In order to do Paper 1, you first must break a norm--i.e., not conform to some social expectation. It is up to you what norm you break-you can do a behavior that is non-normative across our culture, e.g., facing the back rather than front
of an elevator when riding it, or something that is non-normative among some smaller group of which you are a member, e.g., sitting on your dorm roommate's bed, if that is not normative for you and your roommate(s). [You may not use
either of these examples.]
If you pick an illegal or unethical behavior as part of breaking your norm, you must live with the legal and moral consequences (I accept NO responsibility, and will not come bail you out of jail!). There are plenty of norms you can break
that will not cause legal repercussions or harm to others. Try your best to avoid discomfort to other people in performing this assignment. You may find it helpful to explain to anyone involved what you were doing after you are finished
breaking the norm (i.e., you might want to "debrief" those who saw you do the assignment), both to reassure them, and so that you don't lose their friendship when they decide you are batty.
In your paper, you should cover the following points, incorporating relevant points from the readings when applicable (the points are numbered, but your paper should not include
the points--it should flow as an integrated whole):
these numbers or necessarily be broken up according to
be
1) Describe what you did to break the norm. Describe the situation, and what is normally expected, and what you did that was not consistent with those expectations. If your norm is one that people outside a particular group would
unfamiliar with (for example, you are a member of a sports team that has a certain pre-game ritual that you broke), you may have to go into some detail to set the stage so that people outside the group can comprehend how what you did
constituted breaking a norm.
2) Describe other people's reactions to what you did. Did you think they behaved the same way they would have if you had not broken the norm? Or did they respond differently? Did they ignore you? Did they sanction you, and if so,
how--verbally? Non-verbally?
3) Describe how you felt. Did you "chicken out?" at some point? Start laughing? Blush? Was it fun? Exhilarating? Mortifying? Did you feel like your behavior looked natural or staged and deliberate as you were breaking the norm?
