critical analysis essay prompt

Prompt:
The “Thomas Theorem” states that “If men [sic] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” For this essay, I’d like you to:
1. 1) Develop an argument that supports this hypothesis using any materials from Unit 1 of our course, and;
2. 2) Illustrate your argument using two examples from any materials from Unit 2 of our course.
Paper Title: How to Format Your Critical Analysis Essay

This document is meant to serve as a template for your Critical Analysis Essays. It is important that you format your papers in this way so that I can easily grade your work and deliver it back to you with appropriate comments. If you have any questions, be sure to ask me. You can download this template and use it to format your papers—that way, I have done most of the work for you and you can simply “save as” this document as your individual future assignments and go from there. As a general rule, please be sure always to do the following when formatting your papers:

1) Single-space your work (NOT 1.5 or 1.15 spacing).
2) Use Times New Roman 12 point font.
3) Use 1-inch margins all around.
4) Include all the information I’ve indicated in the above left-hand corner (name, class, date, and word count).
5) Use page numbers, preferably in the middle of the footer (see below).
6) Do not include a separate title page.
7) Include a separate references page.

When uploading your final assignment to Blackboard, be sure to save your assignment as a word document using your last name first, then a period, followed by “CAE”. For example, I would save my assignment as Raridon.CAE. Always double-check your uploaded assignment in case you accidentally uploaded the wrong file version!
Below is a brief example of how to cite work using the ASA style. While this should get you through most of the citations you may use in this class, be sure to refer to the Purdue OWL page for more thorough examples: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/02/. When citing in-text, place the author’s name and the year of publication in parentheses at the end of the sentence in which you are citing the author, like so (Raridon 2015). If you use a quote (a quote consists of three or more words that you borrow directly), cite the author’s name with the page number. For instance, if you took my words from the twelfth page of an essay I wrote, cite it as follows (Raridon 2015:12). If there are three or more authors, just cite the first author and replace the other authors with “et al.”, like this (Raridon et al. 2015:12).
Be sure to cite course readings in text! However, because some course readings may not have a date, only an author, you may leave off the date and simply cite the author like this (Bonilla-Silva: 24). If you cite specific aspects of our in-class lectures or bits of the lecture slides (that is, if you repeat aspects of these materials word for word), you should place quotation marks around the borrowed text and then cite it in text by simply referring to the specific date and medium from which you are pulling the material, such as (Sept. 11, lecture notes). This is really only for very specific information that you wish to cite verbatim—generally, what we cover in class should translate into your knowledge, and so you can write about it without citation.

Purpose of the Assignment:
This exercise is meant to see how well you can draw connections across the readings and lectures in each unit we have had so far this semester. Accordingly, well-written essays must draw heavily from the course readings to support your argument! Outside sources are welcome additions provided they are authoritative and/or scholarly in nature. However, the central point of this assignment is to have you synthesize readings from across the two units, demonstrating that you have read them and understand the core concepts put forth by the authors. Additionally, essays should be thoughtfully constructed and proofread—sloppy or lazy work will not be graded kindly, so take care when writing and before submitting your essay. Please see the “citation and formatting guide” for more information about how to present your work before uploading it to Blackboard. Finally, good luck, and I look forward to reading your essays!