reading journal guidelines-v9 - csueastbay.edu

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READINGJOURNALGUIDELINESAboutReadingJournals Readingjournalshelpstudentscomplete,comprehend,andassessthegeneralcontentofthereadings.Theyshowthatthestudentispresentandprepared.Inaddition,theyallowtheprofessortogaugestudents’progressinthoseareas.ReadingJournalExpectations

• ReadingjournalsmustbeuploadedtoBlackboardbythetimeanddateindicatedonthesyllabus.Latejournalswillnotbeaccepted.

• Readingjournalsmustbetypedonacomputer.• Readingjournalsaregradedona10-pointscale.Thelowesttworeadingjournal

gradeswillbedropped.• Behonest!Ifyoudonotcompletetheassignedreading,summarizeasmuchasyou

read(ifany)andthenwrite,“Ididnotcompletethereadings.”Yourhonestywillearnyou½credit.Anattempttofabricateasummarywithouthavingdonethereadingisconsideredacademicdishonesty(cheating)andwillbereportedtothehonorcodecouncil.

• Readingjournalsaregradedusingpopgrading.Thismeanstheprofessorrandomlyselectsonlyonearticleorchaptersummarytogradeeachday.Thegradeforthatsummaryisthegradegivenfortheentireday’sassignment.Italsomeansthatyoumayreceivefullcreditevenifsomeofyourreadingjournalisincorrect.

ReadingJournalParts

• SummaryParagraphs:First,writea100-wordmaximumsummaryparagraphforeachreading.Eachsummaryshouldcontainthethesisofthereading,2to4mainpointsfromthereading,andin-textcitations.Thetitleforeachsummaryshouldbethetitleofthereadingplusthewordcount.

• DefinitionsorDescriptions:Writeaone-sentencedefinitioninyourownwordsforeachofthetermsprovidedforthatday.Usein-textcitationsforthesources.

• PersonalReflection:Next,writeonepersonalreflectiononalltheday’sreadings.Connecttheday’sreadingstoothercoursematerialsandtoyourowninformedacademicperspectiveofthereadings.Asbefore,writethereflectioninparagraphformwithfewerthan100wordswhileusingcorrectspellingandgrammar.Usein-textcitationswhenyoureferencethereadings.

• WorksCitedSection:Finally,includeaworkscitedsectionforeachreadingusingAmericanSociologicalAssociation(ASA)style.Whileyoushouldwritethesummariesintheordertheyareassignedonthesyllabus,theentriesshouldbelistedalphabetically.

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StudentNameCourseNumber

DueDateReadingJournal

“UnderstandingRaceandEthnicity”—99words

Schaefer(2005)introducestheconceptsofdominantandsubordinategroups,statingthatthesecategoriesarenotbasedonnumericalminorityormajority,butonsystemsofpower.Raceandethnicityaretwosociallyconstructedcategoriesthatsocietyusestocreateastratifiedsystemofdominanceandsubordination.Sociologistsusethreetheoreticalframeworks—functionalist,conflicttheory,andlabelingtheory—toexaminethecreationandconsequencesofsubordinategroupstatus.Thefunctionalistframeworkdescribeshowitfunctionsforsociety.Theconflicttheorystatesthatthesystemonlybenefitwhites,andthelabelingtheoryillustrateshowracialcategoriesaregivenmeaning(Schaefer2005).“BiologyandtheSocialConstructionofthe‘Race’Concept”—82words

Brown(2001)arguesthat“race”isaconceptwithnobiologicalbasis.Inotherwords,therearenobiologicallydeterminedcategoriesthatcorrespondtotheracialcategoriessuchasAsian,Black,NativeAmerican,White,etc.Thereisnoracegene,norevenacollectionofgenesthatdeterminerace.Instead,raceisasocially-constructedconcept,thedevelopmentofwhichtellsmoreabouttherelationshipbetweenpeoplethanittellsaboutwhatcanbeknownusingandpracticingaphysicalscience(Brown2001).Definitions• SocialConstruction:Thesociologicaltheorythatconceptsandcategoriessuchasrace

andethnicitydonotoccurnaturallybutinsteadarecreatedbysociety(Shaefer2005:27).

• FunctionalistTheory:Thesociologicaltheorythatphenomenoninsocietyprovidesomefunctionfortheoperationofsociety(Schaefer2005:19).

