Directions:

• Answer each question below based on your understanding of the assigned readings.
• Your completed response should be at least 2 pages long (double-spaced) and will be worth 8 points total.
• Length requirements and points noted for each question. FOLLOW THE LENGTH REQUIREMENTS TO EARN FULL POINTS.
• Please NUMBER each response.

Readings: Khan textbook, Chapters 3 and 5

Questions:

1) Give your own example of how an ascribed status might impact an achieved status. Be sure to explain both kinds of status. One full paragraph, worth 2 points.

2) Explain how the self is a socially constituted being, drawing on either Mead or Cooley’s insights, and assess what this means for human agency. Explain what agency is and how it relates to social structure. This should be two full paragraphs, worth 3 points.

3) Is McDonaldization a form of cultural imperialism? Discuss Ritzer’s concept of McDonaldization and what may be lost culturally when the values and norms of rationalization come to dominate other cultures. This should be two full paragraphs, worth 3 points.

Grading Rubric

These are analytical reading questions – I am asking you to complete the reading, to think about its meaning and significance, and to begin to apply key concepts from this reading. These are NOT opinion questions, and they are not questions that Google can answer. To earn full credit, be sure to demonstrate a real engagement with the ideas from the assigned reading. Please do not quote from the readings – translate everything into your own words.

If your discussion of the ideas is lacking – i.e. it is superficial or vague, and/or shorter than the required length – I will deduct a portion of the points and explain this deduction in the Comments section of the assignment. If it is clear to me that you did not complete the reading, your response will earn zero points. As always, any submissions containing plagiarism will receive zero points.