Abbie Staton
1 st hr- AP Language
10-21-11
Columnist Reflection Paper
In the past six weeks, I have read: “Becoming a College Student: A Study in Socialization” (Sept.
5, 2011), “Race, Class, and Cancer” (Aug. 12, 2011), “The Criminal Justice System in Context” (Sept. 2,
2011), “The Bystander Effect: A Case Study” (Sept. 22, 2011), “Popular Culture Meets Reality” (Oct. 3,
2011), and “Sociology vs. the Obvious” (July 11, 2011) by Karen Sternheimer of the Everyday Sociology
Blog.
The Everyday Sociology Blog is an online blog that provides various Sociologists’ commentary on topics ranging from politics to pop-culture. The site provides articles relating to current events in an understandable, relatable tone that appeals to everyone from the typical internet-surfer to a graduate student with a PhD. The blog highlights the works of six diverse, credible Sociologists with an occasional guest contributor to spice things up. Articles on this site include graphs, charts, video clips and create discussion rather than lecture.
Karen Sternheimer uses Sociology to help explain and elaborate on certain modern-occurrences.
Sternheimer medium ranges from the Casey Anthony trial to life as a freshman in college, appealing to a broad audience, everyone from teachers and parents to high school students. Sternheimer’s casual, yet credible writing style allowed for a complete, all over-the-board understanding of the subject material and the Sociology tied into it. Sternheimer also uses many examples to strengthen her argument and increase the full understanding of the material being discussed, examples including many statistics and reliable studies. For example, in “Sociology vs. the Obvious,” Sternheimer includes support from a study done by University of Santa-Barbara that reinforced her thesis that Sociology is more than just the study

of the obvious. Sternheimer uses a simple, supported style of writing that causes intrigue and understanding in her audience.
I really enjoy reading Sternheimer’s evidence-filled, Sociology based articles. Karen’s content focused mainly on current happenings that I was aware of, but added sociological reasoning and basis for the happenings, causing me to understand the issues from a different, unique view. Sternheimer’s articles moved me to view societal problems in a different light. For example, in “Becoming a College
Student: A Study in Socialization,” she takes the common, becoming a college freshman scenario and incorporates the act of socialization to the situation, explaining what is happening to the student in a sociological light. I feel that after consistently following Sternheimer’s articles, I am more in tune with human-behavior and societal trends.
Karen Sternheimer is a thoughtful, analytical Sociologist with a twist of controversy in her journalism that draws the audience into her work.