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HELPINGSTUDENTSDEVELOPA SOCIOLOGICALIMAGINATION
THROUGHINNOVATIVEWRITINGASSIGNMENTS*
LEED. MILLARBIDWELL
LongwoodCollege
AS SOCIOLOGYPROFESSORS,WE CONSIS-
tently try to impress upon
our students the
unique way in which sociologists
view the
social world. In introductory classeswe gen-
erally approach
this task by assigning
C.
Wright
Mills's (1959) classic essay "The
Promise"in which Mills eloquently
describes
the "sociological imagination"
as a "quality
of mind" that helps
individuals criticallyas-
sess events in society and link them to their
own lives. In upper-division
seminars we
continue, through lecture and class discus-
sions, to instruct students that sociology
is
not merely a discipline;
it is a "form of con-
sciousness" (Berger 1963). Ironically,the so-
ciological perspective
is difficult and frustrat-
ing
to teach precisely
becauseit is a cognitive
ability ratherthan a simple vo,cabulary
term.
Students can be told through
lectures and
reading assignments
that sociologists
do not
"look at phenomena
that nobody else is
aware of," but simply
view "the same phe-
nomena in a different way" (Berger
1963:28). Even so, they cannot be taught
how to "'see through'
the facades of social
structures" (Berger 1963:31). Instead stu-
dents must be given
the opportunity
to de-
velop
a sociological imagination through
practice
and application.
Creating assignments
that challenge
stu-
dents to see the world as sociologists
is quite
difficult. They must be given
the opportu-
nity to critically
assesselements of society to
which they have been routinely exposed all
their lives. The traditional term paper,
al-
though
useful for teaching
students library
researchskills and how to write in an objec-
tive, impersonal, and professional manner,
does not allow them to explore
ideas in
novel, imaginative ways (Singh and Unni-
than 1989). Professorswho want students to
develop
a sociological imagination
must be
*Iwouldlike^ to thankGordonVan Ness^ andthree
anonymousTSreviewers
for their helpful
comments.
creative
and willing
to depart
fromconven-
tionalclassroom assignments.
For most sociologists,
the struggle
to
designassignments
that challenge
students
to "question
the obvious"is occurring
dur-
ing
a time when educatorsare under pres-
sure to incorporate
more writing
into their
courses. Throughout
the country,colleges
and universitieshave established "Writing
across the Curriculum"(WAC) programs
that requiregreateremphasis
on writing
skills in all disciplines.
The WAC move-
ment,initiated partly
in response
to employ-
ers'demandfor workerswith bettercom-
municationskills,is perceivedbysomeasan
onerousadministrativedirective designed
to
furtherburden professors
who alreadyare
overwhelmedwith crowdedclasses,research
requirements,and ever-growingadvising
and committee responsibilities.
Farfrom being
a burden,the increasing
emphasis
on writing
has enhancededuca-
tion by reinforcingwhat many educators
already
know: "writing
is an important
meansof clarifyingthinking"(Cadwallader
and Scarboro1982:362). Researchconsis-
tentlyshowsthatstudentslearnmoreabout
a topic
and retain the informationlonger
when theywriteaboutit (FasslerWalvoord
1986;Karcher1988;Zinsser1988).Writing
is not simply
a means ofexplainingwhat
one
knows; it is an invaluable way to generate
thinking,discovery,
and learning(Karcher
1988). Sociologists must design assign-
mentsthatallowstudentsto thinkcritically
in writing
about personalexperiences
and
social events,for "asstudentswrite about
and (^) becomefamiliarwith what they hear[,]
they move,
almost despitethemselves,
to a
more exactingappreciation
of the sociologi-
cal imagination"(Cadwallader
and Scar-
boro 1982:362).
Writing
is not incorporated
into sociol-
ogy classesin additionto helping
students
discover their sociological imagination;
TeachingSociology,1995, Vol. 23 (October:401-406)^
401
402 TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY
rather,it is an essential part
of the process.
Writingassignments
should be designed
to
encourage
critical thinking
and creativity
as
well as to help
students polish
their writing
skills. Professorsshould assign
different
typesofwriting-some informal,
some for-
mal-so students will learn to construct
their thinking
and writing
in a varietyof
ways.Because
studentstend to produce
bet-
ter writing
when they are motivatedand
excitedabouta topic (Zinsser1988),^ profes-
sors who design writing assignments
that
allowstudentsto exploresubjects
in novel
wayswill generally
be (^) rewardedwith higher-
quality
work.
In this teaching
note I describea project
I designedfor a^ Women and^ Societycourse
that helps
students develop
a sociological
imagination
and allows them to engage
in
severaltypes of writing
without producing
the traditionalterm paper.
Students report
thatthey enjoyworking
on the project,
and
their writing
reflectstheir enthusiasm.Al-
though
the project
involves three separate
writingassignments,
none of the gradingis
burdensome.Students produce
workthatis
interesting
to read,often enlightening,
and
usuallya pleasure
to grade.
