Q Thematic essay 3: Troubles vs. issues, biography vs. history (summarizing and paraphrasing without plagiarizing) Topic: C. Wright Mills’ (1959) landmark text The Sociological Imagination begins with a brief chapter titled The Promise. It encapsulates the context and essential message of the book. When reading and taking notes on the chapter, focus on the definitions of, and relationships between, troubles and issues, and their parallel concepts of biography and history. Select an aspect of your biography fitting Mills’ definition of “troubles” and discuss the broader socio-historical context – how your personal life is impacted by what Mills defines as issues. Choose your example carefully because not all of the personal troubles in your biography are directly linked to broader social issues and historical processes. Compose an essay discussing the concepts in Mills’ work, and how they apply to an example from your personal biography. Guidelines: This exercise will help you develop the skill of paraphrasing and summarizing without plagiarizing. Do not use direct quotes in your paragraphs. In the notes, you take to prepare for this assignment, avoid copying sentences directly from the text because they may end up in your final essay as plagiarized material. If you do copy from the article, book, or video include the page number or time marker from a video so that you can correctly cite the information. Your essay should include a brief summarization of the sociological imagination concept. This will establish the context for your further discussion. To explain your example, you will need to use paraphrasing to define and discuss the relationships between troubles in your biography and socio-historical issues. Important Note on Paraphrasing & Summarizing Accurate paraphrasing and summarizing of an article are important writing skills in academics and professionally. Being able to accurately paraphrase and summarize information and cite the information correctly will help you avoid plagiarism. Because you will not be using quotes when paraphrasing and summarizing, each time you mention the author’s material, you will either be summarizing or paraphrasing. It is important that you avoid copying phrases or complete sentences spoken or written by the author. Consult the FAS module, "Summarization, Paraphrasing, Notes, and Quotes," for strategies to avoid accidental plagiarism. In your research, you will be expected to convey ideas and information presented by a variety of articles in a precise and concise language without copying word-for-word sentences or phrases. You will need to provide citations using APA formatting for in-text citations for each summary or paraphrase. When you are writing a paper, repeating the same phrasing in each paragraph can become redundant. For example, if you write, “According to Smith (2003)… According to Miller… According to Cooper…," your writing will become distracting. Consult the FAS module “Summarization, paraphrasing, Notes and Quotes” for more information. Also, review the list below of examples of how to integrate basic in-text citation into sentences that include summaries and paraphrases. You may use any of the examples below in your paragraphs. As you write the essay for this assignment and write your research paper, you may use any of the examples below. • From a leadership perspective, Smith (2016) highlighted… • Jones (2012) discussed the impact of discrimination … • The cultural issues Brookfield (2014) noted were related to… • The evidence Jones (2008) presented included research from the discipline of _____… • Muller (2010) raised an important point regarding the economical… • Scurry’s (2013) framework highlighted the political... • Greenfield's (2017) legal perspective, emphasized the equality… • During the lecture, Mills (2015) raised a question related to the … • Jones (2012) made an interesting point related to the field of Museum Studies when he noted that… • Foster (2010) noted the relationship between the economic impact of poverty and health… • Recognizing the relationship between leadership and communication, Drake (2015) used the example of… Use these as examples and consult the guide provided to you in your course materials as you write. Do not assume you already know how to do this. Take this opportunity to improve your writing skills. Originality Report When you submit your essay to the dropbox, I will review the details of your Originality Report. The percentage number itself is not sufficient; open the report. For example, a 20% originality index may seem low, but when you open the Originality Report, I may discover that you have plagiarized three entire sentences, word-for-word, or sections of text where you have only modified existing sentences by replacing a few words. This is still plagiarism because it is not original writing; you just tweaked Mills’ sentence. If