I’m working on a sociology project and need a sample draft to help me study.

This assignment pulls from the larger themes in the course and the ideas expressed in Chimamanda Adichie’s celebrated 2009 Ted Talk, “Danger of a Single Story”. For the final project, I want you to watch it using your sociological imagination, thinking about how single stories about groups or subgroups of peoples operate today.

Adichie demonstrates the ways in which our society is a collection of social stories or narratives, the most pervasive and controlling of which are/were manufactured by people/groups with social power (the power elite).

Single stories can include stereotypes, ideologies, and, what sociologists call, cultural hegemony. Stereotypes are overly simplistic generalizations about a subgroup of peoples. Those that “stick” are often constructed by people with power and used to limit opportunities for the stereotyped. Ideologies are sets of ideas that shape how people make sense of the world around them. Depending on the social power of those holding and employing these ideologies, they can have a significant impact on social structures and the life chances of others. Cultural hegemony is a system of beliefs, norms, and values, shaped by the ruling class, that justifies the status-quo as natural or normal, and thus makes it invisible. These discourses shape what is knowable in any given context.

For your final projects, you will select one societal single-story and analyze it. The single-story can be about a stereotype(s), an ideology, or a hegemonic narrative. For the one you choose, you will explore the story, its origins, its functions, and its impact on society. You will then examine the alternative stories; those told by the victims of the single story and/or those who are able to see through the discursive fog. Finally, propose ways to change the story both in your daily life and on a broader scale.

To be sure, you should use course readings to help you locate the single story. This means more than citing a reading, it means calling on substantive ideas and concepts. Be sure not to overuse quotations from readings and use your own words where you can.

Be careful in choosing your single story. Students in previous sections have “googled it” and have written almost the exact paper as the posts they find. ***Note: not all stereotypes and ideologies are examples of single stories. For our course, those that are can be seen at the structural level. They systemically affect the life chances of marginalized people in society and are not abutted by substantial alternative narratives. The stereotype, ideology, or hegemonic narrative you select for this assignment must be an example of a single story.

The story you choose is up to you, but there are specific requirements for your analysis. In using a sociological lens to analyze the story you should engage with both data and the concepts/theories discussed in the course.

• The Story: Explain the single story you chose. To do this, outline its narrative and logic. What is the story? What social inequality or issue does it attempt to explain?

• Start the Story Earlier: Analyze where the story originated. “Who” created the story? What is the function/dysfunction of the story? What happens if you start the story here/earlier? How does the narrative shift? The important part is not to spend so much time on the history that you forget the analysis!

• Explore its Impact on Identity, Perceptions of Others, Social Relations, and Social Institutions: How does the story affect people’s sense of self? How does it affect the way people understand each other? How does the story affect contemporary social relations? How does it contribute to the perpetuation of inequality in society? How has it become institutionalized?

• Listen to Alternative Stories: What is the story told by the subjects of the story? How does the story shift if you listen to these testimonies? What happens to the story if you follow the perspective of those most oppressed by it/and or those able to see through the narrative?

• Change the Story: How can the story be changed? What can you do in your daily life to contribute to shifting the narrative? What can be done on a broader scale?

Evaluation Criteria (based on presence and quality of required elements)

word paper

• Paper includes a strong organizing theme (the story) presented in a clear thesis.
• Thesis/theme is developed and supported throughout the paper.
• Paper sincerely and analytically discusses the nature of the story.
• Paper sincerely and analytically discusses the origins and intentions/functions of the story.
• Paper sincerely and analytically discusses the impact of the story on peoples’ identity, understandings of each other, and broader social relations (including institutions).
• Paper sincerely and analytically discusses the alternative stories told by those marginalized and/or those able to see through the fog of hegemony.
• Paper sincerely and analytically discusses possibilities for change in one’s life, community, and broader society.
• Paper is well written, reflective, and interesting.
• Paper includes required citations