Each prompt must be double-spaced, with a normal font size and style, and one-inch margins. Your answers must be saved as one document with four distinct parts (one for each prompt below); do NOT submit separate documents for each prompt.
Your answers must be written in complete sentences and free of any grammatical or spelling errors. Your whole exam should be a total of 4-8 pages long; in other words, your answers to each prompt should be approximately 1-2 pages long, but some responses may be longer than others. There are no minimum or maximum length requirements, but short essays may lose points for failing to incorporate enough relevant information and long essays may lose points for being disorganized or losing focus on the questions asked.
Prompt 1
Karl Marx proposed that, under modern capitalism, workers are alienated from the products and process of their jobs. How can these concepts be applied to students and their educations? In other words, explain the ways in which students are alienated from the products and process of their education using Marxs theory of alienation as a guide. In which of these ways have you experienced alienation as a student? Which of the three main sociological perspectives best describes your personal view of education as an institution? Explain why.Your answer must address the multiple types of alienation. You are NOT required to discuss all three perspectives in your answer.
prompt 2
Race, class, and gender are social constructions that are learned over time through the socialization process. Describe TWO events from your childhood (0-18 years old) which exemplify a lesson you were taught about what it means to be a member of the race, class, or gender group of which you identify. For each event, provide a factual account of the event (to the best of your memory) and then provide a sociological analysis or interpretation of the event and its influence on you using terms, concepts, and perspectives learned this semester. You may not have necessarily recognized these events as lessons at the time, but I aim asking you to reframe these events as examples of social construction and socialization. These lessons may have been explicit (someone sat you down and had a conversation) or implicit (you observed or overheard something). You may discuss lessons which only involved one status, or you may discuss a lesson that had an intersectional message.
prompt 3
Think of a time when your behavior in a crowd was dictated by the circumstances. Use this experience to illustrate the premise of emergent norm theory.Elaborate on any information or interpretations from your experience that speak to the source of the norms, how they came to be accepted by the crowd, and/orhow they spread through the crowd.Ensure that you describe your experience in a crowd, not a mass or public.
