09 Nov Summarize (in writing or recorded message) how you would respond to your relative’s argument by explaining why you agree or disagree with their assertions.
3-5 paragraphs minimum
Imagine youre at a family dinner. One of your relatives argues the American Dream isnt eroding. They propose access to social mobility is equitable and that there’s no such thing as classism, generational poverty, systemic racism, nor voter suppression.
They justify this by arguing that everyone, as long as they work hard and want it bad enough, has exactly the same chance of upward social mobility, and if they don’t like it, we all have equal access to voter participation, so we an change the laws fairly easy to make things better.
They clarify by arguing the labor market is an even playing field and if someone is living in poverty, its because they failed to work hard or they aren’t looking hard enough for good job.
Summarize (in writing or recorded message) how you would respond to your relative’s argument by explaining why you agree or disagree with their assertions.
In addition to your summary, be sure to: frame your response using your sociological imagination (i.e., provide a sociological explanation). This means, at minimum, avoiding anecdotal narratives and instead focusing on empirical evidence. It also means that institutional/structural and cultural issues matter, a lot, so steer clear of experiential-based summaries if they don’t reflect the data associated with these issues.
