Applying the Sociological Imagination Essay
The purpose of this essay is to apply Sociological Imagination to explain a personal situation.
The essay will demonstrate the student's ability to employ the sociological concepts & theories learned in the course, most importantly CW Mill's Sociological Imagination, in interpreting a personal situation.
The topic is left to the student's discretion, preferably a topic or a situation that stands out in the student's life, or on which he/she can write 4-6 pages, using sociological concepts.
The Essay paper should have the following 5 Content Areas:
1.Introduction: In this first Content Area, write a paragraph introducing CW Mill's concept of Sociological Imagination, and give a general overview of how you'll be applying it in your paper. Be sure to specify your topic.
2.Personal Explanation: In this second Content Area, explain your personal situation/topic a bit more in detail; depending on whether the situation is a current one or a past one, explain how you dealt with/are
dealing with the situation. You can also pick a situation relating
to a person close to you, if their experience affected you, and/or you know it well enough to personally to write in depth about it.You can describe what caused the problem, who all were involved, what were others' and your roles in the situation, and if a resolution was achieved, etc. This section is all about your personal account of your situation and should be no longer than four paragraphs (3/4 -1 page).
3.Sociological Imagination: In this third Content Area, you will be explaining your personal situation by applying sociological imagination perspective, i.e., how society and social forces affected your personal situation. This section should be the largest portion of your essay. The student should use terms and concepts from at least 3 different chapters of Conley textbook, and one sociological theory, while explaining their personal situation via a sociological lens.
4.Data/Stats: Cite social trends and statistics from the Conley text, and outside sources such as the Galen College online library, relevant to your situation (For example, divorce rates for various social categories
of people if the topic is on Divorce; poverty rates, crime and victimization rates, suicide rates, etc. if the topic is on either Poverty or Crime). Citing at least one outside source is required.
5.Conclusion: Write a wrap-up conclusion summarizing the major finding/themes in your paper. This should be no more than a paragraph and should not include any new material. Your essay should use a critical reflexive style, should be 4-6 pages long (excluding the Title Page and the References pages), and double-spaced; shorter than 4 full pages will lose points.