What Role Does Thanksgiving Play In American Society

“Thanksgiving is a holiday which contains a solution to one of our greatest problems today: our eating” (Adler). Many would think that Americans struggle with eating because of lack of time or because food is too expensive, when in reality, they just don’t use ingredients to their fullest potential, wasting time and money. Thanksgiving seems to be the only day in the year that people eat correctly—by using leftovers. In the article “Thanksgiving Thrifts,” Adler effectively attempts to persuade her audience of the benefits of what she calls “sustainable cooking.”

Sociology is the “systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior” (Ferris and Stein, 2016, p. 9). The study of an individual society and its behaviors can have contrast due to a 20th century event. In the essay Racism and Research: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the unethical experiment took place in the year 1932 in Macon County, Alabama. This case can discuss the topics of culture, socialization, deviance, and race. All of which can become visible in a society through the structural functionalism lens. This sociological perspective theory is “a way of looking at the world” through a specific lens (Ferris and Stein, 2016, p. 10).

The Functionalist theory emphasizes the contributions (functions) that all parts of society (e.g., social institutions) make within society. This theory has contributed to sociology by providing a view “which emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain stability.” (Schafer 2013, pg13)

Recent adjustments to the Thanksgiving Day Feast: The Role of the Turkey from Late 1800 to late 1900.

Most people have the custom of buying a turkey for thanksgiving. “46 million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving” (Turkey for the Holidays). Traditionally, people eat an abundance of food resembling the pilgrims and how they had a feast based on their religion. Furthermore, there are many different varieties of food such as: turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls. For dessert there is pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie. Most of the time the food is extraordinary people just want more. They might even take some and have it again later on. Thanksgiving is a feast we are blessed to

Sociology is the function of the human society, and social problems among us. There are three different theories that I will be discussing in this essay. The theories are symbolic interactionism, The conflict theory and functional analysis perspectives. These perspectives help make up the way society thinks as a whole. All three of these perspectives are alike, as much as they are different.

In order to understand the entirety of a society, we must first understand each part and how it contributes to the stability of the society. According to the functionalist

Moreover, Societies are held together by both consensus with values and coercion. The functionalist view is that the balance of harmony among the society is held up by societal institutions. For example, schools, church and family are seen as the most significant foundation for an adequately functional society.

Functionalists argue that societies consist of inter-related social institutions such as schools, mass media, political systems, the Church and the family each of which contribute positively to the maintenance of stability of society as a whole. Broadly speaking it is assumed by functionalists that societies operate in the interests of all of their members so that there is no reason for fundamental conflict in society. Instead there is a high degree of consensus that societies are organised efficiently and relatively fairly.

One sociological perspective is the Functionalist theory. Functionalism is one of the earliest sociological theories. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) was a professor and was interested in how society was possible and how society remains stable. This theory focuses on the macro-level of social structure rather than micro-level of everyday life. Functionalism sees society in parts which form a system, the parts depend on each other. Functionalist theory looks at the parts of society such as

Functionalism is a consensus perspective that sees society as based on shared values into which members are socialized. It sees society as like an organism, each part performing functions to maintain the system as a whole. For example, religion, the education system and the family perform socialization functions. The functionalist theory though developed from the ideas of theorists such as Herbert Spencer and Emile Durkheim, can trace its origins as far back as the founding father of sociology, Auguste

Sociology studies the various relationships and functioning in the human society using different perspectives. One of them is the functionalism perspective. This viewpoint argues that all social institutions in the society are

Functionalist theory is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. It can be argued that the functionalist theory has made a significant contribution to the study of society. It originates from the work of Emile Durkheim who suggests that social order is possible and society remains stable due to the functioning of several institutions. Everything has a specific function in society and society will always function in harmony. The main institutions studied by functionalism are the family, the education system, religion and crime and deviance.

Theories are meant to explain an unknown phenomena. Scientific laws are statements or equations that accurately describes a recurring process. Grand theories explain large-scale relationships why societies form and change. Micro-level theories explain small-scale relationships between individuals or small groups. There are three main theoretical perspectives in sociology, which are functionalism, conflict theory, and interactionism. They all attempt to explain how society functions through ideals that have formulated to be true. And, for each perspective, the ideas are different and conflicting, but they attempt to explain society. Functionalists see society as an integrated system of cogs that are all relevant to the constant progression of society. If an outside social force effects one, it will halt all the other parts. Functionalism encourages stability, and dysfunction cause instability. There are two types of social functions; manifest and latent. Manifest function is the intended or anticipated effects that a part has on the existing social order. Latent function is the unintended or unanticipated effects that a part has on the existing social order. Conflict theory tries to explain society through instability. A conflict theorist looks at

Throughout the semester, we have learned about a variety of things that have changed the way I perceive people and the world around me that I never did before. One thing we learned about is sociological perspective. This is a perspective on humans and society as a whole. It means looking at society and how it is affected by humans, then looking at humans to see how the different changes in society have affected us. Before our Soc 101 class, I thought stuff just happened. The way perceive things and act as humans is because of the way society has socialized us. The three main sociological perspectives are the functionalist perspective, conflict perspective, and symbolic interactionism. The functionalist perspective claims that all parts of society