could someone help me with my assignment ?

Soc 100: Final Exam

Spring 2017

This assignment will give you the opportunity to prove that you can analyze social phenomenon using your Sociological Imagination. In other words, I want you to demonstrate that you can “think like a sociologist” by discussing the social factors underlying a particular example and applying concepts and theories from the course to analyze it. You will select one example to analyze. Your example can be an image, a song or music video (must be on YouTube), a news story, an example from your own life, or a film clip. NOTE: if you use a film clip, you will need to be able to share the clip with me, either via YouTube or some other means (such as Netflix). If you are thinking of a particular film, you can check with me to see if I have it or have access to it. Please be sure to share the time stamps (beginning and end) of the scene in the title.

Your analysis must include all components below:

Criteria	Description
Description of your example	In 1-2 paragraphs, describe the example you will be analyzing. Summarize the main idea so that a person who has never seen/read/heard the example would understand the main idea. Include the full example in an appendix (either by copying and pasting it, or by providing a link to the example. Make sure to include as much information about the example as possible so that I could find it in the event that your link does not work).
Sociological questions	Think sociologically—what types of questions would a sociologist ask while reading/watching/discussing this example? At a minimum, you should identify three questions.
Sociological analysis	This should be the bulk of your paper. Describe how theories and concepts covered in this course could help answer the questions you have identified. Be sure to fully explain and define all concepts/theories you identify, and discuss how they relate to your example.
References/ Appendix	Make sure to reference any sources you use (including your example), and include a copy of the example (or a detailed link to it) in an appendix. NOTE: The appendix and reference page does NOT count towards the minimum page length requirement for this assignment.

You may find it helpful to look through the textbook and think about how the example would relate to each chapter we have covered (for instance, think about the role of culture, socialization, race, gender, social class, the social definition of deviance or family, or other concepts, or think about how any of the theories we have covered and how they would frame an analysis of this example). What sociological questions come to mind about this example as you are reviewing each chapter? What concepts or theories seem to relate to this example and why? Your example might not relate to every chapter covered, but your analysis will be much richer if you can incorporate ideas and concepts from various chapters (and this will demonstrate a much stronger comprehension of the course materials).

Your write-up should be a MINIMUM of two full pages (12 point font double spaced). I expect this paper to be well organized and well written in essay format. Do not simply list three questions with a bunch of concepts and their definitions underneath.

ASKING SOCIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS

On the surface, it may seem rather simple to ask questions and to some extent this is true—we learn early on in school what words we use to begin a question: who, what, where, why, when and how. However, for the purpose of this assignment we need to distinguish between asking questions and asking sociological questions.

This distinction is important, because if we are not asking sociological questions then the answers and explanations that result will also be non-sociological. Non-sociological explanations are all too common in our society. Their defining feature is that they have a focus on the individual and ignore any structural dimensions of the issue. Non-sociological explanations focus on understanding individual-level reasons behind actions instead of pointing to larger external factors. 

As an example to get you started in thinking about questions sociologists may ask (DO NOT use this example. This is NOT an example of a write-up for this assignment):

The Sandy Hook school shooting was mostly framed within a psychological perspective.  Much of the attention was focused on the mental status of the shooter. While certainly relevant, this is not the only focus in understanding why school shootings occur.  Using the sociological imagination we look for the link between the individual and society, and ask questions such as:  
· Why is it that studies show school shooters are disproportionately male?  
· Why are males classified as white more likely than males classified as different races to commit these types of crimes? 
· Why are guns typically the weapon of choice in these types of situations?  
Once you identify at least three sociological questions related to your example, write a response that illustrates how you might apply sociological concepts and theories to address the questions posed. For instance, in thinking about why perpetrators of school shootings are disproportionately male, obviously the concepts related to the gender chapter can be applied here. How might the ways men are socialized to deal with anger and other emotions make men more prone to commit these types of crimes? What roles do socialization and culture play in the use of guns to commit these types of crimes? How might one (or more) of the theories covered in the deviance chapter be applied to this example? 
You may need to do a bit of additional research (depending on your example and the questions you pose). If so, make sure to cite any additional sources and include them in your reference page. 
Your final exam is due by THURSDAY, APRIL 27th at 11:59PM. 










Grading Rubric



	


Grading Dimension

	


Weight

	


Description



	

Example description
	

5%
	

Was the description clearly written? Was it written in enough detail    so that a reader with no knowledge of the example could understand the main idea? Does the description   include only relevant   information in the summary? 


	

Sociological    questions
	

30%
	

Are there are least three sociologically focused questions?            Are the questions relevant to the example? 


	

Sociological analysis
	

60%
	

Are all concepts/theories defined correctly? Are the selected concepts/theories relevant in addressing the questions posed? Are they relevant to the topic? How well does the discussion analyze the example using concepts and information from the class readings and lectures?


	

References/ Appendix
Grammar/ Spelling/ Organization
	

5%
	

Are all citations (including the example being analyzed) included in a reference page? Is the full example included in the appendix? Is the write up carefully edited and formatted? Does it meet the minimum page requirement? Are there spelling errors or grammatical errors? Does it appear that the paper was proof read?