writing

Do not forget to adhere to the basic extra credit instructions posted separately on Canvas. Here is the article citation: 

Coontz, S. (1999, November). The American Family. Life, Vol. 22, pp. 79-82. 

Here is the link to the article on the author’s website (accessing it through the OUS library is temporarily not an option): 

http://www.stephaniecoontz.com/articles/article10.htm 

The abstract for the article reads as follows: 

“Discusses the similarities in family life and social problems in the United States in the beginning of the 20th century through November 1999. Improvements regarding childhood mortality, education, child labor, and women's rights; Why the 1950s are regarded so highly in history as a standard for family values despite the actual poverty rate, women's oppression and race relation problems.” 

Stephanie Coontz is a family historian at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. In the family field, she is most well known for her book, The Way We Never Were: American Families & The Nostalgia Trap published in 1992. 

For this extra credit assignment, I want you to answer the following questions:

· According to Coontz, why are families better off now than they were 100 years ago?

· Why does Coontz think that, as a society, we long for a return to the 1950’s?

· Do you think our society could, in fact, return to the families of the 1950’s? Why or why not? 

· Do you think as a nation, we would be better off if we did return to the families of the1950’s? Why or why not?