The Middle Class of the United States

The Middle Class of the United States

Social class widely affects our lives. There are three social class in the United States; lower, middle, and upper. These social class ideals come from “the pre-modern societies of Europe the terms ‘burgher’ (Germany) and ‘bourgeoisie’ (French) referred to the minority of largely urban merchants and professionals who were above the peasant majority and below the minority and below the minority of landholding aristocrats” (Linda, 2004, p. 120). According to Linda (2004), “What makes the United States and similar societies middle-class is the economic predominance of the middling sort, no matter what their major source of employment happens to be” (p. 120).   Most of the people in the United States falls into the middle social class. This affects many aspects of our live including “health, family life, education, religion, politics, and even our experiences with crime and the criminal justice system” (Henslin, 2011, p. 261).  The social classes affects us as a child, adult, and older adult although our lifetime.

As a child we learn many things from our parents. We teach children to “fit into their social class” ("Social class -," 2011). Middle class parents often have more “independence at work” (Henslin, 2011, p.263). This can be closely related to how middle class parents raise their children. Henslin (2011) explains how “middle class parents focus more on developing their children’s creative and leadership skills” (p. 263). Most parents will instill a type of religion into their children. According to Henslin (2011), “Episcopalians, for example, are more likely to attract the middle and upper classes” (p. 264). Middle class people tend to like more mellow atmospheres to worship in. When children are of school age middle class parents will look for good public schools. Some parents will even move to better insure their child education. It’s often been a myth that “upper-class children are smarter has been passed down throughout the ages, but there is no conclusive evidence to back it up” ("Social class -," 2011). It is now time for this middle class child to graduate from high school.

Most middle class parents know the importance of going to college. Middle class adults just finishing high school will have more options available to them than the lower class adults. Lower class adults might have to jump right into the workforce in order to help their parents’ financially. Here is when politics also come into play because they are of voting age. According to Henslin (2011), “The higher that people are on the social class ladder, the more likely they are to vote for Republicans” (p. 264). Middle class people are right in the middle of the rich and poor. The main difference of Democrats and Republicans this election is to either cut taxes for the poor or the rich. The amount of money a person makes and who they will vote for is greatly related. No matter how much money one has retirement can always be scary.

Middle class people who are ready to retire have two options. One of the two options is to keep working past the retirement age or retire at the retirement age. There is a lot to think about when it comes to retirement. One thing to think about is how much money they have saved. I know for nursing they don’t have good retirement and have to put up their own money in a 401k. Also, at this age a lot of health problems can occur. According to Henslin (2011), “As you go up the social-class ladder, health increases” (p. 262). Middle class people can afford the better foods but it doesn’t mean that they will not have any health problems. My grandpa was in the lower middle class. He had to make a lot of very important decisions. If he was to stay in the lower middle class he would have to pay out of pocket for his medication. Medications for a lot of older adults can be very expensive. He decided to write down his assets in order to receive Medicare and Medicaid.  He would have grained more by having less. It was very hard for him to give away the things he had work so hard for. This is a problem many in the middle class faces when it comes to retirement.

In conclusion, social classes affects us as a child, adult, and older adult although our lifetime. There are many things about social classes that we learn as children. Middle class adults have the opportunity to further their education. Most middle class parents are in the middle class because they went to college themselves. These parents will be more likely to push their children for further education. As middle class people come into retirement they have a lot of important decisions to make. Most middle class people at retirement age will keep on working until they can’t anymore. Our social classes we are in makes up a lot of who we are as a person.

References

Henslin, J. M. (2011). Sociology, a down-to-earth approach. (11th ed., pp. 261-264). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Lind, M. (2004). Are We Still a Middle-Class Nation?. Atlantic Monthly (10727825), 293(1),

120-128.

Social class - effects. (2011). Retrieved from http://social.jrank.org/pages/594/Social-Class-

Effects.html

OUR CULTURE - USA

1) I favor cultural relativism but I tend to be more ethnocentrism. The famous quote “you don’t know a person until you walked in their shoes” means that one doesn’t understand what someone else is going through. It is harder to look at things from someone else views. We all have stereotypes about people until we get to know them differently.  We judge people based on how they dress or act. The society we live in is very judgmental. A lot of problems arise from stereotyping. It would be an ideal world if everyone thought in terms of culture relativism. There are many to people than what is on the surface. People can only relate to things that they encountered. There are many different cultures in the world. It is much more than American’s traditions and beliefs. One has to be opened to new ideas and beliefs without being bias about their own culture. Who wouldn’t want to live in a judge free world?

