Syllabus - Sociological Theory - Davidson College

Should this book be read, and by whom?
How would a person benefit from reading this book?
How important is this book? Be sure to clearly explain your reasoning.
Full letter penalty after start of class, another full letter for every additional 24 hour period.
Finally, the Sociological Theorist Paper is a comprehensive discussion of a major theorist. Your paper
provides the opportunity to delve into a theorist’s work. All papers demand thoughtful synthesis and
critical commentary. You have wide latitude in selecting themes/focal points, but in all cases your paper
should demonstrate how a sociological theorist addresses overarching/integrative questions about
sociological theory. Some preliminary bibliographic sources are provided in the syllabus and your texts.
Please do not under any circumstances “google” your paper. You must consult sociological journals and
books for scholarly writing relevant to your theorist. The paper should include understanding of primary
works by the theorists in addition to secondary analysis. The paper should not be written all at once; rather,
the paper should be written in several successive drafts with new levels of sophistication, density, and
insight worked into each draft. The choice of book for your critical book review may be a resource for
your thematic paper. And of course, you should come talk to me as well about your paper topics - well
before the topic submission due date. The paper is worth 20% of your grade.
For your final paper, I would suggest organizing your paper as follows:
Introduction (1-2 pages). Introduce your theorist and briefly situate him/her in terms of the
overarching topics and questions which concern our understanding of the social world. By the end of the
second paragraph it is essential that you have told me what the purpose of your paper is and what your
central argument / thesis is. If you read the first two paragraphs of your paper and the goals and
purpose of the paper are not very clear, please revise. I would also suggest a “map” paragraph at the end
of the introduction that tells me where we will be going in the paper. (For example, “I first explain….then
argue….by presenting evidence about three themes….”)
Body (6-8 pages). In this section please present and develop your argument by providing several
distinct pieces of information / evidence in support of it. Durkheim wrote, “My ideas are destined to be
modified and reformulated in the future.” Keep in mind a comparative framework throughout your
paper regarding developments, amendments, and disagreements that exist between your theorist and
other theorists.
If there is any relevant background to explain about your thesis / argument present that first.
(For example, key terms may need a paragraph to articulate what you mean. Perhaps a brief paragraph
or two about the history relevant to your argument would be necessary). A section providing
background is not essential for everyone. You need to decide whether it is necessary to help your
reader(s) understand. Think of your audience as me and other people in the class.
Then develop your argument by clearly presenting the evidence you have gathered in support of
it. For example, if you are comparing two or more arguments, this section will be organized around the
themes around which you are doing the comparison. There are two ways to structure a compare and
contrast paper. Pick the one that works best for you.
Theme 1
Argument/Theory A
Argument/Theory B
Theme 2
Argument/Theory A
Argument/Theory B
Page 6