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BERESKA
Symbaluk
Sociology In Action
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A Canadian Perspective
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Brief Contents
List of figures, boxes, and tables xii

A Unique Learning System xvii

Preface xx

About the Authors xxix

Part 1 Practising Sociology: Your Sociological Toolkit 1


Chapter 1: Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology 2
Chapter 2: Applying Sociological Research Methods 22

Part 2 Society and the Self: The Foundations 47

Chapter 3: “I Am Canadian”: What Is “Canadian” Culture? 48


Chapter 4: Socialization: The Self and Social Identity 68
Chapter 5: Social Inequality in Canadian Society 92
Chapter 6: Mass Media: Living in the Electronic Age 118

Part 3 The Micro and Macro of Our Everyday Lives 143

Chapter 7: Sex, Gender, and Sexualities: Deconstructing Dualisms 144


Chapter 8: Race and Ethnicity: Defining Ourselves and Others 168
Chapter 9: Canadian Families: Past, Present, and Future 192
Chapter 10: Learning What Is “True”: Religion, Science, and Education 214
Chapter 11: Social Control, Deviance, and Crime 238
Chapter 12: Health and Illness: Is It “Lifestyle,” or Something More? 260

Part 4 Our Changing World 285

Chapter 13: Social Change: Collective Behaviour and Social Movements 286
Chapter 14: “Going Green”: Environmental Sociology 306
Chapter 15: Globalization: The Interconnected World 330

Glossary 350

IndEX 360

vi NEL

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Detailed Contents
List of figures, boxes, and tables xii SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH METHODS 34

A Unique Learning System xvii EXPERIMENTS: WHAT IS CAUSING THIS? 34


SURVEYS: WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THIS? 35
Preface xx INTERVIEWS: WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME
About the Authors xxix ABOUT THIS? 37
SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS: WHAT
INFERENCES CAN BE MADE FROM

Part 1 THIS DATA?


ETHNOGRAPHY: WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE
A MEMBER OF THAT GROUP/DOING THAT?
38

40
Practising Sociology: Your SYSTEMATIC AND PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION:
WHAT IS HAPPENING? 41
Sociological Toolkit 1
Multiple Methods and Mixed Methods 43

Chapter 1: Seeing and Acting

2
Through the Lens of Sociology 2

THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM 3 Part


WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? 6 Society and the Self:
COMPARING SOCIOLOGY AND OTHER The Foundations 47
DISCIPLINES 7

BUILDING YOUR SOCIOLOGICAL Chapter 3: “I Am Canadian”:


IMAGINATION: YOUR SOCIOLOGICAL
TOOLKIT 9 What Is “Canadian” Culture? 48

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH METHODS 9 TYPES OF CULTURE 49


SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIZING 9 DEFINING CULTURE 49
critical thinking 16 MATERIAL AND NONMATERIAL CULTURE 50
USING YOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TOOLKIT 17
HOW CULTURE SHAPES OUR
understandings 51
Chapter 2: Applying
LANGUAGE AS A PRECURSOR TO SHARED
Sociological Research Methods 22
UNDERSTANDINGS 51
WHY SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH IS NORMS AS REGULATORS OF SHARED
IMPORTANT 23 BEHAVIOURS 53
COMMON SENSE AND SCIENTIFIC REASONING 23 VALUES AS SHARED IDEAS 56
SOCIOLOGY AS A SCIENTIFIC METHOD 23 Sociology in Theory: Functionalist
SOCIOLOGICAL REASONING 24 and Conflict Perspectives 57
GOALS OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH 25
Ideal versus Real Culture 59
THE SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROCESS 27 Traditional Beliefs versus Modern
STEPS FOR CONDUCTING SOCIOLOGICAL Practices 59
RESEARCH 27 Subcultures and Countercultures 60

THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS HOW IS CANADIAN CULTURE UNIQUE? 60


IN RESEARCH 29 THE ABUNDANCE OF CANADIAN SYMBOLS 60
Human Mistreatment 29 THE PREVALENCE OF HIGH CULTURE AND
THE TRI-COUNCIL POLICY STATEMENT 30 POPULAR CULTURE 61

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE Sociology in Theory: Critical


METHODS 32 Views of Popular Culture 63

NEL   v i i

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Chapter 4: Socialization: The Self SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY: WHY ARE
THERE CLASSES IN SOCIETY? 110
and Social Identity 68
STRATIFICATION IS BENEFICIAL 110
IDENTIFYING OURSELVES AND STRATIFICATION IS A BYPRODUCT OF
IDENTIFYING OTHERS 69 CAPITALISM 110
the Subjective and social nature of STRATIFICATION PRODUCES SURPLUS VALUE 112
the self 70
MAJOR INFLUENCES ON THE DEVELOPING SELF 70 Chapter 6: Mass Media:
SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY: DEVELOPMENT Living in the Electronic Age 118
OF THE SELF 72
MASS MEDIA PREVALENCE AND FORMS 119
I, ME, AND THE GENERALIZED OTHER 72
SELF-PERCEPTION: THE LOOKING-GLASS SELF 73 MEDIA CONSUMPTION 119
TRADITIONAL FORMS OF MASS MEDIA 119
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION 76 THE INTERNET CHANGES EVERYTHING 121
THE FAMILY 76 NEW MEDIA 122
THE SCHOOL 78
SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY 125
THE PEER GROUP 79
MEDIA 79 FUNCTIONALIST FRAMEWORK 125
CONFLICT FRAMEWORK 126
The Basic Components of Social
Structure 81 HOW THE MEDIA SHAPES OUR
PERCEPTIONS 130
STATUSES AND ROLES 81
SOCIAL GROUPS 83 THE INTERACTIONIST FRAMEWORK 130
FEMINIST FRAMEWORK 132
SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS 85 The Media Reinforces Stereotyped
SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY: MAX WEBER’S Images of Women and Men 132
IDEAL TYPE OF BUREAUCRACY 85 VIOLENCE IS THE NORM IN THE MASS MEDIA 132
RESOCIALIZATION: MORE THAN POSTMODERN FRAMEWORK 136
STARTING OVER 86
CONCLUSIONS 138

Chapter 5: Social Inequality in


Canadian Society
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: SANCTIONED
92
Part 3
SOCIAL INEQUALITY 93 The Micro and Macro of Our
CLOSED SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION 93 Everyday Lives 143
OPEN SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION:
THE CLASS SYSTEM 96
Chapter 7: Sex, Gender, and
WEALTH AS A MEASURE OF SOCIAL Sexualities: Deconstructing Dualisms 144
CLASS 98
CANADA’S INCOME-BASED CLASS STRUCTURE 99 ELITE DISCOURSES OF SEX, GENDER, AND
NET WORTH AND CLASS STRUCTURE 102 SEXUALITY 145
POVERTY AND CLASS STRUCTURE 103 MOVING OUTSIDE ELITE DISCOURSES 146
NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF SOCIAL
GENDER: THE CONSEQUENCES OF HAVING
INEQUALITY 106
BEEN BORN FEMALE OR MALE 152
POVERTY AS A FEATURE OF DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES 153
CANADIAN SOCIETY 107 DIFFERENT OCCUPATIONAL EXPERIENCES 156
POVERTY REDUCTION 108 DIFFERENT ECONOMIC EXPERIENCES 158

v i i i   Detailed Contents NEL

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DIFFERENT FAMILY EXPERIENCES 159 Changing Families 197
SUMMARY 160 Fewer Marriages 197
SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY 161 More Common Law Unions 198
More Divorces 198
Functionalist Theories 161
More Lone Parents 199
Conflict Theories 161
More Same-Sex Couples 199
Interactionist Theories 162
Fewer Children 200
Feminist Theories 163
Is “The Family” Declining? 201
Postmodern Theories 164
Difficulties Faced by Some
Chapter 8: Race and Ethnicity: Families 203

Defining Ourselves and Others 168 Sociology in Theory 206


ETHNICITY, RACE, RACIALIZATION, social exchange theory 206
AND VISIBLE MINORITIES 169 family life course development theory 207
functionalist theories 208
CONTEMPORARY ETHNIC PATTERNS 171 conflict theories 209
HISTORICAL IMMIGRATION PATTERNS AND feminist theories 209
POLICIES 172 INTERACTIONIST THEORIES 209

