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When I started the course, I’ll admit I had a hard time because I had to ask questions about what’s right in front of me. For example, “how do we know there’s water in the bottle”? My thick brain thinks too logical and just didn’t bother asking questions. I was basically a simple minded person. I do believe that I improved because of my recent adventure module. Now, I’m not saying it is amazing, but it is an improvement than my notes in the library. I actually focused more on how the person was acting or how they acted in a specific social environment. I had to ask “why are you acting like this” or “how many times have you been to this social setting”.  One idea I had is that all the Asian people were in their environment, so they didn’t need to act. The non-Asians, however, seem to act like they were trying to fit in. Now, I did not come to any conclusions, I was just speculating. My only problem is that I did not go in depth with what I analyzed. I did improve on Berger’s saying, “the main focus of attention is not the ultimate significance of what men do, but the action in itself” (Tipton, Sociology as an Individual pastime, pg 2).

What have I learned anything over the course of Sociology? I learned how to ask open-ended questions. Asking a question that has no right or wrong answer makes the person really think. In order to really answer the questions requires a good understanding about the topic it’s asking. For example, I basically asked if Durkheim’s theory is still relevant in modern society. There could be an argument if it is or isn’t, but it requires knowledge of what Durkheim said about society and social change. Asking questions and examining everyday life is important for sociology because; one asking questions leads to research, and two examining life can help you learn how and why people act like that. I did try my best when learning both of these because it is interesting learning why we act like that. My biggest problem, again, is that I don’t go more in depth. If I had more time in the course, I think I would’ve learned to go more in depth like how I review movies. But, for what I know, I think I can use this to my advantage to see if I’ll be comfortable in some new social environment or decide if my friends will be comfortable. For example, if I take my friends out to eat Asian food, depending on the restaurant, I can determine if they are acting or not.

What I’ve learned in Sociology is that if I want to know how we, as a species, act in a social environment, I need to observe everyday life and ask why we act like this or if this is all an act. Using this skill, I learned how to read people’s actions. If I learn to read more in depth, I may understand more about the person I’m observing.

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Choose Your Own Adventure Module: Social Setting

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Choose Your Own Adventure Module: Social Setting

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I observed a Japanese café called Kubo in order to see how people would act in a social setting.

In order to know what to expect, I needed to know the definition of the situation, “An understanding that a given or specific state of affairs applies to the situation that someone is in” (Tipton, Important Goffman Term, pg. 2). A cafe is a small place where someone eats meals that are cooked and served to them. Ordering food, eating, and silently talking is usually what the social order is for a café. Social order is the predictable patterns of behavior.

So what is the from stage performance,” the part of the individual’s performance which regularly functions in a general and fixed fashion to fit the situation”, for Kubo (Goffman, 1959,pg.22). The setting for Kubo is nice but not too nice. The walls are painted solid blue with a few Asian pictures. Since it is a café, there are multiple tables with utensils and napkins. To keep it from being silent, there is music playing in the background. There is also a corner where you get either water or tea near the cash register. The people who are here are mostly Asian, assuming some are Japanese. There were three non-Asian people there. Their appearance, visual cues of the performer’s status, is all eating whatever they ordered (Tipton, Important Goffman Term, pg. 4). For the most part, it seems like they enjoyed it because I did not see anyone looking at their food in a nasty way. Almost everyone in the café had the same manner,” the interactional role performers play” (Tipton, Important Goffman Term, pg. 4).  They were all talking silently with whoever they were with while eating. The only ones that were surprisingly louder than everyone else were the non-Asian people. Maybe they just don’t think they’re talking loud, or they can’t hear each other because of the background music. I’m not sure why. It is a possibility that they did not care for dramaturgical awareness, the awareness of being judged (Tipton, Important Goffman Term, pg. 6). One possibility I can think of is that all the Asian people are used to this type of social setting, they have a maintaining face; actor maintains a consistent face (Tipton, Important Goffman Term, pg. 10). The non-Asian people probably don’t know how to act in this type of environment since they weren’t raised like that. In a way, they were out of face; Taken by surprise, unprepared, or unfamiliar with situation (Tipton, Important Goffman Term, pg. 10). It doesn’t make those people disrespectful, it just means that they’re not used to this environment. One person who looked almost the same the entire time was the waitress. Her status in this type of environment is lower than the customers. Since she’s at work, she most likely had to maintain this act in order to not bother us or to make sure she’s a good waitress. In a way, her acting follows best for what’s called the “face-work”; The work involved with presenting face, maintaining face, modifying face when there is the potential for loss of face, or being poised when face is in danger of being discredited (Tipton, Important Goffman Term, pg. 9). It makes sense because, again, her status in this setting is lower than us.

