Assignment 3: Family News (60 points)
Due Sunday April 5, 2020, 11:59pm.
Assignment Instructions:
This assignment is designed to extend what we are learning from the course to include current
events and news stories. It gives you the opportunity to go beyond the textbook material and
make connections to contemporary issues.
Find a news article from a major newspaper or online news outlet, such as The New York Times
or Washington Post from the past 6 months (no earlier than October 1, 2019). Your article
should deal with some aspect related to families such as: economic restructuring, poverty,
unemployment, immigration, childbearing, parenting, divorce, education, or another topic. The
focus should be on the family unit.
o Your article should be at least 800 words, long enough to provide you with relevant and
interesting material to write about.
o Do not use celebrity news or specific crime/single-anecdote stories (i.e., if the story
focuses entirely on one case or family, without much discussion or larger context or
other families).
o Do not use opinion-editorial (op-ed) articles. If you’re not sure, ask.
I encourage you to browse different titles and news stories until you find an article that looks
interesting to you and is relevant to a course. If you are unsure if an article is acceptable, email
Giyeon, Julya, or myself for approval.
Write your review. Be sure to discuss all of the following in your review. This assignment should
be written as a cohesive paper (not in bullet points or separate headings).
1. Summarize the key points in the article and discuss how it relates to textbook material
(be sure to include and cite specific examples from the textbook).
2. Discuss the specific issues involved as they relate to each level: micro (personal,
interpersonal), meso (e.g., institutional, community), and macro (e.g., economy, policy)
levels.
3. Based on what you have learned so far in the course, evaluate the extent to which each
level was addressed and the concerns that were discussed or omitted in the article. How
might the article have been improved by including or expanding on each level?
4. Based on what you have learned so far in the course, critique the extent and ways in
which racial/ethnic issues were discussed in the article, and connect to the textbook.
5. Briefly discuss any unanswered questions that are raised by the article. What more
would you want to know? If you were to study this topic, what questions would you
ask?
You are required to draw connections to and specifically cite textbook material. The relevance
and insightfulness of connections will be an important component of your grade.
Format Guidelines:
At the top of your document, include the title of your news article and a URL that links to the
article.
Your paper should be at least 2 full pages, but no more than 3 full pages, double spaced.
Anything in excess of 3 pages will not be read or graded. Utilize Times New Roman or Calibri 12-
point font and 1-inch margins.
On a separate page after your paper, include a bibliography in APA format. This should include
your news article (title, author(s), year, name of news outlet, etc.) and the textbook. In-text
citations should also be APA format.
Save your paper as a Word doc or PDF file for easy upload.
If you encounter any issues or have any questions along the way, feel free to email Giyeon,
Julya, or myself. A rubric for this assignment will be available on Canvas. Good luck!