Literature Review #1

1. Visual

2. Citation

Robbins, Alexandra. Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities. New York: Hachette , 2015. Print.

3. Summary

The author, Alexandra Robbins, spent a year with a group of girls in a "known" sorority so uncover whether or not the stereotypes about sorority girls were true or not. The expected behavior of a sorority girl involving drugs, hazing, promiscuity, racism, violence, and eating disorders were all validated during her time spent with the girls. The part that intrigued Robbins was that all of these things were done by intelligent, and attractive young girls that had so many other options.

4. Author: Alexandra Robbins

The author of Pledged graduated from Yale University with high honors which makes her already have first-hand knowledge on college life regardless of Yale's greek life scene. However, she was a member of a secret Yale club called Scroll and Key. She is a reporter and likes writing about controversial topics like revealing President Bush's unimpressive college grades.

5. Key terms

"Rituals"- the book explains rituals in greek organizations as "ceremonies only to be shared with other [organization members] as a sign of your loyalty to the Fraternity, that you treat these things with confidentiality as well as respect. In turn you will find your entire lifetime fraternity experience and accompanying friendships take on deeper and more beautiful meaning when you know they are shared only with those who bear the name of [organization].

"Sisterhood without the Sorority"- a sorority girl in the book explains her experience with greek life as positive with also aspects of "a thing where you have a lot of people there for you only superficially. I don't think people really care about each other wholeheartedly or make an effort to be sisters."

6. Quotes

"Fraternity and sorority house environments appear to tolerate hazardous use of alcohol and other irresponsible behaviors... this directly contradicts the claim that the members of fraternities and sororities that belong to a notional organization exhibit more responsible behavior thangroups that are not affiliated with such organizations." (Robbins 137)

"For some girls, the sorority experience involved a constant struggle to keep up with the trends and attitudes dictated by particular cliques within the sorority. Belonging to a house offers a sister permanent affiliations, but it doesn't signify unconditional acceptance." (Robbins 115)

"In some houses, pledges can also generally be 'on call' nearly every night of the pledge period. This means sitting by their phone in case a sorority sister wants something- for example, a slurpee 3 a.m., a ride, her dishes washed or her room cleaned- or a spontaneous activity is about to start: 'Find a dress and a date and be at the house in thirty minutes." (Robbins 256)

7. Value

This book is going to help me explore my research question of why greek life rituals always seem to involve alcohol and the reason students endure so much with hazing for acceptance among peers because Pledged really dives into the ins and outs of sorority life. Since the author is literally spending a year with a typical sorority her book really gives true insight to what hazing is like and the mindset of these girls, helping me explain the psychological reasoning behind hazing.