essay

SOC 001 INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY

Essay Assignment 1: Seeing Sociology in Media

Due Date: Monday February 20, 2017 (by 2:40pm) OVERVIEW One of the most powerful means of both reinforcing and challenging societal messages is through contemporary media. Not only are movies and TV shows potent illustrations of various social issues, we see them so often that they usually go unacknowledged as conveying messages about social life. Because of this, it is useful to step back and critically assess the media we regularly consume. In this assignment, you will apply a sociological lens to movies and TV shows to illustrate various concepts from the course. DETAILS Your goal in this essay is to both fully explain course concepts and then illustrate them using contemporary media sources (scenes from film or TV shows) in a traditional essay format. 1.   Select Three Concepts: Choose three concepts from the list below to explore in your essay. Your essay

should focus primarily on explaining the concepts (drawing on lecture notes and readings), and secondarily on illustrating them with scenes from TV shows or movies. While you may select any of the three concepts below, some groupings work together more seamlessly than others and will help you produce a more coherent analysis overall. Remember, this should be written like a traditional essay that uses transition sentences between paragraphs and sections of the paper, and some of those transitions go more smoothly with concepts that work together. You should assume that your audience for this essay is college-educated, but not familiar with the subject matter. Therefore, you should explain the concepts in detail as if you were teaching them to someone.

The concepts you may select from include:

•   social construction, social context, culture, dominant culture, subculture, identity, socialization, impression management, saving face, conformity, social network theory, or bureaucracy.

2.   Select Media: Find a movie or TV show that was released in approximately the last 10 years to analyze

sociologically. You may use one source for all three concepts or rely on multiple sources—whatever allows you to accurately illustrate the concepts you are discussing in your essay. Although you may want to analyze your favorite show or movie, realize that it may not be the best selection. For example, Monsters, Inc.—the animated film about monsters—may be a more difficult choice because the main characters are fantasy creatures. On the other hand, the movie may be interesting to analyze precisely because you can see them struggling with similar social issues, even though they are not human. The point here is to make your media selection thoughtfully and to make sure you will have content you can analyze and link to course material.

CITATIONS You must cite a minimum of two course readings in your paper. You may not use outside materials for this assignment—only readings from our class. You should always cite lecture notes when discussing specific concepts or ideas in your essay; however, lecture notes do not count toward your two minimum course readings. The citation style you use may be any widely accepted style (ASA, APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.), but your use of this style should be consistent throughout the essay.

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GRADING Your essay will be graded on the quality of your writing, the organization of the essay, the explanation of course content, and the accuracy of your conceptual illustrations. Traditional essay elements such as thesis statement, introduction and conclusion, word choice, topic and transition sentences, and essay flow will all be considered when determining your grade. If you have any questions about how best to organize or support your essay, please feel free to see me in office hours, as I am happy to help students think through such matters. Indeed, the vast majority of students benefit significantly from even just a 30-minute meeting when planning their essays. FORMATTING Formatting details should be followed precisely, and points will be deducted for papers that do not adhere to the following guidelines:

•   4 to 5 pages in length: your essay must be a minimum of 4 full pages long. If you are concerned that your paper is not long enough, simply write more.

•   No Title Page •   Minimal Header: on the first page at the top, please include your name, the class, the semester, the

date, and the title of your paper, all single-spaced (1.0). Your header should not take up too much “white space” at the top of the first page.

•   Double-spacing (2.0) within the essay body (use single spacing for header information) •   1” margins on all sides •   12-point, Times New Roman font for all parts of the paper. •   Avoid very long quotes from course readings. If you do include one, please note that any quotes

longer than three lines in your paper should be treated as block quotes—block quotes are indented within the paragraph itself, single-spaced, and in 10-point font.

•   Page numbers included on all pages •   References list on separate page at the end of the essay (does not count toward minimum page

requirement) •   Use a consistent in-text citation style throughout your essay (footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical

citations) •   Hard copy printed on white paper using black ink •   Stapled

LATE PAPER INSTRUCTIONS If you need to turn your paper in later than the due time on 2/20/2017, you may do so for a 5% penalty each day it is late up to 4 days late (Friday February 24, 2017 by 11:59pm). If you are able to get me your paper on the same day it is due by 11:59pm, I will only deduct 2.5%. I do accept late papers by email and will use the time they arrive in my Inbox as the time stamp (therefore, please plan ahead since some mail does not arrive immediately). Send the paper directly to djh57@psu.edu. Sending the wrong file, a corrupted file, a blank file, or a file that is unable to be opened does not count as turning in your paper—nor do they function as excuses. It is your responsibility to make sure I receive the correct file that can be opened (send your essay as a separate file in .pdf, .txt, .doc, or .docx formats; do not send a link to Google Drive). I will respond to your email and let you know if I have been able to open it and what time it came into my Inbox. Your paper will not be considered “turned in” until I receive your essay file and can open it successfully.

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