• BiologicalEssentialism:Thepopularbeliefthatcategoriesofraceandethnicityaretheproductsofourbiology,notsociety(Brown2001:13).

PersonalReflection–85words

Ifoundthesocialconstructionofracetheorytobeabitchallenging(Brown2001;Schaefer2005).Forexample,Icanlookaroundtheclassroomandseethatpeoplearefromdifferentraces.Ifitissoeasytotellsomeone’sracejustbylookingatthem,whycan’tbiologistslocatethegeneforrace?Also,allofthelanguagearoundraceandethnicityisabitconfusing.WhydoesSchaefer(2005)usetermslikedominantandsubordinategroup?Isn’tasubordinategroupthesamethingsasaminoritygroup?

WorksCitedBrown,Prince.2001.“BiologyandtheSocialConstructionofthe‘Race’Concept.”Pp.131-

137inTheSocialConstructionofRaceandEthnicityintheUnitedStates,editedbyJoanFerrante-WallaceandPrinceBrown.UpperSaddleRiver,NJ:PrenticeHall.

Schaefer,Richard.2005.“UnderstandingRaceandEthnicity.”Pp.17-34inRaceandEthnicityintheUnitedStates,3rdEdition.NewYork,NY:PearsonEducation.

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StudentNameCourseNumber

DueDateReadingJournal

“RacialFormations”—97words

OmniandWinant(2012)notonlyrefutetheclaimofraceasabiologicalconceptbutalsoidentifyraceasasocio-historicalconcept.Racialcategoriesandthemeaningofracearegivensignificancebaseduponthehistoricalcontextinwhichtheyarerooted.IntheUnitedStates,racehashistoricallybeendefinedbytheruleofhypo-decent,orthe“one-drop”rule.Theauthorsalsodiscusstheimportanceofsocial,economic,andpoliticalforcesinracialformationandhowracialideologiesfactorintoourbeliefintheinherentconnectionbetweenskincoloranddifferencesinintelligence,temperament,etc(OmiandWinant2012).“RacializedSocialSystemApproachtoRacism”—97words

Bonilla-Silva(2012)introducestheconceptofaracializedsocialsystem.Hebelievesthatafterasocietyhasbecomeracialized,itbecomesastructurewithinitself,takingonalifeofitsown.Heacknowledgesthatwhileitisasocialconstructithasveryrealeffectsonoursociallives.Aftersomeoneattachesmeaningtoaracialcategory,itbecomesveryrealinitsconsequences.Theplacementofpeopleintoracialcategoriesdoesinvolveaformofhierarchy,whichplacesactorsineithersuper-ordinateorsubordinatepositions.Thisthenleadstostrugglesamongracesandthereforedifferinginterests(Bonilla-Silva2012).Definitions• Socio-HistoricalConcept:“Racialcategoriesandthemeaningofracearegiven

significancebaseduponthesocietyandthehistoricalcontextinwhichtheyareembedded”(OmiandWinant2012:19).

• Hypo-Descent:Thesocietalnorminwhichapersonwithanyancestryfromasubordinateraceisconsideredfullyamemberofthatrace(OmiandWinant2012:10).

• RacializedSocialSystems:“Theideathatsocietyisorganizedalongraciallinesandthateconomic,political,social,andevenpsychologicalrewardsdifferaccordingtoarace’splacementinaracialhierarchy”(Bonilla-Silva2012:32).

PersonalReflection—89words Iwasmostinterestedthisweektoreadaboutthevarianceinperceptionsofraceacrosscultures(OmiandWinant2012).IwassomewhatunawareofhowverystaticourideasofracearehereintheUnitedStatesascomparedtootherplaces.ItastoundsmethatPuertoRicohassomanydifferentcategoriesthatarenotbasedonbiology.ThesocialconstructionofraceisalsoapartofBonillaSilva’stheoryofracialformation,althoughhealsoclaimsthatraceisastructureinsociety(Bonilla-Silva2012).

WorksCitedBonilla-Silva,Eduardo.2012.“RacializedSocialSystemApproachtoRacism.”Pp.32-38in

RethinkingtheColorLine,5thEdition,editedbyCharlesGallagher.NewYork,NY:McGrawHill.

Omi,Michael,andHowardWinant.2012.“RacialFormations.”Pp.17-21inRethinkingtheColorLine,5thEdition,editedbyCharlesGallagher.NewYork,NY:McGrawHill.