stupid essay dont no where to start

[nikcola]

ive got a n essay on the family due in on 5th november it has to be 1 and a half to two thousand words and i really dont no how to start it god im crapping myself x

Nikcola have they shwon you how to do a bibliography ?? and has it got to be a certain type (ie harvard) ??

Google family structures. Reckon you're looking to make about 60 salient points. Easiest starting point would be to define the main types of family structures in the past and how they have developed to the present day - perhaps both world-wide and in the UK.

Have you not had study skills lessons ??

You might want to look into Mind Maps, they're a great way of writing notes and organising ideas.

This may not be what you want to hear, but I can only write essays if I READ a lot on the topic first. I then pinch ideas and re-write in my own words.
The article Countessdracula found is good.
Print off and use a highlighter pen to highlight points you want to include as you are reading. You could highlight different "themes" in different colours.
Sorry if I'm being a bit pedantic! Can't help myself!

Yeah we did mind maps (a brainstorm in other words) and they do help you think of ideas.

hi nik just seen this
'family structures and their cultrial norms and values are a direct reflection of the economic need of their communites- the nuclear family is therefore not a biological given'

discuss.
break it down to key bits discuss means look at all different perspectives
from reading the quest ion I think you need to discuss if family structures are biological ie does how we are anatomically make women caring or -(nature)
adn This is the big bit are family structures defined by social contexts(social construction) or nurture
will try and find some more stuff for you remeber intro should be 150 words(10%) and say what you are doing the next bit say it
conclusion (150 words again) what you have said - never add anything new here

i loved doing sociology

especially deviancy

let me know if you want industrial revolution help

have taught it more tiumes than I have ha d hot dinners

nikcola , crikey, what course is it, some form of Social Studies ?

Think Missus Woman has interpreted the question well and I guess you need to define the nuclear family in contrast to other family structures such as the extended family and communities like a Kibbutz(sp?)where childcare and work is shared. Not sure exactly where the Industrial revolution would come in though apart form women entering the paid labour market in greater numbers. Have you already had any lectures or seminars on this and have you got a reading list to help? Good luck

ks, nice to see you popping up again.

Nik this is a good book (chapter 7 in particular)- Social policy and welfare by Mark Walsh , Paul stephens adn stephen moore.
The industrial revolution is I think there for you to show how peopl define roles in families change as society changes

I think this would be a lot easier if the title were reworded more simply, and that MW is spot on with her rewording.

Another take on the whole thing and a way into it:

In the UK today, we think of the nuclear family as the 'norm', even though most of us don't actually live in one (like you!). What Murdock believes (I assume) is that this is a relatively recent belief, since the industrial revolution (which you can look up, starting with the article CD has linked to). It isn't 'natural' - it's the result of the particular economic and social set-up we live in.

What do you think? Do some reading/looking up around the subject. See what other writers think. Use any reading lists you've been given.

Er...does that help?

And pick Coddy's brains on the industrial revolution, and how it changed the way we live and our ideas about the family!

also coddy being former history teacher is ace on advice on essay structure etc.

Ime the essay ( basic style ) has four parts
1, introduction
(do not say "Ia m oging to write an essay about...." it always made me cringe)
2. then argue FOR the statement you have been given ( to help you write a list of things that DO back up the statement then expand ont hem)

then
3, dot he same but argue against the statement with evidence naturally

4. conclusion which argument do you think is the correct one.

oops posts crosse
fro eg
say the essay was " mother inferieo has a very funny was of writing" dicuss.

your introduction woudl say
"MI has been posting on mn since she had dd1 blabalbala

then find all sorts oif evidenc e that she IS funny
bullet point them first to help you sort them out

E.g
" fur face and fangs"
" inferorrity complex"
and so on

then do shte smae for her NOT hilarious postings

( cant think of any but here must bes ome borign ones when her tiny babies woudlnt sleep - we all have them!!)

then conclude in your last paragraph

am off to bath now

ive just come back to the pc and omg loads of posts thank you u lot im going to have a read xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have given some lectures that would help with this topic, but a long time ago. I would imagine that your set readings will give you plenty of information and ideas for the esssay. What books have you been set?

If I were trying to answer this question, I would look at two, broad issues. One would be the claim that nuclear families are biologicaly given. There is plenty of evidence against this claim. If you look across cultures, family forms, and gender roles, vary a great deal. If you look at this claim historically, you find that nuclear families were far from the norm in Europe before the Industrial Revolution. People lived in multi-generational households and children were often put out to work as apprentices at a young age. Nuclear families became more common during the nineteenth century. This is where the other part of the question comes in. Why did they become more common then? Many people argue that this happened for economic reasons - working families no longer required large numbers of people to till the land. Families became smaller as a result. Some nineteenth century observers (including, presumably, Murdock, though I am hazy about this), assumed that nuclear families were common in their societies because they were evolutionarily more 'advanced' (nineteenth century sociology was dominated by evolutionary assumptions like this). So a discussion of (i) cultural diversity and (ii) historical change demolishes this kind of assumption. Finally, I would talk about the growing diversity of family forms in society today. This also shows how wrong it is to assume that nuclear families are universal.

Good luck with the essay.

Sorry about the spelling mistakes - typing too quickly, as usual.