Normally, I'm pretty good about doing my homework and everything. I think school can be really interesting, but this teacher drives me absolutely crazy. She's awful. Really. So I was hoping someone would help me answer these questions she gave us because I just have absolutely no will to pay attention in her class anymore. Honestly, she's the worst teacher I have ever had. Which is a shame, because sociology is very interesting.
I don't need anyone to write me out full on answers, just give me a little bit of help maybe. Thanks.

Anyhow, here are the questions:

1. It is important to recognize that changes in American families are often assigned different meanings. There are at least two competing political viewpoints regarding families: Right/Conservative and Left/Liberal.
Each one identifies different causes and consequences of family change.
Discuss, compare, and contrast the assumptions and arguments of each political viewpoint.
Discuss and identify the same example of a controversial issue for each viewpoint. For example, how might Right/Conservative and Left/Liberal.
Political viewpoints consider the topic of gay marriage in regard to definitions of and relevance to families?

2. Families and Competing Perspectives
In your opinion, which classical theoretical perspective is best suited to analyze and explain family patterns today? Name your choice and justify it, comparing and contrasting with at least one other classical perspective.
(Structural Functionalist, Conflict, Exchange, or Symbolic Interaction)
Which of the 4 classical theoretical perspectives are more conservative and which ones are more liberal?

3. It is interesting to examine family structures and functions across time. Sociologists and anthropologists analyze family changes across different types of societies – hunting & gathering, horticultural, agricultural, and industrial/post-industrial. As societies have become increasingly complex, many traditional family functions have been lost to formal organizations and outside institutions.
Discuss the structural-functionalist perspective of families and identify the essential functions of the family according to this perspective.
In the forms of family before industrial/post-industrial families, which functions did families serve in society. (As part of the public family)
In the late 19th and 20th centuries, identify functions of the family that have been taken over by formal organizations. In particular, discuss the rise of educational and health care institutions. Discuss the reasons for the increasing necessity of formal institutions devoted to education and care giving (including child care).

4. Race and Preindustrial Family Life
Describe family patterns found among early Native Americans. In what ways did family life differ from that of the European colonists?
In what ways were African-American families affected by economic, cultural, and physical exploitation?
What are some of the primary characteristics of pre-industrial, Mexican
families?

5. Race and Industrial/Postindustrial Family Life
In the video “Race: the Power of an Illusion, Part III; The House That We Live In,” the filmmakers and individuals interviewed discussed how the FHA policy and government loans for homes given to G.I.s returning from WWII set in motion some significant differences in wealth for after black families in the US. In the words of one interviewee, “the golden opportunity (to make some significant changes in racial access to wealth) came after WWII and we missed it.”

What did he mean by that statement? Explain what happened in the housing market of the post WWII US. Use the concepts redlining, blockbusting, wealth, income, and institutional racism in your discussion.