Narratives of Class and Mobility: Part 1 (3-5pgs; 100pts)

Due Wednesday September 5th by 11pm via Canvas

The goal of this assignment is for you to critically reflect on your own views about class and economic mobility in American society. This paper should be written in Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced (2-point line spacing), and standard margins (1 inch) and should be 3-5 pages long (not including citations/references).

Assignments should be turned in to Canvas by 11pm.

In this paper, you should first write 1-2 paragraphs explaining what social class means to you and what social class you belong. You should briefly describe why you feel that you belong to that particular social class, including a brief discussion of your parent’s or guardians’ educational and occupational backgrounds.

Second, you should write 1-2 paragraphs about social mobility in the United States. Do you believe that the American Dream is alive and well for everyone? Or are there limits to the American Dream for some? Is working hard enough to ensure a middle class lifestyle? Explain and provide evidence to these answers.

Third, write 2-3 paragraphs summarizing and then comparing and contrasting your own views about class and inequality in the United States to 2 of 3 the articles for Week 2: Functions of Inequality (Davis and Moore, Fischer et al, and Krueger). In this, you should first summarize the 2 articles that you chose and then describe how they are similar and different to your views. Please state which articles you are comparing, as well as the authors.

Finally, you should then write a brief concluding paragraph summarizing what you wrote and your views on social class and mobility.

If you use additional outside sources, you should properly cite them using ASA format (which is explained on Canvas) or APA or MLA if you prefer. Outside sources are not required for this assignment, though.

Part 1 rubric (graded on a scale of 100 points) (Due 9/5 at 11pm)

20pts: Describing what class means to you

• 20 points= Fully describes what class means to you. Provides a detailed description of why you belong to the class you believe you do given your parents’ income, education, and/or other social factors.
• 15 points= Describes what class means to you. Uses incomplete evidence to describe your social class position.
• 10 points= Provides a brief and incomplete definition of class, as well as provides incomplete info on your class background.
• 5 points= Provides very little info on what class means to you as well as your position.

20pts: Evaluation of class and mobility in US society

• 20 points= Defines what the American Dream means to you and other Americans. Discusses your perception of mobility in the U.S. using evidence and providing views on hard work and the middle class.
• 15 points= Defines what the American Dream means to you but not for other Americans. Discusses your perception of mobility in the U.S. using some evidence and providing incomplete views on hard work and the middle class.
• 10 points= Defines what the American Dream means to you but not for other Americans. Discusses your perception of mobility in the U.S. using little evidence and providing incomplete views on hard work and the middle class.
• 5 points= Does not effectively describe the American Dream or social mobility.

30pts: Summary and comparison/contrast of the two articles

• 30 points = Effectively describes 2 or 3 of the articles, including the main arguments in each. Does a strong job comparing and contrasting your views to the articles.
• 20 points= Provides a decent overview of 2 of the articles, but does not cover all of the main points. Does not provide a solid comparison and contrast with your own views.
• 10 points= Does not provide a good overview of the articles and fails to compare and contrast.

10pts: Concluding paragraph

• 10 points = Effectively summarizes the main points described in the paper and your views on class and mobility.
• 5-7 points= Does not effectively summarize the main points described in the paper and your views on class and mobility, but provides a general conclusion.

10pts: Grammar- Do you write with proper sentence structure, spelling, and word agreement?

10pts: Organization: Does the organization of your paper make sense? Did you follow my guidelines?