I noticed that one non-Asian man ordered another dish. I think it is because he was still hungry because he was eating sushi earlier. My guess is that he was disappointed how many sushi pieces he was given. He was probably expecting a lot, but it wasn’t enough to fill him. It’s probably a long shot, but this is an example of backstage performance, the behavior not performed for others (Tipton, Symbolic interactionism, pg. 12). The disappointed eyes are a little out of character, but normally people wouldn’t even notice it. Apart from that, I didn’t really notice any other backstage performance. The next things I’ll talk about are the social statuses and roles. Now what I say here is all just speculation based on what I can piece together. There were four men who were wearing very formal, shirt, tie, and a jacket. It’s their “symbol” for their high status. I believe that these men are either on lunch break or they’re here for a business meeting. The non-Asian people were wearing casual outfits, so chances are; they were visiting Bellaire to try new food. Their casual clothes give me the idea that it’s also their “symbol” for their status. Another table had two people, one man and one woman. The woman looked older, which gave the idea that this is a family going out to eat rather than a date. Everyone else had casual clothes, so maybe they were trying the café for the first time or they just wanted to eat here again. With that being said, what are the roles for everyone? Since we’re all the customers, we have more power than the actual people who work here. We order the food, and they give it to us.

No matter what, when the waiter comes in to give the food to people, they all said “thank you”. Every Asian person grabbed chopsticks and rubbed them against each other, to sharpen them. Even the non-Asian people cleaned the utensils first using a napkin. These are all examples of social norm, unwritten rules of conduct. There’s no rule saying you have to clean the utensils or that you have to say thank you to the waiter. It’s just what we all were taught growing up.

When observing the café, I had to notice what people would normally do in that particular social setting. For the most part, people would act nice and considerate. Not talking too loud or eating messy. That’s just the type of setting it is. It’s like how a library is quiet because it’s a quiet setting. Almost everyone had the same manner and appearance, not showing a lot of backstage appearance.

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EQ: Why do incorrect gender stereotypes remain in society?

Reflection: I think this is a good question because it requires a good understanding of why gender and sex are different. Gender is basically how males or females usually act socially, not what we are biologically. Because of this, there is a stereotype for both genders, like how boys like blue and girls like pink. The question is why society keeps this idea even though it’s obviously false.

Extension: One way to get data for this question is to see how everyone is raised as a kid. Let’s say, for example, if someone lived in a household where the gender roles are true; where the girl’s room is pink and the boy’s room is blue. If that’s the case, you would think the typical gender stereotype would be true because you’re living in a household where it’s true. That’s not to say that it’s the main reason why it’s still here. To answer why gender stereotypes is still in society is like answering why racial stereotypes is still in society as well.

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Choose Your Own Adventure Module: Work of Fiction

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Choose Your Own Adventure Module: Work of Fiction

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I will examine Mulan for gender roles and privilege.

This first half of the film addresses what women did in that time and what privileges male had. Mulan then changes everyone’s perspective when doing what males can do and more. It is important to know what each gender’s role was before knowing how Mulan changed it.

The story takes place in ancient China where the Huns started to invade. An army is then put together and one male from every house is recruited. However Mulan’s father is too old and too frail to fight, so she disguises herself as a boy and takes his place. She not only defeats the Huns by herself, she also saved the emperor and influenced her friends to fight with her.

So how does the film show the gender roles? Gender role is “society’s concept of how men and women are expected to act and how they should behave” (Openstax ch 12, Gender, Sex, and Sexuality). One scene shows two boys playing with wooden swords, while a girl is playing with a doll. It could indicate how males are more violent and females are gentler. Mulan is first seen getting ready to meet the matchmaker. Her test is her skills in doing regular house work, like pouring tea for her spouse. When she fails, her instructor even said that if she can’t be a good wife, then she can’t bring honor to her family. So we got a good illustration on women’s role, but what about the male? Well we do not really see much about the males, other than Mulan’s father. There is not enough evidence to see what males do in their everyday life, but we do get to see how they act in the army. When the Emperor recruits soldiers for the army, it is only the male in the family that can join. It would make sense because, biologically, men are usually stronger than women. Now I don’t think this is why they recruited them, but men did have a lot more privileges. This male privilege is why Mulan had to disguise herself as a boy to join the army. At first, when she joins the army, she was not good at training or at interacting. The fact that she was a little disgusted by how most of the men acted probably roots back that no women would act like that. As for the training, she was not good, but neither were any of the men. But with enough training, she was able to surpass most of the men. Even when saving her general, Li Shang says that he owes “Ping” his life.