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2) Miami, Florida is a heavy immigrant city.  Immigrants are starting to expand all over the United States. I remember visiting Florida and getting on an elevator. When I got onto the elevator I would try and speak to the people on the elevator. They would pretend that they didn’t know how to speak English but as soon as I got out of the elevator I heard them speaking English. Immigrants stick together with one another. Since, there is no language of the United States I feel as though the United States will see more Spanish speaking people. I want to learn to speak Spanish. Since, the government has no control over the Spanish speaking people they will come here to better their lives. As more Spanish speaking people come to the United States the average person like me will have to have a Spanish speaking degree. In order to be able to speak to a Spanish people someone in my field will have to know how to communicate with them. This will give bilingual people a job edge. They will be more likely to get hired over a one language person. In order for the United States citizens to compete for jobs we will have no other choice but to learn Spanish. Just how rapidly Spanish immigrants have taken over Miami they will do the same with the rest of the United States. 

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GENDER WOMEN VS MEN

1) I believe that nurture gives us a lot of our gender traits. There are certain traits that we our born with as children. There are estrogen and testosterone in the eggs that help us develop into our sex. On the other hand, there are also traits that our parents instill in us after we our born. After we our born there are many things that help nurture us into our sex. Parents will buy little girls dolls and little boys cars to play with. There are many dolls out there for girls but not that many for boys. This chapter talks about how girls have to These dolls that we give little girls help them to become a mother and treat them nurturing skills. The cars we give little boys help them to become more masculine than girls. This chapter talks about the books that we give children to learn how to read. I did a research paper on how children books imply certain gender traits. Young children will read these books and use them as a representation of how the real world works.  The woman in the books will usual be a stay at home mom and be doing household work. The men in the books will be fixing things around the house and playing outdoors. Also, there are a lot of gender specific jobs in these books. Most of the time one will see the teacher being a woman and the doctor being a man.These are just a few example of how we nurture our children into their genders.

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3) There has to be a lot of change in the world in order to reduce gender inequality. We first have to start with our children. We need to let them explore different things. Most little boys will want to play with their sister’s dolls but will not be allowed to by his parents. We need to create a gender equal environment for young children. Parents can look at the things their children are watching and reading to make sure they are being exposed to gender equality. A lot of the things around us in the media are very sexist. When I have children one day I don’t want them to just be limited to gender stereotype occupations. Why is social correct to be a male doctor but not a male nurse? When in reality men nurses would be better than woman because they are able to lift heavier patients. Woman as a hole is going to have to stand up for their rights. Men have the option to choose what they are going to do in the household. Regardless, if woman have a full schedule they still have to make sure their families have dinner at night. Women are also going to have to start demanding equal pay as men. It isn’t right to be doing the exact same job as a male and be getting paid less. Men like being superior over woman. It is going to have to take woman to change the gender inequality in the world.

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(UPDATED) The Godfather

1)

Establishing shot- A great establishing shot is in the death scene of the Godfather. When we are first lead to this scene, we see a tomato garden with a cheesecloth over it. The white sheet could be a symbol for what is about to come in this scene. The God Father will die from a heart attack. The white sheet could be a symbol to show the Godfather underneath the ground.

Tracking shot- In the second wedding scene Tom is being followed as he moves throughout the wedding. This is an example of a tracking shot. The viewer can get a sense of the Corleone family. The Corleone family is a tradition big Italian close family. They are having a good time fellowshipping with each other as the wedding is going on.

Continuity cut- When Michael goes to Los Vegas to there is numerous clips showing of how gets to the hotel. In Los Vegas business is being handled for the Corleone family. This connects back to the theme of family.

A jump cut occurs when the scenes jump from the first to second wedding scenes. These wedding scenes are a very important part of the movie, they show the Corleone family. At the wedding the family is trying to incorporate their Italian roots, they even sing a couple songs in Italian.

Cross-cutting- One of the most famous of all time cross-cutting scenes occurs at the baptism. Michael is becoming the Godfather of his sister child. While this is taking place Michael is having the head of each families killed. By killing the head of each family, Michael thinks this will protect his family more. Michael is also showing how much he cares about his family because he is taking the time to become his sister’s child Godfather.

2) The film is structured around family. There are many different things that each of the family members go through. The wedding scene shows the Italian family. The family is very close. The Godfather will not even take a family photo until Michael has arrived. Throughout the film there are favors being made for the Corleone Italian family. The Godfather is trying to protect his family from outsiders. The Godfather does this by taking care of anyone who disrespects the Corleone family. The Godfather gets shots and has to stay at the hospital for a period of time. Michael steps up at the hospital not even thinking about the consequences to protect his father. The Godfather now has to retire from the family business. This is now making Michael the Godfather of the family. Michael steps into this role as the Godfather and the new protect of the entire Corleone family. Michael has the head of the five family killed along with his sistr’s husband. Michael has to protect his sister as well. The woman in the family want answers now. In one of the last scenes Michael lies to Kate which shows how this family works.