CONSEQUENCES OF ETHNIC
IDENTIFICATION 174 Chapter 10: Learning What
DIVERSE FAMILY EXPERIENCES 174 Is “True”: Religion, Science,
Diverse Economic Experiences 176 and Education 214
Relationships between Groups 177 RELIGION 216
ASSIMILATION 178 RELIGIOUS PATTERNS 217
PLURALISM 180 IMPLICATIONS OF RELIGION 218
SEGREGATION AND POPULATION TRANSFER 181 SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY 220
PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION 182 THE TRANSITION TO SCIENTIFIC
The Cognitive Component 182 “TRUTH” 222
The Affective Component 183 SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AS OBJECTIVE
The Behavioural Component 183 TRUTH 222
SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY: UNDERSTANDING SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AS CONSTRUCTED 223
PREJUDICE AND RACIALIZATION 185 SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY 225

Social Psychological Theories 185 RELIGION AND SCIENCE 226


Interactionist Theories 186 RELIGION, SCIENCE, AND EDUCATION 227
Conflict Theories 186
Critical Race Theory 187 THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN MODERN
SOCIETY 227
SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY 228
Chapter 9: Canadian Families:
Past, Present, and Future 192
Chapter 11: Social Control,
Families Are Everywhere 193
Deviance, and Crime 238
What Is a Family? 195 SOCIAL CONTROL 239
Structural, Functional, and Emotional
Definitions 195 WHAT IS DEVIANCE? 240

NEL Detailed Contents  i x

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CRIME 242 POSTMODERN PERSPECTIVES: KNOWLEDGE,
TYPES OF CRIMES AND LAWS 242 POWER, AND DISCOURSE 279
CRIME CLASSIFICATIONS AND STATISTICS 243

4
CONTROLLING CRIME: THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM 246
PUNISHMENT AS SOCIAL CONTROL 247 Part
ALTERNATIVE MEASURES OF CRIMINAL
CONTROL 248 Our Changing World 285

SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY: EXPLAINING


DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL 250 Chapter 13: Social Change:
EXPLAINING DEVIANCE 250 Collective Behaviour and Social
EXPLAINING OUR PERCEPTIONS OF, Movements 286
AND REACTIONS TO, BEHAVIOURS AND
CHARACTERISTICS 253 SOCIAL CHANGE AND SOCIAL PROGRESS 287

DEFINING COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOUR 287


Chapter 12: Health and Illness: Is COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOUR IN LOCALIZED
It “Lifestyle,” or Something More? 260 CROWDS 288
THE SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH AND SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY 290
ILLNESS 261 EXPLAINING COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOUR IN
CROWDS 290
PATTERNS OF HEALTH AND ILLNESS 262
DISPERSED FORMS OF COLLECTIVE
HISTORICAL PATTERNS 262 BEHAVIOUR 291
CONTEMPORARY PATTERNS OF MORTALITY IN
CANADA 263 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 297
CLAIMS AND CLAIMS MAKING 297
THE “ACTUAL” CAUSES OF ILLNESS:
DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL CHANGE 298
THE ROLE OF LIFESTYLE 264
TYPES OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 298
TOBACCO USE 264
ALCOHOL USE AND MISUSE 265 SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY 300
POOR DIET AND PHYSICAL INACTIVITY 267 VALUE-ADDED THEORY 300
SUMMARY 269 RESOURCE MOBILIZATION THEORY 301
NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORY 301
THE “FUNDAMENTAL” CAUSES OF HEALTH
AND ILLNESS: SOCIAL INEQUALITY 269
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS 270 Chapter 14: “Going Green”:
ETHNIC INEQUALITY AND HEALTH 271 Environmental Sociology 306
HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS 274 SOCIAL FACTORS POSING ENVIRONMENTAL
THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM TODAY 275 CHALLENGES 307
SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY 277 Human Overpopulation 307
INDUSTRIALIZATION 310
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVES:
URBAN SPRAWL 311
THE SICK ROLE 277
OVERCONSUMPTION OF RESOURCES 311
INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES: THE CULTURAL
MEANINGS OF HEALTH AND ILLNESS 277 GROWING AWARENESS OF
CONFLICT PERSPECTIVES: THE CONSEQUENCES ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 314
OF POWER AND INEQUALITY 278 The First Wave of Environmentalism 316
FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES: WOMEN’S HEALTH The Second Wave of Environmentalism 316
AND ILLNESS 278

x   Detailed Contents NEL

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Sociology in Theory 319 CHARACTERISTICS OF
Environmental Sociology 319 GLOBALIZATION 334
HUMAN EXEMPTIONALISM AND TECHNOLOGICAL DIMENSION 334
THE NEW ECOLOGICAL PARADIGM 319 ECONOMIC DIMENSION 334
Functionalist Perspectives: Ecological POLITICAL DIMENSION 335
Modernization 320 CULTURAL DIMENSION 336
Critical Perspectives: The Treadmill of
THE VISION OF GLOBALIZATION
Production 320
AND ITS REALITY: THE GOOD,
STRATEGIES FOR BETTER THE BAD, AND THE UGLY 337
ENVIRONMENTAL CHOICES 322 THE GOOD 337
Living Green: Changing the Behaviour of THE BAD AND THE UGLY 337
Individuals 322
Global Justice Movements 344
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: CHANGING
PRACTICES IN GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS 323 SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY 345
A GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION: BRINGING
Modernization Theory 345
EVERYONE ON BOARD 324
Dependency Theory 345
World Systems Theory 345
Chapter 15: Globalization: Post-Colonial Theories 346
The Interconnected World 330 Feminist Theories 346

DEFINING GLOBALIZATION 331 Glossary 350

THE EMERGENCE OF GLOBALIZATION 332 Index 360

NEL Detailed Contents  x i

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
List of Figures, Boxes, and Tables
List of Figures Chapter 7: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality:
Deconstructing Dualisms
Chapter 1: Seeing and Acting Through Figure 7.1: Elite Discourses of Sex, Gender,
the Lens of Sociology and Sexuality 146
Figure 1.1: Personal Choices and Social Forces 5 Figure 7.2: The Good Wife’s Guide 149
Figure 1.2: What Can I Do with a Degree in Figure 7.3: Sexual Scripts 151
Sociology? 8 Figure 7.4: Occupational Profiles of Men and
Figure 1.3: The Core Theoretical Frameworks of Women (ages 25–34) (2011) 156
Sociology 17 Figure 7.5: Share of Women
Figure 1.4: The Beginners’ Guide on the Boards of Listed
to Critical Thinking 18 Companies, 2009: Canada and
Select OECD Countries 157
Chapter 2: Applying Sociological
Research Methods Chapter 8: Race and Ethnicity: Defining
Figure 2.1: Deductive and Inductive Reasoning 24 Ourselves and Others
Figure 2.2: Steps in a Research Process 29 Figure 8.1: Proportion of the Aboriginal
Identity Population Who Speaks an
Figure 2.3: An Important Note to Students 36
Aboriginal Language 172
Figure 8.2: Canada—Permanent Residents,
Chapter 4: Socialization: The Self and
1860–2012 173
Social Identity
Figure 8.3: Bicultural Adaptation Patterns 176
Figure 4.1: Mead’s Stages in the Development
of the Self 73 Figure 8.4: Annual Income (2005) for
Persons of Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal
Figure 4.2: Mead’s Representation of the Self: Ancestry, 2006 Census, Ages 25–44 176
The “I” and the “Me” 74
Figure 8.5: Annual Income (2005) for
Figure 4.3: Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self 74 Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Persons,
Figure 4.4: The Bullying Problem in Canada 2006 Census, Ages 25–44 176
(in percentages) 79 Figure 8.6: Relationships Between
Figure 4.5: Asch’s (1956) Experiment on Group Prejudice and Discrimination 184
Conformity 84
Chapter 9: Canadian Families: Past,
Chapter 5: Social Inequality in Present, and Future
Canadian Society
Figure 9.1: Marriage Rates, 1975–2008
Figure 5.1: They’re Richer Than You Think 100 (per 1,000 population ages 15+) 198
Figure 5.2: Regional Variation in Annual Family Figure 9.2: Common Law Unions as a
Income, Canada, 2011 102 Percentage of All Census Families 198
Figure 5.3: Food Prices in Nunavut 103 Figure 9.3: Divorce Rates, 1960–2008
(per 100,000 population, ages 15+) 199
Chapter 6: Mass Media: Living in the Figure 9.4: Percentage of Families Headed by
Electronic Age a Lone Parent, 1966 and 2011 199
Figure 6.1: Frequency of Second Screening Figure 9.5: Average Number of Children
Using Tablets and Smartphones 121 Born per Woman, 1959 and 2011 200

