The Accidental Tourist (1988) (USA). Psyc 362

I can attach lecture notes if needed. The only source is the movie. DO NOT summarize movie. and do not include personal feelings about the movie, but rather theory behind their close relationship. Psyc 362 (2011-3) Paper Requirements – Movie Analysis Your assignment is to analyze one of four specified movies (see movie options). The goal of this assignment is to apply and integrate material covered in the class. In your analysis, you will not simply focus on describing the relationships that you observe in the movie. Rather, you will take the concepts discussed in lecture and in the readings, and apply them to a movie. In your movie analysis, you should focus on one or two adult close relationship, perhaps comparing the relationships portrayed. Don't try to discuss every relationship shown in the movie in your paper! Such an approach would likely result in a superficial analysis of the relationships. At the outset of the paper, you need to make clear which relationship(s) you will be analyzing. In your analysis, consider how the various theoretical perspectives and other key ideas in the course (attachment, self-expansion, interdependence theory, cognitive processes, communication, etc.) may help in interpreting the characters' relational behaviour. You will not be able to consider all material covered in the course; rather, choose the topics (within the guidelines described below) that are most relevant and useful given the movie and relationship(s) you are analyzing. You are required to integrate the course material. You may find that the same relational behaviour can be interpreted from different perspectives. You also may find that different stages of a relationship, or different experiences and challenges in a relationship, lend themselves to interpretation from different perspectives. You could take the strategy of contrasting two or more theories – what explains some relational behaviour better? Attachment theory or self-expansion? Are they complementary? Do they explain different aspects of the relationship? Do they each provide different explanations for the relationship behaviour you observe? In some cases, you may be able to use course material to predict the future course of a relationship or to analyze characters' relational choices. In some cases, different theories may lead you to different conclusions or predictions about the course of the relationship, and, in other cases, interpretations from different perspectives may converge. Where appropriate, feel free to point out aspects of the story that lack psychological validity. In other words, are the characters' behaviours believable given what you know about theory and research on close relationships? Please keep in mind that the goal is to demonstrate your ability to apply and integrate the course material. We are not interested in your personal feelings and ideas about the movie unless these are supported by theory and research in close relationships. You can assume that the TM who marks your paper will have seen the movie; therefore, you do not need to give a detailed description of the plot. As well you can assume that the TM knows the course material at least as well as you do; therefore, you do not need to explain the theories or research that you apply in your paper. Additional research is not required, although you may choose to do additional reading on a specific topic. If you do choose to do additional reading, references should only be from legitimate academic sources. If you are in doubt about what constitutes a legitimate academic source, please consult with the TM. Required paper elements At the beginning of your paper, briefly introduce the movie you have chosen and indicate which relationship(s) you intend to focus on in your analysis. This should take no more than one paragraph. Here's a rough guide for the first paragraph: 1) briefly describe the premise/plot of the movie (1-2 sentences); 2) indicate what relationship(s) you will be focusing on (1 sentence); 3) overview what material/theories you will be covering (1-2 sentences). Although you are free to draw on any material presented in this course, you must consider the relationship(s) from: 1) An attachment and/or a pair bonding perspective. The normative material will likely be most helpful. 2) Self-expansion theory 3) Communication. You could talk about how the characters deal with conflicts of interest, as well as other relevant processes such as how they support each other and how they communicate affection, trust, empathy, forgiveness, etc. You may want to bring in concepts from face management theory and/or discuss various communication patterns (e.g., demand/withdrawal, negative reciprocity). In your discussion of the characters' communication, you are encouraged to use quotes from the movie to illustrate the processes you are discussing. 4) At least one other perspective, either interdependence theory or some aspect of cognitive processes. It is essential that you explicitly integrate the theories you have chosen, as they apply to the relationship(s) in the movie. Be sure to draw parallels or highlight contradictions between/among different approaches. You can approach the task of integration one of two ways. You could first apply the various perspectives and then integrate them in a section at the end. Alternatively, you may incorporate the integration with the application, with theories being compared and contrasted throughout the paper (possibly as a way to transition between theories). Grading criteria Brief introduction to movie, relationship focus made clear 1 point Application of course material to the movie 10 points Integration of various theories/research 8 points Composition Organization, coherence, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, etc 5 points APA format 1 point Total 25 points Format of paper - 8-10 pages text, not including title page & references (approx. 2,500 to 3,000 words text) - material beyond 10 pages of text or 3,500 words (whichever comes first) will not be read and will not be considered in the grade - typewritten and double-spaced, with 12 pt. Times New Roman font and 1” margins - Follow APA style for citations, references, and writing style. You are expected to correctly cite the sources you draw upon – most often lectures and readings. - abstract not required Remember, the quality of your writing will impact each aspect of your mark. Anything that makes your writing unclear (e.g., poor sentence structure, grammatical errors, typographical errors) will also lower your mark for application and integration of the theories. How to reference and cite movies and lectures Movies: - Smith, B. B. (Producer), & Black, A. A. (Director). (Year). Title of movie [Motion picture]. Country of Origin: Studio. - In text: (Smith, Year) Lectures: - Bartholomew, K. (Year, Month). Title of lecture. Lecture conducted in Psychology 362. [Lecture notes]. Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. - In text: (Bartholomew, 2011) OR (Bartholomew, 2011a) OR (Bartholomew, 2011b) depending on how many different lectures you cite. Submission of papers and late penalties Papers are due 7 pm on Thursday, November 24th, 2011. Papers are to be submitted via webCT as uploaded attachments. (If you use Wordperfect- or any program that doesn't save your document as .doc or .docx -- please save your paper in rich text format (.rtf) instead.). It is your responsibility to ensure that your paper is submitted via webCT on time. We recommend that you submit your paper well before the due date/time so that you have the opportunity to consult with webCT help if you run into any difficulties. Please do not submit your paper via email. Of course, you are welcome to submit your paper early. Title of word document: Please follow this format for naming the file: “lastname_shortmovietitle.doc” For example, if Heather Jones writes her paper about The Accidental Tourist, the name of the file could be “Jones_tourist.doc” Late penalties: Late papers will be penalized 1 mark per day or portion thereof, including weekends. Returning papers To save trees, we do not print out the papers. We will provide you with a feedback sheet with your grade breakdown and a checklist of the strengths and weaknesses of your paper. Our goal will be to have the marking done by the final exam, though we make no guarantees. If you would like more in depth feedback, please contact us in the first week of the next semester. We will be happy to re-read your paper and provide you with more detailed feedback.