Writing Assignment:Sociological Perspectives
You may pick a writing assignment from the following two options.
1. C. Wright Mills defined the sociological imagination as "the vivid awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society."
For this writing assignment you are to think sociologically about personal problem and extend it to the larger societal context in which you live. Students will be graded on originality, creativity, and ability to connect the "personal to the political."
Some paper topic examples demonstrating the sociological imagination could be:
a. Your difficulty in picking a major that you are interested in and one that you will be able to find a good paying job when you graduate. -how do structural forces in the job market impact your decision?
b. You are having trouble finding employment, affordable housing, paying for college, etc and how that reflects a pattern in society
c. Your personal experiences with racism, sexism, classism, etc and how that extends to a greater societal problem as you see it
d. Your experiences with social media and how they reflect societal changes
2. This semester we have learned about Gender and how it impacts society. For this assignment you are to present song lyrics from the song of your choice and explain (dissect, analyze) the song's lyrics from a gender perspective.
a. Explain the overall message or theme regarding gender
b. You should use the vocabulary of gender to describe the content of your song's lyrics, cite examples specifically from the lyrics and tie them into concepts
c. You may tie it into other themes and concepts presented in sociology class so far from previous chapters.
d. Keep in mind, gender is not only themes of "feminism," but also includes masculinity, and a full range of themes about gender and sexual identities.
e. You must a general demonstrate understanding of gender in your explanation of your song.
Please be original and contact me if you are having trouble coming up with a topic. I am here to help!
Your paper should be 1 page long, typed, single-spaced, and with absolutely no spelling or grammatical errors.
The paper is due via email on (4/2) or you can turn it in any time before then. No late papers will be accepted.