xii NEL

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Chapter 10: Learning What Is “True”: Chapter 15: Globalization:
Religion, Science, and Education The Interconnected World
Figure 10.1: Belief Systems 216 Figure 15.1: Early Trade Routes 332
Figure 10.2: Religious Affiliation, Figure 15.2: The International Monetary Fund,
Canada (2011) 217 World Bank, and World Trade Organization 333
Figure 10.3: Religiosity among Canadians Figure 15.3: Walmart’s Revenues versus Nation-
(Age 15 and over) 218 States’ Gross Domestic Products 335
Figure 15.4: Proportion of the World’s Wealth
Chapter 11: Social Control, Deviance, Owned by Each Quintile 338
and Crime
Figure 11.1: Types of Law 243
Figure 11.2: Police-Reported Crime Rates, List of Boxes
Canada, 1962–2012 244
Figure 11.3: Police-Reported Crime Severity
Chapter 1: Seeing and Acting Through
Index, by Province and Territory, 2012 245 Sociological Lenses
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
The Impact of Life Chances 5
Chapter 12: Health and Illness: Is It
“Lifestyle,” or Something More? Sociology Online: The Critical Thinking
Community 19
Figure 12.1: The Epidemiological Transition 262
Figure 12.2: Top 10 Causes of Death in
Canada (2011) 263 Chapter 2: Applying Sociological
Research Methods
Figure 12.3: Youth Smokers, by Age and
Sex (2012) 265 Sociology on Screen: Acres of Skin:
Medical Abuse Behind Bars 30
Figure 12.4: Alcohol Use by Sex (2012) 266
Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in
Figure 12.5: Life Expectancy at Birth, by Sex, Action: Decolonization and Indigenous
Neighbourhood Income Quintiles, 2005–2007 270 Research 33
Figure 12.6: Projected Life Expectancies (2017), Sociology in Deeds: Insight into Participant
by Aboriginal Identity 272 Observation 41

Chapter 13: Social Change: Collective Chapter 3: “I Am Canadian”: What Is


Behaviour and Social Movements “Canadian” Culture?
Figure 13.1: Historical Events with Origins in Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My
Collective Behaviour 288 Community: Gendered Language Quiz 54
Figure 13.2: Typology of Social Movements 299 Sociology on Screen: Iron Man:
No Gang Signs 55
Chapter 14: “Going Green”: Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice:
Environmental Sociology The Canadian Multiculturalism Act 57
Figure 14.1: The Ecological Wealth of Nations 309 Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking
Figure 14.2: The Demographic Transition in Action: Is Diversity Supported in Canada? 58
Model of Development 310 Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life: In
Figure 14.3: Map of the Golden Horseshoe 312 What Ways Do You Influence Popular Culture? 64

NEL List of Figures, Boxes, and Tables  x i i i

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Chapter 4: Socialization: The Self Sociology in Music: Violence in Music 133
and Social Identity Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice:
Sociology in the News: The case of Ng Chhaidy— Managing Children’s Exposure to Violence 135
Who Lived in the Forest for 38 Years 72 Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in Media Literacy in Action 137
Action: Self-Tracking and the Creation of a
Virtual Self 76
Chapter 7: Sex, Gender, and Sexualities:
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Deconstructing Dualisms
Community: Parents Matter 77
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
Sociology on Screen: Modern Family 78 My Gender 146
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice: Sociology Online: Advocacy for
Children’s Rights in Canada 80 Intersexed Persons 147
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life: Sociology on Screen: Hypermasculinity in
What is Your Status Set? 82 the Media 150
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My
Chapter 5: Social Inequality in Canadian Community: Supporting Spectrums of Sex,
Society Gender, and Sexuality 152
Sociology in the News: No Running Water 94 Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
Sociology on Screen: Enslaved and Exploited 95 Imagining My Life Differently 152
Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
in Action: Blaming the Poor for Their Plight 98 The Impact of Gendered Norms in My Life 160
Sociology on Screen: Poor No More 101 Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in
Sociology Online: The Growing Gap Project 101 Action: Parental Leave Benefits 161
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life: Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice:
Are You Above LICO? 105 Patriarchy in Canada’s Census 162
Sociology on Screen: Four Feet Up 108 Sociology on Screen: Codes of Gender 163
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My
Community: Make Poverty History Campaign 109 Chapter 8: Race and Ethnicity: Defining
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice: Ourselves and Others
An Act to Eliminate Poverty 112 Sociology Online: Understanding Race 170
Sociology on Screen: Ethnic Diversity in Brooks,
Chapter 6: Mass Media: Living in the Alberta 171
Electronic Age Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
Sociology on Screen: Her 122 My Ethnicity 172
Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking Sociology on Screen: Bloodline, Culture, and
in Action: Mass Media as a Social Institution 126 Identity 174
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice: Sociology in Words: The Voices of Residential
Canadian Radio-Television and School Students 180
Telecommunications Commission 128 Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice:
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Multiculturalism in Canada 181
Community: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting 129 Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
Sociology on Screen: Consuming Kids 131 Has Racism “All But Disappeared”? 184

x i v   List of Figures, Boxes, and Tables NEL

Copyright 2016 Nelson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content
may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Sociology Online: The Canadian Anti-Racism Chapter 11: Social Control, Deviance,
Education and Research Society 185 and Crime
Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
Action: Framing Ethnicity 186 Are You Socially Controlled? 240
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice:
Community: The International Day for the Changing Views of Prostitution 246
Elimination of Racial Discrimination 187 Sociology Online: Criminal Justice in Canada 247
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice:
Chapter 9: Canadian Families: Past, The Office of the Correctional Investigator 249
Present, and Future
Sociology on Screen: Restorative Justice:
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life: Hollow Water 250
My Family 194
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life: My Community: Reducing the Stigma of
Defining My Family 197 Mental Illness 254
Sociology on Screen: The Perfect Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in
Family Dinner 202 Action: Deviance and Social Control on
Sociology Online: Seeing the Family Decline Campus 255
Debate in Action 202
Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in Chapter 12: Health and Illness: Is It
Action: Patriarchy and Patrilineality Today 204 “Lifestyle,” or Something More?
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My
Community: Strengthening Aboriginal Community: The Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
Families 205 Project 266
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice: Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
Parental Leave Benefits 208 How Does Alcohol Affect Your Life? 267
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in
Chapter 10: Learning What Is “True”: Practice: WHO Framework Convention on
Religion, Science, and Education Tobacco Control 269
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life: Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in
Religion in My Life 216 My Community: Canadian Mental Health
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Association 272
Community: Religion in the Lives of Canadians 218 Sociology in the News: From the Davis Inlet to
Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in Natuashish 273
Action: Shifting Paradigms 223 Sociology Online: Population Aging in Action 276
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice: Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in
Universal Declaration on the Human Genome Action: Improving the Health of the Nation 276
and Human Rights 224 Sociology on Screen: Pink Ribbons, Inc. 279
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice:
Education in Canada 228 Chapter 13: Social Change: Collective
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Behaviour and Social Movements
Community: Supplemental School Fees 230 Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
Sociology in Music: Education as Control 231 Crowds and Entertainment 289
Sociology in Words: IQ as Oppression 232

NEL List of Figures, Boxes, and Tables  x v

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Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in
Community: The Rumour Process 293 Action: Millennium Development Goals and
Sociology Online: Debunking Urban Legends 294 Beyond 347
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My
Community: Chiropractic Folk Devils 295
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice: List of Tables
Chiropractic Delisting 295
Chapter 2: Applying Sociological
Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in
Action: Idle No More: A Peaceful Revolution or a Research Methods
Resistance Movement? 300 Table 2.1: Sociological Research Methods 42

Chapter 14: “Going Green”: Chapter 5: Social Inequality in Canadian


Environmental Sociology Society
Sociology Online: Environment Canada 308 Table 5.1: Income Range and Share of Total, by
Quintile, 2011 99
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life:
How Big Is Your Carbon Footprint? 313 Table 5.2: Canada’s 10 Richest Families by Net
Worth (in Billions), 2014 104
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in
My Community: World Wildlife Fund Canada 316 Table 5.3: Hourly Minimum Wages in Canada,
2013 105
Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking in
Action: Global Warming: The Great Climate
Change Debate 318 Chapter 7: Sex, Gender, and Sexualities:
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Deconstructing Dualisms
Community: Discussing Environmental Issues 320 Table 7.1: Average Earnings by Sex and Work
Sociology on Screen: Tipping Point: Pattern (Full-Time Workers) 158
The Age of the Oil Sands 321
Chapter 13: Social Change:
Chapter 15: Globalization: The Collective Behaviour and Social
Interconnected World Movements
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in My Life: Table 13.1: Differentiating between Collective
What Role Do You Play in Globalization? 336 Behaviour and Social Movements 298
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Practice:
The ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Chapter 14: “Going Green”:
Globalization 339 Environmental Sociology
Sociology Online: The Fight to Save Thompson, Table 14.1: A Sample of Eco-Label
Manitoba 341 Names 315
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in Table 14.2: Global Challenges Aligned with
My Community: A 12-Year-Old Boy Changes One Planet Living Principles, Goals, and
the World 343 Strategies 325

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
A Unique Learning System
The Sociological Toolkit
The essence of sociology lies in the sociological imagination, a cognitive skill that enables individuals
to identify the links between the micro level of individual experiences and choices and the macro level
of larger sociocultural forces. This textbook highlights the tools that are necessary to develop that skill:
empirical research methods that create verifiable knowledge; sociological theories that explain that
knowledge, and critical thinking that enables us to evaluate and to extrapolate from that knowledge.

