The assignment is to discuss three main characteristics of your playing field and explain how each has affected you. You are required to include family as one of your main topics and must choose two other main topics from the list of main topics. Your paper must include one very lengthy paragraph for each of the three main topics you have chosen.
family (required main topic)
gender
social class
education
race and ethnicity
religion
You will apply the course material and subtopics covered in the course materials on each main topic to examples of your specific playing field and your specific experiences; directly relate the material and subtopics presented in the course material on each main topic to your specific experiences.
Each main topic section must include at least six subtopics. In terms of subtopics, each of the topics covered in the lectures, chapters in the textbook, assigned articles, and films/film clips for each main topic are considered subtopics.
For example some of the subtopics associated with the main topic gender are: gender socialization, gender role expectations, gender inequality, patriarchy, pay gap (data), glass ceiling, male privilege, glass escalator, second shift, gendered division of labor, gender and the media/Kilbourne research, feminization of poverty, feminism, etc. You are required to discuss your specific experiences on each of the subtopics you include in your paper, directly apply the material.
You must apply the terms/concepts, research data/findings, and social theories related to the main topics to your playing field/your experiences. Go through the chapters in the textbook, online lectures, and articles/other course material provided in the lessons on each of the main topics you are including in your paper and apply the relevant material to your playing field/your experiences (this is the way you will go about working on this assignment).
It is required that you utilize the online lecture material, textbook material, and articles/other course material for each main topics included in your paper.
A minimum of six terms/concepts/research data is required in each main topic section; a minimum of eighteen instances of application of terms/concepts/research data throughout your paper. For each subtopic you will apply key terms and/or research data on the topic. Clear and complete application and analysis required.
It is also required that you apply a minimum of one social theory in each main topic section; a minimum of three social theories are required throughout your paper. It is required that you utilize at least three different theories throughout your paper and that at least one of the theories included is one of our three main theories.
Apply the social theories presented in the course material: structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, social learning theory, or theories of deviance. Theories must be directly applied to your specific playing field/experiences. Do not discuss the theories in general, directly apply them to your playing field and your experiences and explain application. Explain the theory and explain application. Social theory can be applied to a specific example or can be applied to the overall theme of the main topic section. Clear and complete application and analysis is required.
In some instances students will need to predict the long term effects of particular experiences, predict according to the research data/findings on the topics. In terms of predictions ask yourself, how, according to the data presented in the course, the events have affected you or will affect you in the future. If the effects presented in the research/study findings for a particular issue do not apply to you then you can state what the effects generally are (according to the research data/findings) and then discuss what the outcome(s) were for you and explain why.
It is not required that you include sensitive issues if you are not comfortable doing so. In this case it is suggested that you focus on other aspects of your playing field.
