Analytical Essay on the Bay Street Corridor in Toronto

The essay assignment asks you to expand the research from your field report into a full fledged essay on the City of Toronto neighbourhood of your choice. You will situate your research findings in a topical perspective, either social, cultural, or economic. You may also combine any of these three elements if that suits your research findings. This essay will consist of 6 parts (you may use headings to separate these sections): 1. An introduction that contains the outline of your essay (about 1 page) 2. A description of your neighbourhood research and field work. Use the answers to the 20 questions in the context of your topic to set the stage for your literature review and analytical discussion (about 2 pages) 3. A literature review of your topic using the geographical literature and includes 6 peer- reviewed journal articles*. This literature review does not have to be on your particular neighbourhood but it may be. You may choose up to 2 articles from the course readings (about 2 pages). This must include in text citations for anyone’s words or ideas other than your own. A literature review is not an annotated bibliography or a list of abstracts. A literature review discusses a series of articles in light of your essay’s argument. You are encouraged to paraphrase their findings, and determine the themes of the literature 4. An analytical discussion of how your field work relates to the findings of your literature review. Compare and contrast the findings of the authors you studied to your neighbourhood (about 2-4 pages). This must include in text citations for anyone’s words or ideas other than your own. 5. A conclusion that reiterates your major findings of your research and analytical discussion (about 1 page) 6. A bibliography that includes all sources used in your field research, literature review, analytical discussion, and essay as a whole. Use MLA or APA format. Some of the topics you can select are:  Social: Questions around demographics and inequality, social history and change of the neighbourhood, public spaces and how people live in place, etc. 5/9  Cultural: Questions around religion, practised ethnicity, cultural groups, visual expressions of culture through landmarks, built form, etc.  Economic: Questions around economic inequality, gentrification, commercial elements, transportation, and access to employment, etc. You do not need to respond to all of these elements. Choose one of the 3 perspectives, and develop an argument using your evidence to support your thesis. You may use a variety of approaches  Qualitative: Focus more on discourses (language and images). You are encouraged to use textual references from documents (newspaper, books) as well as visual references (art, photographs)  Quantitative: Focus more on numbers and statistical data.  Mixed: Using both quantitative and qualitative approaches together.