Empirical Research Methods and Sociological Theories. Representative of the discipline of sociology, aca-
demic research based on empirical research methods and sociological theories constitute the foundation
for each chapter.

Your Sociological Toolkit: Critical Thinking


in Action. Research has found that critical
thinking does not automatically develop with
a postsecondary education—it requires prac-
tice. In each chapter, a box titled Your Socio-
logical Toolkit: Critical Thinking in Action
provides students with specific opportunities
to think critically about particular issues by
evaluating, questioning, or deconstructing
certain pieces of knowledge or claims to
truth, or by extrapolating from the mate-
rial addressed in the body of the chapter to
a broader question or social problem. For
example, in the chapter on sex, gender, and sexualities, students are presented with data showing that few
fathers actually take advantage of the opportunities provided by parental leave policies (and those who do
take parental leave do so for only a few weeks). Students are asked to draw upon the earlier chapter material
on elite discourses of sex and gender, and on the differential educational, occupational, and economic expe-
riences of males and females, to explain why this pattern exists. They are also asked to consider the conse-
quences of these patterns—at the micro level for parents and their children, and at the macro level for social
patterns and institutions, as well as for larger discourses of sex and gender. Finally, students are asked what
would have to change in society for more fathers to take advantage of the parental leave they are entitled to.

Four distinct but complementary ways of practising sociology. Unique to this textbook, four different
settings within which the sociological toolkit can be used are highlighted: in theory, in practice, in my
community, and in my life. This approach is especially effective for helping students understand how
sociology relates to their everyday lives and how academic sociology (i.e., based in theoretical and empir-
ical research) applies to real life. For example, students can more readily evaluate theoretical assumptions
when they can see how they translate into actual policy recommendations on particular issues, or how
they are communicated to the public in various forms. Students are especially able to understand the
contributions of a sociological perspective when issues are discussed using personal examples they can
consider in the context of their own lives.

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology
in Theory sections highlight certain
pieces of research by formally trained
academics.

Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology in


Practice boxes consist of applications
of sociological concepts for policy
development.

Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology


in My Community boxes
demonstrate how sociological
principles can be transmitted to
nonacademic audiences.

Your Sociological Toolkit: Sociology


in My Life boxes are applications of
sociological knowledge to one’s own
personal life experiences.

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Additional Features
The Sociological Toolkit is the organizing framework of the text. The following special features also char-
acterize it:
● Learning Objectives and Outcomes are numbered statements about the intended knowledge and/
or skills students should be able to demonstrate following a thorough reading of the chapter. The
Learning Objectives and Outcomes run throughout the body of the chapter to encourage critical,
focused reading.
● Opening quotations begin each chapter; they are well-known quotes intended to spark the reader’s
interest and set the tone for the chapter by highlighting a central concept, issue, or paradox that is
pertinent to the topic covered in that chapter.
● Sociology on Screen discusses documentaries and/or fictional films that illustrate key concepts and
processes.
● Sociology in Music includes lyrics from songs that illustrate the importance of sociological concepts
in everyday practices.
● Sociology Online details various sources of information at particular websites that demonstrate key
concepts and provide in-depth examples of topics discussed in the chapters.
● Sociology in the News contains media coverage illustrating how sociological concepts and processes
are presented in statements made to the public.
● Sociology in Words includes either the testimony of people who experience sociological concepts
first-hand or in-depth explanations by theorists who study sociological issues.
● Sociology in Deeds highlights actions of others that demonstrate sociological principles.
● Chapter Summaries are succinct examples of the kinds of responses students are expected to
provide in relation to the learning objectives and outcomes.
● Time to Review questions at the end of each main section highlight key points and provide students
with a built-in test of their mastery of the material before they proceed to the next section.
● Margin Definitions provide definitions conveniently located in the text margin beside the section
where the term is first introduced. Students can practise their understanding by accessing the
interactive flashcards online.
● Recommended Readings provide references for additional resources on specified aspects of the issues
pertinent to a given chapter.
● For Further Reflection questions present opportunities to examine chapter content in more detail
and to demonstrate a personal understanding of the key concepts and processes discussed in the
chapter.
● A Glossary of all key terms is included at the end of the text.

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Preface
Introduction by the time they finish a course in introductory soci-
ology. The following nine themes emerged as overall
Sociology is about the real world. It can be thought directives for what students should learn about in an
of as the most comprehensive social science1—one introductory sociology course:
that provides a systematic means for understanding
the interconnectedness among people, among insti- 1. The “social” part of sociology, or learning to
tutions, and between individuals and the society in think sociologically
which they live. A major objective of our textbook is 2. The scientific nature of sociology
to give you the tools to help you develop your socio- 3. Complex and critical thinking
logical imagination2 so that you can see how you (and 4. The centrality of inequality
other people) influence and are influenced by society; 5. A sense of sociology as a field
so that you can view social issues from a variety of 6. The social construction of ideas
different perspectives and critically evaluate those 7. The difference between sociology and other
perspectives (including your own); and so that you social sciences
can extrapolate from the empirical and theoretical 8. The importance of trying to improve the world
research presented in this textbook to the real world 9. The important social institutions in society
issues you or that others experience every day. The Our goal as authors was to provide a founda-
sociological imagination is not merely an intellectual tion on which those objectives can be met by those
exercise; it is the foundation for social action. We hope teaching introductory sociology, whether in class-
that by the time you finish this textbook, you will be rooms, online, or in other distance learning environ-
better equipped to engage in effective social action in ments. The feedback of our reviewers was invaluable
the context of your own families, communities, and to our efforts.
professions, as well as in the context of larger social
problems such as social inequality and environmental
degradation.
Organization
Part 1: Practising Sociology: Your Sociological
Toolkit provides students with a framework for
Overall Goal of how to think sociologically. Beginning in Chapter 1,
this Book: Helping you will start to see the fundamental connection
between individual choices and larger social forces,
Students Acquire a connection that lies at the heart of the sociological
imagination. Chapter 1 explains why the sociological
the Fundamentals imagination is important—in the 21st century, per-
of Sociology haps more important than ever before—and outlines
the tools that will help you build your own sociolog-
Persell, Pfeiffer, and Syed3 surveyed 44 pre-eminent ical imagination (empirical research methods, socio-
leaders in sociology (including ASA presidents, logical theories, critical thinking). Empirical research
regional presidents, and national grant recipients in methods are presented in detail in Chapter 2. These
sociology), asking them what students need to know methods help us move beyond commonsense ideas to
appreciate the scientific nature of sociology as a dis-
1G. Delanty, Social Science: Philosophical and Methodological cipline that provides answers to important questions.
Foundations, 2nd ed. (Buckingham: Open University Press, 2005); G. Part 2: Society and the Self: The Foundations
Delanty, “Sociology,” in Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, ed. G. Ritzer
has four chapters that constitute a foundation of soci-
(Malden: Blackwell, 2007), http:// www.blackwellreference.com.
ology as a discipline. Chapter 3 highlights the cul-
2C.W. Mills, The Sociological Imagination, 40th anniversary ed., ed. C.W.
Mills (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 3–24.
tural context of our social experiences and outlines
the basic components of culture. Chapter 4 addresses
3C.H. Persell, K.M. Pfeiffer, and A. Syed, “What Should Students
Understand After Taking Introduction to Sociology?” Teaching Sociology the role of socialization in the emergence of our own
35, no. 4 (2007): 300–14. identities and the identities we ascribe to others, as

