Interpersonal Communication
Instructions: This exam has two distinct parts. The first is a SUMMARY of the three concepts you selected for your video presentations. Each concept gets a paragraph where you identify the term and the film used for analysis.
It includes a quote from the text, and supplemental resource materials about the term (for the second and third presentations). It will include a one-sentence summary of your relational takeaway on the concept.
The second part is a concept you have not used for any analysis (video, or weekly forums). You will complete a concept analysis as if you were preparing it for a video presentation: three (minimum) academic resources (Devito is one).
Use quotations and citations, as well as restatements to create your own conclusion that can be stated in one sentence.
Then, connect that thought to THREE film clips from three different films (or three different scenes from one film) you have yet to use for presentations or for our weekly discussion forums. Build for us a deeper understanding of the concept than a single clip can provide.
First Part Considerations: This creates a backdrop of your growth as a scholar of both IPCOM and the role relationships in films. You are welcome to cut/paste from your original work, but the astute student will edit them so that the submission is an “end of the semester” type semester vs. a “middle of the semester” submission.
Your three paragraphs (one per presentation) should be parallel in structure and of similar length. The document should not show “cut/paste” coloration. This is a final project and should have that aesthetic appeal.
Second Part Considerations: This should be your finest work of the semester. The discussion of the concept is (roughly speaking) as long as the first part. This requires a paragraph from each of three resources. The three clips (one film x 3 different scenes; three films x 1 scene from each) are written using the techniques you are used to already:
Background info on the film(s)
Timestamp of the clips
One paragraph plot summary
Scene script, written out
One paragraph scene analysis using the concept.
The final paragraph (or two) is the integration of the three analyses into a single summary of the concept as scene in all three. This final “relational takeaway” should be your most in-depth, insightful takeaway of the semester.
Alternative to the Second Part: Pick a single, powerful scene, and use THREE new concepts to explain the scene. Notice that whether you have one concept used three times, or three concepts used one time, you are connecting three to one (i.e., 3 concepts to 1 film scene, or 1 concept to 3 film scenes).
The concepts should stand alone and not be related in the Devito reading. They obviously will be related in your analysis, but they are not terms from the same chapter (for an easy way of thinking about it).
Suggestions: The last option may require some hints. Select socially responsible insights into gender, race, class, cultural identity, age, etc. You could document a concept across three age levels, three cultures, three native languages, three gender identities, etc. This is likely where you begin.
An example from the films we watched could be: compare/contrast the innocence of youth as it is portrayed by Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald’s character in Breakfast Club), Barbara Keeley (Calista Flockhart’s character in The Birdcage), and (in juxtaposition) Victor Joseph (Adam Beach’s character in Smoke Signals). Note that you could select a variety of terms here: emotional messages, conversational disclosure, self-esteem, and attraction.
The assignment is not meant to be a conclusion about the concepts and/or the films. It IS intended to demonstrate a deep understanding of at least one concept, or are capable of integrating multiple concepts into one analytical review of a film.
It demonstrates that you are seeing patterns in narratives (from the films and TV shows) that connect back to course learning.
