This assignment is meant to test your understanding of the course materials. The questions listed below
cover the various units in the course. Choose two of the questions to answer for this assignment. Your essay
answers must begin with an introductory paragraph that includes a thesis statement. Then select two or
three supporting arguments and develop them in some detail. It is unlikely that you will be able to address
all of the possible issues in this brief essay, so be sure to select your supporting points carefully and bring
them together in the form of a modest conclusion. You should reference the course materials in these essays,
as part of the evaluation will be based on your engagement with the course discussion.
1. Are cultures of everyday life worthy of study?
2. Are traditional gender roles still reflected in the home?
3. Are centralization and bureaucratization still central characteristics of the social organization of the
modern workplace?
4. In your view, do Bourdieu’s observations on the gendered and classed nature of recreational activities
reinforce stereotypes?
5. Has our understanding of what constitutes “community” changed over time?
6. How has the course changed your understanding of the distinction between things deemed to be
cultural and things assumed to be natural?
7. How is everyday culture a site of contestation?