Writing assignment 3- Ethnographic Interview: Cultural Diversity in the US (SOC-3220

Textbook Readings

• Chapter 2 in Parrillo, Strangers to These Shores

Required Textbook

Parrillo, V. (2019). Strangers to these shores (12th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

PowerPoint Presentations

• Chapter 2 PowerPoint

• Culture PowerPoint

Video 

Zhou, A. (2017, June 2). Your culture is not better than mine [TEDx Talks].

Interview one person whose racial and/or ethnic background is different than your own. This person can be a relative or close friend. The design of the specific questions for the interview is up to you, but you may want to ask about this person’s language, family heritage, cultural practices, religion, and worldview. You may also want to explore the ways in which this person celebrates their cultural heritage and maintains their cultural identity. 

Some possible questions you may want to ask include:

1. Describe for me a little bit of your cultural background. 

2. How do you define yourself in terms of other people living in the United States? Do you see yourself as fitting into the mainstream culture? Why or why not?

3. Can you provide any examples of individuals demonstrating ignorance of your culture or displaying ethnocentrism that was hurtful to you?

4. What are some of the things that you do in order to maintain or celebrate your cultural heritage?

5. What is your vision for younger people carrying on your cultural heritage? For example, do you see your culture becoming more diluted over time? What needs to be done to maintain or improve the status of your culture in the future? 

Then, write a 500- to 700-word paper (2 to 2½ pages) in APA format. Your paper should include:

• An introduction using the textbook and course materials discussing how culture is formed and how we recognize it in society.

• A solid description of the cultural background of the individual you have interviewed. 

• An essay body (3 to 4 paragraphs) using quoted excerpts from the interview that integrates at least three concepts from this module. For example, “as my respondent states, this is clearly an example of how they experienced cultural assimilation.”

• A conclusion in which you reflect upon the meaning of this assignment. For example, did this assignment help you to better understand a different cultural group? Why or why not? 

Your paper should be double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font and use two scholarly sources, which should be accurately referenced in the paper. 

Note: An excellent paper will incorporate definitions from the course, such as cultural diffusion, ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, assimilation, or any of the other terms as they are appropriate to the paper. The use of these definitions will demonstrate that you have read and engaged with the reading materials and applied them to an interview case study. [MO 2.1, 

MO 2.2]