Sociological Imagination & Sociological Theory
Directions:
- Answer each question below based on your understanding of the assigned readings.
- Each response should be approximately 250 words, which is roughly one page double-spaced, so your completed assignment with both responses should be about 2 pages double-spaced every week. Ignoring these length requirements is the easiest way to lose points.
- Questions are worth 3 points each, for a total of 6 points.
- Please NUMBER each response.
Readings: Mills, 1959, “The Promise” and Khan textbook, Chapter 1
Questions:
- Both Marx and Durkheim understood that the industrial revolution was radically changing the organization of society. Discuss a fundamental difference between their perspectives on this change, and explain how their thinking illustrates Mills’ concept of the sociological imagination.
- Explain Du Bois’s argument about the psychological wages of whiteness. Is his argument an example of the relational sociology that Marx developed? Explain why/why not.
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 Please do not quote from the readings – translate everything into your own words.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.