Social Theory SOC 323

  

Paper Instruction: 

Students will complete one to three paper(s). The combined amount of writing for these papers should be about 10 pages, excluding title and reference pages.

Papers will be formatted using the ASA formatting style, and submitted in Turnitin. 

The paper(s) should emphasize the application of sociological theory to everyday life, rather than be research papers focused on a literature review.

Guidelines for News Items Papers

 you will turn in your first draft and then in module 7 your final version of your news item paper. This paper should be one to three 800 to 1,000-word paper(s), in which you will apply one of the theories that we are studying for the term, to a news event of your choice. Each paper is worth 133-400 points. To choose your news item, go to one of the news sites below. Other sources will not be accepted, unless you submit your choice to me in advance for approval.

http://www.npr.org/

http://edition.cnn.com/ (CNN International)

http://www.usatoday.com/

http://english.aljazeera.net/English

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

http://lamnews.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

http://www.usnews.com/

http://www.asianewsnet.net/

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/

http://allafrica.com/

           Pick a news story from one of these sites. I define "news story" broadly. You don’t have to limit yourself to the headlines. You can choose any item from the edition of the day or week. It can come from the business section, sports, arts, science, etc. The only off-limit section is the site’s archives. That is, you have to use a current item, because the point of this exercise is for you to see how sociological theory can help us to understand current, not past, events. Make sure to include the link to the news story into your paper, so I can read it. Sometimes, they disappear really quickly from those websites!

           As you select a news item, think about a theory that you can relate to it. Once you have selected both the news story and the theory, it is time to write your paper.

           It should include a brief summary of the news story, a brief overview of the theory you are applying to your news event—be sure to explain it well enough so that you demonstrate that you understand the theory and concepts, and an explanation of the connection you see between the theory and the news story.