Film background: In this animated hit, a neurotic worker ant in love with a rebellious princess rises to unlikely stardom when he
switches places with a soldier. Signing up to march in a parade, he ends up instead enlisted to fight against a termite army.
Directions: You will be assigned one of the following groups below. As you are watching the film, be thinking and analyzing like a
sociologist and write down examples of the sociological terms shown from the film. Be sure to give multiple examples where applicable.
Group One: Status
Status
Definition
Ascribed
Status
Assigned according to
qualities beyond a
person’s control
Achieved
Status
Individuals acquire this
status through direct
efforts
Master
status
One status tends to
take rank above all
others
Examples from the film
Group Two: Roles
Role
Definition
Reciprocal
roles
Roles that define the
pattern of interaction
between related statuses
Role
Expectations
Socially determined
behaviors expected of a
person performing a role
Role
Performance
Actual role behavior
Role Conflict
Role Strain
Occurs when fulfilling the
role expectations of one
status, makes it difficult to
fulfill the role expectations
of another status
Occurs when a person has
difficulty meeting the role
expectations of a sing status
Examples from the film
Group Three: Social Institutions
Major
institutions
Family
Economy
Politics
Education
Examples from the film
Group Four: Social Interaction
Social
interaction
Exchange
Definition
Whenever people interact in an
effort to receive a reward or a
return for their actions
Conflict
Deliberate attempt to oppose,
harm, control by force, or resist
the will of another person or
persons
Competition
Two or more people or groups
oppose each other to achieve a
goal that only one can attain
Cooperation
Two or more people or groups
work together to achieve a goal
that will benefit more than one
person
Examples from the film
Group Five: Groups
Group
Aggregate
Definition
People gather in the same
place at the same time but
lack organization or lasting
patterns of interaction
Social
category
Means of classifying people
according to a shared trait
or common status
Primary
group
Small group of people who
interact over a relatively
long period of time on a
direct and personal basis
Secondary
group
Interaction is impersonal
and temporary in nature
Reference
group
Any group individuals
identify with and adopt
attitude/values
In group
Group people belong to
Out group
Any group people do not
belong to
Examples from the film
Group Six: Formal organization- Bureaucracy
Max Weber’s model of bureaucracy has the following characteristics:
Characteristic
Definition
Division of
labor
Work is divided up
Ranking of
authority
Clear cut lines of
responsibility and each
individual is
responsible to a higher
level supervisor
Employment
qualifications
Specific qualifications
are required for each
job
Regulations
and routines
Exact responsibilities
and authority of each
person
Specific lines of
promotion and
advancement
Assumed that
employees expect a
career with
organization
Examples from the film