For the Unit IV Assignment, you will conduct an experiment in which you break a folkway, a norm governing everyday behavior, and answer a series of response questions applying concepts you learned in this unit and the previous unit regarding breaking norms. The following concepts in the course textbook will be useful in helping you complete the assignment: Chapter 2: Breaking Norms and Sanctions (pp. 56-58) and Chapter 6: Informal and Formal Social Control, Law and Society, and Deviance (pp.124-129).

Begin by choosing which type of folkway (norm) you want to break. You may break a norm that results in a negative sanction (e.g., staring or exclusion). On the other hand, you may also break a norm that results in a positive sanction (e.g., extra attention or thanks). You can break the norm with family member, at work with a colleague, or in your community with a neighbor or a friend.

After picking your norm, answer the questions in Part A. After completing the experiment (breaking the norm), answer the questions in Part B. You will write up your answers to the questions from both Part A and Part B in a two-page essay.

Part A: (Before Breaking the Norm)

• What norm have you decided to break?
• Is it a formal norm or an informal norm?
• Why do you think this norm exists in society? How it is a form of social control?
• What reactions by others do you expect?
• How do you think you will feel while breaking the norm?

Part B: (After Breaking the Norm)

• What were the reactions of others?
• How did the reactions of others strengthen the norm or act as a social control?
• How did you feel during the experiment, and how did the reactions affect you?
• What did you learn about yourself in the breaking of the norm?

IMPORTANT: Do not do anything that is legally or morally questionable or that could bring negative sanctions against yourself or the university while breaking the norm. Please just use common sense! If you have a question about the appropriateness of your experiment, please contact your instructor.

Click here for Sample List of Norms and Other Tips to Help You Complete the Unit IV Assignment.

For this assignment, ensure you follow the requirements below:

1. Answer ALL the questions listed in Part A and Part B.
2. Please answer the response questions in essay-style format. You will not be rewriting each question and answering it. You will be creating an essay that addresses the response questions.
3. Use sociological terms and concepts from the textbook reading in your essay to demonstrate you understand and can apply the concepts.
4. Cite the textbook at least once in the essay. APA style in-text citations are required to show how the textbook was used in your essay. An APA style reference list containing the textbook and any other sources you cited in the assignment is also required. The following tutorial from CSU’s Writing Center on in-text citations is a great helpful resource. Click on the link to view this tutorial: http://columbiasouthern.adobeconnect.com/intextcitations/

The essay should be a minimum of two pages and should use the following APA style components: APA style title page, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, and 12-point font.

Course Textbook

(s) Witt, J. (2016). SOC 2016 (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education

 

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PLEASE SEPARATE EACH ASSIGNMENT ON DIFFERENT WORD DOCUMENT

WEEK 4: May It Please the Court …

Please respond to EACH of the following discussion topics and submit them to the discussion forum as a single post. Your initial post should be 75-150 words in length. Then, make at least two thoughtful responses to your fellow students’ posts. If you haven’t recently, please review the Rules of Discussion.

For your initial post this week imagine that you are a lawyer arguing a case concerning federalism before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. This case has to do whether the power to create policy on a particular issue should be in the hands of the Federal Government, left to the States, or left in the hands of individual citizens.

Then, you must support your argument to the Supreme Court by finding and using an applicable part of the United States Constitution.

Select one of the following starters to start your argument (only do one):

• May it please the court, the federal government, not the states has the power to legalize marijuana because …
• May it please the court, the states, not the federal government, has the power to legalize marijuana because …
• May it please the court, neither the states nor federal government has the power to legalize marijuana because …
• May it please the court, the federal government, not the states, has the power to pass gun control because …
• May it please the court, the states, not the federal government, has the power to pass gun control because …
• May it please the court, neither the states nor federal government has the power to pass gun control because …
• May it please the court, the federal government, not the states, has the power to pass education policy because …
• May it please the court, the states, not the federal government, has the power to pass education policy because …
• May it please the court, neither the states nor federal government has the power to pass education policy because …
• May it please the court, the federal government, not the states, has the power to recognize or even restrict same sex marriages because …
• May it please the court, the states, not the federal government, has the power to recognize or even restrict same sex marriages because …
• May it please the court, neither the states nor federal government has the power to recognize or even restrict same sex marriages because …

For your two follow up posts you may do the following:

• Pretend you are a justice of the Supreme Court and question the argument of one of your peers.
• Respond to the questions of your peers to your initial argument.

