Australia an Egalitarian Society: Structure Versus Agency Debate- Essay Writing Assignment

Internal Code: TV650

Essay Writing Assignment:

Task: A take home test must be submitted to EASTS no later than 11.59pm on Friday 9th June 2017. The test requires short essay (850 word) answers to any 2 of the 4 following options. The questions are designed to allow you to demonstrate the breadth of your sociological knowledge and your ability to apply that knowledge in a clear, concise and grammatical fashion. Option 1 Essay Are we autonomous, free agents or are we conditioned and constrained by society?  (hint: structure versus agency debate) Option 2 Essay Is Australia an egalitarian society?  Your answer should analyse Marx OR Weber's ideas on class and use examples from one or more of the modules studied this session. Option 3 Essay Develop a sociological topic of your choice in consultation with, and with the approval of, the Subject Co-ordinator.  If you are planning this option you must seek approval for your choice of topic at least two weeks before the submission date. Option 4 Opinion Piece Option 4 is to be written as a newspaper opinion piece or editorial on a sociological topic of your choice.  If you are unsure of what this requires you can find examples from the opinion or commentary pages of a newspaper or from an electronic news site such as "the Conversation", or the ABC's "Analysis and Opinion" section. You could look at the OpenForum site where previous SOC101 students have published their opinion pieces. The opinion piece may contain explicit references inside the piece, but you should attach a reference list at the back of your piece. You should write your opinion piece as if it were to be published and read by a wide audience.  Your subject coordinator would be very pleased to assist with helping to get an excellent piece ready for submission to a newspaper or website after the tests have been marked. Some students have done this in the past and found that a published piece of work is a very good thing to have on their CVs. Your essays must be well researched (i.e. you should consult 6-8 academic sources) and written logically, coherently and in formal academic language. Pay particular attention to spelling and grammar. You can use the Forum to raise any ideas you like and to discuss ways in which you might approach the essay. However, the essay you submit must be your own work. Please contact the subject coordinator and familiarise yourself with the University's plagiarism guidelines if you are uncertain of anything in this regard. You can use some of the subject materials as references to support your essay, but remember that one of the purposes of an essay is for you to read widely and show your ability to select material judiciously. You should go beyond the textbook (but, at the same time, don't ignore the textbook), and gather material from resources on Interact, Google Scholar or the University Library in your search for references. DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA AS A REFERENCE. Remember that the subject coordinator is available to discuss essay ideas and the University's Learning Skills Advisers (ALLaN) are available to help with writing technique. Remember, too, that the ALLaN advisors are running online essay writing workshops during the third week of session. If you attend the workshops and work carefully through the essay writing module content you will be very well prepared for the assignments. There is a very good resource on Opinion Piece writing under the "Essay Writing and Information Seeking" tab below the modules on the Interact.