Write a 7 page response essay. Draw on any of the course materials we have used thus far – readings and lecture notes. Try to use as much material from the course as possible. If you feel that an outside citation is very important to your argument, you may include it, but do so sparingly. When in doubt, cite. Please use any standard citation format – MLA, Chicago, or APA. Be consistent and provide a bibliography. The simplest way to cite in-text is to include the author’s surname, the year.
Establish the issue or problem you will be discussing. The first paragraph should end with a thesis statement that describes the argument you will make.
Prompt 1: Throughout our course we have discussed various changes to marriage in the United States, in terms of marriage form and structure, the values inherent to marriage, and the timing and reasons for marriage. Select one major way that marriage has changed over time (this may be a change dating back to the turn of the 20th Century or something more recent). Describe the origins and reasons for that change and discuss the implications that that change has had/will have on marriage.
Prompt 2: We think of the “nuclear family” as consisting of a male breadwinner, a stay-at-home wife/mother, and their children. We know from our course material that this family form is not universal, and that there are other ways that people build and sustain families. Select one family form that we have discussed in class – it can be anything, including the male breadwinner model. Explain the various sociological factors that influenced the formation of this family type and the social advantages and hardships that this type of family experiences in the contemporary United States.