3)

Scene 1- The hospital scene has ambient sound in it that can relate to the theme. These sounds can relate to the theme because Michael is trying to protect his father. The theme is about family. While him and the nurse are moving the Godfather there are a lot of ambient sounds. The ambient sounds included the squeaky bed that is being moved to another room. The footsteps of that unknown person coming down the hall. These all contributes to the ambient sounds of this scene.

Scene 2- The wedding scene has musical score in it that can contributes to the theme. They are playing post war standard music. There is Italian songs being played and some are even song in Italian. The family tries to incorporate their Italian roots into the wedding. This shows that the Corleone’s care about their family roots.

4)

Marlon Brando- When the Godfather finds out that Sonny is dead he seems to have tears in his eyes. There is also a heaviness on his voice as he talks about setting a meeting with the head of the five families. The Godfather loves the Corleone family but most importantly his children. This killing of Sonny hits close to home for the Godfather.

Al Pacino- Michael loves his father. When he finds out that his father is at the hospital alone he steps up to make sure he is protected. Michael has a cloudiness in his eyes that can convey his passion about his father. Michael puts his life in danger in order to protect his father. This shows Michael not only is stepping up to protect his father but the rest of the Italian family.

Diane Keaton- Kate is the only woman who tries and her role in the family. In one of the last scenes Kate asks Michael did he kill his sister husband? Kate has sadness in her eyes because she feels bad for Michael’s sister. Michael gets mad at Kate for asking. Kate persist that he tells her so he finally tells her a lie of no. Kate is so relieved that she looked like she could even cry. She  This is an important scene because Kate shows her role in the family.

5)  There are many possible themes in this film. In my opinion, this film is based around family. In the very first seem we see someone coming to the God Father for a favor. This is an example of the Godfather protecting his family. The Godfather talks about the relationship of this guy and his daughter which is the Godfather’s God daughter. This shows a relationship between the two guys and his daughter. The next scene we have a big Italian wedding. They play a lot of original Italian songs at the wedding and even sing them in Italian. This shows how they feel about their Italian roots because they try to incorporate different Italian traditions into their wedding. The family waits on Michael for the family picture. This shows that the family cares about one another. The family photo wouldn’t be complete without Michael being in it. The baker even teaches Michael what to put into spaghetti sauce. This is a traditional Italian recipe and meal. When the God Father comes home from the hospital there is the big Corleone Italian family again to welcome him home. There is almost not enough room for the Godfather to even come into the house. They also have a big tradition Italian dinner. At the death of the Godfather he is there playing with his grandchild. This shows how important family really is the Godfather. The Godfather is enjoying playing with his grandson. Michael sister asks him to be her child’s godfather. Most godparents are someone who is outside of the family. This shows that this family wants to stay together. There are many examples of the theme of family in this film.

History of music and rhythm

I watched all of the rhythm videos. I learned that no matter what time period and where the music come from there is rhythm involved. There are different levels of complexity of rhythm. All rhythm has a pulse or beat even if we can’t hear it. For example, Siegfried Idyll “Wagner” is a classical song that one can’t hear the pulse. The pulse in “Wagner” piece is implied like in most classical music. There are two types of implicit and explicit pulses. Explicit is the hiding of the pulse while implicit is the completely opposite. Explicit pulse makes music more relaxing than implicit. Pulse can be broken up in different ways. There are also accents to the pulse. Some pulse can be accented more heavily than others. The most important pulses get the heaviest accent. Sometimes we can even hear arrhythmic patterns when they don’t exist. On the other hand, sometimes artist will use rhythmic tricks. We find enjoyment in rhythmic tricks. Jazz music has a lot of rhythmic tricks in it. We first heard pulse inside our mother womb. They way that we dance to music overtime has changed. Ragtime was a popular type of music in the late nineteenth century. Ragtime originated from marching music. Marching music has a specific of beat that can be followed to keep the crowd moving as one. Ragtime creates a type of jerking dance. We now dance on just our feet which is related to the way we walk instead all of fours back in evolutionary times. The one two rhythm we get from walking inspired subdivision of the pulse. Jazz came from ragtime. A popular type of jazz is swing. The speed of the rhythm is called the tempo. The word tempo originates from Italian. There are different words to describe the tempo including; andante, largo, allegro, or presto. I learn a lot of exciting things from these videos.