Description
SOC 309 RUBRIC: “Subcultural Analysis” Midterm Paper [4 pages max.]
DUE: With 15’s work by 12 (midnight) via Canvas [see Syllabus and Assignment for exact due date]
ASSIGNMENT PURPOSE: This paper asks you to choose a contemporary subculture (as defined by Dick Hebdige) that you will describe and analyze using term/concepts and theories from our course. The subculture that you select must have been active and visible since 2010. You will need to find credible sources (including personal experiences, online information, or media portrayals) from which to describe and analyze your subculture in the sections below:
Describing your Subculture (~1-1.5 pages)
In the first section of your paper, describe your subculture in terms of its values, norms, and customs. Here is a suggested paragraph-by-paragraph outline:
How does a person come to join or claim membership within this subculture? Describe the group’s values, as well as the “mainstream values” or structural circumstances that the group is responding to. Clearly establish the “everyday problems” that members are solving by being members of this subculture.
Describe the “style” present among your subculture’s member. What notable images, activities/behaviors, slang (argot!) are associated with your subculture?
Using terms/concepts from Irving Goffman, how do members of your subculture perform their identity/identities?
Social Structural Influences (~1-1.5 pages)
This section seeks to locate power within your subculture:
When and how do social structures like race, class, gender, sexuality, and age shape the experiences of members of your subculture?
In what ways does your subculture create/enforce a status system? How does power show up in your subculture? What determines
To what extent does your subculture subvert or challenge power dynamics in “mainstream” society?
Using Gramsci’s concept of “hegemony,” describe any backlash from mainstream culture in response to your subculture’s existence/performance.
Conclusion (~1 page)
In the paper’s final section, I want you to discuss how your subculture has or might evolve/change:
In your research, what evidence have you found to suggest an evolution, change, or splintering of your subculture (are there subcultures within the subculture)?
To what extent have you seen signs of cooptation or appropriation in “mainstream” culture?
What future directions do you foresee for your subculture, based on your research?
Optional Appendix Section
Include any screenshots, pictures, links to videos that you came across doing your research on this subculture.
Style/Format
Free of typo’s and grammatical errors; double-spaced; 12-point, Times New Roman font; 1-inch margins on all sides (“Normal” margins in Word)