It is unclear how much has changed, but we can still see what it’s like to be a woman in modern China. Women, nowadays, do have more privileges than back then. For example, their education is rising. Even though their average length of education is not as big as men, it’s still a progress. However some of the birth rates and marriage families seem to have decreased a little bit. The article says that “education counts amongst the factors that improve the status of women in that it tends to reduce the birth rate and encourages them to take better care of their health” (Attane 2012 pg 3). It does show how modern society is giving more opportunities to women (https://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/6013?file=1). However, it doesn’t change the fact that women still don’t have as much privilege as men. Michael Kimmel explained it best when saying, “The social institutions of our world — workplace, family, school, politics — are also gendered institutions, sites where the dominant definitions are reinforced and reproduced, and where ‘deviants’ are disciplined” (Kimmel 2000 pg. 16). In a way, it can tie in to Mulan, because we do see how males, as the dominant sex, are given more privilege than the females. Mulan starts out as only learning how to be a good wife, because it is probably what the female were seen to do best. Even then, when she was revealed to be a woman after defeating the Huns, she was not praised at first. But when she saves the emperor, this changes everyone’s perception. What I got from this movie is that, even though people say that this gender should do this or be like this, it doesn’t mean you have to follow it. There are some girls who like to do boy stuffs, and vice versa. Mulan is a female, and was told to be and act like one. However, she can’t do what everyone tells her to do. It just so happens that what she does want is unconventional to her tradition.

Mulan did not fit in her gender role. She’s the free spirit that everybody tells should be one thing but she wants to be something else. Her gender role says that she should do housework and not anything too extreme, but that’s not what she is good at. Her true calling is following more of the male role.

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Choose Your Own Adventure Module: Popular Song Lyric

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Choose Your Own Adventure Module: Popular Song Lyric

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3NIK-nsI2g

I will examine The Music of the Night to see the phantom’s social position.

The Phantom sings this song after he brings Christine to his lair under the opera house. The lyrics for the song reveal his story and why he lives in solitary, even though he should be the richest person in the play.

So what was the importance of the song? The phantom is singing to Christine about his loneliness and how he wants her to be with him. “Floating, falling, sweet intoxication/ Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation”; he says that he wants her to live with him. “Turn you face away from the garish light of day/ Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light/ And listen to the music of the night”, could possibly be saying his passion for music. This, in turn, can mean that being a composer is closest to being his master status; a status that stands out from all others (Conley 2014: pg. 134). It could even be supported since everyone only knows about his music, nothing else. The reason I say closest, is because he technically doesn’t have a good status. In fact, he fits perfectly for what is called “the stranger”; someone who feels excluded from the stock (Scott 2015: pg. 31). It makes sense because we do eventually learn that he lived in the sewer since he was little. He is lonely and wants Christine to make his life worth living; “You alone can make the song take flight/ Help me make the music of the night”.

So knowing how lonely he really is, why does society make him the “stranger”? It is not like Mozart, where people started to not accept his wild nature when his social status deteriorates. In fact, he still composes music for the opera house the entire time. The reason he has a bad status is mainly because of his disfigured face and probably the lack of social interaction. He lived in the sewer since he was a child, so he didn’t really interact with other people, which could explain why he makes so many bad choices. He doesn’t know what could be right. The Phantom being hated is kind of like the one-drop rule, where if you have one drop of black blood, you’re considered black. The Phantom only has one disfigured part of his body, but he is considered a full monster.

The Phantom is a lonely person who only wants to experience love. He is lonely because of his disfigured face, and thus becomes a “stranger” of society. The Music of the Night describes the loneliness and shows what a true artist he really is. The only reason he is not famous is because of his face.

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EQ: Is it possible that status inconsistency (a situation where a person’s social position has both positive and negative influences) is what influence racism (set that is used to justify superior of one racial group)?

Revised EQ: What is the relationship of status inconsistency (a situation where a person’s social position has both positive and negative influences) and racism (set that is used to justify superior of one racial group)? How does one influence the other?

Reflection: I’ll admit I probably oversimplified this question, but the whole idea I’m trying to ask how we technically learn how to be racist. I believe that we don’t just say whether or not our race is superior to a different one unless we were taught that as a child. I chose this question because it requires critical thinking about the influence between social status and racism.

Extension: To answer the question, you need to have a good understanding on social stratification. It is important to observe someone with high class and see how they act towards other races. It is also important to see how either the school or parents teach their kids about race, because it might influence them. It is a pretty good question that does require a lot of knowledge, but it is not in-depth enough.

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Essential Question: If someone goes on vacation and doesn’t like the different culture, should we all have one culture? Is it better to have the same culture or multiple types of culture?

Reflection: The main topic for this question is how important culture is when it comes to how we act socially. I gave an example of how someone thinks a different culture is weird and he feels out of place. I asked if it’s better to have the same culture, because I wanted to focus on how it could change how we act socially. I would make the argument that when someone tries to answer this question, they would have to think on how much culture influence us socially. For example, how culture taught us how to act in class.

