This essay asks you to consider communication theories in a creative way–by brainstorming, writing, and defending your own communication theory! Pretend you are a communication researcher trying to understand human behavior. You will begin by collecting your data: watch the two clips provided. They are clips from Seinfeld; if you haven’t seen this show, you definitely should! These clips feature conversations between the main characters; most of their conversations center around interpersonal drama. If you have trouble with the links, just copy and paste them into your browser. Then, choose one of the clips on which to base your essay.
Clip 1: The deal
Clip 2: Male friendships
Once you have watched both videos, choose one on which to write your essay. You will invent one “interpersonal theory,” based on the video. Your essay will introduce us to your theory so we can learn all about it; your essay will also provide examples so we can understand how it might work in the real world. The parts of your essay will include:
1. APA Title Page (with running head and page numbers; don’t forget to change the font to Times New Roman).
2. An introduction (2-3 paragraphs)
In this section, you will grab our attention and set up your topic. You should also justify your topic–why is the area you chose to discuss important? Talk about the characters in the scene and what they say or do that prompted you to write about your topic. (Beyond this point, you can talk about the clips as much or as little as you want.)
3. Background of terms (1-2 pages)
In this section, you need to provide background information on your chosen topic. Are you going to write about male friendships? Then this section should talk about anything relevant to that topic, including how friendships are formed using communication, how relationships are maintained, gender expectations, perceptions we have of ourselves and others, so on and so forth. You should cite 4-5 terms from the text to build this section. You can use terms from any chapter.
4. Introduce your theory (1-2 paragraphs)
Based on your background information, introduce your theory. What is the name of your theory? It should have a clear name. Define it. Your definition is based on your words and your understanding of your theory; it does NOT come from a textbook. It comes from your imagination!
5. Apply an Example (1/2 page-1 page)
Provide an example to illustrate how your theory might play out in a real-life relationship situation. Your example can come from your personal life, it can be an imagined scenario, or it could even be from pop culture. Just be sure to use a lot of details to describe your example so we understand it very well. Apply your theory to the example.
5. Conclusion (1 paragraph)
Summarize your paper.
6. APA Reference List (this should also contain the header and page number)
Things to consider:
If if you choose, “The deal,”you will watch Jerry pitch his new relationship idea to his friend, George. You could choose to design your theory based on Jerry’s perspective or on George’s perspective. You could also choose to talk about relationship agreements, expectations, violations, or tensions. The list goes on!
If you choose the second video, you could write about male friendships, female friendships, gender fluid or non-conforming friendships, how gender impacts friendships, or anything else that strikes your imagination.
I am really excited to see what you come up with! Please make sure to use APA formatting for your title page, in-text citations, and reference list.
Your paper should be 3-5 pages of written text, plus your title page and reference list.
APA Tips that are often forgotten:
1. Remember to format the header correctly and change the default font for the header and page number.
2. Remember your in-text citations. Only use quotation marks when you also have a corresponding page number.
3. Double space everything.
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