I found this assignment had not posted properly. This is a second try.
- Make sure you’ve reviewed the viewpoints on social class in Chapters 9 + 10 of Stark.
- View the film People Like Us which is on reserve in the library. It has four parts, with sub-stories within each one. The first focuses on markers of social class – how items we buy and choices we make indicate to others what our social class is. We may be accepted or rejected by others who read those signals. The second is a “tour” through the landscape of social class. You’ll see people similar to you – and others who are very different. The third is about the (many) blue-collar workers in a society that tries to appear white collar. And the 4th is about “understanding the rules of the game” – how class is maintained. Make notes as you go!
- The American dream is about social mobility in terms of class. In Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation (Princeton, 1995), Jennifer Hochschild presents four components of the dream:
1. The belief that everyone can participate equally and can always start over.
2. The belief that it is reasonable to anticipate success.
3. The belief that success is a result of individual characteristics and that actions are under one’s control.
4. The belief that success is associated with virtue and merit.
After viewing the film, what do you think of each of these 4 elements of the dream? Write a blog posting that draws on two specific segments / stories in the film, and link them to one element of the American dream. - Respond to what other folks write in their posting – and be ready to talk about it on Friday in relatioship to Stark.
