THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION WRITING ASSIGNMENT
Objective
This assignment is intended to help you exercise your sociological imagination and develop an understanding of the relationship between individual lives and greater social forces. More broadly, this assignment provides an opportunity for you to enhance your application of knowledge, cultural competence, and ethical reasoning.
Instructions
The sociological imagination emphasizes the importance of social structures and their influence on our lives through macro and micro processes. This is a very important concept in the discipline of sociology and is an integral part of what has come to be known generally as the sociological perspective. The sociological imagination helps us to grasp the intersection between biography and history, and between personal and social experiences (Mills, Charles W. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press).
View the following Youtube video before writing your paper: Sociological Imagination – YouTubeLinks to an external site. Be sure to review your class notes and textbook coverage of the sociological imagination.
After reviewing this information, draft an essay that is word-processed, double-spaced, and a minimum of 850 words (excluding assignment instructions, the title, and references, if used) that addresses the following components:
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of our lives. In this assignment, you will apply your sociological imagination and examine more in-depth how the pandemic has impacted you personally, your family, and your community.
List at least five of your demographic factors (i.e., age, gender, race/ethnicity, education level, religious affiliation, income level, marital status, employment status, etc.) and describe how the pandemic has impacted you, your family, and your community. Remember, not all impact has to be negative. Consider any positive outcomes/consequences of the pandemic. There is no need to introduce the pandemic in your paper and your discussion of your demographic factors should not take more than a short paragraph.
Consider the following issues as you write your paper:
- Shelter-in-place
- Work/attend school from home
- Continually interacting with immediate family
- Health issues (especially mental health)
- Local, state, and federal government responses to the pandemic
