To what extent is your life McDonaldized? Students will critically analyze their everyday life using the four principles of McDonaldization (efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control) to answer this question in a series of four (4) journal entries written throughout the semester. For the first three entries, they will focus on specific aspects of McDonaldization and develop specific examples to show how these concepts apply to their lives, or not. In the final journal entry, they will reflect upon the first three entries to decide, overall, how much or how little their life is McDonaldized, and state how this impacts their relationships, their sense of identity, and their choices in life. Students will use the course core value of community to interpret their findings.
Each journal entry should be double-spaced, in a font size 12, and include a title page and a references page. The body of the paper, excluding the title and references, should be 2 to 3 pages in length. In each journal entry, students will use and cite their textbook, reader, and one additional valid source (newspaper, magazine or journal articles, books). All citations and the reference list will be formatted using MLA, APA, or ASA style. Each journal entry will contribute 10% of the final grade.
