Critical Analysis 1:
Ethnicity: A Structural or Cultural Force?

Elmo M Recio

SOC 210 - Race and Ethnicity
Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Drexel University

Abstract:

In this first critical thinking paper we will focus on the concepts of ``race'' and ``ethnicity''. How are these concepts used in the different texts we are reading? How does each reading represent race and ethnicity in American society, its social construction, meaning, history, &c. Drawing on the texts discuss how they implicitly and explicitly emphasize structural forces or cultural forces and whether they focus on assimilation or conflict between groups. Discuss the strengths or weakness of the ways each author employs the theories.