As an individual which hasn’t encounter many life altering experiences, it is difficult to pin point my main social lens. However, the prevailing lens which could be used to describe experiences in my life is a conflict lens. In this paper, I will explain the main influences on my lens which include, growing up in a working-class family which created my perception of work values. Similarly, joining the defence force has developed my lens to focus on the importance of being a cohesive team even if there is a hierarchy of control. An individual’s values and morals relating to society are influenced by the surrounding social structures. Marx and Engels (1848) suggest that a family’s class is effected by the inequality of that society. Being born into a working-class family has affected my options in terms of the level of education that I received. Additionally, growing up in this environment created a sense of belonging within a labour orientated profession. Whereas, an individual which grew up in a middle or upper class would have had more options available to them during their development. Therefore, these options would have affected their values towards the community. All things considered, …show more content…
Giddens (1973, p. 60) refers to society as studying the role of organs within the human body, each organ plays a vital role to the bodies structure. Joining the navy illustrated this point to me as all members of a ship’s company must use their specialized skillset and communicate effectively with each other to achieve the common goal. Additionally, crews often face the same issues within their personal and professional life’s, these events normally force the team to have similar values as each other. As shown above, using a functional lens I was able to discover that for a team to be successful they must share common interests and have similar values in order to have a social
Life is full of decisions, but they are subconsciously influenced by society. This influence has created an unhealthy relationship between social classes. How people choose to act is in complete correlation to society’s set expectation for a certain class. These actions then become reflections of people’s moral values. In Tony McAdam’s criticism of The Great Gatsby, Ethics in Gatsby, he points out the corruption of characters morals due to society’s influence and the impact that has on decision making.
The Impact of Social Class on Jesse Thistle: The novel “From the Ashes” by Jesse Thistle is written in narrative form by the author himself. In the novel, social class heavily influences Jesse’s life decisions and mindset, as analyzed from a Marxist literary lens perspective. To explain, Jesse grows up in a low-class neighbourhood in Brampton, with his grandparents who were not the richest. Due to Jesse growing up in a low-class environment, he was influenced to do whatever to survive and have peace of mind, even if that “whatever” is considered unhealthy and goes against good values.
However, the most thought provoking concept introduced by Mantsios is his fifth reality. Mantsios asserts, “Class standing has a significant impact on chances for educational achievement.” (Mantsios, p 483). Throughout this portion of his article, Mantsios continues to reference studies that prove lower class citizens achieve significantly less (Mantsios, p 482). Although the media is filled with stories of how different celebrities, such as Oprah, went from rags to riches, these are a merely a select few that escape their predetermined end.
Nicholas Kristof once said, “ In effect, we have a class divide on top of a racial divide, creating a vastly uneven playing field, and one of its metrics is educational failure”. Human Rights Activist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof is a very profound writer. Nicholas Kristof is known for his powerful and emotional passages that really gets in the audience 's thoughts like, “Is a Hard Life Inherited”. The purpose of this passage is to inform the upper-class families and society of the struggles of the lower middle class and the hardships that they need to overcome in order for success. The strategies Nicholas Kristof used can be separated into three important segments which are pathos, logos, and cause and effect.
Society today is really judgemental. If you don’t wear the right clothes or have the right car then you will get judged. It’s kinda like in the book The Crucible if you weren't a puritan then you were an outcast or you might have been a witch. One of the puritan girls Abigail Williams blamed a lot of women who were called puritans and lived the puritan way. In this case people just judged them without looking into far more research.
In his story, “A&P”, John Updike shows that sometimes people unhappy with their opportunities judge people based upon their social class causing bad decisions and later disappointment. Updike utilizes symbolism, irony, and characterization to display the impact of a person’s social class on society. The different social classes of people create a barrier between them leading to the desperation of trying to fit on a different level. Social status is the way a person lives their life and the lifestyle they
In James W. Loewen’s “The Land of Opportunity,” he states that social class affects the way children are raised. He discusses the inequality in today’s society and how the textbooks in high school do not give any social class information. The students in today’s time are not taught everything they should be taught. He states that your family’s wealth is what makes up your future. Loewen discusses that people with more money can study for the SATs more productively and get a better score than someone who has less money.
In Addition, "We aren't in the same class. Just don't forget that some of us watch the sunset too" (Hinton 40). This demonstrates the possibilities for human development and power of freedom from social class boundaries underlining the importance of individual responsibility and demonstration. It emphasizes the idea that one’s value and potential should not be constrained or defined by their economic standing, promoting a more just and empowered
Being born into a particular family determines how well off you are. Class in America determines the people that influence you, and the better opportunities you are exposed to. In Gregory Mantsios writing of “Class in America” you can understand the many differences between class and how one might have better success. Mantsios shows three profiles of three different people born into different classes. One of the profiles shows how the lifestyle might be born into a wealthy family.
The American dream is a dream of a land in which one can prosper with ambition and hard work. This idea has created many illusions for some because in reality the American dream is proven to be something that is rarely achieved. No individual is guaranteed success or destined for failure, but it is apparent that women, people of color, and those born into poverty will face greater obstacles than others, despite being a greater part of the American population. An author that tackles the issue of class in the United States is Gregory Mantsios. In his essay, “Class in America-2009”, Mantsios aims to prove that class affects people’s lives in drastic ways.
Ethos the guiding beliefs of a person, belief, or organization Found Example They are working to keep a democratic ethos alive in the community. (Merriam-Webster) Original Example The tribe set up their ethos early on in their settlement. Pathos A quality that causes people to feel sympathy and sadness Found Example There is pathos to the deflated certainties that left the Washington lawyer Leonard Garment weeping, inconsolable, outside the Senate chamber as the debate was ended.
Introduction Norms, values and socialisation are undoubtedly one of the most important fundamentals in sociology, and I have been fascinated by how these social factors affect and influence the “little man.” (Mills 1946) Throughout this short essay, I will explore these social factors influence the individual and society in the world in which we live. Norms Norms are an expectation about appropriate behaviour in a society.
Social inequalities can be described as the differences in “income, resources, power and status” (Naidoo and Wills 2008, in Warwick-Booth 2013, 2) that advantage a social class, a group or an individual over another, and thereby establish social hierarchies. It also affects inequalities in regards to gender, race, access to health and education, and general living conditions. In sociology, the dichotomy between the conflict theory approach and the functionalist approach has led to a discordant opinion in regards to social inequalities. The conflict theory seems to admit that social inequalities needs to disappear in order to install a common and equal base for all individuals, whereas the functionalist approach believes that social inequalities
Introduction Conflict is unpleasant, but inevitable throughout life. In any situation involving two or people, conflict may arise. Conflict can be defined as, “any situation in which incompatible goals, cognitions, or emotions within or between individuals or groups lead to opposition or antagonistic interaction” (Learning Team Toolkit, 2004, pp 242-243). People come from different backgrounds and live through different life experiences therefore, even when working towards a common goal, they will not always agree. Major conflict that is not dealt with can devastate a team or organization (Make Conflict Work, 2008).
Therefore, in a stratified society, the individual’s opportunities are always determined by his or her social class. In this essay, I will be arguing that even though mobility exists in the social class system, the opportunity to change status is relatively open for everyone but the distribution of opportunities among the members of a social class is not relatively equal to all. I will demonstrate this point by showing how participation of an individual in a specific social class will decide the opportunities in terms of attaining education and achieving a well-paid job. Education has a significant role in promoting social mobility; it enables people to acquire knowledge and certain skills in order to promote their social status. Nowadays, people believe that societies are based on meritocratic