OVERVIEWOFTHE
PROJECT
The project,
which I call "Womenin Con-
temporaryCulture,"
includesthree writing
assignments,
classdiscussion,a collectionof
culturalartifacts,and informalclass presen-
tations.The objective
is to make students
moreawareof the pervasiveness
ofwomen's
images
in culture,and ultimately
to see how
gender
norms shape
women'sstatusin soci-
ety.
When students begin
the course,they
write a short essayin which they
statewhat
they
believethe statusof women in Ameri-
cansocietyto be. Then they collectcultural
artifacts (suchas magazinearticles,t-shirts,
and music) that illustratewomen'ssocial,
economic, and/or political status. Finally,
after critically studying society for an entire
semester, students write a long essay in
which they reexamine their perception of
women's status.
The "Women in Contemporary Cul-
ture"project is the focal point of the course.
Students, however, also take three examina-
tions on reading
and lecture material during
the semester (the syllabus is available upon
request).
The examinations include a com-
bination of multiple-choice, short-answer,
and essay (^) questions.
THEIN-CLASSESSAY
In the first week of class, before any reading
has been assigned
and before I deliver any
lectures, students write an in-class essay ti-
tled "The Status of Women in American
Society."In this essaythey
must explain
how
they believe women
are treated and per-
ceived in contemporary
American culture,
and must provide
several examples
to sup-
port
their thesis. I do not give
students
specific guidelines
for this first assignment
because I want them to approach
the topic
from their own perspectives. Generally,
however,the essaysstate
one of the following
theses: 'Women are exploited
and deval-
ued"; 'Women's status has improved,
but
they still have a long way to go
to achieve
equality
with men"; 'Women have attained
equalitywith men";
and "Women^ have more
privileges
and choices than men."
The purpose
of the initial essayis to force
students to clearly articulate their percep-
tion of women's status. After the essays are
completed
and we discuss them in class, I
tell students that I want them to temporarily
suspend
their preconceived
beliefs about the
status ofwomen. I instruct them to look for
any symbols or indicators of women's status
in culture, even thosewhich do not conform
to their initial assessment or thesis.
THE "WOMENIN CONTEMPORARYCUL-
TURE"COLLECTION
Images
of women abound in culture, al-
though
we do not always recognize them.
The second component
of the project
is
designed
to help
students notice and evalu-
ate the indicators of women's status that
surround them. I assign them the task of
finding at least two symbols or "indicators"
of women's status in culture (^) per week. Indi-
cators can be found virtually everywhere,
including song lyrics,television
(^) shows, mov-
ies, advertisements, newspaper and maga-
zine articles,greeting cards,bumper stickers,
404 TFACHINGSOCIOLOGY
make journal
entries describing
what they
believeeach item indicatesaboutwomen's
statusin society.Others construct collages
and submit their explanations
of each item
as an appendix.Studentshave even com-
piled
video albumsof excerpts
from televi-
sion shows,commercials,and movies along
with a writtennarrative.
THEFINALESSAY
The final component
of the project
is a five-
to seven-pagetypedessaytitled
"TheStatus
of Womenin ContemporarySocietyRevis-
ited."In this paper
studentsreexaminethe
initial assessmentof women's status that
they
made in the in-classessay.They must
state whether their opinion
of women's
status in society has changed
or remained
the (^) same,and must support
their argument
by (^) drawing
on materials assigned
in classor
includedin theircollection.
The final essay gives
students the op-
portunity
to synthesizethe variousmateri-
als to which they have been exposed
throughout
the course.Manystudentsstill
hold to theirinitial assessmentof women's
status at the end of the course, but now
they can support
their argument
more
strongly.
Others report
that their perspec-
tive has changed dramatically
afterexam-
ining gender images
in Americanculture
through
a sociological eye. Virtually all
students contend that they cannot stop
analyzing
cultural images
of gender
from a
sociologicalperspective,
even afterthe as-
signment
is officially (^) complete.
One stu-
dent, who becamefascinatedwith analyz-
ing television programs
and commercials
for gender messages, reported
that her
roommate asked her in exasperation
one
evening"Can'tyou everjust
watchTV like
a normal person?"
GRADINGCOMPONENTSOF
THE PROJECT
Supporters of the Writing across the Cur-
riculum movement argue that less is more in
grading written^ assignments (Fassler
Walvoord 1986; Lindemann 1987). They
believe that meticulous grading of every
spelling
and grammatical
errorintimidates
students, stifles creativity,and ultimately
does not improve student performance
(FasslerWalvoord 1986; Karcher1988).
Studentsshouldbe taught
to "focusonwrit-
ing
asaway of learning
to think,as opposed
to writing
as a way of earning
a grade"
(Karcher1988:170).Therefore
not allwrit-
ing assignments
need to be graded;
those
which are gradedshouldsimply
includethe
professor's
assessmentof the strengthsand
weaknessesof the work with brief sugges-
tions (^) for improvement.
