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.

Dr. Duke

Use the date the readings are due, not the date you complete them.

Dr. Duke

The title for each summary contains the title of the article or chapter that was assigned, and it should be underlined. Please write your summaries in the order that they are assigned in the syllabus.

Include the word count for the summary, which must be 100 words or less.

Use in-text citations. Use two in-text citations when multiple sentences come from the same source.

Dr. Duke

Use the personal reflection to synthesize the readings and provide your own, academically-informed perspective.

Find the terms to define in the syllabus. Write the definitions in your own words, but you should still cite the source.

Include the works cited for each daily reading journal and list them in alphabetical order. Instructions for how to create citations can be found on Blackboard.

Dr. Duke

Dr. Duke

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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.

Do you know what is important about each of the circled items on this example?

Using two in-text citations—one at the beginning of the paragraph and one at the end—is called book-ending. It signifies that the entire paragraph is paraphrased from that source.�

Remember: One summary per reading, one reflection per week, and one document for everything!

reading journal guidelines-v9 - csueastbay.edu

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