Week 5: Party Platform Creation Activity

This week we learned about the important functions of political parties. You also had the opportunity to browse the Democratic and Republican Party platforms for your reading. In this activity, pretend you are in charge of inventing your own original political party and write a platform for your brand new political party.

Your platform and reflection essay should be at least 500 words long and address the following:

Part 1 – Your Platform

• Name your party.
• Identify and describe one domestic policy that your party would believe in. Give a paragraph description of that domestic policy. Be very detailed and specific in your description. (Domestic policy is anything that impacts how we live our lives within the borders of our nation.)
• Identify and describe one specific economic policy that your party would believe in. Give a paragraph description of that economic policy. Be very detailed and specific in your description. (Economic policy is all those policies that impact the distribution and exchange of property, wealth, and capital. Think about things that impact money and how much you have and how you can make more.)
• Identify and describe one specific foreign policy that your party would believe in. Give a paragraph description of that foreign policy. Be very detailed and specific in your description. (Foreign policy is how this nation interacts with other nations.)

Part 2 – Reflection Essay

Write an essay in which you compare and contrast each of your three policies, one at a time, to similar policies from the platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties. How are your policies similar to the policies of the two major parties? How your policies different from the policies of the two major parties? Be specific and include specific examples. Conclude your comparison and contrast essay by discussing which of the two major parties your political party most similar to?

Don’t forget to include a reference list.

Please note: APA formatting and citations rules apply to this and all essays in this course.

As with all weekly written assignments, submit your work as an attached file. Double-space your paper and use 12 point Times New Roman as your font.

Week 7: Fantasy Presidential Campaign Activity

In this activity you are going to apply what you have learned this week about policy as well as apply what you have learned in this course so far to create a basic presidential campaign plan.

Imagine that you have been serving the past few years as the governor of your home state or a U.S. Senator representing your home state. You have done great work and face no challenge in winning the nomination of your party to run in the General Election. In your campaign plan, please address the following:

Part 1: Campaign Details

• What is your home state? GEORGIA
• What is your political party? DEMOCRATIC
• What is your campaign tagline or slogan? Almost all recent presidential campaigns have had a theme song. For example, in 1992, Bill Clinton used the song,” Don’t Stop,” by Fleetwood Mac. In 2012, Republican nominee Mitt Romney used the song, “Born Free,” by Kid Rock. What is your campaign theme song? Why did you select that song.
• Select someone to be your Vice Presidential Running Mate. You can pick anyone that would eligible, per the Constitution, to serve as President. Why did you select this person to be your vice presidential running mate? How do they help improve your chances on winning the General Election?

Part 2: Your Issues

• Select and describe two (2) domestic policy issues your campaign is advocating.
• Why did you select these domestic policy issues to focus on? Use polling data from a reputable polling source such as pew research to support your decision.
• For each domestic policy issue write a simple one sentence “elevator pitch” that you would use to easily communicate your position to the masses.
• Select and describe two (2) economic policy issues your campaign is advocating.
• Why did you select these economic policy issues to focus on? Use polling data from a reputable polling source such as pew research to support your decision.
• For each economic policy issue write a simple one sentence “elevator pitch” that you would use to easily communicate your position to the masses.
• Select and describe two (2) foreign policy issues your campaign is advocating.
• Why did you select these foreign issues to focus on? Use polling data from a reputable polling source such as pew research to support your decision.
• For each foreign policy issue write a simple one sentence “elevator pitch” that you would use to easily communicate your position to the masses.

Part 3: Your Strategy

Considering the electoral college vote, which specific states would you campaign in. Keep in mind you have limited resources and that you can’t campaign in every state. Think about what states you would need to win in order to win the general election. Based on historical data, do you actually have a chance to win. Would you be able secure enough electoral votes to win the general election by these states.

