Family history essay (25 point)
How do historical and social forces intertwine with individual experiences? This assignment asks you to engage this question through a look into your family history. In this essay, find a story in your history of your family that demonstrates the links between individuals and society. The story can be about the experiences of your immediate family members or more distant and even deceased figures. I encourage you to talk to family members to discover more.
The primary objective of this assignment is to apply sociological understanding as we just described. A secondary goal is that you hopefully develop a better understanding of your family. The story does not require a specific formula, but you should do your best to demonstrate the links between individuals and social forces.
If you need ideas, common examples of social forces include events (economic shocks, wars, migration), changing economic conditions (economic restructuring such deindustrialization, the rise of a new industry), or cultural shifts (social norms of different times). Some stories also benefit from you doing additional research to better situated the individuals you write about in their times.
Assessment
Your essay will foremost be evaluated on how well the story situates individuals in the broader social context. A good essay should clearly present the topic and the context, introduce the relevant historical and social forces, and detail how the individual intersects with the forces. General rules of writing apply.
This is a formal assignment. It requires an organized paper structure with multiple paragraphs. To the extent possible, the writing should be free of mechanical, grammatical, or spelling errors.
Formatting requirement
I expect the essay to be at least 500 words. The format should be double-spaced. No specific academic citation format is required. D2L can accept .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf files. You can also submit through the textbox. If you use Apple Pages or Google Doc, please save the document as a pdf file and submit that file.