M4 Writing Assignment: Race and Ethnicity (Week 9)
The purpose of this assignment is to help you assimilate information covered in the readings and to reflect on your own beliefs, feelings, life experience and professional readiness in relation to sociology. Further, these assignments are intended to help you develop your critical thinking, analytical and communication skills. With these assignments, you will be able to practice critiquing social issues and develop your ability to respond to some of the complex misconceptions, interpretations and attitudes towards the various dimensions of sociology covered throughout the term.
Like the purpose outlined above, the organization of this assignment is twofold. First, it allows you to engage with the module’s subject matter in general, and then more closely with specific topics. Second, the assignment allows you to articulate their reflection and analysis of the subject matter as a structured narrative.
The assignment is to be completed in three steps as follows:
STEP 1: Watch Chimananda Adiches TED Talk The Danger of a Single Story
STEP 2: Write down at least three (3) examples of the single stories Adiche pointed out about Africa and Africans. Include direct quotes wherever possible (the transcript is available here). What single stories did she hold of other groups? This should be about 100-200 words.
How do these stereotypes relate to socialization? In other words, where how do we develop single stories?
STEP 3: Autoethnography: Think about the single stories that are told about your culture, race/ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc. Tell these stories in narrative form. Include a paragraph with a reflection and analysis of what you learned from the TED Talk and your own examination of single stories. This should be about 400-500 words.
Before you submit, read the following:
A properly done assignment will contain:
An introduction that provides a brief summary of the readings
Thorough answers to all assigned questions
Strong evidence of synthesis of ideas and insights from the readings and material covered in the module
In-depth reflection on, and personalization of, the theories and concepts learned in the module
Paragraphs that articulate viewpoints coherently and logically
Clear, concise, and well-organized writing
Acceptable standards of college-level writing style, grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling
For details on how your work will be assessed, please consult the grading rubric for this assignment presented below.
