Short Answer #2

A subculture consists of norms, values, concepts, and materials

that set a certain group of people apart from the bigger picture, which
is culture. Components of culture as discussed in class include
customs, traditions, clothing, food, music, symbols, and beliefs.
Examples of these components of culture from Elijah Andersons The
Code of the Street encompass the way the people of the street
dress and earn respect. If one refers to themselves as street he or
she would possess expensive clothing, nice shoes, and jewelry. He or
she who was considered street would also settle disputes by fighting.
Winning the brawl would mean gaining respect. This set of norms and
values set this subculture apart from the rest of the culture in the area,
especially distinguishing the street from the decent.
Short Essay
Symbolic interactionism is how people use symbols to create an
impression of themselves and a social life regarding those symbols.
Symbolic interactionism is also used as a means of communication.
Some of the basic assumptions of this theoretical perspective include
stimulus, interpretation, and response. Other examples also include
socially constructed meanings given to specific positions. In Adler &
Adlers Girls and Boys Popularity academically gifted boys had to
also possess athletic ability in order to be considered popular among
his peers. The symbol of glasses associated with boys was identified
as nerdy or unpopular. Academically inclined girls along with
beauty and their parents economic standing were all symbols of
popularity. These symbols socialization and identity between the
school children that were studied by shaping the way they
communicated and constructed social patterns and beliefs about one
another.
Social interaction and dramaturgy can be explained in
Schweingrubers Engagement Proposal as Performance. Dramaturgy
explains life in a sense of theatre. From this perspective, humans
develop roles, obtain props, have a front and back stage, and follow a
script. Schweingruber described this perspective through roles carried
out by men and women during wedding proposals. He concluded in
the article that men were expected to do the actual proposing and that
if the woman proposed, it was not taken seriously. The props included
the ring. The audience was the people surrounding the big event.
Some proposals were staged or pre-planned. Others were not. All of
these symbols such as roles and props were created to properly
identify social behavior.