2- Drugs & Society

Health & Society Program in Social Science
Faculty of LAPS
University

Drugs & Society
SOSC 3118 3.0
Fall 2021

Final Essay
Due Date:

Instructions:
1) Choose a current and/or ongoing event/situation that is related to drugs & society that is happening somewhere in the world today that interests you and that you can find relevant (academic) material on.

2) Write a ‘directed’ essay on your chosen event or situation that applies core course concepts. Follow the specific format laid out below. Remember that the goal of this assignment is for you to demonstrate your ability to APPLY material learned in the course and relevant supporting literature to analyze a current situation/issue of your choosing in a form that is clear and concise. It is important that you demonstrate an awareness of stakeholders potentially conflicting interests and make your arguments based on evidence using sound clear effective writing that synthesis material. You must use a minimum of 2 academic references external from the course syllabus. You may use grey literature where relevant, e.g. in citing what is occurring in your situation. Write your paper as if you are teaching me about the situation/event you have chosen and do not assume I know about the event or situation or the concepts that you are applying. You must apply a minimum of 1 core course concept. Your main argument should include that your chosen core concept is occurring in your chosen situation/event.

SITUATION/ISSUE:
Summarize what is the situation/issue.

Current Status:
Who’s involved?
What’s being done?
When – timelines?
Who benefits?

History:
History of event/situation

Core Course Concepts:
Define and explain each concept before applying it to your situation/event
Make sure your application is detailed and explained how x is occurring at your event/situation.

Resistance/Hope:
What are the people doing to resist or change this event/situation?

Final Paper Project:
The final brief should demonstrate your ability to apply the material learned in this course plus the use of relevant secondary literature to analyze a topic related to drugs & society.

Your paper MUST contain a minimum of 2 academic references external to the syllabus. Newspaper and magazine articles may also be used but they are not considered academic material. Wikipedia is not considered an academic source and should not be used.

Formatting requirements:
• Title page/Header with the following 1) title of the paper; 2) your name and student number; 3) my name; 4) course title; 5) date of submission; 6) word count
• Printed on 8.5 x 11 inch paper
• 12 point font
• Double spaced
• 1 inch margins
• Spell-checked
• 4-5 (max) double-spaced pages or 1000-1250 words

Marking System for paper:

1. Style (20 marks)

1. Writing style:
 Fluent writing, sentence structure, syntax
 Awkward writing, diction, idioms
2. Grammar/spelling
 Good
 Weak
3. Length
 Suggested
 Under (more than 500 words less than required)
4. Readability
 Clear
 Difficult to follow
5. Reference style
 Correct use of APA or other recognized reference style
 Incorrect use of APA or other recognized reference style

2. Organization (20 marks)

1. Paragraph structure
 Coherent construction, logical progression
 Incoherent, doesn’t finish thoughts in paragraph
2. Development of argument
 Argument logically developed
 Lacks continuity, clarity, unity, flow
3. References
 References properly inserted in text to support points made

3. Originality of thinking (20 marks)

1. Overall analysis of issue
 Goes beyond simple presentation of material to synthesizing what has been presented
 Simply repeats conclusions of others
2. Integration of source material
 Integrates source material into coherent whole
 Source material presented as isolated facts

4. Content (40 marks)

1. Acknowledgement of sources
 Adequate acknowledgement of sources
 Inadequate acknowledgement of sources
2. Use of secondary sources
 Secondary material from multiple sources (books, journals, web sites)
 Secondary material from single source
3. Examination of topic
 Amount of content permits in depth examination of topic
 Amount of content permits superficial examination of topic