The Individual and Society
In this essay you are asked to do the following in terms of laying out theories of symbolic interaction.
First, explain how the theories of both Blumer and Mead are social theories of individual behavior, i.e., that look beyond "conventional psychological categories" to account for human action (Farganis, p. 275).
Use material from the readings to make your point. Second, pick out a passage from the Blumer reading that best illustrates his point about the "fluidity of social action" OR the "reflexivity of the self," and apply an illustration of it through an example of your choosing.
Third, explain how Goffman's dramaturgical frame for explaining social interaction ("The "Presentation of Self…") helps to explain the "negotiated character of everyday life."
For example, what are some of the ways that we engage in "impression management" (Farganis, p. 282), and why do we do this? What are some of ways in which we "stage" our performances in social life, switching off between our "back" and "front" regions in the interest of managing our social encounters with other persons or institutions (Farganis 281)?
