Introduction
Exam Two will contain three sections of short-answer essay questions. In section one, students will be asked to answer two required questions worth 15 points each (30 points). In section two, students will be asked to answer three of four questions worth 10 points each (30 points). In section three, students will be asked to answer three of four questions worth five points each (15 points). The total value of Exam #2 will be 75 points.
Reading Assignments
Discussion Questions:
- In The Myth of the Working Poor, Steven Malanga notes that recent books on poverty written by Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed) and David Shipler (The Working Poor) claim that working persons cannot make enough money to live in decent conditions. Malanga makes the counter claim that:
- The War on Poverty has failed,
- Working people have strong upward mobility and do not stay in poverty long,
- The work place for persons with low job skills is not nearly as humiliating as Ehrenreich and Shipler make it out to be.
Eric Schlosser, in Work in the Strawberry Fields and The Most Dangerous Job, paints a different picture of low skill work, as did the film, "Waging a Living."
Be prepared to describe the main points of the articles by Malanga and Schlosser. Whom do you think is more correct? Be prepared to take either a structure-functionalist or Marxian perspective on the living conditions of the working poor to explain your position.
- Within the constraints of your current income and expenses, are you willing to spend more money, either through taxes or charitable contributions, on benefits to poor people? Explain your answer using materials from the assigned readings on poverty.
- Describe the basic components of the Protestant Ethic and how it provides a religious justification for the profit motive and accumulation of wealth.
- Herbert Gans, with tongue in cheek, describes the uses of poverty. Describe five of these "uses."
- Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore provide an explanation of social stratification from a structure-functionalist perspective. Melvin Tumin (same web page) critiques their position from a Marxian perspective. Describe each perspective and be prepared to explain which point of view you think best fits the real conditions of the poor.
- Be prepared to explain the concept "comparative advantage" and the principles of the World Trade Organization.
- Be prepared to explain the concepts: "world systems theory", "economic leakage," and "perpetual status." Be prepared to describe how the rules of the World Trade Organization can hinder attempts to maintain a clean, safe environment.
- Be prepared to describe the central arguments made by Brecher and Costello in Globalization: The Race to the Bottom. Does research on the economic effects of globalization support their concerns? Be prepared to answer the questions asked about the race to the bottom that appear on the Brecher and Costello web page.
- Be prepared to offer your opinion of how the United States should address the problem of illegal immigration into this country. Be prepared to defend your position with respect to one of the three sociological perspectives.
Help Session
Help Session: The help session for this exam will be held on Wednesday, February 13, 5:00 p.m., in Room 2432 Food Science.
Dr. Sapp's office hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and by appointment.
Please feel free to contact Dr. Sapp
