Reflection paper
Steps
1) Go to your Course Dashboard and under “Student Resources” you will find an
APA Video Tutorial. View this 9 minute tutorial to learn how to format your
paper and how to include a title page, abstract, page numbers, analysis (body
of the paper) including in-text citations from your references, and how to set
up your reference page.
2) Choose one movie from the “Movie List” found on page 7 of your course
syllabus which is found on Moodle under the section “FOR STUDENTS”. I also
added “The Breakfast Club” movie to the list.
3) Watch your movie and decide which one or two characters from the movie you
would like to analyze. You will be explaining in your paper “why they do what
they do” in the movie based on 3 psychological concepts found in your textbook.
Examples of concepts: structures of the brain (neuroscience), motivation,
emotion, learning, memory, personality, sensation and perception, sleep and
dreaming, human development, stress and coping, and mental health disorders.
4) Your reference page should include 4 peer-reviewed articles found through
the TU library link AND a reference to your online textbook which you should
use to define the concepts you will be using to describe the behavior of your
movie character(s). The 4 articles should support or provide information about
the concepts you are using to describe the behavior of your movie characters.
5) To reference your online textbook, use the following:
Pastorino, E. and Doyle-Portillo, S. (2016). What is Psychology? Foundations,
Applications, and Integration. Retrieved from
https://ng.cengage.com/static/nb/ui/evo/index.html…
6) You can use the following link to answer additional questions on how to
cite online references:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/a…
7) The body of the paper (analysis of characters) should be 4 full pages of
text. You should use in-text citations in the body that refer to your
references listed on your reference page.
8) Your total paper should include: the title page, the abstract page, the
body (analysis), and the reference page. The grading rubric should be stapled
to the top of your paper with your name when handed in at the beginning of
class. Your grading rubric is also found on Moodle in the section “FOR
STUDENTS”.
Syllabus:
Reaction Paper (100 points)
Your reaction paper will be written using the American Psychological Association (APA) style and format, 6th edition. Your first step in the writing process will be to view the APA Video Tutorial located at the top of your Moodle page in the right hand corner.
Your paper will be an analysis of one or more movie characters from a movie selected from the list provided below. This paper is NOT a summary of the movie, it is an analysis of the behavior in the movie. You will use at least three (3) major concepts from your textbook and analyze the character(s) in the movie using these psychological concepts to explain why they act the way they do in the movie. For example, if you select the movie, 50 First Dates, and analyze Lucy, you might use the concepts of: 1) neuroscience (chapter 2) and discuss the structures of the brain that were affected by her accident; 2) anterograde and retrograde amnesia (chapter 7) and describe how these types of memory loss affected Lucy’s behavior; or 3) motivation and emotion (chapter 5) and how these concepts affected Henry’s behavior. You do not need to use these concepts; these are just examples of how you might select concepts to use in your paper.
In addition to using the concepts in the textbook as references, you will also support the statements in your paper using peer-reviewed articles from credible resources that provide research-based information to help explain your character’s behavior. Your reference page should include a minimum of five (5) references, one reference to your textbook and four additional resources.
When writing the analysis of your movie character (the body of the paper), you should refer to your textbook and additional references to support your ideas of why the character is behaving in a certain manner. The body of the paper should be a minimum of four full pages and no longer than 5 pages. In-text citations using APA formatting should be made in the body of your paper when using your reference material.
Your final paper will consist of a title page, abstract page, reference page and an analysis of the movie character (body of paper) based on the topics in the book – approximately 7-8 pages total. Your paper is due on MONDAY, OCTOBER 29 and will be turned in before class with the grading rubric (posted on Moodle) stapled to the top of your paper. If you do not submit your paper on the due date, 10 points will be deducted each day it is late.
Movie List (select one):
50 First Dates (2004). A romantic comedy about young adult love in which Adam Sandler portrays a young man who falls in love with a girl (Drew Barrymore) with an unusual type of memory loss. She maintains memories throughout the day, but every night she loses those new memories and awakens the next day starting over. Sandler’s character must find new and effective methods of winning her affections every day.
American Sniper (2015). Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle’s pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home to his wife and kids after four tours of duty, however, Chris (Bradley Cooper) finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind.
Legends of the Fall (1994). Tristan (Brad Pitt) falls from innocence as he embarks on a journey into the darkest secrets of love, betrayal, and the unbreakable bonds of blood. This movie portrays an evolution over a lifespan of joy, hate, compassion, and rites of passage.
Regarding Henry (1991). Henry (Harrison Ford) is a ruthless and driven lawyer who sustains a gunshot wound to the head during an interrupted robbery. What results is amnesia as well as a significant change in his personality. The film focuses on his recovery as he comes to terms with the person he once was.
Still Alice (2014). Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband (Alec Baldwin) and three grown children (Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, and Hunter Parrish). When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s changes her life—and her relationship with her family and the world—forever.