x x   NEL

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
well as the social structure within which socializa- However, they tend to treat the sociological
tion occurs. Chapter 5 discusses social inequality as imagination as an end in itself rather than as
a challenge for many people and as a stable feature of a means to an end. When Mills spoke of the
Canadian society. In the 21st century, the mass media sociological imagination, he emphasized its
are a key source of information and have come to play centrality in creating informed and active citi-
a central role in connecting members of society to zens. By focusing on the sociological imagina-
one another. So this section of the textbook ends with tion and social action, this textbook provides
a chapter about the mass media, including a critical the impetus for students to become more
look at how they shape our perceptions. socially aware and more active as citizens in
Part 3: The Micro and Macro of Our Everyday their communities, in society, and in the world.
Experiences has six chapters that focus on various Whether they become parents, teachers, com-
aspects of students’ own experiences. Chapters 7 munity league soccer coaches, entrepreneurs,
and 8 consider the implications of sex, gender, and or social activists trying to create meaningful
sexualities, as well as ethnicity, for who we are and social change, students will see the value in
who others say we are, as well as for socioeconomic utilizing their own sociological imaginations.
status, discrimination, and family life. Chapter ● The prevalence of social inequality. From the
9 helps us appreciate the influence, diversity, and stratification of Canadian society into distinct
changing nature of Canadian families. Chapter 10 and unequal social classes, to the differential
focuses on the various ways we come to know what treatment of men and women based on socially
is “true”—through religion, science, and the modern constructed gender differences, this book
education system—and the ways in which all three teaches students about the centrality of social
are socially constructed. Chapter 11 explores the inequality. Throughout, we emphasize how
myriad ways that people (including ourselves) are social inequality is built into Canadian society
subjected to measures of social control on a daily and how various processes and structures lead
basis, such that we are identified as deviant— to its reproduction in subsequent generations.
sometimes in noncriminal ways, other times in ●● The socially constructed nature of society.
criminal ways. Chapter 12 describes patterns of Whether we are debating how to define the
health and illness, with an emphasis on “lifestyle” family, how to describe deviance, how to
factors and social determinants of health, as well measure poverty, or even how many sexes
as the prevention and treatment of illness in the exist, this book highlights ways in which key
broader context of health care systems. concepts we tend to take for granted are actu-
Part 4: Our Changing World, discusses the ally social constructions contingent on specific
importance of collective action, social movements, historical contexts and the needs or interests of
and globalization for effecting widespread change. particular groups.
Chapter 13 discusses social change as brought about ●● Ways to engage students and instructors. Stu-
by various forms of collective behaviour and social dents need to see the relevance of sociology in
movements. Chapter 14 focuses on environmental their everyday lives as well as how this trans-
sociology as part of a global call to action on ecolog- lates into related careers. Similarly, instruc-
ical issues. Chapter 15 describes historical precursors tors need to find ways to embed sociological
to globalization; outlines technological, economic, concepts in students’ interests and course
political, cultural, and social characteristics of glo- curriculum paths. We include particular peda-
balization; and assesses the relative merits and draw- gogical features to help bring sociology alive;
backs of globalization. we then translate social issues from theory into
practice and finally into the public and per-
sonal domains. A variety of boxes are included
Underlying Themes to help students and instructors see the links
between individuals and society and the
●● The impetus for social action. All introduc- overall applicability of the discipline of soci-
tory sociology textbooks mention C. Wright ology as a means for facilitating social change.
Mills’s concept of the sociological imagination.

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
These boxes highlight films, music lyrics, web- students enter university with lower order
sites, media stories, the first-hand testimonies, thinking skills and that a significant number
and the actions of individuals or groups. graduate without having had sufficient oppor-
●● Built-in skill development tools for students. In tunities to develop higher order thinking
each chapter we begin with a set of learning skills. Critical thinking skills require practice,
objectives and outcomes and end with a and this chapter outlines for students how this
chapter summary that refers back to those textbook will give them opportunities for that
objectives and outcomes. Throughout the practice.
chapter, indicators draw students’ attention to
which learning objective is being addressed
in any given section. We also provide Time
to Review questions throughout each chapter
Chapter 2: Applying Sociological
so that students can see if they understand Research Methods
the main points before moving on to a new ●● Goals of sociological research
section. We end each chapter with a set of ●● Steps for conducting sociological research
recommended readings and critical reflection ●● Ethical conduct for research involving humans

questions. ●● Distinguishing between qualitative and quanti-

tative methods

Chapter Highlights New to the Second Edition . . .


and What’s New to This chapter has been expanded to include
a wider array of approaches to research.
This Edition It now includes discussions of evaluation
Listed below are some of the topics and issues covered research, empowerment research, decoloniza-
in specific chapters along with descriptions of key tion research, participant action research, dis-
changes integrated into the second edition. course analysis, and more. There is also a new
section on establishing rigour in qualitative
research through triangulation, credibility,
Chapter 1 Seeing and Acting and the use of audit trails.
Through the Lens of Sociology
●● What is sociology? Chapter 3: “I Am Canadian”:
What can I do with a degree in sociology?
What Is “Canadian” Culture?
●●

●● Comparing sociology and other disciplines

●● The value of the sociological imagination ●● Language as a precursor to shared understand-


●● The beginner’s guide to critical thinking
ings
●● Norms as regulators of shared behaviours

New to the Second Edition . . . ●● Values as shared ideas

●● Popular culture and high culture

This chapter introduces the idea of the socio-


logical toolkit. Just as a hammer and a saw New to the Second Edition . . .
enable an individual to build a shed in the
backyard, empirical research methods, socio- The existing material on the social structure
logical theories, and critical thinking enable has been removed from this chapter (and
students to develop their sociological imagi- placed in Chapter 4). This allows for greater
nations. The section on critical thinking has discussion of some aspects of culture in this
been expanded to include research on crit- chapter, such gender neutral, gender inclusive,
ical thinking itself, which shows that most and non-prescriptive language. It also enables

x x i i   Preface NEL

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may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
new topics to be introduced, such as the con- on slavery in Canada’s past and human traf-
troversial Charter of Values in Quebec. ficking in Canada’s present.

Chapter 4: Socialization: Chapter 6: Mass Media:


The Self and Social Identity Living in the Electronic Age
●● The self and its connection to socialization and ● “Being alone together” in public spaces
social interaction ●● Agenda setting: The media are not neutral
●● Primary agents of socialization ●● Violence is the norm in the mass media

●● Master status and the looking-glass self ●● Media literacy: Thinking critically about the

●● Components of the social structure media


●● Social institutions and bureaucracy

New to the Second Edition . . .


New to the Second Edition . . .
In the 21st century, the media are in a constant
At the request of reviewers, a new chapter state of evolution. So in the second edition, this
on socialization has been included. It avoids chapter provides important updates regarding
the developmental psychology approach the nature of contemporary media. Several new
that permeates many introductory sociology topics have been introduced, such as simulta-
­textbooks—the approach that outlines stages neous second screening, the virtual currency
of cognitive development, moral develop- bitcoin, augmented reality, issues of privacy
ment, and so on. Instead, the chapter takes a and regulation, and the changing face of
distinctly sociological approach that focuses “television” via the streaming company Netflix.
on how identity emerges (one’s own, as well
as the identities we attribute to other people)
and is embedded in social interaction and the
social structure.
Chapter 7: Sex, Gender, and
Sexualities: Deconstructing
Chapter 5: Social Inequality Dualisms
Elite discourses of sex, gender, and sexuality
in Canadian Society
●●

●● Spectrums of sex, gender, and sexualities


●● Connections between social stratification and ●● Hypermasculinity in the media

social inequality ●● The educational, occupational, economic, and

●● Slavery in the past and human trafficking in familial consequences of being born male or
the present female
●● Blaming the poor for their plight

●● Consequences of social inequality


New to the Second Edition . . .
New to the Second Edition . . . This chapter includes expanded discussions of
the spectrums of sex, gender, and sexualities,
Existing topics such as stratification systems, as well as the educational and occupational
wealth, net worth, poverty, and poverty reduc- segregation of males and females. New topics
tion remain; however, the chapter’s overall include the stigmatization of LGBT persons in
structure has been modified. Its overarching a heteronormative culture, Germain Greer’s
frame is social stratification, and social ine- criticism of the feminist movement, and a
quality is pointed to as an outcome of strati- critique of the concept of “transgendered” as
fication. Of particular note are new topics reinforcing traditional dualisms of sex and
gender.

