Sociology Final Exam Essay Choices

Directions: In complete paragraphs, answer THREE (3) of the following questions for 10 points each.

A.     Describe the Bystander Effect and write a situation in which you explain the variables about why one would or would not help a stranger.

B.     Compare and contrast the three major theories of sociology. How does each respond to a sociological question?

C.     Discuss your own socialization, specifically how three or more agents of socialization have made you who you are.

D.     What is a total institution?  Describe its purpose and how it achieves this purpose, using at least two real world examples.

E.      Why does deviance occur?  How should society handle deviance? Think of our studies and your own observations/experiences?

F.      Discuss one of the documentaries that we watched this semester from a sociological standpoint.  Argue for its educational value and use in the classroom using sociological terms that you learned from class. Choose one below:

a.      National Geographic’s Feral Children series

b.      PBS’s NOVA’s “Wild Child”

c.      Trekkies

d.      Decoding the Past’s “Cults: Dangerous Devotion”

e.      National Geographic’s “Sex, Lies, & Gender”

f.       PBS’s Frontline’s “A Class Divided”

G.     Why and how does inequality occur? What effects does it have? What can be done to eradicate inequality? Offer various sociological responses as well as your own opinion, providing examples of each. You may focus on inequality in general or explain it in relation to one group in society (women, African-Americans, Muslims, etc.)

RUBRIC

·        10 points =  Student clearly answers all parts of the prompt, providing multiple specific and relevant examples from his/her studies and/or observations.  Writing has a clear introduction (thesis in which an original argument is asserted), body, and conclusion.

·        9 points =  Student clearly attempts to answer all parts of the prompt, providing some specific and relevant evidence from his/her studies and/or observations.  Writing has a clear introduction (thesis), body, and conclusion.

·        8 points =  Student answers most parts of the prompt, providing relevant evidence from his/her studies and/or observations.  Writing has a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.

·        7 points =  Student attempts to answer the main part of the prompt, providing somewhat relevant evidence from his/her studies and/or observations.  Writing has a clear introduction and  body.

·        1-6 points =  Student’s answer lacks clarity and/or organization discussed above.