US family-related social trends of adults living alone or women graduating from university at increasing rates.
Task: Write a 3–4 page essay on either question about the US family-related social trends of adults living alone or women graduating from university at increasing rates.
Purpose: To allow students to assimilate the readings, discussions, and reflections they have participated in while writing a brief persuasive essay according to instructions.
Instructions
For your final, you will be writing an Application Paper. This will be a comprehensive assessment of your learning throughout the semester thus far.
Submit your final copy of a 3–4 page paper on one of the following prompts:
The percentage of Americans who live alone has steadily increased over the past century, and specifically grew from 17 percent (in 1970) to 27 percent of all households (in 2012). Currently, more than a fourth of all households have only one occupant.
Discuss this trend using social class, gender, and race/ethnicity perspectives, and explain (don’t just state) one implication you think this trend might have for society in the future.
The percentage of American women who are earning college degrees has steadily increased over the past 50 years, and currently, there are more women than men earning every type of college degree (associates, bachelors, masters, and doctoral).
Discuss this trend using social class, gender, and race/ethnicity perspectives, and explain (don’t just state) one implication you think this trend might have for society in the future.
Your Application Paper should reflect a minimum of two hours of focus work.
Note: Remember that this should be a persuasive essay using the social class, gender, and race/ethnicity perspectives you have learned in class. Your entire response should be a discussion/explanation of the trend and what this trend might mean for the future.
Paper Structure
Your persuasive essay should do the following:
State a clear thesis and structure
Address the topic through the three different sociological lenses (social class, gender, and race/ethnicity)
Structure your paper so that you introduce the topic and have a thesis statement (your main point) at the end of your first paragraph.
You should have at least one paragraph for each of the three sociological lenses that you utilize to answer the question.
Each of these paragraphs should support your thesis
You should have one paragraph about what this trend might mean for the future.
Take into consideration the social class, gender, and race/ethnicity issues you just discussed
Lastly, you should have some type of conclusion paragraph, where you repeat your thesis.
Do not bring up new ideas in your conclusion
As a suggestion, your paper should include 5–7 quality paragraphs and be about 3–5 pages.
Rubric
You will be graded on how well you apply the course concepts in your arguments, as well as the structure and clarity of your arguments.
Points Possible (25 points total):
3 points—thesis and conclusion
15 points—discussion and application of social class/gender/ethnicity
5 points for each concept
4 points—implications for future
3 points—editing and writing