The 20th Century Social Movement

For the Unit 9 Assignment, you will review news footage to analyze a social movement that took place in the 20th Century. You will then apply the major sociological perspective that your studies this term suggest offers the best explanation for the behaviors of this organized social movement.

Assignment Directions

Step 1. Research: First, do a bit of research to learn about the major social movements of the 20th Century. Choose a movement that interests you, and then conduct an internet search to find news footage related to the actions of that movement. For example, if you decided to do your research on the 1960s anti-war movement, you might conduct a search using the terms “News footage 1960s anti-war protest.”

Step 2. Essay: After you have found a video that shows a 20th Century social movement in action, use it as the basis for a 350-500 word essay as outlined below. Use APA formatted citation referencing to give credit to the source of all material used in this paper, including the news footage video. Include separate title and reference pages.

Introduction: Include a thesis statement and an overview of what the paper will be about. Identify and describe the 20th Century social movement that will be analyzed. Introduce the video footage that will be analyzed (i.e. the analysis will be based on a 1967 CBS news report of a protest in Washington, D.C.).

Body of the Essay

Paragraph 1: Describe in detail what is happening in the film, being sure to cover who, what, when, and where the event is happening.

Paragraph 2: Identify the type of social movement that is feature in the video. Give a referenced definition of this type of social movement. Define the tactic, or tactics, being used by the members of the movement in the news footage, and give at least two examples of these tactics.

Paragraph 3: Suggest which major sociological theory explains the behavior of the members of this organized social movement during the event you analyzed in the previous two paragraphs. Explain in detail why the theory you have proposed best explains the behaviors of the movement.

Summary and Conclusion (A single paragraph): Restate the main points of the essay. Conclude with a short statement about why you think you would, or would not, have joined the movement that you analyzed if you had known about it during its active stages.