The purpose of this paper is for you to engage a book-length work in terms of what the
author’s sociological message is. As you can tell from the title, Desmond looks at the
issue of housing. In this case-study from the city of Milwaukee, he follows several
people – renters and landlords – as they try to navigate the world of low-income rental
housing in poor, urban neighborhoods. As you will notice, there are no clear victims or
villains here – it’s a much more complicated reality than that.
There are two basic ways you can structure your paper: First, you could pick one of the
people/families you’ll meet in Evicted and use their storyline to conduct a sociological
analysis; or Second, you could pick one issue (mental health, for example) several people
in Evicted deal with. Either way, while I want you to bring in specific details from the
book, you do not need to completely “retell the story”. Rather, use the storyline of one of
the main people, or a discussion of one issue or challenge facing more than one person, to
conduct a sociological analysis.
As with your other papers, start with a clearly stated thesis/argument. In this case, in a
paragraph, explain why the person you chose is in the situation they are in, or why your
chosen issue is a particular challenge. Go beyond mentioning the obvious – that they do
not have enough money. Come up with a specific argument here.
After that, expand this paragraph into an extended discussion of the problems and issues
your chosen person is facing and how a sociologist would explain and analyze them.
From education to health, the criminal justice system, a post-industrial job market, family
dynamics, and other issues – think broadly over the course of the semester and use this
material to explain and analyze Evicted. One of the keys here is to strike a balance
between offering a developed discussion, and not trying to “do everything.” Stay focused
on a clear and specific argument/topic.
Somewhere in your discussion, one thing you need to include is one specific example of
when your chosen person made some sort of mistake – and then talk about what the
consequences of that mistake were. Then briefly talk about if you had made a similar
mistake, and whether or not your consequences would have been the same.
As a concluding paragraph, address “What Should We Do”? Now, after you have read
and reflected on this book, and taken a semester course in sociology – what would you do
from a public policy standpoint to making affordable, stable housing a reality for more
lower-income people? I am going to take one easy answer away from you – don’t talk
about the need for more jobs. Of course, that’s the most crucial thing, but everyone
knows that! What else needs to be done to solve this social problem
