things to do
- the first assignment handout is here.
[[interested in what makes an argument “interesting” sociologically? here’s an “interesting” analysis that points out some possibly useful structures of argument, either for your own writing or for reading works from class: murray davis, “that’s interesting” phil.soc.sci (1971).
2. handout for the marx paper is here.
3. handout for the weber/simmel paper is here.
_____
- writing suggestions and tips here
- revision suggestions here
- sample papers can be found here: (durkheim), (durkheim), (durkheim), (marx), (marx), (marx). {{{are these the absolute best in class beyond all compare? not necessarily. although they are all good. these were selected among a large list of possibilities to show the range of what’s possible in terms of effective writing. please note that despite their differences in approach, tone, formality, etc, that they all make strong commitments to engaging their case through the theory/reading AND/OR engaging the theory/reading through their case (and often AND more than OR). are these perfect? nope. (you will notice a definite aversion to having strong clear thesis statements even when the arguments are well laid out, for example). are they the “gold standard”? gold standard?!??! what do i look like, some kind of ron paul gold bug (possibly dated, but not necessarily irrelevant political reference…)? there is not objective standard, it’s all fiat currency…. but these are various models of largely successful undertakings, that are intended not to constrain you but to enable you to imagine ways to improve work work. if you feel your work is similar (or better! because there is plenty of good work that didn’t get included), that’s great, although there’s still/always room for improvement (even in these selected pieces). if you see places to build and develop your writing and thinking in order to more closely compare to one or more of these, then that might be a decent goal for your future writing. if you are unclear how to get there, talk to me. i want to help.}}}
- if you’re still looking for help, here’s a good source of handouts and resources for writing from a place i worked while i was back in grad school, and even wrote a couple of these handouts (the classics never go out of style, it seems…)