Sociology 329
Utopian Thought/Dystopian Societies
Spring 2004
Dr Scott Schaffer

Midterm Examination Prep Sheet - W Feb 25/2004, 11am to 1215pm

Rules of the Game: The midterm examination will take place on W Feb 25/2004 from 11am to 1215pm. There will be no makeup exams given, as per the course syllabus; anyone who cannot attend the midterm examination needs to contact me no later than T Feb 24/2004 at 11am to make arrangements for an alternate assignment.

For this exam, you will need the following:

At the end of the exam, you will submit the blue books, the exam sheet, and your sheet of notes. No credit will be given for anything not written in the blue books, but at least I’ll be able to see where you were heading in the event you run out of time.

On the notes for the exam: You are allowed to have one letter-size sheet of notes, on which you can write on both sides. You are encouraged to develop outlines for each of the essays, including page citations of materials you’re using to support your argument and short notes on why it is you see those materials supporting your argument. You are not, however, permitted to write out the essays and use them on your notes (though you may want to do this in your preparation for the exam). The notes will be submitted at the end of the exam; any exam that has more than an outline for each of the question and the page citations/short notes on the relevance of the readings will receive an F for the exam.

The Details: The midterm exam will ask you to write two argument-based essays dealing with issues raised so far in the course. Below you will find six essay questions; four of these will appear on the midterm, and you will be asked to respond to two of them. Your responses should be an argument that clearly addresses the “big question” posed to you, one that clearly demonstrates the entire thought process that went into the development of that argument and ways in which you are utilizing the course materials to support the claims you are making.

You need to have adequate textual support for your responses, so think of these as short “Schaffer papers.” (You should refer to the “How to Write a Schaffer Paper” handout in preparing for this examination; it is available on the course web site.) Each question will ask you utilize a certain number of texts in developing your response; essays that are short texts will lose one-third letter grade per text it is short. You need to utilize this format when citing the texts: (Author Year: Page).

As mentioned above, these questions are designed to elicit shorter “Schaffer papers” from you. Do not give short shrift to your responses. Your job in this is to fully and completely respond to the questions presented to you. These are not two-paragraph essays you’re being asked to write.

You should allow yourself about 30-35min for each essay during the exam period. I will announce the time remaining at 30min, 15min, and 5min left in the exam.

Good luck, and happy preparing…


The Exam Questions: Three of these will appear on the examination; you will choose two for your response. The crucial question your response must clearly and directly address (the “big question”) is listed in boldface. Please make sure to utilize citations of relevant readings in the development of your responses and to show how it is that the cited material supports your argument. Also, note that the minimum number of required sources appears in italics after the question; this same information will not appear on the exam.

Please note that the numbers of the questions listed here will not match the question numbers on the examination.


1. Compare the ways in which utopias that propose reforming the current social order and those that propose replacing the social order present their programs. Which combination of approaches (reform/revolution + mode of presentation) do you find most compelling as a political program, and why? (Two reform-oriented utopias; two replacement-oriented utopias)

2. Discuss the ways in which issues of equality and inequality are dealt with in the utopias we’ve read so far. In what ways do these notions of equality/inequality embody to the notion of human nature as perfectible, and on what basis is that notion of human perfectibility most convincingly presented? (Three utopias)

3. Compare the ways in which utopian communities have implemented, adapted, or refined utopian social theories, and discuss their relative success as communities. In what ways has the degree of adherence to the original theory helped or hurt the survival of these communities, and to what extent do you find the notion of “developmental communalism” crucial to the survival of these kinds of communities? (Two paired utopian theories/essays on utopian communities, Pitzer’s essay on “developmental communalism”)

4. Compare the ways in which utopian communities founded on the basis of “reason” operated and were successful with those of communities founded on principles of religion. To what extent do you find that basing communities on Reason or Religion lends itself to the kind of utopia envisioned by the theorist, and why? (Two paired utopian theories/essays on utopian communities)

5. Compare the ways in which utopias relied on or involved the existence of the New World as the basis for their development or implementation. To what extent do you find that the existence of a terra nova inspires the development of utopian theory and its implementation in utopian communities? (At least one utopian theory from the 15th/16th centuries; at least one utopian theory from the 17th/18th centuries; at least one paired utopian theory/utopian community from the 19th century)

6. Discuss the ways in which utopias from different eras pay attention to the status of women and sexual conduct. To what extent do you see the progression of attention to women and sexual conduct as indicative of a development of a notion of equality, and what would that notion be? (One pre-15th century utopian theory; one utopian theory from the 15th, 16th, or 17th centuries; one utopian theory or one paired utopian theory/utopian community from the 18th or 19th centuries)



On preparing for this examination:

As has been already mentioned, you are allowed to have a sheet of notes with outlines and appropriate textual citations with you on the exam. This should not be the only preparation you pursue, however. Each essay, while clearly written, requires that you think your way through the question in a critical manner. There are elements of each question that require definition, elaboration, conceptual operationalization, and other thought processes that you must attend to, as the clear and successful response to the question is based on these elements.

The best advice I can give you is this: Do not wait until the last second to prepare for this exam. If you do, your essays will read simply like “two-paragraph responses,” able to deal only with the barest of elements needed to address the question. You will want to spend some time thinking through the question: there are overlaps between issues we’ve discussed in class, and between the readings within and across the books we’ve used so far; and each of the questions involves some kind of critical evaluation on your part, not just in the “big question,” but in the bases for your evaluation of the materials presented.

As always, I am more than happy to look at drafts of your essays and outlines for the essays, as well as to discuss the issues behind the questions in office hours, via email, or in class on the midterm prep day (M Feb 23/2004). Should you wish me to look at drafts or outlines, you need to get them to me no later than Su Feb 22/2004 at 5pm.

Good luck…and happy thinking.


Basic Grading Rubric:

These general principles are what will guide the application of letter grades to the essays submitted. Other deductions as specified in this assignment or in the course syllabus will affect these grades, and +/- modifiers will be applied.

A – Clearly formulated and demonstrated response to the “big question”; addressing all specified parts of the question, and demonstration of logic behind those responses; presentation of evidence from required texts and demonstration of how that evidence supports the statement made.

B – Well formulated response to the “big question,” though without full demonstration of the logic; addressing all/most of the specified parts of the question and/or not fully demonstrating the logic behind those responses; presentation of evidence from required texts, but no demonstration of how that evidence supports the statement made.

C – No clear thesis in response to the “big question”; addressing some/most of the specified parts of the question, but without development of the logic behind those responses; intimation of evidence from the required texts, but no discussion of that evidence or how it supports the statement made.

D – Cursory attempt at answering the “big question”; addressing some of the specified parts of the question, but no discussion of logic behind those responses; no presentation of evidence from required texts.

F – No attempt to answer the question assigned; cursory discussion of specified parts of the question; no use of evidence from the required texts.