Nomita Yadav
One assignment that I use in my SOC&101 Introduction to Sociology class is looking at diversity in newspapers from a sociological lens. The assignment is a paper that I scaffold across weeks:
PART 1: Newspaper Article Summary Assignment
Purpose
Please use this discussion area to find a newspaper article on Diversity in the Newspaper and summarize it.
Due Date
See Canvas.
Tasks
1. Find a News Article: Each of you individually must find a popular news article related to diversity. Think of diversity as the result of differences between people in terms of their ethnicity, race, nationality, language, age, economic or social class position, physical or mental abilities, religion, gender, or sexual orientation/identity. Please do NOT choose an opinion piece (editorial, blog, someone’s Facebook or fan pages) but a news article that is likely to have gone through some quality control by the news source/publisher. Please choose an article that was published recently. Below are links to the homepage of major news sources. Type a keyword, such as diversity or race and health, in the homepage search box to find articles.
2. Example:
3. Read through the article and ensure that it is descriptive and sufficiently long enough.
4. Post the article in the discussion board. Do not just paste a link but download the article and attach the file. Sometimes the link may not be accessible.
5. Each student writes their own summary. Your summary must:
- Summarize 3-4 main points of the article
- Include two short quotes (one or, at most, two sentences each).
- Briefly explain why you chose the article’s points and quotes.
- Use in text citations and references in APA. For guidance, click on the link: APA style quick guide.
- You need 250 -300 words (not including quotes!) minimum
Your summary should also:
- Use academic language (not conversational language), although you can use “I” when talking about why you chose these points and quotes.
- Have minimal grammatical errors.
- Utilize a thesis statement and good academic paragraph structure (but you do NOT need all of the elements of an essay)
- Be clear, cohesive, and concise.
PART 2: Diversity in the Newspaper Group Assignment: Sociological Summary
Purpose
Please use this discussion area to discuss and draft the sociological analysis section of your Diversity in the Newspaper.
Due Date
See Canvas.
Tasks
To be accomplished by each student individually.
- This section focuses on the sociological analysis section of the body of your paper.
- In the Reply box below, each individual should develop a sociological analysis of the newspaper article which applies at least two different concepts and uses one sociological theoretical perspective: structural-functional; social conflict; symbolic interactionism; intersectionality.
- You must provide a minimum of two applicable literal quotes from course readings (not audio or video materials), with source, year, and page numbers indicated. Make sure to integrate your q