Discussion: Creating Positive Social Change

In the Week 1 Discussion, you used your sociological imagination to better understand a value or behavior. In Week 3, you completed the Rough Draft Essay Worksheet to help you organize your thoughts for writing the Final Essay due in Week 6. For the Final Essay, you will explore a social issue or problem within a social institution through the lens of at least one of the sociological perspectives. To help you further prepare for writing the Final Essay, in this weeks discussion you will apply your sociological imagination to the specific social issue or problem you plan to explore in your Final Essay. By using your sociological imagination to better understand the complex interactions that contribute to issues or problems in society, you can better understand your role in creating positive social change.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the concept of the sociological imagination in Unit 2 of the Interactive Units.
• Review the Rough Draft Essay Worksheet that you completed in Week 3, in which you began exploring the content for your Final Essay.
• Consider the feedback you received from your instructor on your Rough Draft Essay Worksheet.
• Consider the feedback you received from your instructor and classmates in the Week 4 Discussion.

With these thoughts in mind:

By Day 3

Posta 1- to 2-paragraph response to the following prompts:

• Share the social issue or problem you plan to explore in your Final Essay.
• Using your sociological imagination, what do you believe might be some possible explanations for the social issue or problem?
• How could you use your sociological imagination to bring awareness to other possible viewpoints or ways of thinking or acting related to the social issue or problem?
• Describe your confidence level with writing your Final Essay. Are there any components of the assignment that you would like to better understand?

Refer to 2 specific examples from the readings provided or other sources you find. Be sure to include information about each source, including title, author, year, and page number. If you refer to concepts from your Interactive Units, note the unit and element (lecture notes, video, etc.) to which you refer.