Soci
SOCY 210
In Unequal City and Lives in Limbo, Carla Shedd and Roberto Gonzales engage the structure vs. agency debate by exploring how young people from marginalized groups reconcile their aspirations for their lives with the reality of their position in the social hierarchy. To do this, Shedd and Gonzales examine how social institutionsprimarily schoolsshape inequality and perceptions of inequality among adolescents. By analyzing the interaction of individuals and social institutions, their studies highlight the complex ethical issues that arise from the unequal distribution of power and resources in this critical stage of the life course.
Drawing on Unequal City, Lives in Limbo, and other class readings, engage in this discussion by writing a single analytical essay that addresses the following questions:
1. What is relative deprivation? Provide specific examples from both books about the ways in which relative deprivation shapes young peoples understanding of inequality and their social position.
Be sure to address all of the questions within a single essay; in other words, do not respond to them separately as short answer questions. Your essay will be assessed for critical thinking, comprehension of course material, focus of argument, use of evidence from the readings, and quality of writing, per the rubric on Blackboard
Instructions:
A well-written and well-edited paper should be approximately 300 words. References are not included in the word count. Exams should typed, double-spaced, and in 12pt Times New Roman font. Citations should be formatted according to the citation style most commonly used in your major discipline or in your College Writing class.
You are free to use your notes and readings for the exam. You may consult the Writing Center in Bender Library with a draft of your exam. Beyond that, any discussion or collaboration with classmates or others on the exam will constitute a violation of academic integrity.
Please submit your upload your exam in the Exams folder in Blackboard. To avoid technical glitches, please upload a Word version of the paper and also cut and paste the text of the paper into the textbox in Blackboard.
