Apply CW Mills’s Sociological Imagination concept to explain a personal
situation. The essay will demonstrate the student’s ability to use sociological concepts & theories learned in
the course to describe a personal situation. The topic is left to the student’s discretion.
The Essay paper should have the following 5 content areas:

1. Introduction: In this first content area, write a paragraph introducing CW Mills’s concept of sociological
   imagination, and give a general overview of how you will be applying it to the personal situation that you will
   discuss in your paper.
2. Personal Explanation: In this second content area, describe your personal situation/topic. Based on
   whether the situation is a current one or a past one, describe how you dealt or are dealing with it. You can also
   pick a situation from a person’s life who is closely related to you or whose experience affected you. You should
   know the person well enough to write the essay.
   Describe what caused the problem, who were involved, what were others’ and your roles in the situation, and
   if a resolution was reached. This section is all about your account of your situation and should be no longer
   than four paragraphs (3/4 – 1 page).
3. Sociological Imagination:
   In this third content area, analyze your personal situation by applying sociological imagination, i.e., examine
   how society and social forces affected your situation. This section should be the most substantial portion of
   your essay. You should use terms and concepts from at least 3 different chapters from the textbook, and one
   sociological theory.