SOCIOLOGY 1001 MIDTERM EXAM – Discuss a culture with which you are familiar
SOCIOLOGY 1001 MIDTERM EXAMOPTION ONE:Respond thoughtfully and thoroughly to ONE of the questions below. In doing so, please providedefinitions and explanations of the course vocabulary terms you are using (which are in bold). Theessay should be approximately 23 pages. You may use the text, materials on Ulearn, and otherrelevant materials. The essay must be in your own words. You should cite sources if you quote themor if they are not from the course texts or Ulearn posts.Unlike the first and second papers, I am not looking for a thesis and conclusion. I simply want you toaddress all the questions I have asked.1. Discuss a culture with which you are familiar. It can be a national culture, such as the Americanculture, or a subculture such as your family, a club, team, church, Greek organization to which youbelong, a workplace, or this University. What are central aspects of the material and nonmaterialculture? What are important symbols? Describe the values, norms, folkways , mores, and laws ofthis culture. What kinds of sanctions are in place for those who violate them? How does the culturedefine deviance? What sets this culture apart from others?2. Describe the process by which you came to be socialized in the way that you are, either as a memberof the broader American society or other society, or as a member of a particular group (see examplesfrom essay #1). What do you see as the relative roles of nature and nurture in making you theperson you have come to be? Who are the significant others who have shaped you and how have theydone so? How, and to what extent, have you internalized the ways in which you have beensocialized? In terms of dramaturgical analysis, how do you present yourself so as to functionsuccessfully and smoothly in the society to which you belong? In what, if any, ways do you“perform” differently for different sets of people? Do you experience yourself, or have you beenlabeled, as deviant in any way, either because of something you do/have done or because of somecharacteristic that is stigmatized in that society? If so, what has that experience been like for you?3. As we saw in video clips viewed in class, the 19th century outlaw, Jesse James, led a brutal life ofcrime, but came to be lionized in popular legend as a “Robin Hood” figure brought down in cowardlyfashion by a traitorous associate. In our own times, teenager Colton HarrisMoore, had a troubledyouth and ultimately became involved in a series of crimes, including the theft of airplanes. Despitebeing considered armed and dangerous, this “barefoot bandit” has also become the stuff of legend,2with ballads, movies, and a Facebook fan page honoring him. Even more recently, 16yearold EthanCouch was sentenced to rehabilitation and 10 years probation after drinking and driving underage andkilling four bystanders in the process. The sentence was based on the idea of “affluenza,” namely thebelief that his very wealthy parents had been so negligent and imposed so few consequences that hewas incapable of making responsible decisions and needed help more than he needed punishment.Write an essay in which you use sociological concepts related to crime and deviance to reflect onwhat these examples might say about American society. Be sure to address such concepts as deviance,crime, stigma, types of crime (property, violent, victimless), social control, sanctions, and ways inwhich deviance can be considered both functional and dysfunctional.OPTION TWO:You should prepare the content of one of the essays, but you may take the exam orally rather than writingabout it. If you choose this option, we will work out a mutually agreedupon place and time. If you wish, youmay take the oral exam together with up to two partners from the class.
