journal entry

Instructions:
⦁ Answer the following questions in COMPLETE SENTENCES.
⦁ Since this isn’t a timed exam, I will consider the thoroughness and complexity of your responses to be an indication of your knowledge and ability to apply these ideas and your effort.
⦁ There is no length limit, but please make sure to review and edit your responses for clarity and cohesiveness.
⦁ You may find that in your response to one question, you include information that I ask for in a later question – I would prefer that if possible, you find a way to move that content so it is in response to the most applicable question rather than repeat it or say “see above.”
⦁ Your final submission should include each question number/letter and your response, but NOT the question itself.

Choosing Your Discourse:  Choose a discourse to deconstruct that is:
⦁ Currently influencing your identity in important ways.
⦁ Having significant negative or mixed effects for you, and you are often finding it challenging to position with a helpful alternative.
⦁ Note: It could be part of a conflict you experience with a border identity in which you are trying to hold seemingly contradictory discourses from different cultures (i.e. individualism vs. collectivism).
⦁ Complex enough for you to explore throughout this exam (think iceberg!) so it doesn’t become too repetitive.
⦁ NOT a discourse you’ve already reflected on in your other assignments for this class (journals, interview paper, genogram). The goal is for this deconstruction to be mostly new territory you are exploring.

Please review the Final Exam questions before choosing your discourse to ensure that it will BOTH meet the criteria above AND be helpful/meaningful for you to deconstruct.
Final Exam Questions:
Your Chosen Discourse

⦁ Name and describe the discourse you have chosen to deconstruct for this exam.  Make sure to include a few of the specific expectations and assumptions that are part of this discourse, how it positions you based on your intersectional social location, and why you have chosen this discourse to deconstruct. (This should be a 1 paragraph overview)
Contexts
Choose 3 from Questions #2, 3, 4, & 5 below
(you must answer ALL parts of each of the 3 questions you choose)

Historical Contexts
0. Macro/Meso-Level:
a. What are some important aspects of the macro and meso-level historical context of this discourse?
b. Has the meaning and effects of this discourse changed over time – and if so, how & why? (You may need to look up outside information on this)
c. How is this history connected to why (some) people in society are encouraged to use this discourse to make sense of their situation/identity?

1. Micro-Level Historical Context:
a. Where/when do you first remember encountering the promotion of this discourse in your own life?  Describe the situation and its impact on you.
b. How is your personal history with this discourse connected to its Macro/Meso-Level history (e.g. when you were born, generational differences, impact of social movements on availability of discourses, etc.)

Contextual Influences
1. In what situations have you seen this discourse be influential in socially constructing “reality” – think both in terms of “types” of situations as well as specific instances (provide examples):
a. Macro: In the larger cultural conversation (news/opinions, talk shows, social media, etc.)?
b. Meso: In your own community/family?
c. Micro: In your life/by you (i.e. you used the discourse make sense of/influence a situation)?  Consider the multiple domains of your life and how this discourse might operate differently in each (with family, friends, school, work, goals & aspirations, etc. – you can choose what is important to you).

1. At each level listed below, who or what are some of the main supporters of this discourse (think social locations & social roles)?  Why do you think they support this discourse? Give a concrete example of how these people/institutions and their support of the discourse has impacted your identity construction:
a. Macro: The larger society/institutions
b. Meso: Your community/ies
c. Micro: Your close family & friends, etc.