Aim and Substance
Your essay assignments are opportunities to critically analyze the ideas of the major theorists of this class. You will interpret their key concepts and “big picture” perspectives to present an argument which answers a question posed by the assignment. Note, this question does not have one right answer. The goal of the assignment is not to guess the answer your TA/professor believes. Instead, you should use your understanding of the course materials to develop and support your own position.
Your essays are also opportunities to practise the writing and argumentation skills (ie: making claims, avoiding logical fallacies) you are learning in tutorials.
This second essay helps reinforce (and assess) the following learning objectives from the syllabus:
identify theoretical concepts and processes from key theorists
explain the relevance of particular concepts to specific theoretical perspectives
evaluate theories analytically in terms conceptual strengths and weaknesses
Prompt question and structure
Imagine you’re in a café with Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Fei Xiaotong, Jane Addams, WEB Du Bois and Aimé Césaire. They’re having a lively conversation about democracy, morality and social difference. Shouting over the chatter, Addams suddenly declares: “The cure for the ills of democracy is always more democracy!”
The other sociologists pause for a deep breath. Then they respond to Addams. What would they say? What would Addams say back to them?
Write a persuasive essay articulating how two other theorists we have read in this class (Durkheim, Weber, Fei, Du Bois or Césaire) would respond to Addams’ argument, and how she would answer them.
In your essay, be sure to explain:
1) why Addams believes that democracy is the solution to the problems of modern society
2) how the two authors you chose (Durkheim, Weber, Fei, Du Bois or Aimé Césaire) would respond to her argument; and
3) how Addams would reply to the other authors’ critical points.
In your introduction, you should make a claim (an argument) which briefly summarizes the debate between Addams and the other two. What key assumptions lead these three to agree / disagree with each other?
The body of your essay should give evidence, from lectures and relevant texts exploring each perspective. To do this, you should draw on Addams and other’s arguments on the nature of democracy, inequality and social solidarity.
Helpful advice
1) You do not need to discuss every relevant piece of evidence in the lectures and assigned readings. Make choices about what’s most important and persuasive to your point of view. You should not introduce ideas in the body that are not mentioned in the introduction.
2) In general, each paragraph will be structured around one point and/or quote from an assigned reading. A paragraph should be organized around a single idea. Your evidence (body) paragraphs should introduce that idea as a topic sentence. Then present the point (cited appropriately) from the reading, either paraphrased or quoted directly. Then explain briefly how the quote or paraphrase relates to the idea in your topic sentence.
3) Your argument and evidence should remain close to the texts. Remember: you’re not arguing with Addams about democracy. You’re arguing how Du Bois, Durkheim, Fei, Césaire or Weber would respond to her argument. You can use your own ideas to explain how evidence from the texts relates to your point. But your points themselves and the evidence to support them should come from assigned readings. A body paragraph which has no support from assigned readings is probably not useful to your argument.
Assessment
Essays will be graded according to your ability to present an argument addressing the prompt and defend with the evidence from the assigned readings. Is your argument clear from the introduction? Does it answer the question asked? Have you presented persuasive evidence from assigned readings to support your argument? Are you explaining concepts/arguments accurately, and choosing relevant points to make your case?
Clarity of writing (grammar, spelling, paragraphing) and a logical structure are also important. Are you following the structure of an essay? Are points presented in a logical order? Did you proofread carefully? Is evidence properly cited?
Length and format
Your essay should be between 5 and 7 pages. Write your essay in 12 point font, with 1” margins, double-spaced. Please do not provide a title page.
There is no required style for citations or your bibliography page, but please keep the format consistent.
