Overview
Task: To write a 3–4 page essay on 1 of 3 questions about the United States’ future of either cohabitation, marriage, or childbearing.
Purpose: To allow you to assimilate the readings, discussions, and reflections they have participated in while writing a brief persuasive essay according to instructions.
In place of a midterm exam, you will be writing an Application Paper. This will be a comprehensive assessment of your learning throughout the semester thus far.
Choose one of the following prompts.
What is the future of cohabitation in the United States?
What is the future of marriage in the United States?
What is the future of childbearing in the United States?
Answer these questions through a persuasive essay. Your persuasive essay should have the following:
A clear thesis and structure
At least four ideas/concepts you have learned in the course to answer the question
At least one sociological theory to explain your thesis
The theory does not count as one of your four course concepts
Please specifically indicate the name of the family theory you will include in your application paper. Below is a list of acceptable family theories.
Structural Functional
Conflict (including Feminist)
Social Exchange
Symbolic Interaction
Paper Structure
Structure your paper so that you introduce the topic and have a thesis statement (your main point) at the end of your first paragraph.
Your second paragraph should be a theoretical explanation of your thesis.
Then, you should have at least one paragraph for each of the four (or more) concepts you utilize to answer the question (and each of these paragraphs should support your thesis).
Lastly, you should have some type of conclusion paragraph, where you repeat your thesis (in other words, do not bring up new ideas in your conclusion).
As a suggestion, your paper should include 5–7 quality paragraphs and be about 3–5 pages.
Rubric
You will be graded on how well you apply the course concepts in your arguments, how well you utilize a theory to explain your thesis, as well the structure and clarity of your arguments.
Points possible (25 points total):
3 points—thesis and conclusion
3 points—theoretical explanation
4 points—mentioning four relevant concepts
1 point per concept introduced
12 points—discussion and application of concepts
3 points—discussion of each concept
3 points—editing and writing
