Sociology 22 - Term Paper Example

Q What is the main thesis, or argument, of this passage? Ans The main thesis of the passage is that marriage is decaying as an although it is essential to the very survival of society. The entire passage has been woven around an orthodox perspective of the institutions of marriage and family.Q 2. Regarding the main argument or point that is being made, what assumptions does the author make and what supporting evidence does he or she provide?Ans 2. The author assumes that marriage is a natural phenomenon much like breathing or consuming food to survive.

In contrast, marriage is more of a personal choice but the author does not consider this as a means of thinking on the issue. It is also assumed that marriages will bring benefits to the involved parties and their offspring without any strong evidence being cited.Q 3. What personal assumptions of your own might influence how you understand and respond to the passage?Ans 3. My personal assumption that marriage is part of an old creed or generation’s system of beliefs will impede my neutral reaction to the passage in question.

Also, the necessity of having a traditional family in order to raise children and for society to progress is an outdated method of thinking. These will bias my understanding of the passage as well.Q 4. Respond to the passage and its argument by drawing on course material.Ans 4. Marriage is an old institution and in most cultures it is the bedrock through which the institution of family is conceived and sustained. Lifelong marriages and their sustainability are greater in cultures that have a highly coherent social order.

Social pressure is often the very cause that keeps two people together rather than their mutual love or respect for each other. In contrast, more modern methods of thinking and behavior that tend not to rely on religious teachings see marriage for life as a thing of the past. Instead, cohabitation or temporal marriage is considered enough to further society.Q 5. Do you agree or disagree with the argument advanced in the passage above?Ans 5. The argument advanced in the passage is too biased to a more orthodox perspective and so I disagree with it.

The author presumes that marriage and long term families are the only real ways to progress society from one generation to the other but this may not be the only real method available. Modern trends in family structures are proving the same as well.Q 6. Explain your thinking as you consider all sides of the issue before you make a conclusion one way or the other.Ans 6. Social orders are a derivative of unique historical circumstances that give birth to them. While the orthodox view has been presented in the passage, the more modern approach is quite the opposite.

The newer approach does not hold people down in a relationship without their consent through social pressure or other such means.