Contemporary Society Assignment
Essay (30%) due by Tuesday, March 29 (Week 6) before midnight.
Answer ONE of the following essay questions in 1200 words.
Essay Requirements: You must consult at least five (5) scholarly texts (academic sources) in researching this essay, and reference them in a reference list. At least four (4) of the five (5) scholarly texts must be from outside the essential (weekly) readings (Sociologic textbook). You are expected to engage in independent scholarly research. Scholarly texts include books, an essay from a collection or an article from an academic journal. Please do not use general websites, including Wikipedia, or any dictionary definitions. Any scholarly texts from the Internet MUST be from a reputable academic or university website. If you are not sure, choose only university-based websites for your sources. You must not use any other Internet-based material in your essay unless it is directly related to answering your question and relevant.
Referencing: All quotations MUST be in quotation marks with page number references using the referencing system specified in this unit’s student learning guide, which is Chicago. All material that is not your own MUST be referenced. Students are required to follow the UWS style guidelines in relation to references, quotations and bibliographies. The University of Western Sydney has proactive plagiarism rules in place and all essays must be submitted to Turnitin.
Presentation: You are expected to submit a clearly-written document. You must edit and proofread your work.
Submit your assignment online by Tuesday, March 29 (in Week 6) before midnight. Late submission penalties apply.
Essay Writing: An essay is an extended intellectual engagement with a particular question. A written essay must demonstrate not only an ability to write to an acceptable university standard but, just as importantly, an ability to think to a university standard. Students are required to research the question, and to show evidence of that research in the form of appropriate reference and bibliographic material being used in the essay. As students, you are asked to query and evaluate all material that you read, or notes and recordings you have accumulated from lectures and tutorials and, through a critical engagement with this information, express your own ideas and concepts in the essay. These ideas and concepts must be argued and substantiated by rational means, and presented in a logical, cohesive order that develops your essay’s argument or position.
This essay will be assessed on: A clear response that demonstrates an understanding of the essay question chosen. Correct use of concepts from the course. The appropriate use of examples and evidence to support your argument/s.
Your facility to undertake independent scholarly research and correctly reference that research. Your ability to write clearly and concisely.
Also, see your learning guide for more specific marking criteria.
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
1. Compare and contrast religion with science from a sociological viewpoint. Is science just another form of religion, with people like physicist Stephen Hawking among its high priests or mullah? Are science and religions simply both similar social constructions? In your response to this question, specifically consider both how irrational social factors influence everything, and the relationship between faith and proof. Irrational social factors – social norms are arbitrary/not natural. Faith – religion; proof – science. You can agree that science is another social construction, or disagree and argue that science has more validity than religion
2. What are the issues and challenges of studying something we are part of? Is sociology an appropriate discipline to undertake this process or would another approach be more productive? Compare and contrast the sociological approach with the scientific method of analysis, when used to study something that we are part of. Argue whether sociology is an effective approach to understanding social constructions, or whether a scientific approach is better. Sociology – understanding that everything in society had been made by us; we are participants in creating the rules. Science – objective; believers in reality; focus on proving fact.
3. Compare and contrast food taboos from a religious context with those from a class context. In other words, Social taboos have less to do with processes of logic or threats to society and more to do with the control of subjects within an ideological structure, or the exercise of power. Answer this question using specific religious and class-based examples from contemporary society. Focus on either class or religion in terms of these categories creating food taboos. You can use examples from lectures/personal experience, but use the textbook to support these. Exercise of power – use theory in textbook to explain.
4. How does the myth of Australia being a classless society continue to circulate? Compare and contrast Karl Marx’s theory with that of Erik Olin Wright’s theory, exploring how this myth may allow a wealthy and privileged minority of Australians to reinforce ongoing inequality while making their exercise of power all but invisible? Some aspects to consider more closely in your analysis should include exploitation, symbolic capital, and social stratification. Argue how this myth occurs through looking at these 3 examples above. Counter-argument should show 1 example of how society doesn’t hide this exercise of power.
5. In La Sociologie est un sport du combat, a 2001 documentary about the life of Pierre Bourdieu, directed by Pierre Carles, Bordieu said:
“I often say sociology is a combat sport, a means of self-defence.
Basically, you use it to defend yourself, without having the right to use it for unfair attacks.”
Compare and contrast this statement with James Arvanitakis’s understanding of sociology explained in Chapters 1 & 2 of the textbook Sociologic. You need to compare the two philosophies/approaches outlined above, and decide which you think is the most beneficial/helpful to explaining the role of sociology. Three points should show one side; 1 point for the counter-argument should show the other side.
6. In a Time article, Ayaan Hirsi Ali said: “The reality is that Islam is both a religion and a political ideology, and its latter form is anything but peaceful.”
Compare and contrast the religious and political aspects of Islam within the context of modernity and modernisation.
Ali, Ayaan Hirsi. "The Shahada in Sydney Reminds Us That Political Islam Is Deadly." Time. Accessed March 03, 2016. http://time.com/3634750/shahada-in-sydney-political-islam-ayaan-hirsi-ali/. This is asking you to compare religion and politics to respond to the quote provided. You can agree or disagree with the quote, but you need to use the textbook to support your answer. Modernity is referring to moving away from religion to technology and science…and the division between religion on the one hand, and politics on the other. Argue whether this separation allows there to be distinct elements that can exist independently. That is, religion can have its own codes, but there may be different codes when it comes to political ideology.
Information on how to write a compare and contrast essay can be found on vUWS via Learning Materials>Compare and Contrast Essay Help.
LATE SUBMISSION PENALTIES: A student who submits a late assessment without approval for an extension will be penalised by 10% per day up to 10 days, that is, marks equal to 10% of the assignment’s weight will be deducted as a ‘flat rate’ from the mark awarded.