For the final assignment, you will choose/watch a video from an identified life stage. Then, you will write a 6-paragraph essay summarizing the video and identifying 4 connections from the video to concepts, research findings, or terms from 2 textbook chapters (2 connections per chapter).
The life stages and the corresponding chapters to choose from are:
infancy (Chapters 4, 5, 6)
early childhood (Chapters 7 and 8)
middle and late childhood (Chapters 9 and 10)
adolescence (Chapters 11 and 12)
early adulthood (Chapters 13 and 14)
middle adulthood (Chapters 15 and 16)
late adulthood (Chapters 11, 18, 19)
Guidelines for choosing videos
You can choose from feature-length films, webisodes (YouTube series, etc.), or television show episodes. The general length of the video should be about one hour long. If you use a movie/film/documentary, it must be at least 60 mins (most commercial movies/films are 80-120 mins long). If you choose a TV episode, the number of episodes should add up to about an hour. So, if it’s typically a 20-ish-minute show, choose 3 episodes. If it is a 30-ish-minute show, choose 2 episodes. And a 45-ish min episode of one show without commercials counts as one hour-long show with commercials. If the show is between 30-40 minutes, choose two episodes.
Examples: Mean Girls (2004), three episodes of Komi Can’t Communicate, or one episode of Glee (and yes, I have watched all of these. Don’t judge me!). You are welcome to use any one of these examples or something else. It can be something you have seen and know well or something completely new that you want to watch for this assignment. Hey, if you want to use one of the videos from the midterm, you can do that too! However, it must be a video that you have not used before for the midterm.
Outline of Essay (3 parts)
Part 1: Synopsis/summary (at least 2 paragraphs): As much as I watch TV and movies, unfortunately, I have not seen everything. So, I would like for you to write at least a two-paragraph summary of the video(s), even if it is something you think I may have seen before. Include anything you think is important for me to know before you start making those connections in future paragraphs. Some general points include the 4-Ws: who, what, when, and where. Who are the main characters (or characters of focus), what is the main plot of the film or EACH episode, and when and where the show/film takes place. You should also identify the primary life stage you plan to focus on within the essay. For example, Mean Girls has characters of different age ranges, but it is safe to say that it primarily focuses on one particular stage. If all/most of your examples in the essay will focus on one character, you can identify that person (or group of people) here.
Part 2: Movie analysis (4 paragraphs total, 2 paragraphs per chapter concept): This section is very similar to the Midterm. For the video you choose, I want you to identify 4 connections from the video to concepts, research findings, or terms from 2 textbook chapters that match the life stage of the video. I want you to identify the chapter (chapter number) you refer to with each concept/term or research finding. You must choose 1 concept per chapter. In other words, if you choose early adulthood, I want 1 concept from Chapter 13 and 1 from Chapter 14. For each example, you must define the concept/explain the research finding AND explain why it is relevant or important overall in the video or in an identified portion of the video. Your responses must be at least one paragraph long for each of the 4 connections (2 connections per chapter).
Part 3: APA Style (citing sources): Since Psychology courses use APA style instead of MLA style, I am requiring you to cite your sources in APA format (in-text citations and a references page). You must cite the video that you choose within the essay through in-text citations and on the references page. You must also cite the textbook when you are making the connections to the video.
