Ain 't No Makin By Jay Macleod

In the nonfiction memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy”, J.D Vance takes the readers on a rather difficult and persevering journey of his life. This journey ranges from his life with an abusive and unstable mother until his life as a Yale Law school alumnus. This book is the story about the perseverance and the struggle to “achieve the unachievable”. The plot takes place in Middletown, Ohio, which is home to the poor and uneducated working-class white people (Dessem).As a result, there are high rates of domestic violence, alcoholism and high school dropouts (Cheng). Vance was among the highly affected youths in his hillbilly community. The audience for this book can be described as people that have overcome their struggles, fans of

The brothers who are mostly black can point to racial discrimination as a cause of their family’s poverty. Also another reason the hallway hangers reject the achievement ideology is because most of them have lived in low icome housing for as long as three decades as a result, this contributes to their feeling of hopelessness and stagnation they are pessimistic about their future. The brothers however, have resided at the Clarendon Heights neighbourhood for shorter periods of time. Some of the families of the brothers have moved from worse projects in the area, so they view this change as a step up in their social status and a sense of optimism for a fresh start. After the post modern shift from from manufacting jobs to service industry based employment many members of poorer black neighborhoods will feel the effects harder and longer then that of gentrified or white neighborhoods. Most service industry or “blue collered” jobs require some skills or education to be sucessful, as a result of neither group possesses these qualities, they are cast out as abaondoned by soceity. “The American Dream” may be but a mirage. Still, it

A norm is “an idea in the minds of the members of a group, an idea that can be put in the form of a statement specifying what the members or other men should do, ought to do, are expected to do, under given circumstance”(Van Wormer & Besthorn, 2011). The most significant norm of the Dutton family revolves around the Fourth of July holiday. Every year, K will determine the vacation week for the Dutton family, depending on what day the Fourth of July falls on will determine the vacation week. Everyone then takes that week off of work for a fun filled family

In his book, Ain't No Makin' It, Jay MacLeod interprets the experiences of two groups of young men, the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers, living in a public housing project located in Boston. There are many way to understand their experiences. While MacLeod interpreted their experiences in terms of social reproduction, I interpreted their experiences through norms, values, and ideology. Because of my understanding of these terms, I am able to analyze why each group of boys carry themselves the way they do.

Jay MacLeod’s Ain’t No Makin It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood follows a group of boys from a low-income housing development called Clarendon Heights. MacLeod interviews the boys multiple times during their lifetime to understand if they remained in lower income areas with the same low aspirations. He follows two groups of boys called the Hallway Hangers due to always hanging around the school hallways and the Brothers. The predominantly white Hallway Hangers participate in a different subculture compared to the predominantly black Brothers. For the Hallway Hangers, their main purpose involves being bad. Their definition of bad involves drinking alcohol and consuming drugs on a regular basis. The Brothers remain active

3. Mark Owen’s memoir No Easy Day is a first-person account of a Navy Seal who witnessed the take down of Osama bin Laden. Owen describes the journey of becoming a SEAL and the countless missions of which he was a part. He illustrates the work of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group, known as SEAL Team Six. The readers are taken along with the team right into the line of fire. They hear first time accounts of the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean in 2009, stories of street attacks in Iraq and, primarily, the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011. He describes the process of becoming a soldier for SEAL Team Six and numerous hours spent to prove his readiness. As Owen told CBS’s Scott Pelley on 60

The significance and reasoning behind these character traits or stereotypes within Boyz-n-The Hood as Stuart Hall describes when looking at how racist stereotypes of black males operate. From America inauguration, white colonial slave masters wielded power by disallowing black men the traits required to be self-reliant. This condescending treatment from The State power structures was often resisted by black men by adopting a code of overly macho behavior which in turn feeds into white fantasies of the mythical sexual appetites and aptitude of black men. With the basic expression of which being the idea that black men are endowed with exceedingly large sexual features, which is a myth into itself, but this stereotype still, perpetuates the myth of black men for some three hundred

