Academic Writing

Write a 2-3 page essay relating Goffman’s “Asylums” to the documentary film Titicut Follies (1967). Question: In what specific ways does this documentary support Goffman’s perspective on Total Institutions? Are there any ways that it does not support his ideas? Here are some possible questions you may address in your essay. (You don’t have to answer all these questions!) You may decide to focus your essay/analysis on one question. 1) According to Goffman, what is a total institution? What purpose does it actually serve? 2) What typical characteristics of inmate-staff relations suggested by Goffman were salient in the prison hospital at Bridge Water in the film Titicut Follies? To what extent do the staff control the inmates and how? 3) How adequately does Goffman’s concept of the “mortification of the self” or “curtailment of the self” explain the practices and treatments of the inmates shown in the film? How is the self depersonalized? 4) How does the process of “moral loosening” or “moral fatigue” (p.223-224) operate in the inmates’ reactions shown in the film Titicut Follies? Did you identify any practice of “secondary adjustments,” through which the inmates are able to circumvent the control of the staff? 5) Compare the strength and the weakness of Goffman’s sociological (participant) observation and Wiseman’s documentary filming as a method of revealing “empirical reality.” Your essay should be typed (double spaced) and edited for wording, punctuation and form. When you cite ideas from class readings, be sure to include page [login to view URL] is an example: When in doubt, provide citations of your sources (Dillon 2014:66). According to Dillon (p.66), when in doubt you should provide citations. If you use any outside sources, be sure to include the citation(s), that is, footnotes and a bibliography.(There is a statement about plagiarism in our Sakai site where I have provided web links that can help with citation formatting.) 3. Grade: Total 100 points - Understanding the theories (35 points) - Application of the theories to the empirical reality (35 points) - Written form. Is the essay written in a clear, convincing, and concise manner? Are citations accurate? Has the essay been proofed for punctuation, grammar, etc.? (30 points) 4. Tip: Make sure that your paper is in essay form. (If you choose option one below, do not simply answer the questions I have provided one after the other. Choose one or two and develop the ideas in detail.) 2. Citation machine has a website that allows you to enter the source information directly. It then gives the correct citation format. Use APA or Chicago. [login to view URL]