Assignment 3: Reflexive Essay on Duneier’s Sidewalk [15%]
This assignment is worth 15% of you final grade for this course.
Introduction
After completing this module, including the learning activities, write a reflexive essay focused on the substance of Duneier’s Sidewalk. This essay has a clear and specific focus on a single piece of published research, and its aim is to demonstrate your understanding of the broader context within which Duneier’s research was carried out, and what he was able to understand by the end of it. In sum, this reflexive essay is supposed to help you consider your reactions, thoughts, what you feel you have learned, and how, overall, Sidewalk has altered your understanding of the topics examined by the author and, more generally, of the process of social research.
Instructions
In a brief essay of 600–800 words, address the following themes, and any others related to them that you judge to be relevant:
- What do we know about Duneier’s social position and how it affected his research?
- What kind of social environment is Greenwich Village?
- What can be said about the life circumstances of the unhoused African-American men that Duneier studied, and about the challenges for the researcher to get to know them well?
- What is the overarching sociological “ecosystem” that allowed the preconditions to be set for the emergence of book and magazine vending on Sixth Ave. by unhoused African-American men?
Grading Rubric
You will be grading using the following criteria:
| Criteria | Marks |
| Offers a fulsome reflection of key issues in Duneier’s book, and comprehensively addresses the four themes outlined in the instructions | 65 |
| Makes detailed references to the book, proving examples relevant to the discussion | 25 |
| Composition [spelling, flow, grammar, APA referencing] | 10 |
| Total | 100% |
Submitting Your Assignment
Before submitting your assignment:
- Ensure you have addressed all of the relevant themes.
- Ensure your assignment is free of plagiarism.
- Ensure you have cited all of your references correctly.
- Ensure you have edited your work checking spelling and grammar.
Submit your assignment using the “Add submission” button to upload the file to your Open Learning Faculty Member for grading.