“Children are becoming more independent, and begin to look at the future regarding career, relationships, families, housing, etc. The individual wants to belong to a society and fit in” (McLeod). This quote explains how James thinks which group he belongs to, so he would decide to hang out with people who do drugs and rob people. In addition to after James’ stepfather has had passed away, it has affected James, which lead him to decide to skip school to watch a movie, do drugs and rob people on the streets with his friends. “I virtually dropped out of high school after he died, failing every class. I spent the year going to movies on Forty-second Street in Times Square with my friends.” … “Me and my hanging-out boys were into the movies. Superfly, Shaft, and reefer, which we smoked in as much quantity as possible. I snatched purses. I shoplifted. I even robbed a petty drug dealer once” (McBride 6). This quote explains how James doesn’t know his identity well and doesn’t know where he belongs. Although James could have asked his mother or is friends that he “hangs out” with about his identity, his mother wouldn’t even speak about the topic and his friends aren’t going to tell James the correct understanding. “…I thought it would be easier if we were just one color, black or white. I didn’t want to be white. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. I would have preferred that Mommy were black. Now, as a grown man, I feel privileged to have come from two worlds” (McBride 103). “Am I black or white?” “You are a human being,” she snapped. “Educate yourself or you’ll be a nobody!” (McBride 92). The quotes are describing how he wished his mother to be black so he could find out his identity, but with his mom being white, it was difficult for him to understand why she was white and why he was black. As James gets older, he will be independent, and

The only apparent difference between Boyhood and Boyz N The Hood is a five letter discrepancy. However, the seemingly small five letter gap makes a world of difference. Despite sharing extremely similar stories, the two movies demonstrate a dramatically different outlook on the racial problems in America—or, as is the case in Boyhood, a lack thereof. Written in response to Imran Siddiquee’s article “Not Everyone’s Boyhood”, published in The Atlantic, Julius Kassendorf ’s

So, think about why these norms are in place and what purpose they serve (some hints would be to think about personal space, our tolerance for strangers, etc).

Since childhood, we are taught what norms are appropriate and meant for depending on the gender we are ascribed to. Ferris and Stein (2014), define norms as “the rules and guidelines regarding what kinds of behaviors are acceptable and appropriate within [a certain] culture (84). These gender norms are passed down to us through the culture our parents and ancestors belonged to.

Norms are found everywhere in our society, whether we know it or not. In sociology, norms are social expectations that guide behavior. Norms explain why people do what they do in given situations. For example, in the classroom, students are expected to sit in their desk and participate in a class discussion or pay attention to the lesson at hand. Violating these norms is considered deviant or in other words, rude or unusual.

Norms are the agreed‐upon desires and principles by which a society aide the conduct of its individuals in any given circumstance. The general public makes up its own guidelines for conduct and chooses when a rule has been damaged and what to do about it. As we know, standards change on a consistent basis. For instance, if you ask a stranger if you can cut in line. If they ask why is the need for you to cut everyone else, just reply and say you do not want to stand in the long line. Or try yelling when talking to a person and in mid conversation change it and whisper the entire conversation. While conducting an experiment I will try and break a norm and it will be paying for someone’s coffee when not expected.

What are norms? A norm can be described as a standard, model or pattern that has been accepted and used throughout society. The Buddha, before he became enlightened, was part of a group called the youth. The youth of his time and our time are akin in numerous scenarios. Primarily, the youth from both

As human beings, we live in a society in which we have rules, morals, values, and behavioral expectations. These are some of the things that we as humans have to be able to function as a society, and for our society to be less chaotic. Therefore, we have norms in which help us have a better understating in what is expected of us and our behavior. According to Henslin (2015) he states that “norms describe those expectations that develop out of groups values” (p. 49). What it’s meant by this is that our values and what we believe in shape up our expectations of one another’s behavior, and what we categorize as being right or unethical. For example, when we meet a person for the first time it is expected of us to properly introduce ourselves, and to properly great that person, whether if it’s by shaking their hand, a hug, or a kiss on the cheek. This is something that we have expectations on when meeting someone new, and just by this simple gesture we can give the expression that we have an education and that we have manners.