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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
head, and a spider that has lost half its legs, are not worth a place in
a cabinet.
To get together even a small cabinet of objects in natural history,
takes time, care, and patience. I knew a girl who was carefully
collecting and mounting beetles. In a whole summer she got only
twenty-five. But each one was perfect, different from the rest, nicely
fastened in place, and had its name written beside it. So her
collection was of real value.
After you have secured a nice little cabinet, the trouble will be to
keep it safe, and in order. Specimens must be taken care of. All
specimens of plants, and insects, are very liable to be destroyed by
little bugs. Only the things kept in alcohol are really safe from being
eaten.
Camphor and red pepper are of some use to keep out these
enemies. Your teachers will know, or can easily learn, how to
prepare the specimens with poisons, which will kill the mites and not
harm you or the specimens. You must leave it to them.
It is nice to have a case with glass doors. If you cannot have that,
arrange as many of the objects as you can in boxes with panes of
glass laid over them. For open cabinets it is well to have a piece of
fine gauze to lay over each shelf, or over the whole set of shelves,
when the cabinet is not in immediate use.
Dust makes a cabinet look very ugly. But you cannot clean off
beetles and butterflies with a dusting cloth or brush. It would ruin
such delicate things.
You can gently move the boxes and specimens, and wipe off the
shelves, and the sides of the boxes. Then blow, or fan, the dust from
the specimens. Even minerals should have the dust blown from
them, not wiped off. It is easy to rub the bloom and the little fine
points, and edges, from a mineral specimen.
When you have made up your minds to have a cabinet in your
school, look about and see what your friends have to give you for it.
Many people have a few natural history curiosities, for which they do
not really care. Such persons would gladly give their treasures to a
school cabinet. But there should be some bright little lad or lass to
say: “Oh, we have a cabinet at our school. Would you not be willing
to send these things there?”
Correct pictures of birds, fish, insects, and flowers, are useful in a
cabinet, but you must be sure that they are correct before you give
them a place. You must not put the pictures into your cabinet merely
because they are pretty. If they are wrong they will give you false
ideas. I have seen colored pictures of insects with some of the legs
set upon the hinder part of the body instead of all upon the chest
part. Such a picture is of no use.
Keen eyes to see what comes in your own way, and keen wits to
suggest to other people what they can do for you, will steadily help to
build up the school cabinet.
LESSON XVI.
THE OLD MAN OF THE MEADOW.

THE OLD MAN AND HIS FAMILY.


When I was about seven years old, I caught a grasshopper and put
him into a bottle.
Then I sat down outside the bottle, and looked at the grasshopper.
He sat inside the bottle, and looked at me.
It began to grow upon my mind that the grasshopper looked much
like an old man. His face, with the big, solemn eyes, and straight
mouth, was like an old man’s face.
He wore a gray coat, like a loose duster. He had a wrinkled greenish
vest. He wore knee-breeches and long red stockings.
The more I looked at him, the more he looked like a little, grave, old-
time man who came to visit my aged grandfather.
I had a cousin who at dusk would sit with me in a corner of the big
sofa, and repeat to me a poem, called the “Prisoner of Chillon.” That
sad poem had made me feel very sorry for all prisoners. I thought my
grasshopper in the bottle felt like a prisoner. I said, “Now you may
go, my Old Man of the Meadow.”
I took the cork out of the bottle. The grasshopper at once leaped up,
and sat on the rim of the bottle. Then a strange thing happened! The
Old Man of the Meadow spread out two wide brown wings. They had
a broad, lemon-colored band on them. They were gay as the wings
of a butterfly! On them he sailed away!
I could hardly believe my eyes. I ran after him to a tall stalk of
golden-rod. There he sat a plain, gray-green old man. But again he
spread out the wide wings, and was gone!
My Old Man of the Meadow had then this splendid dress-coat under
his sober overcoat! Seated at rest, he looked plain and quiet,—a
creature of the earth. Lifted into the air, he was nearly as fine as a
butterfly.
Do you not wish to know something more of this Old Man of the
Meadow, the grasshopper? The name of this insect at once tells you
something about him. He lives much in the grass, and his chief
motion is in hops, or long jumps. He has another name, “the
murmurer.” This is given because of the noise or song he makes. He
sings to Mrs. Grasshopper. His song is loud and shrill. It is made by
rubbing his wings one upon the other.
He has a little piece of skin like a tight drum-head set in each wing.
As he moves his wings, this tiny drum vibrates, or trembles, and
makes the shrill sound.
Mrs. Grasshopper does not have this drum in her wings. She has,
however, at the end of her body, a nice little sword. The French call
her “the jumper with the sword.” Is her sword to fight with? No. This
little sword opens into several blades. She uses it to place her eggs
snugly in the ground. The sword blades open, and the eggs slide
safely down between them, into the little earth-bed. There they lie
until the young grasshoppers hatch out.
You will find as we study about grasshoppers, that they do not all live
in the grass. Some spend most of their time in trees.
Let us take a closer look at the grasshopper. As he is an insect,[13]
he should have a body made in rings, in three parts, with four wings
and six legs set on the second, or chest part.
Just here let us say, that if you will look closely you will see that the
head of an insect is made of four rings, and its chest is made of
three rings. They are rings grown wider than the rest.
Our Old Man of the Meadow does not lack any of the parts which a
proper insect should have.
The order which he belongs to is called the straight-wings, because
the insects belonging to it do not fold their wings crosswise.
The grasshopper family is called the family of “the murmurers,” from
their music.
There are six families of the straight-wings. In this book we shall
study a little about three of them,—the grasshoppers, the crickets,
and the locusts. If you wish, also, to learn about their cousin, the
cockroach, suppose you, who live in city houses, go down to the
kitchen, and catch him about the water pipes, and study him for
yourselves!
The order of straight-wings is often divided in this way: The runners,
—as the cockroach; the snatchers, a kind which have their fore-feet
something like hands, to snatch with; the walkers, who seldom fly or
jump; and the jumpers. The grasshopper is one of the jumpers.
If you look well at the grasshopper, you will see that his front pair of
legs is shorter than the others. This hinders him in walking over a
level surface. But it helps him in walking up a tree, or small plant, or
a wall.
See the hind legs! They are more than twice as long as the others.
The thigh, or upper part, is very long and strong. By means of these
big legs, the grasshopper is a famous jumper.
Now, if you have a grasshopper to look at, you will see that the feet
have four parts. The part of the leg between the foot and the thigh
has sharp points like the teeth of a comb.
The hind part of the body is long and slender, and, being made of
rings, can bend easily. In the great, green grasshopper all the body
is of a fine green tint.
Let us look at the wings. The upper pair, or wing-covers, are large
and long. Notice two things about the wings; they lap at the tips, and
are high in the middle. When they are shut, they have a shape like a
slanting roof. The upper ones are longer than the lower ones.
These wing-cases have large veins. Lift up a wing-case and pull out
a lower wing. It is folded very closely, in lengthwise plaits. Where
these wings join Mr. Grasshopper’s body, you will find his drum-plate
for making music. One kind of grasshopper has very short wing-
covers. In that kind, both Mr. and Mrs. Grasshopper make music.
There is also one grasshopper, a little, green fellow, that has no
drum; he is silent.
The upper side of the grasshopper’s chest is shaped like a large,
horny collar. The head is large, and has two big, glossy eyes. There
is, also, a knob on the forehead. Between the eyes, are set the
feelers. They are very long; even longer than all the body.
The mouth of the grasshopper is wide, and it has strong jaws. But
they are not so strong as those of his cousin, the cricket.
Grasshoppers prefer vegetable food. They will sometimes eat animal
food. When shut up in a box, they will fight, and the one which gets
killed will be eaten by the victor.
A grasshopper which lost its leg while being put into a box, ate its
leg. Like the other winged creatures, grasshoppers lose their legs
easily, and do not seem to mind it.
If you could look inside the grasshopper’s body, you would see that
he has a gizzard, much like that of a chicken. It is made of little
bands set with fine teeth. These teeth chew up into a pulp the leaves
which the grasshopper has eaten.