To help you think about this part of the assignment you may want to find online and play with an “Interactive Electoral College Map.” Here are some website that you could use to help:

http://www.270towin.com/

http://uselectionatlas.org/TOOLS/evcalc.php

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/electoral/

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/map/predict.html

Be sure to include a reference list of all sources that you used to complete your paper.

Please note: APA formatting and citations rules apply to this and all essays in this course.

As with all weekly written assignments, submit your work as an attached file. Double-space your paper and use 12 point Times New Roman as your font.

Grading Criteria Assignments	Maximum Points
Meets or exceeds established assignment criteria	40
Demonstrates an understanding of lesson concepts	20
Clearly present well-reasoned ideas and concepts	30
Mechanics, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling that affects clarity, and citation of sources as needed	10
Total	100

 

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1. Briefly summarize several leading theories explaining crime and deviance presented in this chapter: differential association, anomie, labeling, conflict, and control theories. Which theory appeals to you? Explain why.

2. Explain how differences in power and social influence can play a significant role in defining and sanctioning deviant behavior.

3. What do you consider the most harmful consequences of violent crimes? Of white-collar crimes? How do you think the “average” American views each these different types of crimes?

 

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Instructions

Please choose one of the following questions to answer for this unit by Wednesday at 11:59pm (CST). You should also respond to two of your classmates’ postings by Sunday at 11:59pm (CST).

Before answering this unit’s questions, you should read “Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers and the Hollywood Star System,” p. 105 in Natural Born Celebrities.

Keep in mind, as you read, a few of the questions posted below.

Rubric

Online discussions will be graded according to the following rubric.

Full-bodied entries—of at least ten sentences of writing from you (in addition to quotations from the text)—are more likely to receive full credit. Lesser credit will be assigned to work that is missing, brief, or clearly disengaged or sloppily produced such that miscues interfere with readability.

Your responses to other students’ work are also assessed. Students often resist commenting on each others’ work in substantial ways; instead choosing to post simply “good job” or “looks okay to me.” This kind of peer response doesn’t help your own—or your peers’—development as a writer and thinker.

Acceptable peer responses will, among other things:

• Explicitly identify what was learned from someone else’s work.
• Ask a follow-up question.
• Offer an alternative interpretation.
• Offer concrete strategies for improvement.

Points	Criteria
18-20	Discussion posts are completed on-time; they not only thoughtfully respond to and incorporate course readings when appropriate, but they evidence creative thinking and make a significant contribution to peers’ understanding of the course topics. Moreover, follow-up posts/peer responses clarify and extend the class conversation, demonstrating critical thinking.
16-17	Discussion posts are essentially complete and incorporate, when appropriate, excerpts from the course readings. Initial post is made by due date, and follow-up posts/peer responses engage others in continued discussion.
11-15	Discussion posts are incomplete, inaccurate, and/or late. Peer response is present but perfunctory, offering little “back” to enhance peers’ understanding.
1-10	Posts and peer responses are not made to all topic threads.
0	No posts are made, or posts are entered after the unit’s discussion has ended.

Questions (Reading)

Choose one questions to answer:

1. On p. 113 of Natural Born Celebrities, Schmid argues that most serial killer films are successful because they allow “their viewers a way to disavow their involvement” with any violence. What does he mean by this, and how do we separate ourselves from the violence we see in Natural Born Killers specifically?
2. In his long critique on Natural Born Killers, Schmid discusses the idea (p. 122) that Oliver Stone should be held responsible for any violence in the real world that is perpetuated or directly caused by the creation of his film. How do you feel about holding art responsible for “real world” violence?
3. Schmid further argues that films, like Natural Born Killers, both participate in and criticize the culture of violence in our world (p. 127). Many have called the filmmakers hypocrites for their supposed aim to defeat violence, but ultimately just create more of it. How do you feel about this idea, and perhaps further, the purpose of this class? By talking about violence, are we creating more of it–or stopping it through education?

 

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