Part 1
Provide thorough responses for each item, #2 through #4 seen below, in your own words. Make sure to address all parts of these discussion items. Include applicable information from the textbook or other academic sources to support your ideas. Do not use direct quotes in lieu of your own explanations. Correctly include in-text citation(s) after any referenced support and a full reference of any academic source used other than our textbook after your responses.
1. State the current social issue you chose and addressed for your last discussion assignment (Chapter 21 and Final Preparation Discussion Assignment).
2. Find a current event (this is a news story/incident story, not informational piece, that occurred within the last five years) that relates to your chosen social issue, then complete the following in at least 7 sentences:
2a. Summarize the event. Address the details of the story: who, what, where, when, why/how.
2b. Analyze your news story, then provide a full explanation of what this current event reveals about this social problem. To do this, seek out implications behind the details of the story.
2c. Include a Web link to your current event source.
Make sure to address all of the above for item #1 and #2. (15 points)
3. Search for social organizations, social movements, and/or political policies that are trying to address your chosen social issue. Then complete the following in at least 7 sentences:
3a. Thoroughly describe one social organization, social movement, and/or political policy that you found.
3b. Give an evaluation of it’s effectiveness in improving the social issue. Provide details of specific accomplishments and/or data that demonstrates their effectiveness.
Extra Credit Opportunity – You can earn up to 4 points for correctly addressing one more additional social organization, social movement, and/or political policy according to the instructions.
Make sure to address 3a and 3b to complete item #3. (15 points)
4. Choose one major sociological perspectives (functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism) and provide an explanation on how the social issue you’re focusing on would be explained or approached from this perspective in at least 6 sentences.
- To do this well, first, correctly explain the general view/philosophy of your chosen sociological perspective as it relates to analyzing society. Make sure to include important ideas from this perspective.
- Then, clearly and correctly explain and elaborate on how this perspective would analyze your social issue based on its general view (what would this perspective focus on regarding your social issue and why?). Include examples.
Extra Credit Opportunity – You can earn up to 4 points for each of the other sociological perspectives addressed correctly and according to the instructions.
Make sure to address all bulleted instructions presented above for item #4. (10 points)
Part 2
Provide two paragraph-long (at least 4 sentences), substantive responses to a classmate’s posts (back and forth dialogue in separate replies) or one substantive response to two classmates’ posts.
Remember, your responses to your classmates should mainly be comprised of your new ideas related to this discussion topic and elaborating on your new ideas. Stay away from repeating ideas already mentioned by you or your classmates. Don’t spend much of your responses mentioning what you agree with or like. When grading this part, I only focus on the new ideas you bring up and elaborate on related to the topics for this discussion. (10 points, 5 points per response)
