Thinking Sociologically – An Autoethnography
Overview: For this assignment, you are to imagine you are writing an autoethnography – a form of self-reflection that connects your experiences to wider cultural and social meanings and understandings. Because this assignment is self-reflexive, you will want to write in first-person; this is your story, so use your voice. To reflect on your own experiences, you are required to answer the questions listed below. Your answers to each of the following questions should have a basis in sociology. Additionally, you should be applying at least five sociological concepts with proper citations in your paper; however, exceptional papers will include more. Your audience for this autoethnography is the general public, so this means you should provide a definition of sociological concepts and cite them. You must also provide in-text citations using the APA style-guide, and a reference page at the end. The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize yourself with a type of research paper in a self-reflexive style.
1. What institutions have been most influential to you in your life? How?
2. How does the social structure (society) you live in shape your choices and decisions?
3. How has race, class, and/or gender affected your life?
4. Think of a challenge that you have faced in your life. How does sociology help you to understand those challenges?
5. How has sociology impacted the way you think about your life and the life of those around you?