your work is free of the types of errors outlined in the guiding materials, you have completed this assignment successfully. If your Originality Report reveals plagiarism issues, I will ask you to revise and re-submit your work. Be careful when paraphrasing not to simply use passage mirroring (systematic word replacement rather than constructing original sentences and paragraphs). You should write a fresh paragraph rather than simply exchanging words. It might be advisable to submit your assignment a day or two early so that if you need to make revisions you can begin the work. Essays should be at least 600-800 words in length. Learning to summarize and paraphrase and correctly cite the summaries and paraphrases is very important to research write and will help you avoid plagiarism. Please pay close attention to this assignment and my feedback on this assignment. Plan to use these skills in your research paper in this class and future classes. Submit the 500-600 essay on a word document in APA format. Include an APA cover page. Rubric Thematic Essay Rubric (Unit 3) Thematic Essay Rubric (Unit 3) Criteria Ratings Pts This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeContent Development 15 to >12.0 pts Excellent Uses appropriate, relevant, and compelling content to illustrate mastery of the topic, conveying understanding, and shaping the whole essay. Connections between essay content and personal reflection are strong. 12 to >7.5 pts Good Uses appropriate, relevant, and compelling content to explore ideas within the context of the topic and shape the whole essay. Connections between essay content and personal reflection are adequate. 7.5 to >3.0 pts Fair Uses appropriate and relevant content to develop and explore ideas through most of the essay. Connections between essay content and personal reflection are acceptable. 3 to >0 pts Beginning Uses appropriate and relevant content to develop simple ideas in some parts of the essay. Connections between essay content and personal reflection are weak or missing. 15 pts This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeParaphrasing and Summarizing 10 to >8.0 pts Excellent Demonstrates skilled use of paraphrasing and summarizing articles. No direct quotations were included. 8 to >5.0 pts Good Demonstrates consistent use of paraphrasing and summarizing articles. A few direct quotations may be included. 5 to >2.0 pts Fair Demonstrates an attempt at paraphrasing and summarizing articles. A few direct quotations are included. 2 to >0 pts Beginning Demonstrates little use of paraphrasing or summarizing articles. Direct quotations are used more often than paraphrases or summaries. 10 pts This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeContext and Purpose 10 to >8.0 pts Excellent Demonstrates a thorough understanding of context, audience, and purpose that is responsive and focuses all elements of the essay. 8 to >5.0 pts Good Demonstrates adequate consideration of context, audience, and purpose and a clear focus on the topic in the essay. 5 to >2.0 pts Fair Demonstrates awareness of context, audience, and purpose of the topic in the essay. 2 to >0 pts Beginning Demonstrates minimal attention to context, audience, or purpose of the essay. 10 pts This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeSources and Evidence 10 to >8.0 pts Excellent Demonstrates skillful use of the assigned sources and other relevant scholarly sources to develop and support appropriate ideas in the essay. 8 to >5.0 pts Good Demonstrates consistent use of the assigned sources to support appropriate ideas in the essay. 5 to >2.0 pts Fair Demonstrates an attempt to use the assigned sources to support ideas in the essay. 2 to >0 pts Beginning Few or no attempts to use sources to support ideas in the essay were made. 10 pts This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeGrammar, Style, and Composition 5 to >4.0 pts Excellent Uses graceful, academically appropriate language that skillfully communicates meaning to readers with clarity and fluency and is virtually error-free. APA style is correct throughout the essay. The word count requirement (600-800 words) was met. 4 to >2.5 pts Good Uses straightforward, academically appropriate language that generally conveys meaning to readers and has few errors. APA style is mostly correct throughout the essay. The word count requirement (600-800 words) was met. 2.5 to >1.0 pts Fair Uses language that generally conveys meaning to readers with clarity, although writing may include some errors. APA style is correct about half the time in the essay. The word count requirement (600-800 words) may or may not have been met. 1 to >0 pts Beginning Uses language that sometimes impedes meaning because of errors in usage. APA style is largely missing from the essay. The word count requirement (600-800 words) was not met. 5 pts Total Points: 50