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SOCIOLOGY-1000

Critical Thinking Exercise


This critical thinking exercise is divided into two parts. In the first part, you are requested to express your free thought on the following two questions. In answering, all you need to do is to state your opinion. Do not overthink your responses. There is no right or wrong answer for this you all will be given bonus points for this participation. 1. Think of any game that interests you. What skills, you think, are important to win this game? Now, since America is a land of opportunity, dont you think that ones success largely depends on how they play the game? What are some skills that are necessary to winning in the land of opportunity? 2. ist your race, se!, religion, and socio"economic class #Again, dont worry a$out a right or wrong answer" %ust put down the one you identify with&. Now, write a $rief paragraph a$out what it means to $e someone like you in America.

After your response to the above questions, I will discuss with you how the Sociological I agination enables us to understand history and biography and the relations between the two within society. !hat you need to do is to watch following two videos before answering questions in part II.

Link to videos: http://inequality.org/wealth-inequality-america/ "This is a very short, not ore than # inutes, video that builds on research findings about A erican attitudes toward wealth distribution. It shows that ost A ericans would like to see wealth in the $.S. uch ore equally distributed than they believe it is. Surprisingly enough, the reality has beco e ore unequal%& http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ni !om"#$o "This fil , 'ark Avenue( )oney, 'ower and the A erican Drea , is ade by an Acade y award*winning fil aker, Alex +ibney,where basically he shows the yawning gap between rich and poor in A erica and how the richest people in A erica have anipulated the ga e in their favor. ,ou don-t need to watch the whole video, first ./012 inutes would be fine&

3ow, answer the following questions. 4ead the aterial in the graphic below5 get fa iliar with these i portant concepts. Also, be prepared for the discussion in the next class. I ay ask rando questions.
1. After watching these 'ideos, what is your game plan for winning in America? (s your pre'ious plan still an effecti'e one? Why or why not? 2. Again, what does it mean to $e a person like you in America? )lease reflect on the connections you see $etween your personal $iography and societal history in America. Alternati'ely, how do your race, se!, religion, and socioeconomic status affect your life? *. +ased on your reflection, how would you distinguish critical thinking from 'ulgar thinking with regard to ine,uality in America?

Sociological Imagination: An A erican sociologist, 6. !right )ills, first coined this concept. It is defined as the vivid awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society. It helps us to connect our personal troubles to public issues. It enables us to show the connectedness a ong biography of individuals, their historical actions and ost i portantly, the affect of institutions on those actions. It is thus an intellectual skill that develops in order to understand what is going on7 Vulgar Thinking: 8ulgar thinking excludes all sort of reasoning. It is based on superficial ideas, which lead to dogmatic thinking and intolerant behavior. Though so eti es vulgar thinkers ay appear convincing, they hardly take any syste atic easure to analy9e facts. Critical Thinking: This type of thinking tends to include all sides of a given pheno enon before passing any :udg ent, and it requires reflective thought/attitudes. It involves creation and re*creation, hence it does not allow us to be dog atic or absolutist. Instead, and it teaches us how to be open minded and tolerant to others- opinions. It also teaches us how to think broadly about things we believe.

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