PART I: PERSONAL TROUBLE (APPROXIMATELY 1/2 PAGE) Start your essay by describing a “personal trouble” (C. Wright Mills). PART II: MICROSTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS (APPROXIMATELY 2-3 PAGES) To develop your “sociological imagination” (personal trouble to public issue), you will need to observe, describe and analyze the local environment in which this trouble is faced. The environment that you choose will depend on the personal trouble that you begin with. Whatever the environment, the aim is to examine it sociologically. This means that you need to examine it in detail in order to make visible the pattern that is taken for granted within and through it. How does this environment display both directly and indirectly what is expected, valued, normal, or problematic? As an analytic strategy, try to approach this environment as if it is new to you – this observational distance allows you to analyze it, rather than simply treat it as normal and reify its patterns and structure. Consider the following: • Practices o what are the things that you see people doing here? How do they know what to do? • Roles o how do you recognize the different roles that are established here? What are the parameters of those roles? How are these displayed or enacted? • Sanctions o what is viewed as good or bad behavior? How is this communicated or enforced? • Norms o what are the norms of this environment and how are they displayed? Consider normal practices, patterns of interaction, and specific uses of language or “everyday talk”. • Power differentials o what kinds of conflicts appear and how is that conflict resolved? Are all parties equal, or is there a hierarchy? How do we see that hierarchy? On what is it based? • Material objects o are there objects that are seen as necessary or as essential? How do material objects convey expectations or shape what is normally done and not done? PART III: MACROSTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS (APPROXIMATELY 1 PAGE) Now think about how you would examine this issue at the macro level. What are some of the macro level forces that have shaped the personal trouble that you find yourself in? Find a recent article* that addresses some of the current large scale social structures that have influenced the circumstances that you and others are in, setting into motion the troubles that individuals like yourself are facing. How does this macro level perspective change how you understand your personal trouble? Does the article exhibit a particular sociological perspective? What forms of social change does it suggest might be instituted? *Keep in mind that this news (or journal) article must be recent (nothing prior to January 2021) and from a reliable source (see the Library Research Tutorial: https://libguides.humber.ca/research101/evaluation). Please include a copy of this article at the end of your essay. Bibliographic information for this article should be included. 4-5 PAGES, DOUBLE SPACED, 12 POINT TIMES NEW ROMAN FONT, 1 INCH MARGINS THIS IS NOT A FORMAL RESEARCH PAPER. Aside from the news article, DO NOT use external sources that are not part of our course materials. In your essay, material utilized from the macro-level article and from course materials must be properly referenced (APA or MLA format). Essays that have reproduced material that is not your own without adequate sourcing (i.e. plagiarism) will receive a grade of 0.