1. You and your group members for the Group Assignments will conduct research on social location, culture and socialization in television portrayals of American families from the 1950s/1960s and today. 2. Watch three episodes of a television show from the 1950s/1960s that focuses on an American family or families with your group. You are free to choose what show to watch, as long as it focuses on American families. Suggested shows: “Leave It to Beaver”, “Father Knows Best”, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”, “The Andy Griffith Show”. All of these shows have full episodes available free on Youtube.com. 3. Watch three episodes of a television show currently on t.v. or that was on t.v. in the last few years with your group. You are free to choose what show to watch, as long as it focuses on American families. Suggested shows: “This Is Us”, “Modern Family”, “Black-ish”, “A Million Little Things”. Please try to find shows that all group members are able to access without paying for them. 4. Provide a list of each t.v. show and the episodes watched for all group members to include in their papers. 5. Discuss your observations from the two different t.v. shows with the other members of the group. 6. Each group member must write a 3-5 page (double-spaced) INDIVIDUAL PAPER summarizing your findings and answering the questions below. You can answer each question separately or integrate your answers into an essay narrative. 7. Submit your individual paper to the Writing Assignment #1 Dropbox in Elearning by SUNDAY, February 13 at 11:59 p.m. The paper is worth a total of 50 points. 8. Your grade will be based on how well you relate course material on social location, culture and socialization to what you see in these television shows. 9. If you have any questions or problems, please talk to me. A.SOCIAL LOCATION IN THE 1950S/1960S VERSUS TODAY (15 pts.) 1. How does the social location of the characters and families in the t.v. show from the 1950s/1960s affect their behavior? Potential issues to consider include the political situation at the time, material culture utilized such as clothing, automobiles, etc. 2. How does the social location of the characters and families in the current t.v. show affect their behavior? 3. What differences do you observe between the characters in the 1950s/1960s t.v. show and the current show that are due to their social location? Why do you think these differences are due to social location? B.CULTURE IN THE 1950S/1960S VERSUS TODAY (20 pts.) 1. What would be the four most important values in American society at that time based on what you see in the t.v. show from the 1950s/1960s? Why? 2. What would be the four most important values in American society today based on what you see in the current t.v. show? Why? 3. What evidence can you find about U.S. cultural diversity in the t.v. show from the 1950s/1960s? 4. What evidence can you find about U.S. cultural diversity in the current t.v. show? C.SOCIALIZATION IN THE 1950S/1960S VERSUS TODAY (15 pts.) 1. What evidence can you see of gender socialization in the t.v. show from the 1950s/1960s? 2. What evidence can you see of gender socialization in the current t.v. show? 3. What evidence can you see of the role of peer groups as agents of socialization in the 1950s/1960s t.v. show? 4. What evidence can you see of the role of peer groups as agents of socialization in the current t.v. show? 5. What differences can you see in the socialization of children in the 1950s/1960s t.v. show versus the current t.v. show? Why?
