Interpersonal Communication

The Final Paper Interpersonal Communication J. Anderl Assignment: To discuss the development of one (1) real relationship that you are/were part of in a way that demonstrates a highly level grasp of the content of this class. Show me that you a) understand a variety of terms and b) can apply those terms to make sense of the how developed and why it developed along that trajectory. Follow these steps: a) Select a relationship (or maybe part of a relationship) that you want to use to analyze b) Identify critical moments (i.e. like some turning points) that really highlight the development of the relationship. c) Use as many themes, tools, and/or models from this course that will help make sense of why and how the relationship developed the way it did. Identify the with bold and cite the first use of the terms.  It is essential for you to develop how and why the relationship changed/evolved (i.e. what caused it to move from point A to point D) in a way that demonstrates to me that you have a solid grasp of the course content. Structure your paper into 2 sections: 1) The first section should be a short (1-2 pages) historical overview of the relationship. Think of this section as a ‘plot summary’ of the relationship. DO NOT use many course concepts during this section. The purpose of this section is to provide the basic background and develop the contextual information regarding the history of the relationship. Then towards the end of this section turn the focus toward your analysis section. 2) The second section is your analysis (4-6 pages). I want you to discuss major turning points of the relationship that facilitated the development of the relationship. Focus on key moments (scenes/turning points) within the relationship and then tell the story of these moments while employing course concepts that help anchor that experience with the ideas developed in the course. Finally, for each scene discuss the impact that that moment had on the relationship by appropriately employing terms from the course. This section should be the primary part of your paper and is where you want to demonstrate to me that you have improved your relational awareness. Make sure you: a) focus in on a scene/climate/moment/turning-point in your relationship; then b) develop what happened during that scene using the concepts, terms, and models in the class; so as to c) show how the choices you made improved or eroded the emerging relational culture (again, focus on employing any necessary terms to strengthen your analysis). All concepts from lectures & chapters in your book are your primary resources. Also, you may use outside material from other classes/books if it helps in developing an accurate understanding of the relationship; regardless, make sure you identify the language (bold) and use in text citation protocol. Do NOT spend all your time/space simply unfolding the narrative history of your relationship. This does not demonstrate your competency of the course material. You have to clearly and accurately use concepts, terms, and labels to help unpack how the relationship grew in order to score well on this paper. If it helps, try to keep in mind why I am assigning this paper. There are two goals for this assignment: 1) To help me gauge whether you (a) understand and (b) can accurately integrate and apply multiple concepts from this course to a real relationship. 2) To give you an opportunity to systematically and rationally unpack a real relationship in your life using the tools developed in this class. If I feel that both of these goals are met then you are well on your way to getting an ‘A’ for this assignment. Logistic Details: a. This is a formal paper so feel free to use a Title Page. b. The length should be between 5-8 pages not including the title page c. Formatting should be fairly standard: 1” margins max., 1.5 spacing max., 12pt max., Times New Roman (or similar) Font. If you have questions about this part stop by the writing center or the computer lab and ask them to show you how to set this up. Grading schema (100pts total): I am primarily looking at the accuracy and application of concepts, but also how you synthesis, structure, and explore the depth of your ideas. Basic Grade Matrix: A paper’s reveal the different concepts themes that weave together to help make sense of the relationship’s evolution in a clear and insightful way. It will incorporate course concepts into your story in a way that reveals the how and why of the relationships progression. These papers move beyond simply labeling the story with concepts, but it will unfold a rational for understanding the progression of the relationship by integrating various (macro and micro level) concepts into the story. B paper’s tend to be good at applying necessary and appropriate concepts to the story of the relationship, but fall short in the ability to develop a clear and accurate understanding of the evolution relationship (i.e. the ‘why’ of the relationships development is a bit incomplete). These papers usually lack enough integration of concepts causing the explanation to be a bit unclear or underdeveloped. C paper’s can be a result of 2 things: First, these papers tend to focus on telling the relationship story, but are weak in the identification of concepts, and therefore do not have the concept application necessary to reveal the process concerning ‘why’ the relationship is developing. Second, any paper that does not meet the minimum page requirements will cap their grade at a ‘C’ even if they have an ‘A’ analysis up to that point. If you find yourself outside the page requirements then add another turning point and unpack that moment. There is no reason to fall short as any relationship that you are part of has enough to unpack to fill 5-8 pages. D paper’s might have a good summary of the relationship and stories, but overall are lacking concepts and their application therefore not really revealing the relationships development. There might be obvious inaccurate terminology to glaring gaps in the explanation of the story. D papers are usually reflective of serious issues in the ability to demonstrate adequate levels of competent and insightfulness. F papers… obvious lack of development of the relationship, application, concepts, etc. Zero’s… any late paper. Any paper that is late or not turned in will earn a zero for this assignment.