FOOTNOTES:
[13] See Nature Reader, No. 2, Lessons 1-4.
LESSON XVII.
THE LIFE OF THE OLD MAN OF THE MEADOW.
Many years ago, a great poet wrote a song to the grasshopper. The
poet said the grasshopper was the happiest of living things. It did
nothing but dance and sing. It ate fresh leaves, and drank cool dew.
When the glad summer of its life was done, it died. It did not live to
be sick, or hungry, or cold.
This poet called the grasshopper “the earth-born,” and said that it
was man’s little brother.
Yes, the grasshopper is earth-born. The mother grasshopper makes,
with the sword of which I told you, a hole in the ground. In that she
lays her eggs, in a case made of something like glue. Then she
closes up the hole, and the eggs lie all winter, safe in the ground.
In the spring, the larvæ hatch from the egg, and creep out of the
ground. They are very small, but shaped much like the parent, only
they have no wings. They molt, or change their skins several times.
At first, the little ones are all alike, but after several changes of skin,
the larvæ become pupæ. Then you can see the coming wings under
a little sheath. You can also see Mrs. Grasshopper’s sword growing.
About six or eight weeks, after hatching, the final change is made.
The perfect insect comes out of its last-shed skin. It has now two
pairs of wings. Mr. Grasshopper plays on his new drum, and Mrs.
Grasshopper marches about with her new sword.
The young grasshoppers are very greedy while larvæ and pupæ.
They eat all the time. When they are grown, they do not give all their
time to eating. Mr. Grasshopper must sing, and he does not do this
while either flying or eating.
He stands quite still, fixes himself firmly by his fore-feet, and presses
his body downward. There is a little quiver through all his body as
long as the sound lasts.
The people of Italy call him “the screamer,” or “the squealer,” from
his shrill noise.
The grasshopper has a very odd habit. After he has eaten for a long
time, he sits quite still. He looks as if he were doing some serious
thinking. Sometimes when he sits in this way, he moves his mouth
as if chewing. From this action, people used to think that he chewed
the cud, as cows and sheep do.
But he does not chew the cud. If you watch him well, in these silent
times, you will see him gravely licking his long feelers, and his lips.
He seems to be cleaning them.
To do this, he runs out a long, limber tongue, shaped much like
yours. You remember that the ants have this habit of cleaning and
dressing themselves, after eating.[14]
The great, green grasshopper, which lives on the trees, has wings of
a gray-green. He has a little bronze, or russet color, on his feet, and
on the under part of his body. The rest of his body is a fine leaf-
green.
The color in the grasshopper does not seem to be laid on the surface
of his coat, as on that of the beetle. It is not put on in plumes and
scales, as the butterfly has it. But it is dyed through and through the
wings and body.
The wing-cases of the grasshopper, and the rings of the body, are
not hard, and like horn or shell, as in the beetle tribe. They are of a
tough skin, and are dyed with the color.
Let us have a look at some of these fine fellows. Although the color
of the great, green grasshopper is so gay, it will be hard to find him.
His coat is just the tint of the leaves he likes to live among. You can
scarcely see him even if you look straight at him.
You will find in the grass a smaller, lighter-green hopper that is very
easily caught, because in his hurry to get away he flies right up in
your face, when he hears you coming.
The grasshoppers are a very timid family, and are very sensitive to
sound. Some say that their long feelers serve them for ears. But that
is not true.
The garden grasshopper has very small wings. Its color is brownish
gray. It likes to live in the garden walls or under the leaves in the
borders. Both Mr. and Mrs. Grasshopper sing in this garden family.
They keep up fine music for those who like to hear them, as one
answers the song of the other.
I think we most of us like the cry of the grasshopper. It brings to our
mind the warm, dry, sunny days, the time of flowers.
Out in the meadow you will find our Old Man, the common great,
gray hopper. As the great, green one in the trees is hidden by his
color, so is the great, gray one hidden in the grass. His coat is the
hue of the half-dry grass, with little tinges of green along it.
He seems a very plain insect at first. But watch him and notice the
light red and yellowish bands on his legs. He has spots of soot color
on his wing cases. When he spreads his wide wings, note the brown
and yellow stripes. He is fine enough after all.
In the woods, among the pine and fir trees, you will find a light-green,
small, slim grasshopper a deal like the garden singer.
There is a very handsome, large grasshopper called the wart-biter.
The boys in Sweden give him this name, because they think he can
cure warts. They think that if he bites a wart, and puts some dark
brown juice on it, the wart will go away.
The wart-biter is nearly two inches long. It is a green-gray with
reddish legs and feet. It lays its eggs in little balls in the earth.
In South America there are very large and splendid grasshoppers.
Their wings are so gay that when they fly they look much like
butterflies. The wings, in flight, cover most of the body.
But when you see the large, long legs stretched out behind, and the
very long feelers waving to the tips of the wings, you will know that
this is a grasshopper. All this brown and black and crimson splendor
is the Old Man of the Meadow, with a very fine coat.
The grasshopper is not migratory. It does not change its home. It
dies near where it was born. Frost and cold kill it. It does not outlive
the winter, as butterflies, bees, and wasps do.
Grasshoppers appear in great numbers, but they do not go in
swarms as locusts do.
Each grasshopper lives alone. He does nothing for his neighbor, and
his neighbor does nothing for him.
When grasshoppers are numerous they damage the grass and the
young crops.

FOOTNOTES:
[14] See Nature Reader, No. 2. Lessons on Ants.
LESSON XVIII.
THE ROBBER COUSIN.
The Old Man of the Meadow is, in his way, like a quiet country
gentleman. He roams about the fields, and likes to sing, and is fond
of moonlight. He likes the shade, and the cool, still places under the
green herbs.
He has a fierce cousin, who is a great robber, a kind of land pirate.
His name is locust.
I asked a class of boys, “What is a locust?” One said: “It is a great,
big grasshopper.”
Another said: “It is a greedy grasshopper that eats everything.”
A third said: “A locust is a grasshopper that travels in swarms.”
Now these were pretty good answers. Each had some truth in it. A
locust is not a grasshopper. But it is much like a grasshopper. It is his
very near relative.
The locust is not always larger than the grasshopper. The great
green, or the wart-biter grasshopper, is larger than the Rocky
Mountain locust. That locust is called “the hateful,” because he does
so much harm.
The locust is generally larger than the grasshopper, and one very big
locust is much larger than any grasshopper that ever was known.
And, too, the locust is much more greedy.
The locust destroys all plants that come in its way. It will eat the bark
off the trees.
Locusts live and move in swarms. Instead of living and dying in the
places where they were born, they are given to travel. They migrate
like the birds you will read of in this book.
It is not quite surely known what is the motive for their journeys.
Probably it is to get food. The locust is the child of hot lands. His first
home was, no doubt, in the great sandy plains of Asia. He is very
common in Africa. In Europe and the eastern part of the United
States he is not very common. In the Western States he has done
much damage.
If you take up a locust to examine, you will at once notice that his
feelers are much shorter than those of the grasshopper. Mrs. Locust
also is without the sword for placing her eggs. She lays them in the
earth in long tubes.
The front of the locust’s head is harder and thicker than the
grasshoppers. The hind legs are also much thicker and stronger than
even the big strong ones of the grasshopper.
The locust’s coat is of light brown or sand color. There is a delicate
green tinge on the wings. The breast has a soft vest of down. The
legs are often striped in bands of brown and yellow.
The locust does not make his music as the grasshopper does. When
he wishes to sing, Mr. Locust stands on his two front pairs of legs.
Then he lifts his hind legs, and draws them one by one, or both
together, over his wings.
The inner side of the hind legs has rough file-like edges. The wings
have thick veins, which stand like cords above the wing surface.
The file parts of the legs rub on these cords, and produce the sound.
The sound takes different tones, as one or both legs are used at a
time in making it. Sometimes the sound is very loud, sometimes it is
very low.
In the latter part of the summer, Mrs. Locust lays her eggs, fifty or
one hundred together, in a tube hidden in the earth. In places where
locusts do much harm, rewards are given for baskets full of these
tubes. Many boys make a living by digging them from the earth, and
selling them to be destroyed.
For you must know that locusts being very greedy, and very
numerous, do much harm. They move quickly, and in great swarms.
Though they live in swarms they have no queen as the bees have,
and they do no work as bees and ants do.
Probably there is no living thing seen in such numbers as the
locusts. We can scarcely believe or understand what we are told
about the multitudes of these insects which appear in the East.
They fill the sky like a great cloud, so that the day is darkened. When
they see a green place, they settle to feed. In a few minutes the
green is all gone. The place is as brown and bare as if a fire had
swept over it.
People hear with terror that the locusts are coming. They know the
crops will be eaten up. Then food will be scarce, and the people will
be poor.
If by chance a swarm is destroyed by other means than by fire, all
the air for miles will be filled with the bad smell of the decaying
bodies.
The only good that poor people can get from the locusts is by eating
them. They pull off the wings, and legs, and dry the bodies. They eat
them fried in oil and salt, or ground into meal, after roasting.
The locusts cannot fly against the wind. They go with the wind. It
brings them, and if it changes, it sweeps them away. Sometimes the
wind drives them out to sea. If they become too weary to fly, they
drop into the waves and are drowned. This often happens. Then the
water washes their bodies ashore. The coast of Africa has been
found covered thick with them, for the space of fifty miles.
But they do not always drop into the sea. They are very strong on
the wing. A great swarm of locusts was met by a ship, twelve
hundred miles from shore. They surrounded the ship, and hid the
sun.
As their flight is so strong, locusts can go from one country to
another. They pass from Africa to the south of Europe. They go from
the mainland to the islands.
Usually the locusts fly during the day, while the air is hot and dry.
Late in the day they settle to feed, and where they stop they stay
until all green things are eaten up. Of course they do not feed when
on the wing. They run along the ground to eat.
People try many ways of killing locusts. Sometimes deep trenches
are cut, and filled with water, so that the young unwinged locusts, as
they run along the ground, will fall in and be drowned. But the locusts
are in such numbers that the drowned ones soon fill the trenches.
The others run safely over the dead bodies.
Sometimes great fires are lit across their path. Then the hordes of
locusts crowd on, and at last, the fires are put out by the burned
bodies. After that, the others pass on unhurt.
You must know that the young locust is quite as greedy, and as great
a terror as his parents. In the larval and pupal states, they migrate as
well as when they have wings. They seem born to eat and to travel.
At this stage they go by walking. They march in a solid column like
soldiers. They move straight on, nothing turning them aside. Is a
house in the way? Over it and into it they go. You know some ants
move in swarms in this way.[15]
The locust, being larger, more numerous, and more greedy than the
ants, do much harm. If they find a town in their path, through it they
go. Countless numbers may be killed, but there are countless
numbers to follow. Is a river in the way? Into it they tumble, and
when enough dead bodies lie on the water to make a raft, the other
locusts pass safely over.
One great trouble about the locust is, that when a full-grown swarm
passes through a place the ground is left full of eggs. The next year
these hatch, and the larvæ and pupæ eat up all that has grown since
their parents ravaged the land.
Famines of two or three years duration have been caused in this
way. You will not wonder at the strength of locusts and the amount of
food they need, when I tell you that one kind is quite a foot broad
from tip to tip of the wings.
The great foreign locusts are very splendid to look at. They are
dressed like soldiers in crimson and blue. Their fierce eyes shine,
and the rush of their wings makes a sound like the coming of an
army.
Did I not give this locust a good name, when I called him the robber
cousin?

