate ethnic and racial prejudice. (You may also include “gender” jokes in this list) (30 pts.)

13. Write your own “gender autobiography.” What behaviors are the result of your “biology” and which are the result of your particular social situation? In other words, pay particular attention to how you learned your gender roles...and from whom. (50 pts.)

14. Interview someone who is 1) cohabitating; 2) married; and 3) divorced. Discuss how each different individual views such things as romance, love, marriage, living daily with another person, etc. Is there any common ground between them? Analyze your results. (40 pts.)

15. Watch and explain a feature-length entertainment movie that would be good to use in an Introductory Sociology course like ours. Give a short synopsis of it and explain why it would be good to use in this course. (25 pts.)

16. Write your own Sociological Autobiography. You must use specific ideas and concepts from our Course in doing so. (i.e. analyze your life...or parts of it...from a sociological perspective). (50 pts.)

17. Bumper Stickers are a way of life in America...often very sociological in nature by the way they portray and communicate a wide variety of beliefs, values, perspectives, and declarations. Compile a list of bumper sticker messages (at least 10 of them) that seem to you to reflect sociological thinking....... for good or bad. For each of them... explain what you think they are all about. (50 pts.)

18. Analyze a TV show sociologically. It can be any “sitcom” you choose. Find as many sociological ideas and concepts as you ... .describing how they are illustrated. See me if help is needed. (25 pts.)

19. Clip and include copies of five (5) newspaper articles which you can analyze sociologically. Any subjects are fine. Cite your sources. Use the “tools” this course is trying to provide. (50 pts.)

20. If you have taken or are currently taking an Introductory Psychology course, write a comparative/contrasting analysis of a Psychological perspective and the Sociological perspective of this course. (35 pts.)

21. Watch and review sociologically any feature-length entertainment movie...using the Guidelines for Critical Academic Review of Entertainment Movie (50 pts.) (Note: If your class has a regular Movie Review assignment, you can't do this Student Suggestion)

22. Watch and Review a DOCUMENTARY MOVIE of your choice...on a relevant sociological topic or issue (that's a very broad area)...utilizing the Guidelines for Review of a Documentary

23. Examine the lyrics of a song which addresses in some way one or more of the many issues in our course. Include the lyrics, too. "Examine" means...analyze them...how do they portray and handle the issue. This could include lyrics which are critiques of "problems" or lyrics which ARE the problem itself. Sometimes there's a difference between the intention of the songwriter and what one "hears"...does this apply to your song? Use your sociological imagination and critical analysis tools to come up with whatever you feel is important in this song. Also, any kind or genre of music is fine. (One (1) song for 25 pts...or...two (2) songs for 50 pts)