Poverty Identity and Preference for Challenge: Evidence from the US and India

Select a quotation (2-4 sentences) from one assigned reading that you find interesting and/or representative of the author’s larger argument. Sometimes authors will make several arguments in a chapter or article – trust your judgment on which is most important. In the next part you will make clear why you picked the quote. Be sure to use appropriate parenthetical citation.

Criteria for the Quotation section of your post:

· Provides the full quotation.

· Clearly indicates which reading the quotation is from and which page it can be found on.

· The quotation must be sufficiently central to the arguments of the reading. You should avoid random quotations pulled from the reading that do not embody the message/content of the reading.

2) CONCEPT/IDEA (2 points): In this section you should identify the major concept or idea the author is trying to convey, define it in your own words, and describe why it is important sociologically. You should point out how the author supports his/her argument. In doing this, you are to summarize the author’s argument, not critique it. Also, keep in mind that concepts are typically bold faced terms in a text or are larger ideas that have a specific sociological meaning, but your contribution should not merely be a restating of an author’s definition of a concept.

Grading criteria for the Concept/Idea section of your post:

· Provides a sufficiently developed summary of the reading’s content and central arguments.

· Provides a sufficiently developed justification for why your quotation exemplifies the content and central arguments of the reading.

· The summary of the reading and the justification for the quotation selection is sociological in nature. (Based on course content, not personal opinion.)

· Avoids excessive grammatical mistakes.

3) COMPARISON/CONTRAST (3 points): Here you will take the ideas raised above and relate it to other course material. You can do this by comparing or contrasting arguments and ideas to other readings used in the course. This includes current readings for the week or from previous weeks. In this section, you may want to point out any similarities or differences between the concepts presented in your summarized reading and the concepts presented in other readings from the course. This comparison must be grounded in the sociological content of the course. The purpose is to strengthen your grasp on the course material for deeper and broader understanding of your social work practice.

Grading criteria for the Comparison/Relation section of your post:

· Clearly indicates which article is used for comparison.

· Must be sufficiently developed with a clear comparison or contrast to other ideas.

· You must go beyond stating that two articles are related to stating how they are similar or different.

· Avoids any egregious errors or misinterpretations of course concepts.

· Avoids excessive grammatical mistakes.

4) QUESTION (2 points): Raise 1 related question about the concept/idea discussed above. Questions are like shovels – they are tools we use to dig deeper into the material we are working with. Like shoveling dirt or snow, asking questions can sometimes get messy. Be okay with that; roll your sleeves up. It’s part of the process of deep critical inquiry and thinking. Your questions should relate to and be inspired by the material you’ve been discussing here. Good questions will be thought provoking, discussable, and may even lead to more questions before leading to any answers. Aim to ask questions that will deepen your/our understanding of the issue at hand. You may want to also ask questions that connect the readings to social work practice. We will follow-up on these questions in our class discussions.

Grading criteria for the Question section of your post (1 point):

· Provides a clear discussion question that is based on the readings.

· The question cannot be answered by a yes or no answer.

· The question must not be a request for simple content regurgitation.

Example:

Quotation: “A critical sociological perspective can shine a discomfiting light on members of privileged groups, if only by making their privileges visible. It becomes harder, then, to teach sociological thinking when such thinking induces guilt and seems like putting one’s self in for blame” (Schwalbe 2008 p.xiii).

Concept/Idea: Schwalbe describes sociological mindfulness as being aware of the larger social context in which we are part of. He applies the notion of sociological mindfulness to the study of inequality. He argues that looking at the world critically and sociologically can be challenging for some people who may feel implicated or at fault for the amount and severity of inequality that exists in society. This is important sociologically because if people feel guilty they may be unwilling or unable to learn about the sociological workings of society, which will likely reinforce them.

Comparison/Relation: Similar to Schwable’s sociological mindfulness, C. Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination discusses the distinction between personal troubles and public issues. Mills argued that in order to understand society, we must first understand our place in it. He emphasized the connection between individuals and society and insisted that we must know both to understand either one. This relates to Schwalbe because if people refuse to look at their place in society for fear of guilt or shame, they will never be able to understand society or themselves. Mills and Schwalbe describe mirror concepts and both suggest that we need to consider how our behaviors and actions are influenced by larger social structures. Further, both argue that people are often unaware of how they participate in something larger than themselves

Questions: How can people learn to move from individualist views of society to an awareness of the larger social context? How does privilege impact this? What benefit will critical sociological thinking have and for whom?

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