FINAL ESSAY: COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS

FINAL ESSAY

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ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION:

 

  1. WRITE A 7-10 PAGE, DOUBLE-SPACED ESSAY USING APA CITATION STYLE.

 

  1. CHOOSE AN ESSAY TOPIC THAT IS RELATED TO THE COURSE AND IS COMPELLING OR INTRIGUING TO YOU. YOUR TOPIC MAY BE A COMBINATION OF MULTIPLE COURSE THEMES AND MAY RELATE TO THEMES OUTSIDE OF THE COURSE. WE WILL REVIEW TOPICS DURING CLASS.

 

  1. ALL PAPERS MUST INCLUDE AN INTERSECTIONAL ANALYSIS REQUIREMENT: YOUR ANALYSIS MUST INCLUDE AN ANALYSIS OF AT LEAST TWO OF THE FOLLOWING SOCIAL VARIABLES: 1) RACE AND/OR ETHNICITY, 2) GENDER AND/OR SEXUALITY 3) CLASS AND/OR MONEY. YOU MAY, ALSO, WISH TO ANALYZE OTHER VARIABLES SUCH AS NATIONALITY AND/OR IMMIGRATION, LANGUAGE POLITICS, RELIGION, EDUCATION, PLACE/SPACE, REGION, FAMILY, ETC.

 

  1. ALL PAPERS MUST INCLUDE A SOLUTIONS SECTION IN WHICH YOU WRITE AT LEAST ONE PARAGRAPH ABOUT A SOLUTION YOU PROPOSE FOR THE PROBLEM YOU’VE IDENTIFIED. YOUR SOLUTION SHOULD BE BASED IN PART ON YOUR RESEARCH FOR THE PAPER.

 

  1. YOU MUST CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS FOR YOUR PAPER.

 

 

 

OPTION 1: COMPARATIVE COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION RESEARCH

ONLINE & LIBRARY RESEARCH

 

OPTION ONE ORGANIZATION REQUIREMENTS

  1. Identify a Community Problem and COMPARE THREE ORGANIZATIONS that address that problem. You may research these organizations online. However, pay attention to their phone numbers and addresses to verify that they are legitimate organizations.
  2. One organization should be a New York-based organization.
  3. The other two organizations can be local, national, global or historical.
  4. Even if you do not research a historical organization, you must include an analysis of the history of that problem.

 

OPTION 1 REFERENCE REQUIREMENTS:

ALL OPTION ONE ESSAYS MUST INCLUDE FOUR (4) REFERENCES IN ADDITION TO YOUR COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION RESEARCH.

  1. One Reference MUST Be From Course Reading.
  2. One Reference MUST Come From an outside Book or Article.
  3. The other two References May Come From either course readings or an outside book or article.
  4. Use APA Style For Your Citations.


 

OPTION 2 : IN-DEPTH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION RESEARCH

ONLINE & LIBRARY RESEARCH

 

OPTION 2: ETHNOGRAPHIC AND ONLINE RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS

  1. Identify a Community Problem and conduct an in-person and in-depth analysis of an organization that addresses that problem.
  2. The organization should be New York-based organization unless you are able to visit and research an organization in another location.
  3. YOU MUST PHYSICALLY VISIT THE ORGANIZATION IN PERSON AT LEAST ONCE. When you visit, stay there long enough to observe how the organization operates so you can write about it.
  4. YOU MUST CONDUCT AN INTERVIEW WITH AT LEAST ONE PERSON associated with the organization. That person can be a person who provides services or a person who benefits from the organization’s services. It is preferable that the interview occur in
  5. You must research the organization’s online materials and, if available, brochures and publicly available documents.
  6. The other organizations can be local, national, global or historical.
  7. You must include an analysis of the history of that problem.

 

OPTION 2 REFERENCE REQUIREMENTS:

ALL OPTION ONE ESSAYS MUST INCLUDE FOUR (4) REFERENCES IN ADDITION TO YOUR COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION RESEARCH.

  1. One Reference MUST Be From Course Reading.
  2. One Reference Must Come From An Outside Book or Article.
  3. USE APA Or MLA Format For Your Citations.

 

STRUCTURING YOUR ESSAY

The ability to write an academic argument is a skill that all college students must master. An academic argument (as opposed to other kinds of arguments) is a formally structured discussion designed to a) INVESTIGATE a topic b) PERSUADE readers/audiences that the author’s interpretation of that topic is the best way to understand that topic. It is organized using a) a THESIS CLAIM or assertion about the topic b) EVIDENCE that supports that thesis claim and c) ANALYSIS or INTERPRETATION of that evidence that serves to PROVE that the THESIS CLAIM is valid.  (Analysis is the process of identifying and separating key elements from a whole and subjecting those elements to thoughtful interpretation)

  1. Social science essays generally use the following segments to structure their arguments. They are described in detail in the rest of this document:
  • INTRODUCTION: This is a presentation of your thesis, topic, and context of research.
  • LITERATURE REVIEW : Overview of existing research.
  1. This is a good place to discuss your references.
  • METHODOLOGY: This is a description of how you conducted your research.
  • DATA/RESULTS: This is the data produced by your research. In this paper, your data will summarize the content of your research, relatively free of your interpretation.

OPTION 1 ESSAYS: PRESENT AN OVERVIEW OF EACH ORGANIZATION

OPTION 2 ESSAYS: DESCRIBE THE RESULTS OF YOUR OBSERVATION AND INTERVIEW

  • ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION: This is your interpretation of your data that expands upon and explains your thesis
  1. IDENTIFY AT LEAST TWO THEMES FOR YOUR ANALYSIS.
  2. THIS IS A GOOD PLACE FOR A PARGRAPH OR TWO OF YOUR INTERSECTIONAL ANALYSIS
  3. INCLUDE AT LEAST ONE PARAGRAPH HERE OR IN YOUR CONCLUSION THAT SUMMARIZES YOUR ANALYSIS
  • CONCLUSION: This will give an overview of the paper, demonstrate how you proved your thesis and what you learned from your paper.
  1. THIS IS A GOOD PLACE FOR YOUR SOLUTIONS SECTION

Note:  SUB-HEADINGS: For clarity, you may wish to provide descriptive sub-headings for each segment of the essay listed above. You may also wish to replace conventional sub-headings with original, creative ones.