Option 1: Class is a topic that is not commonly discussed among most people in the United States, and yet it is a system of stratification that continues to affect peoples’ daily lives. How often and in what context do you talk about class issues with family and friends? In what class position would you classify yourself and your family? How do you know what category to use to identify your class position? Does your class position differ from that of your parents or grandparents? Why or why not? Does your class position differ from that of your friends? Why or why not?

Option 2: Reflect on a time that you were the victim of negative reciprocity. What happened? Were you intentionally duped? Was this the result of a cultural misunderstanding? How did you go about resolving this, if you did? And, what were the life lessons learned?

Answer preview

Class is a topic that is not commonly discussed among most people in the United States. Some people even refute its existence at all, yet it continues to affect people’s daily lives. Classes can be used to describe stratification systems in any society and yet they are not perfect for classifying all members of society. Classes use several factors to classify members of society. These factors include wealth, level of education, income, occupations, and membership in social networks. In America, people prefer to believe that every citizen has an equal chance at success. However, sociologists have a contrary view that there exists social stratification as a result of systematic inequalities. That the society as a whole is responsible for inequalities and not individuals. People with a lot of wealth determined by the assets and the net value of money they have been ranked…