FOOTNOTES:
[15] See Nature Reader, No. 2. Lessons on Ants.
LESSON XIX.
THE MERRY COUSINS.
You have heard about the robber cousin of the Old Man of the
Meadow. Now you shall hear about a very happy and harmless little
cousin. Here he is!
Did you ever meet him in your walks? Did he ever come creeping out
of a hole in the wall, or from a chink in the bricks in the hearth, and
sit down by you before the fire?
Did you notice how he waved his long feelers gently in the heat, and
seemed to bask in the glow as pussy does? If you were very still,
perhaps all at once he burst into a shrill, gay little song.
Did you notice what a shining, dark-brown coat he had? Did you see
that his tail had two long, stiff hairs, or bristles, spread out from each
other? Did you think that they were like the long tail hairs of the
bright and dainty May-fly?[16]
When you saw all this did you know your little friend well? Did you
call him by his name, “How are you, Mr. Cricket”?
Ah, the cricket is a right-jolly little fellow; let us take a good look at
him.
There are three kinds of crickets which we shall talk about. The
house cricket, the field cricket, the mole cricket.
The body of the cricket is not so slender as that of the grasshopper,
it is short and thick. It is much the shape of the first joint of your
thumb. The color is a dark, glossy brown, sometimes almost black.
The feelers are very long, longer than the whole body. The eyes are
large and round. The under wings are very large, much larger than
the wing-cases. When they are folded up, they reach out beyond the
covers and the body, in a long needle-like roll. It looks as if Mr.
Cricket were carrying home something under his arm.
Near where the wing cover joins his body, Mr. Cricket has a little, thin
drum-head for his music. He is very fond of making a noise. The
French call him “Cri-cri”[17] from the sound he makes. We call him
“cricket” for the same reason.
The cricket has strong jaws, sharp teeth, and a thick round tongue.
His feet are not broad and thick, like the grasshopper’s. He does not
run up plants as the grasshopper does. The cricket runs about the
ground. He has sharp, thin feet. Sometimes they have stiff hairs on
them.
As he runs about the ground, his long feelers warn him of any
danger in front. What do you think he has to tell him of danger
behind? He has that pair of long, stiff tail hairs, which look so much
like feelers.
Mrs. Cricket does not sing. It is Mr. Cricket that makes all the noise.
How does he make it? He has three strong veins under his left wing
cover. The largest of these is rough, like a file. This vein he uses as
a man uses the bow of a violin.
When the rough vein is drawn across the right wing cover, all the
cover trembles, or quivers, and gives out a sound, as when the bow
is drawn over the strings of a violin.
The field cricket will sing all day. The house and mole crickets sing
only at night.
Field crickets and house crickets are very much alike. The field
cricket is darker than the house cricket. He is also noisy by day. In
the winter he creeps into the earth and is torpid, unless the early cold
kills him.
I think house crickets are field crickets that have taken to living in
doors. So, in course of time, they have changed a little. But they
were all field crickets once.
Crickets are fond of moisture. They are thirsty creatures. They will
drink any liquid left in their way. They drink water, milk, soup, tea,
beer, vinegar, yeast. I have known them to come to my ink bottle to
try to drink the ink! But that killed them!
Crickets eat vegetables. They like potato. They are greedy, and will
eat whatever is in their way. They eat bread crumbs, soft grease, and
are very fond of meat. They catch and eat small insects. They eat
leather. Also they will eat woollen cloth, stockings, clothes.
Once our cook laid upon the grass a large piece of woollen blanket,
on which she had spilled some bread sponge. She left it there thirty-
six hours. When she went for it, the crickets had eaten nearly all of it.
It was so full of holes it was like a net. There were more holes than
there was blanket.
Crickets do not like to change their homes. They prefer to stay near
where they were born. If you carry them away they will use their big
wings to get home. Unless they fly to move from home to home, they
do not use their big wings very much. They walk, or hop.
The poets and story-tellers are very fond of crickets. Many people
think it is lucky to have them sing in the hearth. But there is no luck
about it. It is very pleasant and cheery to hear them sing.
In hot weather the house cricket sometimes goes into the garden to
live. In October he comes in, and finds a home in the house-wall. He
likes new houses where the mortar is not too hard for him to pull
some of it out and make his little home. He chooses the kitchen and
other well-warmed rooms to live in.
If the house is shut up and without fires for some days the cricket
becomes torpid. What do you suppose these little fellows did before
they found men to build houses for them?
In houses they keep quiet all day. They are timid things. Perhaps
they sleep. At night they come out. One wise old man who wrote
about crickets said that the tiny, new crickets came out on the
hearth-stone by hundreds. They were about the size of fleas. He
found all sizes at the same time. So he thought that they hatch at
any time if they live in a warm place.
The field cricket makes his house in the earth. He seeks a hot, sunny
spot. Then he digs out a hole with his strong jaws. This hole is often
from six to twelve inches deep.
The cricket is very timid and runs into his hole if any one comes by.
But if he is not afraid, he sits in the door of his house to catch insects
that come near. He also eats leaves and grass, that grow about his
door.
Little French children fish for crickets by tying an ant to a thread and
dropping it into the hole. You can also make Mr. Cricket come out, by
poking a blade of grass into his hole. He runs up to see what is the
matter.
Down in the bottom of the hole, Mrs. Cricket lays her eggs. They are
fastened to each other, and to the ground by a kind of glue. She lays
about three hundred eggs each year. She does not put them all in
one place.
As soon as the larvæ come out of the eggs, they run up to the top of
the ground. Each one then begins to dig a new burrow. Now and
then they get tired of a burrow, and go off to make a new one.
The little crickets in the larva and pupa state look much like the
grown ones, only they have no wings. When they are about half-
grown, they hop about, and look, and act, much like tiny toads. If the
crickets come out of the egg in July, they will reach the perfect state
the next May.
When they are full grown, they have wings, and can play a tune.
They like that. They sit in their doors and sing.
In Spain, the people like the cricket’s song so much that they keep
crickets in little cages, to sing for them. If they have plenty to eat and
drink, they will sing and be happy.
Each cricket will need a cage all for himself. Two crickets shut up
together will fight, until one is killed. Crickets always live alone.

FOOTNOTES:
[16] See Nature Reader, No. 2. “Child of an Hour.”

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