Sociological Personal Biography

**Professor knows nothing about me except that i am african american so feel free to make things up. Sociology 1 Term Paper – Sociological Personal Biography The sociological Imagination asks you to translate private troubles into public issues (Mills, 1959), to see how personal biography is shaped by larger social institutions- including family, peers, school, religion, economy, and so on… This will be the central task for this paper. Conducting a sociological biography will require you to look at and analyze how different agents of socialization have influenced you and shaped your life. This paper should be approximately 5 pages in length, or roughly 2 to 3 pages per section (page requirement does not include cover page or bibliography.) The paper will be broken into two parts: Section A) Introduction and Background In this section you will analyze how your family, your class standing (lower, middle, upper), your race and/or ethnicity, and your sex and/or gender have shaped the context of your own life, starting with your childhood. Incorporate and analyze at least three course concepts from your readings and cite at least one or more peer-reviewed journal article (I recommend you underline the course concepts/terms.) Note: link to scholarly/peer reviewed article information: http://library.sdsu.edu/reference/news/what-does-peer-review-mean (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. link to library scholarly/peer review article database: http://lrc.sierracollege.edu/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Some questions to consider are: How did your class standing influence the way you were raised (e.g. did you play musical instruments or watch TV after school?) How has your class standing limited or enhanced your worldviews, life chances, or lifestyle? Additionally, how has the social construction of gender and race affected your everyday life, life chances, and aspirations? In considering these questions, you might start by analyzing how your experiences compare to and/or were influenced by someone from a different generation (e.g. parent or grandparent), a different culture, or a different gender or race. From a macro perspective, how has class shaped the community you grew up in? Section B) Influential Agents of Socialization & Reflections and Conclusion In this section you will first analyze the specific effects that one or two agents of socialization or institutions had on your life and your identity formation. Some examples are school, peer groups, religion, work, the legal system, health system, economy, immigration, sexuality, bureaucracy, etc. Provide specific examples with time frames (childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, adulthood, etc.) This is where you get to expand on some of the themes that came up in the first section and were more prominent in your personal socialization. Look at the example questions from section one for ideas on how to structure this section: and remember, your aim is to put your life in its broader historical, structural and/or cultural context. How has your life experience been shaped by the broader society in which you live, and by your social position in that society? Second, please reflect on how using a sociological imagination helped you see (or not) connections between your personal experiences and public issues. Please honestly report whether or not you see these connections and give specific examples. Some possible things to consider: how has this exercise helped you see connections between your personal experiences and public issues; how has your life experience been shaped by the broader society in which you live, and by your social position in that society? Incorporate and analyze at least three course concepts from your readings and cite at least one or more peer-reviewed journal article (I recommend you underline the course concepts/terms.). Note: link to scholarly/peer reviewed article information: http://library.sdsu.edu/reference/news/what-does-peer-review-mean (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. link to library scholarly/peer review article database: http://lrc.sierracollege.edu/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 1. Evaluation Process: Paper will be graded in terms of incorporation of course content, insight, originality, analytical skill, organization, clarity of expression, overall presentation style, spelling and grammar, and proper referencing protocols. 2. Plagiarism: students should be aware of the penalties for plagiarism and other form of academic misconduct. Evidence of plagiarism from other students’ work or published materials will result in a grade of zero and disciplinary action may be taken. 3. Computer, printer or other technological failures: Unfortunately, these things do happen. However, they will not be accepted as an excuse for not handing in your assignment. 4. Submission Protocols: Please submit your papers through canvas by their due dates; individual assignment due dates are listed above; due dates will also be posted under the ‘assignments’ tab in Canvas and on the Canvas calendar. Late assignments will not be accepted.