Consequences of Ethnocentrism

Consequences of Ethnocentrism

Consequences of Ethnocentrism

ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:Consequences of Ethnocentrism

Answer all of the following questions. The length should be approximately ¾ to 1 page per question, so be sure to organize and edit your answers—I find that it is easier to write long, rambling answers than organized cohesive responses.”

Summarize the acquisition of the self as described by George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley. Be complete in this answer and define the terms: “looking glass self,” and generalized other. (b) What is the relationship between language acquisition and the looking glass self? (c) Does the social self develop if the capacity to develop and use language is not acquired?Explain your answer. (3.5 points)
Define ethnocentrism and discuss the reasons for its existence. What are some of the consequences of ethnocentrism, both negative and positive (there are some)? Using an example of a behavior that is accepted in another culture but would be questioned in American society, describe how you could use cultural relativism and come to understand this different behavior. Then, switch sides and apply cultural relativism. Using the same example, how would you react to this same behavior? (Examples: burial practices, marriage customs, children working, table manners, caring for the elderly.) (2.5 points)
“I Learn America” is a video that describes the challenges of learning and adapting to a new culture for several students from different countries.Using this video describe the challenges faced by two of the students and discuss how they “learned” American culture. If you are an international student, you can take a slightly different approach to this question.What were the customs and practices in the United States that were different from those in your own culture?In a sense as an international student you have a foot in two cultures.Howdo you balance your traditions against the expectations of culture in the United States?(5 points)
(a)In the chapter we read from Goffman’s book, he uses several terms: Front stage and back stage are key to understanding our behavior in different situations. (b)Carefully define each of these terms. (c) Then give an example of a time when you were performing on a front stage and contrast that with a back-stage performance. For your example develop a “script” that specifies the props you would use such as those related to your appearance; demeanor and body language; vocabulary and speaking style. Be specific on this question! Some ideas for scripts: first date scripts (compared with hanging out with a longtime girlfriend or boyfriend); going to Thanksgiving dinner at your significant other’s parents’ home; interviewing for a job; attending a bachelor or bachelorette party versus behavior at the wedding and reception (this may be a specifically American custom, but I am not sure!); attending a church service versus going to a football game. Feel free to choose your own examples but be sure to contrast the expected behaviors. (4 points)
A culture never stands still; both non-material and material elements of a culture change. Technology affects our interactions with one another and the norms that govern behavior. In the class, we have discussed this topic in terms of how we assess other individuals through body language, eye contact, and appearance using Goffman’s work. But Goffman studied interaction before the advent of technologies including cell phones, e-mail, and other social media. Describe how these technologies have changed the ways in which we interact with others. Using specific examples, what is lost and what is gained when we interact indirectly using technology?What are the informal rules that govern interaction through these media? Are these rules different than the rules that govern person-to-person interaction?If so, how?(5 points)

Consequences of Ethnocentrism
(a) Define social class. How is social class different for the other systems of stratification such as slavery and caste? (b)There are three sociological perspectives on stratification. Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory (Marx and Engels); and Max Weber’s three-part theory that looked at power differentials in relationships. Briefly summarize each of these theories. Then, indicate which of these theories comes closest to your own view of why poverty persists. (5 points)
One of the articles assigned during the semester was by Schaefer, Edin, and Talbert, “Understanding the Dynamics of $2 a day Poverty in the United States.” This article focuses on one example of a single mother.Briefly summarize the article and the barriers that confront Monique as she struggles to take care of herself and her children.Clearly her situation is both personal (in terms of her education decisions and choices that she made) and structural (in terms of policies put in place to reform welfare policy that affected women and children).Using Mills’ “Sociological Imagination, “analyze the challenges that Monique faces and present your ideas about how she could be helped to move out of poverty.(5 points)
Doing Sociology. This exercise gives you an opportunity to compare how different types of markers give us information about social class. But we also see social class in our interactions in different settings. This “mini-project” may reveal class in a different way.l. For this mini-project, you are to examine the ways in which class is made visible in the everyday experience of shopping or eating out. Option 1: (1) Visit a large shopping mall and select different stores within the mall that sell clothing or other merchandise. Observe the ways in which merchandise is displayed—behind glass cases or on counters with sensors attached; see how visible the prices of the items sold are; look at the layout of the store itself; observe the attitudes and self-presentation of the sales staff; look at the prices on the merchandise; observe what kinds of customers are shopping. Based on this information, can you determine the shoppers’ their “social class”? Though there is no sign, for example, “American Express cardholders only” displayed in the stores, these clues reveal what kind of customer is welcome.Next compare a store that caters to less affluent customers.What are the differences between the two stores?What did you learn about how we perform and display social class?Option 2: Like the first option, visit two grocery stores making the same kind of observations—this time focusing on the quality and variety of foods, prices, store layout, assistance given to customers, and so on.(Sometimes the cars in the parking lot suggest the status of the customer base! Option 3: A somewhat less time intensive approach to this is a comparison of restaurants.Select 3 restaurants/eating places—ranging from casual to upscale. Describe the setting (tables and the way in which they are placed and table settings), the wait staff, the experience customers of customers coming into the setting, and the ways in which customers present themselves. Describe the customer/wait staff interactions. Describer how food is presented.Clearly as customers we select places to eat based on convenience, price, and sometimes even food choices and their tolerance for small children.What do you expect when you enter these different types of restaurants? (5 points)
Doing Sociology . We have become highly dependent on our phones, computers, and other technology.For this question, try to imagine how not having these technologies would affect your daily life.For example, how would your social life change if you had no cell phone or instant messaging? Take this a step further: Turn off your cell phone (the assumption is that EVERYONE has a cell phone!) for a day and keep track of how you felt as you went about your day. Try to compare how much time you would spend on your phone during a “phone day” with hoe much time you think you spend on the phone when you are “disconnected.” NOTE THAT THIS REQUIRES ONLY THAT YOU TURN OFFYOUR PHONE—YOU CAN USE YOUR COMPUTER TO CHECK ON ASSIGNMENTS AND DO HOMEWORK, ETC.How did you feel without the constant contact enabled by technologies like your phone? If for some reason, you can’t do this for a whole day try a half day. (5 points)

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.