Although
I
agree
with this newer phi-
losophy
of grading,
I have found that if
studentsknowin advancethattheworkwill
not be graded,manywill simplyignorethe
assignment.Therefore,
I
grade
each compo-
nent of the (^) "Womenin Contemporary
Cul-
ture" project,
but I applyslightly
different
criteriato eachassignment.The initialessay,
which is writtenin classwith time (^) limits,is
essentially
a tool to help
studentsclarifyfor
themselveshow they believe women are
treatedand perceived
in society.The essays
are gradedon the basisof whetherthe stu-
dent has (^) articulateda thesisclearlyand has
provided
some support
for the argument.
These initial in-class essays generally
are
only about two pages long,
and are not
difficultto grade.
The second component
of the project,
the collectionof the indicatorsof women's
status in society, is a pleasure
to grade.
Studentsusuallyfind interestingmaterials
for their collections and often provide
unique interpretations
of their meaning.
The written reactionsto each item are de-
signed
to help
studentsreflecton women's
status and ultimatelyto help
them "see"
society
with the sociologicalimagination.
The audiencefor this writing
is supposed
to be the studentratherthanthe professor.
Often the reactionsarewrittenin a stream-
of-consciousnessstyle, so I do not grade
studentson grammar,spelling,
or punctua-
tion. When assigning a grade, I check to see
that students have included at least two
items per week and that awritten commen-
tary accompanies each item. In addition, I
expect that students will have spent some
time preparing the final collection; I penal-
ize students whose work is sloppy and
INNOVATIVEWRITINGASSIGNMENTS^405
thrown together.
It is important
to grade
and return the collections to students
promptly
so that they can use them for
theirfinal essay.
In the final essay,studentsareexpected
to demonstratetheirwritten communica-
tion skills by articulatingand defendinga
thesis, and organizing
information effec-
tively. Unlike the two previous compo-
nents of the project,
the final essayis not
meant to help
students clarifytheir
think-
ing,
but to presentlogical, convincing
ar-
guments
to the reader.Gradesarebasedon
the thoughtfulnessof the student's argu-
ment, on whethersuitablesupport
for the
argument
is provided,
and on the mechan-
ics of writing, including organization,
grammar,spelling,
and punctuation.
ADJUSTING
THE
PROJECT
TO
FITVARIOUSCLASSSIZESAND
ACADEMICCALENDARS
I haveused this project
in women'sstudies
classesthatwere taughtduring
the standard
fall or spring
semesterwith enrollmentsof
approximately
50 students, as well as in a
summer school course^ with 15 students.
The assignment
was equally
effectivein both
large
and small classesand during regular
and condensedsemesters,with some minor
adjustments.
In larger
classesthe students
present
more diverse^ materials,although
some duplication
occurs.In smallerclassesI
require
studentsto bringin a minimumof
five indicators(insteadof two) so that we
can discussa varietyof materials.
In summerschoolcourses,which usually
meetdailyfor longer
class periods
thanduring
the regular
semester,one can devote^ more
classtimeto students'informal presentations.
During
falland spring
semesters,whenclasses
usually
meetfor 50 to 75 minutes,timelimits
often must be placed
on classdiscussionto
allow ample
time for^ lectures.
ADAPTING THE PROJECTTO
OTHER SOCIOLOGYCOURSES
The basic structure of this project-an in-
class essay in which students articulate
their ideas about the course topic
at the
beginning
of the semester,a collection of
items or events in culture related to the
subject
matter,and a final essayin which
students reevaluatetheir initial argument
and synthesize course materials--can be
adapted
to virtuallyany sociology course.
Studentsin stratificationcoursescould be
asked to collect symbols of social class;
similar types
of essayscould be assigned.
Likewise,studentsin a courseon minority
groups
could searchfor indicatorsof the
social and economic status of a particular
racial (^) or ethnic group. Gerontology
stu-
dents could be assigned
to examine the
social environmentfor evidenceof cultural
norms and stereotypessurroundingaging.
Professorswho use this type
of project
should find that the cultural indicators
which students collect are very useful in
helping
students understand and apply
theoretical concepts.
To facilitatetheoreti-
cal thinking,
students could be asked to
state in their informal class presentations
or in theirwritten assessmenthow each of
the items they have collected would be
interpreted
from differenttheoretical per-
spectives.
Studentsalso could be asked to
reviewtheir evaluationof particular
items
and to determinethe theoretical perspec-
tive with which they agree most closely.
Furthermore,this assignmentis useful^ in
helping
studentsidentifystructuralfactors
that explain
thestatusof^ a^ particulargroup.
Studentscould be askedto use theircollec-
tion of culturalindicatorsto describe spe-
cific social and economicfactorsthat con-
tributeto the statusand stereotypes
of the
social groupthey
arestudying.
CONCLUSION
The "Womenin Contemporary
Culture"
project
allows professors
to meet discipline-
based and broad educational objectives
without a substantial increase in workload.
Students receive the opportunity to develop
a uniquely sociological view of the world
and simultaneously to refine their writing
skills. Because students generally are enthu-
siastic about the project, they produce work
that is interesting and enjoyable to grade.
