Format
Page Requirements: Papers should be at least 6 full pages, not including the title and Works Cited page. Please use MLA format.
Subheadings: Please organize your paper according to the four sections below. Your subheadings can be titled exactly as the sections are titled. For example, section one can be titled “Section 1: Theoretical Perspectives” and section two should be titled “Section 2: Sociological Imaginations,” and so forth.
Concepts: Throughout the paper, you will be applying theoretical perspectives, concepts, and theories from the book and lectures. Please put these theoretical perspectives, concepts, and theories in bold text like this the first time you mention them. You only need to do this the first time, not every time you use them.
In-text Citations: You will need to cite the textbook within your paragraphs to show where you are getting the explanations/definitions of the concepts you’re discussing. For the textbook, you should use the author’s last name and page or section number. Don’t worry about citing the movie or including timestamps for the movie. You don’t need to worry about including the movie in the Works Cited/Reference page. (just need chapter 1-9 in textbook).
Henslin, J. M. Essentials of Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach 13th Ed. Boston: Pearson, 2019.
Sections of the Paper
Introduction
Give a very brief summary of the movie along with the different sections you will be covering in your paper.
This should be no more than one paragraph, and no subheading is needed for the introduction.
Section 1: Theoretical Perspectives
Apply at least two theoretical perspectives (Symbolic Interactionism, Functional Analysis, and/or Conflict Theory) to analyze the movie. Describe how each perspective would view the main message(s) of the movie, and/or specific parts of the movie.
Be sure to: 1) provide an explanation of the theoretical perspective; 2) reference passages form the textbook and/or lecture videos and use in-text citations; and 3) give examples from the movie to highlight what that particular theoretical perspective would focus on.
When you explain a theoretical perspective, you will want to 1) define it and describe how it views society in general/it’s overall approach; 2) describe it’s strengths and/or how it differs from the other perspectives; and 3) include the early founders of the perspective who contributed to developing it. Don’t forget to cite the book and/or lecture video, and then you can get into the specifics of how that theoretical perspective would view the movie.
Each theoretical perspective should be separated into it’s own paragraphs and don’t forget to put the name of the perspective in bold the first time you mention it. Please use Chapter 1 to help you write this section. The lecture video titled ” Theoretical Perspectives” can also help you write this section.
Section 2: Sociological Imagination
Use the sociological imagination to analyze the movie. In this section you will: 1) examine the social /cultural context of the movie; and 2) explore the specific social location of the main character(s). These should be separated into their own paragraphs.
When examining the social/cultural context you will want to fist explain what is the sociological imagination and cite the book or lecture video. Then you can explain the social/cultural context of the movie by describing the particular time and location that the movie takes place in. Here you can do a break down of the material and symbolic culture of the time and place in which the characters live to explain how that particular culture shapes who they are and what they experience. Don’t forget to define material and symbolic culture and cite the book. Questions to think about: What is the material culture during the time/place in which the characters live? What is the symbolic culture during that time/place? How does the material and symbolic culture of that time and place shape what the characters experience? How would life be different for the characters if they lived in a different time or place?
When examining the specific social location of the main character(s), you will want to first define what is social location and cite the book or lecture video. Then you will want to give an explanation of the key aspects of the character’s social location and how this particular social location shapes who they are and what they experience. Questions to think about: How does the character’s specific social location impact what they experience? How does the character’s specific social location impact how they behave or interact with others? How might things be different if the character occupied a different social location.
In this section, don’t forget to: 1) put important concepts in bold the first time you use them; 2) use book and/or lecture in-text citations; and 3) provide plenty of examples from the movie to support your points. Please review Chapters 1 and 2 to help you write this section. The lecture videos titled ” The Sociological Perspective,” and “Social Location” can also help you write this section.
Section 3: Sociological Concepts
Explain how at least three sociological concepts and/or theories are depicted in the movie. If you are unsure of what counts as a “concept,” just look for the terms/vocabulary that are in bold (or purple) and underlined in the textbook. They are the terms that include definitions when your cursor hovers over them in the textbook, such as agents of socialization, socialization through the life course, primary groups, dyads, social status, roles, stereotypes, Differential Association Theory, Strain Theory… You can apply any concepts from Chapters 3 thru 6 (and beyond) for this section, and this section should be broken down into different paragraphs based on the concepts you’re applying.
Be sure to: 1) reference the textbook or lecture videos to provide a definition or explanation of the concept/theory; 2) put in bold text the concept/theory the first time you mention it; and 3) provide detailed examples from the movie and explain how these examples are related to that particular concept/theory.
Please note that the theoretical perspectives (Symbolic Interactionism, Conflict Theory, and Functional Analysis) should be discussed in Section 1, not in Section 3. Also, since you covered material and symbolic culture in section 2, you should focus on other concepts in this section of the paper. Don’t forget to also use the mini lecture videos to help you with this section as well.
Section 4: Research Methods
Propose a research study based on the movie. (You will not actually conduct this study.) Based on the movie topic, you will be inspired to design your own research project to study a bigger social issue or social problem that exists in society. Review steps #1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 of the research model (in Ch 1) and provide a description of how your proposed study will cover each of these steps. You will be clarifying your topic, defining the more specific problem in society that you’re examining, stating that you will review the literature, providing a hypothesis, and discussing two different research methods you could use for your study.
This section should quickly discuss steps 1 thru 4 in the research model, and then mostly focus on describing two different research methods (surveys, interviews, participant observation, document analysis…) you could use to conduct this study. Be sure to provide details from the textbook about the specific methods you choose, and use in-text citations. Questions to think about: Why would you chose this particular research method over other methods? What type of knowledge/information would it allow you to gain? What specific things would you have to address when using this method? What are the advantages and disadvantages? How can disadvantages be minimized?
The two different research methods you describe should be separated into their own paragraphs, and the names of the methods and any other vocabulary you use from the textbook should be in bold text the first time you use them. Please review Chapter 1 to help you with this section. In Chapter 1 there is a section called “A Research Model” that explains the different steps described above, and another section titled “Research Methods” that provided details on the different methods you can choose from. Be sure to add details and vocabulary from the textbook, and to also provide in-text citations.
I also recommend going back to Discussion Board #1 to see how we did something similar to this using song lyrics.
Conclusion
Summarize which social forces were most prominent in shaping, guiding, and influencing individual or group behavior in the film. Describe the sociological insight you gained from this assignment. Did it make you think about sociology, sociological concepts/theories/perspectives, or the research process in a different way?
