Instruction
While the Analysis paper focused on one topic (such as poverty) and then how others (race, gender, crime, etc.) ran through it, your final should not focus on one topic (such as gender) but take a more holistic approach, balancing several topics equally and discuss their intersection.
Overview & Prompt:
For your final, you should write a cumulative paper discussing “Social Problems in the U.S.”
Here are the five (modules) I will use:
· Poverty- chapter 2
· Race and Ethnic Inequality- chapter 3
· Gender Inequality- chapter 4
· Sexual Orientation and Inequality- Chapter 5
· Urban and Rural Problems
Required Materials:
Barkan, Steven E. 2020. Social Problems: Continuity and Change Version 2.0. FlatWorld. ISBN:
978-1-4533-9215-7
To start, select at least five (5) modules discussed throughout the semester and formulate a thesis that addresses some cumulative understanding from those modules. Include a title that addresses your main idea in some way: “Social Problems in the U.S.: [insert interesting title].”
The thesis should be a comprehensive statement that synthesizes all of the modules you selected.
My example only uses three (3) modules but demonstrates what I expect.
For example, suppose you use modules 2, 3, and 13. You might use “Poverty and racism intersect to exacerbate discrimination and increasingly prevent minorities from being successful in school and the workplace” as your thesis statement.
Poverty (Module 2), Race (Module 3), and school and the workplace (Module 13).
However, while your thesis should incorporate all five (+) modules in some way, it does not have to mention them all directly. As long as the thesis and supporting arguments use the five (+) selected modules in a balanced manner, you will meet the criteria.
After establishing your thesis in the introduction, using the modules you selected, support your thesis with three or more supporting arguments that use material from the textbook, other course material, and any additional external sources you choose.
The supporting statements in the body of your essay should not be bound to a single module. Just as your thesis should draw from multiple modules, every supporting statement should draw from at least two modules.
I want to see how well you can synthesize the information you have learned. As such, one goal of the paper is to practice synthesizing the material to develop an overarching understanding.
Guidelines/Rules:
Your Final should be original work, focusing on synthesizing the selected modules.
Your aim should be to create an overarching thesis and wrap-up of “Social Problems in the U.S.”
As such, you should not copy and paste from your weekly assignments. Your weekly papers predominately focused on the corresponding module. Now, you need to put everything together to discuss the larger picture.
Include support with citation. Not citing is plagiarism. If you need to review citation methods, please see Review: Citations and References in the module.
Grades will be determined by three major criteria starting with:
Synthesis
Using 5 Modules
Clarity of your arguments/ how you build your argument/ support thesis
Copy-and-paste/ no citations will result in a zero (0).
Formatting:
Your paper should include the following:
Introduction (with the thesis)
Body (with the supporting arguments and citations*)
Conclusion
Reference section*
Your final should be in Times New Roman, 12-point font, with one-inch margins.
Your Finals should be at least eight (8) pages, but at most twenty (20).
[I’ll need time to grade them by the end of the semester after all 😉]
Excerpt from the Syllabus: Graduate students will complete a final and cumulative paper as their final for the course. Graduate students should demonstrate a firm understanding of social problems from a sociological perspective.
Here are links on different topics from each module: use them along with the book and other resources
https://www.povertyusa.org/facts
https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2021/11/04/majority-of-latinos-say-skin-color-impacts-opportunity-in-america-and-shapes-daily-life/
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/04/21/one-third-of-asian-americans-fear-threats-physical-attacks-and-most-say-violence-against-them-is-rising/
https://www.ted.com/talks/aaron_huey_america_s_native_prisoners_of_war?language=en
https://www.vox.com/2015/4/22/8465027/lgbt-nondiscrimination-laws
https://rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence
https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization?source=content_type%3Areact%7Cfirst_level_url%3Aarticle%7Csection%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link