Expansion: In order to get data, I would have to talk to someone who just came to America. I could ask how much different it is compared to their culture. Someone from Asia, for example, could see our culture very rude. Or I can just research the different cultures from a book. The question requires a good understanding on how and why culture is important, and how it is a part of our identity.

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Choose Your Own Adventure Module: Work of Fiction

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Choose Your Own Adventure Module: Work of Fiction

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Examining the movie Amadeus for social class and identity based on Mozart.

How does the film show the social position change for Mozart? It is important to know what position he was in during the beginning and ending of the film. He first start out as a prodigy, and stayed famous for a while. However, he started to lose money and became in-debt multiple times.

The movie is about the life of Mozart being told by Salieri’s point-of-view. Salieri believes that Mozart's music is divine and miraculous, but is then shocked to learn that Mozart is such a vulgar creature. The film then focuses on the downfall of Mozart, as shown that not many people wanted to hear his music anymore. In fact, Salieri becomes the more famous composer.

So what was Mozart’s social position, and why did it change dramatically? The movie clearly shows that Mozart’s fame started out as a child. He was playing music for the Pope or the Emperor. He was even able to become a court composer for the Archbishop. This gives the idea that his master status is his talent for music. A master status is “a status that overrides or stands out from all others” (Tipton 2018, pg. 4). Because his role as a young composer gave him so much love that no one cared about his personality. Now, whether or not the lack of social interaction made him the weirdo we see him is up for debate, but I digress. His attitude and wild behavior did eventually irritate the Archbishop and even relieved him of his work. The only reason he was still famous was because the Emperor of Vienna requested him to compose an opera. Working for the Emperor is what kept his master status alive. While the opera was a big hit, it is clearly shown that a lot of people thought it were too different and new at the time. Because of this, less and less people came to his other operas. Since Mozart was never able to get a position in the Emperor’s court, he struggled to find a job. In other words, the lack of employment is what’s killing his master status. Suddenly, no one liked his wild attitude because of his new social position. He was a drinker and debtor. It can be because he lost his master status. Salieri was loved more than him so it would make sense. Throughout the movie, Mozart acted like an idiot and immature creature, but people did not really mind him when he was famous. It is only when he is jobless that people started to not like his weird attitude.

It is clearly shown that Mozart did not give a crap about politeness or civility. He did not care if he was embarrassing himself or was acting immature, he was having fun. While some people liked this wild attitude, others obviously did not. Salieri, for example, thought such beautiful talent was given to the equivalent to a wild animal. The other composers also thought such a child shouldn’t be a part of the Emperor’s court.

If Mozart social position changed dramatically, why didn’t Salieri? The simple answer is that he acted more like a gentleman and was more famous. He knew to keep up appearance and learned everything by himself. Even though people remembered Mozart’s music more, Salieri’s music was adored in his days; even more than Mozart. He is always staying in character, wearing the mask that everyone else sees him. This gives that impression that he cares deeply about his civility politeness; he is making sure he embarrassed himself or act like some kind of immature child.

This is a perfect example of Goffman's term, where people have the character, the self as performed to others (Tipton 2018 pg. 12), and performer, the self not performed by others (Tipton 2018 pg. 12). Mozart, for example, front stage is his weird personality. It is weird because, normally, it would be someone's performer. However, I would make the argument that his performer is more of his drinking state, but that is more speculation. Now it is not clear if everyone secretly hated Mozart's personality. If they did, that would be an example of their performer. Their character would probably be how they like him, because who wouldn't want to be friends with a famous person. But when he loses his popularity, suddenly, there is no reason to keep up character.

Mozart’s master status as a great composer is what made him famous. It is why some people were okay with his weird personality, but it all changes when he lose the status from being unemployed. Salieri was also a great composer, but he kept his status and role in the Emperor’s court because he followed civility and politeness. He kept up appearance, never making a fool of himself.

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Essential Question: Is the internet also causing rapid social change with Industrialization and Urbanization?

Revised Question: Is the Internet causing a more rapid change in modern society, or is Industrialization and Urbanization still the major cause? If it is the internet, does that mean Durkheim's theory is still relevant in modern society?

Reflection: While I think it’s an okay question, it can probably be answered easily. The reason I think it’s the best for this week is because it ties in to Durkheim’s theory. It asks whether his theory is still relevant today or if the influence of the internet overshadows his theory now.

Extension: To understand the question, it does require a little understanding of Durkheim’s theory for someone to agree or disagree. It’s also important to observe whether someone acts differently when using the internet for a while. However, it’s still not a great question because it doesn’t lead to other questions that can make it more in-depth.