Purpose: This extra credit assignment (receive up to 7 points) is designed for students to apply their understanding of social stratification. The assignment is designed for students to view social stratification from a different perspective, to use information from the course material, and apply this information in analyzing the movie In Time.
Task:
- Students will need to view the following film (click on title): In Time. If you are not able to access the film, please use the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9DgUkYNyPA&t=5251s
- Students will need to respond to the following questions:
- Explain how time is used to determine which social class a person belongs—provide examples from the film to illustrate this.
- How are those who have a lot of time able to maintain their social class at the expense of those who do not have a lot a time?
- Explain what the different zones that Will passes through signify.
- We have discussed life chances and opportunities throughout the course. Provide examples from the movie which indicate the differences in life chances and opportunities between Will and Sylvia’s characters.
- Choose one of the following theories: functionalism or conflict theory and provide a brief explanation as to how the theory would analyze this film.
- One thing that has been mentioned in the movie is the idea of “survival of the fittest” which justifies why certain groups of people have a lot of time and certain groups of people do not have a lot of time. Do you think “survival of the fittest” is a true statement as to why some people have more time compared to others? If so, explain. If not, explain.
- Which aspect of the movie did you find most interesting and why?
