Research Paper on:
Sociology Assignment

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
they work hard (Domhoff, 2007). Horatio Alger, a wealthy Harvard graduate who belonged to the Boston upper-class, became a best-selling author in the late nineteenth century by writing novels in  which the protagonist, who was always a young, poor boy, rose to the top of society through his dedication to hard work and intelligence (Domhoff, 2007). However, while this could  actually happen, as there were three or four examples during Algers era, in reality, it occurred rarely (Domhoff, 2007). Considering this cultural background and its continuing prevalence, it is  instructive to undergraduates, who are beginning a course pertaining to social stratification, to introduce these students to the fact that American society not only includes a lower socioeconomic class,  but also an upper class, which is distinctly separate from the middle class world in which the majority of undergraduates grew up (Zweigenhaft, 2009). By assigning undergraduates the task of  researching the nature of the upper class, the instructor introduces them to the fact that social stratification within the US exists and is, in fact, highly structured. The assignment,  specifically, would be for the students to research and write a five-page paper that describes the nature of the upper class, with a particular focus on the ways in which  membership in this class tends to perpetuate the privilege and power that goes along with class membership. In other words, how specifically does it create ties of association that facilitate  advancement in education and then in terms of career. This examination should impress upon the students the fact that membership in the upper class is not based simply upon income,  but rather encompasses all of the factors that there are common among this group. For example, while the Rockefeller family is now definitely considered to be upper class, when