Social Diversity

A lot of people participate in social diversity every day. To me this means the different factors that change our society.  Factors such as age religion, race,sexual orientation, skin color, etc . It is also related to multiculturalism, which is defined by embracing many cultures and ethnicities and bringing them to one. The importance of social diversity in my life is just being with people and learning about them and their cultures, because knowing this helps our world to come together. I think this goes along with all sorts of different issues of social diversity that are important in everyday life. In my life, the most important are gender class, race, and ethnicity. I feel that these all effect things we do daily and something you are always thinking about or seeing.

                I think there are a lot of different influences in my life that helped me learn about social diversity and multiculturalism. The two biggest influences would have to be my family and my education. My family helped so much because they are the biggest place where I can learn about my culture and my heritage because I get all of this from them. Also school is a huge place to learn about all of this because we are learning every day about different things even such as this one. Last year in school, I took a class that focused all about multiculturalism in literature. It helped me to see different ways people live their lives and how they are with their families and friends.

                There are many social issues out there today that could be interesting to investigate this semester. I am interested in many but one that sticks out for this assignment is women's rights. I feel that it is an important topic because I am a woman and all of these rights effect me in my daily life. With out a lot of these rights we have today things would be a lot different for me and I would not be where I am today. Also, there are many more things to change these days and women need to speak up and stand out. A lot of these issues are related to my major because my major is psychology and it all depends on different issues and researching different things.

Exercise 1.1

Step 1:
Places- Spain, Italy, Ireland, Schaumburg, Illinois State, Woodfield Mall, U.S. Cellular field

Jobs- Guidance counselor, teacher, accountant, actress, singer, songwriter, doctor, nurse

Trends-  facebook, drinking games, P90X, Twitter, skirts, Uggs, iPhones, jersey shore

Things- College, sororities, tv, laptops, facebook, McDonalds, straightener, make up, pictures

Technologies-TV, virtual reality, cellphones, iPhone, droid, internet, wireless internet, computers

People- friends, Snooki, Drake, Eminem, Gerard Butler, Jennifer Aniston, Beatles

Controversies-  homosexual marriage (prop8) abortion, euthanasia, oil spill

History- Wars, Kennedys, John Lennon assassination, holocaust, vietnam

Habits-biting nails, gum chewing, smoking, facebooking, watching tv, eating late night

Hobbies-reading, watching tv, scrap booking, playing sports, reading novels, shopping

Step 2: Abortion

Research can help a lot about this issue; however, it is also a complicated issue. Many people feel strongly on both sides of this issue so even though you can learn a lot about it through research, it also depends if you're taking a side on it.

Step 3

Is abortion right?

Should it be legal?

Do people feel they are actually killing the baby or is it not thee yet?

Is there a religion problem with this?

Are there other better options?

Exercise 2

"It's hard not to admire these traits that give the birds such biological success, and yet somehow these evolutionary gifts seem unfair and unearned." This quote seemed to be a very strong statement to me. I feel that it kind of is a thesis of this paper as a whole. It talks about the both sides people see and think of these birds. When I write a research essay it is usually not as informal as I felt this one was. I know that it still cited a lot of information, but other parts I felt seemed a little informal. It was unlike in many ways because it had a lot of personal experience in it and also used the word "I" a lot. I feel it may challenge a few assumptions but it also still worked as a new and interesting way to do a research paper. I did not relate a lot to the essay but I did learn some new things; I did not know that the poop from pigeons could ruin marble and other things with the acid in it.

8/26

- Reading and writing are very important in my life in many ways such as academically, personally and profesionally. Everyday we are reading and writing things whether we realize or not. I am not a fan of writing papers but I do understand that I am writing every day whether it be right now in class or while texting a friend. Reading however is a passion of mine outside of class. I work at a library at home and I love it because I get to pick up new books everyday, they can be informative or cook books or even cheesey romantic novels. I am always writing and reading everyday and it's a very good skill that we should all be happy to have.

-I feel the most difficult par of academic writing is gettin started and then fully writing out the paper. Once I start a paper, I can go on forever; however, it does not mean I am writing it well. I tend to ramble off, and then stop and start a whole new paragraph. I think I need to improve on re-reading my papers and making sure that it flows and I'm not just writing about nothing.

-I read all types of genres, whether it's novels or just reading a text message. I think that reading in different settings helps you to understand more. When you are reading a novel, you can see all the form and grammar that they put into it and when you are texting or face-booking you are free to do as you want without having to think about spelling and grammar. I think that there is a huge connection with writing and reading for me in many ways. After you read a text or message, you have to write back. After you read about a good book you write the name down to share with others, it all collaborates in many ways.

-I don't believe I have many assumptions about research. I have done research papers many times, it's just the fact of actually researching that is hard for me. I have difficulties thinking of my topic and then when I do have a topic I like it takes me forever to find good articles and information about it. My assumptions for this course is that like all research papers it will be difficult and take a while, but since it is broken into sections of getting the paper done, it will make it a lot easier.

-I am not sure yet what I want to research about in this course. I think they are many good issues out there that can be found and help motivate me to write a great paper. One topic I have  been thinking about is image of young women and how media affects it. I have also been thinking just young children growing up in these times in general. Everything is happening faster for kids and I feel they don't get to be kids much longer. They are becoming more sexually active sooner and also pursuing alcohol and drugs a lot quicker. With a major such as psychology a lot of these ideas relate because psychologists research multiple ideas like these daily.

-Depending what I choose for my paper, I feel I will definitely be using library research but I also want to interview or make a video about these issues. I feel that way I get input out of real people and not just from a paper or computer. I feel that in order to take on a social action issue, we need to be social with it and get the ideas out into the real world.

Exercise 1

The 5 statements I chose were :
-It's okay to say things that might disagree with the instructor
-You can use your own experience and observations as evidence
-Form matters more than content
-You're mostly writing for the instructor
-You're always suppose to make an argument

I feel that some of the statements I checked are true and others are not. I do think you can say things that the instructor disagrees with because everyone has their own opinions and just because someone disagrees doesn't mean it's wrong. I also think that you can use your own experience and observations as evidence is true. I don't think you should only rely on it but it is nice to use your own experience to help draw people so they know that you know what you're talking about. The others however I do not agree with. Different papers have different meanings and reasons for why they were written. The last 3 bullet points take away all originality of any paper that someone would write.

For the 2nd step, I chose the statement: 'No matter how difficult they are, most problems have one solution that is better than the others.'

I am on the fence with this one because I feel it really makes you think. I think that there are many different solutions for problems and just because one may seem the best is not always true. Sometimes the best solutions are when you take bits and pieces from many solutions to make the best one.

First Entry

My name is Maggie Norton and I am a Junior. My major is Psychology and I have a minor in Spanish. After undergrad, I plan to get my Master's in Guidance and Counseling. I am planning to become a High School Guidance Counselor. I am in a sorority here on campus. It is called Zeta Tau Alpha, it has been a lot of fun so far and I have learned a lot by being in different positions. I was social chair, secretary, and right now I am the fundraising chair. I also plan on being more involved in other activities and clubs as well. I want to join a honors fraternity and also join the Student Psychology Association. I am from Schaumburg, Il. It is in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. If you have ever heard about it, you probably know Woodfield Mall. It is one of the top ten malls in America or something. I am very fun, loud, and outgoing and excited to start a new semester!

test

Hi maggie!