Sociology 329
Literature and Society
Summer 2 2003
Dr. Scott Schaffer

Final Paper Assignment – A More Literary Sociology

Due Date and Time: This paper is due Fri Aug 15/2003 at 402pm, and needs to be delivered in person to my office in Susquehanna House or via email (time received will determine its promptness). No late papers will be accepted, save in the event of a dire emergency about which I am informed in advance of the due date and time.

Rules of the Game: This paper is to be a total minimum of eight (8) full and complete pages in length; there is no maximum length for the paper, so you should write until your paper is fully developed. Papers that are shorter than eight pages will lose one-third letter grade per page it is short. Your paper must be typewritten, double-spaced, in 10- or 12-point font, with 1.25in left and right margins and 1in top and bottom margins, on 8 1/2” by 11” paper. Your paper must have a cover page, on which a creative title (“Final Paper Assignment” is simply not creative enough), your name, and any other pertinent information should appear; your name should not appear anywhere else in the paper. Your paper must be spell- and grammar-checked; papers that have copious errors will automatically lose two full letter grades.

You should follow all guidelines in the “How to Write a Schaffer Paper” handout. Finally, no direct quotations are permitted in this paper; any materials you use to support your argument must be paraphrased and cited following the guidelines in the paper-writing handout. Anything that has the appearance of plagiarism will be regarded as plagiarism and dealt with according to the policy laid out in the syllabus.

In writing your response to the topic below, you must use at least four sources in this paper, though more are certainly recommended: at least one article on a social problem of your choosing, at least one of the theorists from the first week, at least one of the sociological articles read for week 3, and either A Bend in the River or Fury. Additional internet sources may be necessary and used to fill in historical and/or sociological gaps in your knowledge of the topic matter; be sure to cite these as well, providing the full URL of the web site(s) used. Remember that any additional sources you utilize do not replace the required sources as listed above. Failure to use the minimum number of sources will result in a one-third letter grade deduction for each theorist the paper is short.

The Topic: You should write a well-argued and well-evinced paper that responds directly to the following question:

To what extent do you find either the literary or sociological mode of presentation more powerfully able to get a reader to empathize with a social problem, and why?

In order to completely answer this question, you must do all of the following:

• Choose an article regarding a social problem from the JSTOR archive (available through the MU library web site);
• Write a minimum four (4) page long short story that conveys in fictional form the essential argument made by the social problem article, making sure to include the details of the sociological processes discussed in the article (if present);
• Write a minimum four (4) page long sociological paper in which you: a) summarize the overall argument made in the social problem article; b) show the ways in which the sociological author attempts to get the reader to understand the social problem; c) show the ways in which you attempt to get the reader to understand the social problem; d) compare these two modes of presentation in developing a clear and direct answer to the assigned question.

Your answer to the “big question” must contain the same kind of analysis of the author-reader-social problem relationship (done for both the sociological article and your short story) as was done for the third paper assignment. It must also incorporate at least one sociological theorist from week 1, and at least one of the novels and sociological articles read for week 3 as supporting evidence; other course materials can be used to support the argument you make in the paper as need be.

Your paper will be evaluated according to the usual evaluation criteria, as well as on the basis of how well your short story: a) conveys the sociological argument made in the journal article you have chosen, and b) is able to develop the kind of relationship your analytic paper claims you intend to develop with the story.

Papers will be available for pick-up starting in the first week of fall semester. I will keep them through the entire fall semester, after which time they will be shredded.

Good luck, and happy writing.