Overview
Project
Complete all the assignments associated with this project. Each completed assignment should be at least two full pages in length. The narrative should be double-spaced and written in Times New Roman, size 12 font. You may be creative when working on this project, but you must apply what you have learned in the previous lesson to each assignment response. Be sure to include a cover page, Table of Contents Page, and proper page headings (this is worth 5 points). The table of contents page must have numbers, and you must have unique titles for each assignment. Subheadings should not be used within the body or your response/analysis. The response to each assignment needs to be cohesive. In-text citations for the sources used must be part of your response, and the last page must be the reference page listing all the sources used in APA format.
Assignment 1
Describe the elements required to form a healthy relationship with a significant other. What variables should be considered when entering a partnership? Consider emotional maturity, age, race, culture, family status, family ties, social class, occupation, living arrangements, religion, etc. Remember to include ideas/terms studied in this course as part of your response. Refer to lessons 2, 3, and 4 when completing this assignment.
Assignment 2
Explain the requirements for marriage in modern times. In other words, what determines the “marriage bar”? How do the requirements differ from the past as well as in accordance with social class? Is the “marriage bar” different for the middle class and poor? As part of your response, you will need to define the marriage bar and explain how it has changed over the past 40 years and what it is today. Remember to use Coontz and Cherlin when responding to this assignment.
Assignment 3
Create a “baby budget” for a family with a newborn baby (first eight months of a baby’s life). Consider all the things a newborn will need as well as the costs associated with each item. You will need to include pictures of the items and their prices. Discuss how providing for a baby varies by social class and identify some community resources that are available to help new mothers. This assignment has three parts: the baby budget, a discussion about having a baby, the baby budget you created, and social class, and at least five community resources available to pregnant mothers and mothers with a newborn. You will need to fully discuss some of the difficult choices parents make when providing for their children, identify the names of the organizations, provide the eligibility requirements for assistance, describe the services offered, and include the contact information for each organization identified. The Lareau reading and lessons on parenting (Cowan and Mintz readings) would help when completing this assignment. The readings on social class and parents will be useful for this assignment.
Assignment 4
Describe the “ideal” parent. Discuss some of the issues associated with being an “ideal” parent. Consider the child’s personality, biological attributes, social class, and social environment (neighborhood, living arrangements, employment, etc.). Remember to include ideas we have been studying in this course as part of your response. Consider some of the readings in the lessons we have been studying. Reflect on the four parenting styles we study in this class.
Assignment 5
If you could give your parents some advice prior to your birth, what would it be? Describe some of the parenting strategies your parents used. Is there anything you would advise them to change? Is there a strategy that worked well? ---or— Write a letter to your parent(s) describing the role they have played in shaping who you are as a person. Examine how parental investment has shaped your outcomes. Consider the Conley reading.