Essay prompt:
A Social Problem That Matters to You For this essay, you will choose a “social problem” that we have not yet covered in class. The goal of your essay is to assume the role of an activist or politician working to address your chosen social problem.
You may not choose any of the following topics:
-Social class, inequality, or poverty
-COVID-19
-Educational Inequality
-Race and Racism
-Whiteness and White Privilege
-Immigration and Anti-immigrant Sentiment
-Gender and Gender Inequality
-Capitalism and Consumption
The social problem you choose does not have to be one that is widely considered to be a social problem either by scientists/experts (e.g. sociologists) or by the general public. You can choose a trivial, small, and even “ridiculous” problem if you like. Much like how social problems are created in real life, your essay does not necessarily have to be based on “facts” (although research-based essays are welcome). Rather, I want you to pick a topic and address the following prompts:
1)What is the social problem that you are addressing (as an activist or politician)? a.The chosen social problem can be based on your personal opinion, on research you’ve done (don’t forget to cite your sources), on rumors, or anything else you’d like.
2)What specifically needs to be done to address this social problem? a.Changing the attitudes of the general public, creating new policy/legislation, changing peoples’ habits, etc.
3)Who is your target audience? a.Is this a local, national, or international issue? b.Who will need to be convinced in order to address this social problem? Given your answer to the second question, how is your target audience related to the specific ways in which this problem needs to be addressed?
4)How will you most effectively frame this social problem to convince your target audience?
a.Consider the elements of frame effectiveness and salience discussed in the course. Explain in detail why you think framing the problem in this way will be effective. Essentially, you want your framing to make your audience use their sociological imagination – transforming something they may see as a “personal trouble” into a “societal issue”.
b.Make sure to use sociological concepts (such as “frame salience”) in your answer.
5)Type up a short “key statement” that summarizes your thoughts on the social problem as an activist or politician, which you could use as part of a speech to your audience. This statement should reflect both the framing of your social problem (prompt 4) and should explain how the social problem needs to be addressed (prompt 2).
6)What are potential counter-frames that your critics might use?
a.Some may disagree with you that this is a social problem worthy of our attention. Others may agree that it is a social problem, but disagree with you on the most effective way to address it. Explain what at least one of those counter-frames might look like.
Below, I’ve listed some examples of “social problems” you could choose. You can pick any one of these, but I’m hoping they can just serve as inspiration for a topic that you come up with yourself.
-Lack of parks in New Brunswick
-Homophobia
-The impact of reality TV
-Police brutality
-Crime
-Social media addiction
-The use of crypto currencies
-Self-service gas stations
-Animal abuse –
Vaping
-Beauty standards