Exam 1, comprising material through Oct 12, will be held in class on October 19. The exam will be essay format, and will allow a choice among several questions. Please bring a blue book or lined notebook paper.
Paper 1, on Attitudes and Persuasion, is due October 26
The goal in the first paper is to apply social psychological theories of
attitudes and persuasion to a formal mass persuasion attempt. Such
attempts include public service announcements, commercials for goods or
services, and pamphlets urging a vote for a political candidate or
proposition. Interpersonal face-to-face attempts to gain compliance
(e.g., a friend's efforts to loan her your car) are neither formal nor
mass persuasion attempts, so please avoid such topics. Once you have
identified an attempt (or pair of attempts, if you wish to provide
contrast), analyze the attempt from the perspectives discussed in Chapter
4. You may draw upon other chapters and material from class as needed.
Reliance upon outside materials such as unassigned empirical articles is
unnecessary. Although some description of the persuasion attempt is
necessary in the body of your paper, please append either synopsis of
audio/visual attempts or photocopy of written attempts.
An excellent paper shows evidence of clear critical thought, accurate and
thorough use of social psychological principles, logical organization and
flow, and superb technical writing. Each of these qualities will receive
equal weight; excellence in one area cannot substitute for deficits in
another area. APA-style is not required, but a consistent procedure for
format and references is expected. The paper should be approximately 6-8
pages in length, and will contribute 18% to the final course grade.
As noted on the syllabus, please do not solicit help from other people
(e.g., classmates, professors, other students, romantic partners) in
outlining or writing your paper. Asking other people to critique your
paper before submission also is prohibited. When in doubt, consult
the honor code.
Paper 1 deadline is extended to October 28. Please submit the paper on time.
A re-showing of the course films will take place on November 25, from 8:00 to 10:30. Films will be shown in the following order: Eye of the Storm, 8:00-8:30, In Search of: Jim Jones 8:45-9:15, Quiet Rage 9:30-10:30. I would appreciate your notifying me of your intentions to attend.
Individuals who missed Quiet Rage or wish to refresh their memories of an earlier viewing may wish to watch the slide show version. This original release of the Stanford Prison Experiment is less graphic than the video version.
Paper 2 Stereotyping and Prejudice The goal of the second paper is to examine a contemporary film or television series (i.e, no earlier than 1995) through the lens of social psychological theories of stereotyping and prejudice. The film or TV selection should be fictional, rather than being a documentary or news program. You may use portions of the film or the entire film, or a single TV episode or the series in general. For example, a television series blatantly or subtly might portray members of a particular group in a stereotypic fashion. Alternatively, a film might detail conflict and prejudice between opposing factions. Or, a single episode of a television series might depict an example of modern prejudice and discrimination. Your task is to provide social psychological insight into the selection. Recognize that a selection also might be Òat oddsÓ with theoretical and empirical research; if this discord occurs, feel free to examine it.
Once you have identified a selection , analyze the attempt from the perspectives discussed in Chapter 6. You may draw upon other chapters and material from class as needed. Reliance upon outside materials such as unassigned empirical articles is unnecessary. Although some description of the selection is necessary in the body of your paper, you may append a brief synopsis. Most important, realize that the reader may not be familiar with the characters, plot, or context of your selection. (i.e., Even if your selection is extremely popular, please do not assume that I have seen the film or series.)
An excellent paper shows evidence of clear critical thought, accurate and thorough use of social psychological principles, logical organization and flow, and superb technical writing. Each of these qualities will receive equal weight; excellence in one area cannot substitute for deficits in another area. APA-style is not required, but a consistent procedure for format and references is expected. The paper should be approximately 6-8 pages in length, and will contribute 18% to the final course grade.
As noted on the syllabus, and as noted before, please do not solicit help from other people (e.g., classmates, professors, other students, romantic partners) in outlining or writing your paper. Asking other people to critique your paper before submission also is prohibited. The honor code is reprinted at http://www.tulane.edu/~jruscher/dept/Honor.Code.html
Please submit your papers by 5pm on December 2.