Response Paper #1
After reading Chapter 1 and 2 of the text, Sociology: A Brief Introduction, I anticipate taking a couple of things and applying them realistically to my life. I anticipate being able to see through other people’s shoes better. Gaining a better understanding of others will, in the long run, be quite beneficial. By doing so, I will hopefully be able to predict risky communicating situations and avoid them. To be able to learn how people act, why they act a certain way, and recognize it is a very powerful thing.
I also anticipate that perhaps other people will be able to avoid these situations as well. One can only put their faith into other people so much, but I’d like to think that other people are as understanding of other’s cultures. I hope the knowledge that is learned by our class is then shared with others. If our class and all the other classes learning can share a bit with their peers, then perhaps some of the knowledge will be shared on a larger scale, and others would learn more from it. If only everyone did this, then maybe we would be a more understanding and thoughtful culture.
I took Sociology a couple of years ago; although I can’t remember all that came from it, I do remember one major assignment. We had to create some sort of public “mayhem” and record how those around us reacted. My group decided to perform a little “work out/dance class” in the middle of a mall (far away from our home town might I add). The idea of this was to see how people reacted, and perhaps why they did so. It was quite interesting to see how different age groups and people from different ethnicities reacted. It was mostly younger people who were “in” on the joke; most of the older people just sat and were looking awkwardly at us, or ignoring us completely. It was a different way to look at sociology and experience it.
When looking at the different sociologists and their theories, I anticipate taking the most from two different sociologists. Charles Cooley is the first one that I agree with. His theories believe in looking at smaller groups, the face to face interactions, and how they interact in their own personal environments. I agree because these smaller groups really do shape who you are, what you believe in, what you like/prefer, and much more. It is the influence from these smaller groups that do so. I also truly agree with C. Wright Mills in his theories in regards to the “sociological imagination”. I believe that the individual has a place in the larger realm of society. In looking at the individual and how they fit into the larger part or society, it allows us to “realize” or roles. I think everyone should view their society with an outsider’s view rather than their own view from the inside. It would allow others to be more understanding of other’s societies, instead of just thinking about our own.
Overall, I anticipate meeting new people, learning about them and their experiences, learning about different cultures, and being able to apply what I’ve learned to a larger scale. In doing so, I believe it will prove to be successful in both my education and career development. Sociology is definitely something that should be learned and shared by all to make the world a better and more considerate place.
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