Pages 48-50

Beliefs and values that make up our identities can

influence us to adopt an ideology that reflects these
beliefs and values.
All ideologies contain a set of beliefs and values about
similar things. They are all concerned with the essential
questions of life, such as:

1. THE NATURE OF HUMAN BEINGS
Are people essentially good or bad?

2. THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY
Are poor people looked after in your society?
Does your society respect the elderly as much as others?
Does your society value gender equality?

Characteristics of Ideology These are the
things that make up an ideology!
3. INTERPRETATIONS OF HISTORY
People who grew up in hardship may have a
pessimistic ideology, people who grew up privileged
may have an ideology based on charity
Canada respects people who served the country, as is
reflected on Nov. 11
th


4. VISONS OF THE FUTURE
If you envision the world being greener in the future,
you may embrace pro-active environmentalist
ideology

Characteristics of Ideology These are the
things that make up an ideology!
So far, we know that beliefs and values are what make up our
identity, and that these influence the ideology we choose to
follow. We also know that the characteristics of an ideology is
based off of 4 essential questions.

One more element we must understand about ideology is that all
ideologies generally concern themselves with 1 or 2 main themes,
out of a pile of 6 themes.
Themes of Ideology
Nation: A community of people usually occupying a defined territory.
Class: A division of society, usually defined by income, wealth.
Race: A group of human beings distinguished based on biological traits.
Environment and Relationship to Land: The natural surroundings in which a person lives.
Gender: The male or female sex is considered a sociological category.
Religion: The worship of one or more deities and acceptance of particular values.



Themes of Ideology
Read pages 51-56 / Complete the handout (RM 1.4)

These pages start off by explaining what themes make up an
ideology. Then there are 3 speeches to read through. Each of these
speeches have certain characteristics and themes of ideology
embedded in them.

It is your job to find out which characteristics and themes are found
in each speech. If possible, try to pull out a quote or two that shows a
particular characteristic or theme.
*Friendly reminder You will have to be able to extract quotes from
pieces of writing on the Diploma Exam so you should start practicing!
Reading and Thinking Time!