Directions
The exam consists of fifteen short answer questions. Some questions ask for a definition of a concept while others ask for application and/or analysis. Please answer the following questions in paragraph form with the question numbers labeled.
Final Exam Questions:
1. What are “face”, avoidance process, and corrective process?
2. What is the “girl hunt”? How this is an example of impression management?
3. What is the gloried self? What are the three consequences of the gloried self?
4. Take the example of a job interview and apply Goffman’s dramaturgical approach to this social interaction. How is this an example of impression management? How is this theory of the self distinct from Mead’s and Cooley’s theories of the self?
5. How are the reflected self and the looking-glass avatar similar and different from Cooley’s theory of the looking-glass self? Give specific examples to illustrate the similarities and differences?
6. In the article, “The Presentation of Self in Virtual Spaces,” Gottschalk argues individuals have more control over their online presentation of self. In the documentary, “Generation Like,” it is argued that online interactions are increasingly commercialized and utilize individuals as marketers. How do you reconcile these two ideas within your own online interaction and presentation of self? Are these ideas present in your experiences?
7. What is a ritual? What are common rituals we engage in when we are in social interaction?
8. Regarding Selection 26 by Jones, how does the code of the street organize the interactions of African-American girls in urban neighborhoods? How does the code shape the self-presentations of these girls?
9. What happens when people challenge the prevailing interactional order of an institution? How do others respond? Provide an example from the readings.
10. What are social inequalities? How are inequalities examined from a symbolic interactionist perspective?
11. What is stigma? What are the two types of stigma? How were the strategies of managing stigma different for Middle Eastern American and mobile home park residents?
12. How was race and class inequality reflected in the workplace hierarchy at Kidworks? Who held power? How did professionalism relate to emotional labor and what were the consequences of professionalism for the racial hierarchy?
13. Describe how the social world of a mental hospital is constructed and shapes the subjective experience of the patients. Use specific examples from Goffman’s reading.
14. How did the parents featured in the Martin selection manage the identity of their deceased child? What types of “face work” did they engage in?
15. What are three things you have learned about the self and society in this course? Why were these topics the most intriguing? Has this changed the way you view your identity or interactions with others? Please specifically incorporate three distinct concepts or theories.
