Reflection essays are opportunities to demonstrate critical thinking and your understanding of course materials as they apply to real life situations. Read and analyze one (1) of the news items below about work and employment. Using concepts, we have discussed in class, explain the situation sociologically and make an argument in response to the provided prompt. This assignment supports the following learning objectives (from the syllabus):
- Identify and explain major processes (ie: technology change, globalization, demographic and social changes) that have transformed work and employment in Canada.
- Apply key concepts and theories of work to analyze contemporary issues in work from a sociological perspective.
- Write a persuasive essay which presents an argument and defends it with evidence.
Your essay will be graded primarily on your accuracy and insight in applying course materials to understanding the situation described in the article, and your ability to draw on assigned materials as evidence to support your argument. Organization, structure and writing mechanics (including proper citation), as well as the overall creativity and demonstrated effort also matter.
Reflection essays should be between 2 and 3 double-spaced pages in length. They should follow the structure of an essay. You do not need a title page or a list of references(unless you are referencing materials not part of this class).Provide a concise introduction which summarizes your argument by providing in one sentence (each) your answer to each part of the prompt. The last sentence of your introduction should take a position on the prompt question and provide an explicit reason to support your position. ie: “I argue… because X, Y and Z” The body of your essay should support your argument using course materials and the article as evidence. Expand on the points of your introduction, providing evidence to support your answers from course materials and the article you are analyzing. All references to outside materials should be cited with clear in-text citations, even if you aren’t quoting their direct words. For example, to cite the textbook use this or a similar format: (Pupo, Duffy and Glenday 2017: [page number]) Sum up your argument and explain its importance in a concluding paragraph. Use Times New Roman size 12 font with 1 inch margins on all sides. Please submit your essay as a Word or PDF file and be sure to insert page numbers into your document.
