CMS04220 – Interpersonal Communication Essay

This assignment is worth 20 points.
In this paper, your writing objective will be to make an argument regarding the usefulness OR
inadequacy of a concept/principle from Modules 3, 4 or 5 for describing the interpersonal
communication you experience in your daily life. You will choose ONE bulleted concept or
principle from the list on pages 2 and 3 of this document.
Specific Requirements
 Students must explicitly identify the concept/principle selected and establish the
meaning of the concept or principle according to the reading or lecture.
 Students must use at least one example (this can be either real or hypothetical) of an
interpersonal communication situation (e.g. a date, a discussion you had, a time you
ed from a server in a restaurant) in making their argument for why the
concept/principle is useful OR inadequate.
 The paper must be written with a proper introduction to set up the points to be made, a
body that fleshes out those points, and a conclusion that provides a wrap-up
 Informal references to class content or reading (e.g. According to the lecture on..,
According to the chapter 3 of the text book…, According to the article by Wood…,) are
acceptable; HOWEVER, a formal citation in proper APA or MLA format with a Works
Cited page is required IF:
o a student relies on any source other than those in the assigned reading
 Students are encouraged to consult outside sources in this way.
 Note that sources listed in the Works Cited sections of the lectures are
NOT assigned reading.
o a student uses wording taken from any source (i.e. verbatim/copy-paste)
INCLUDING sources in the assigned reading…if you quote it, you have to cite it
 Both citation systems require quotes around the text, the name of the
author who wrote the text, and the page number in the source from
where it came provided in parentheses at the end of the text. APA has
the additional requirement of including the year of publication.
 A Works Cited page is not required UNLESS it was necessary for the student to
reference a source outside of the assigned reading or quotes any source. This Works
Cited page does not count against page total.
 Any use of MLA or APA will be scored according to the standards described on the
Purdue Online Writing Lab: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/
 The paper must be submitted by the specified due date. Refer to the syllabus for due
dates.
o Late submissions will not be accepted
o To plan for power outages or other conflicts, students should plan to submit
papers early.
 This paper has no page minimum, but must not exceed 4 pages.
 See Assignments Scoring Rubric for guidance on how all reaction papers will be graded.
Students are encouraged, but not required to use the Module discussion boards as a sounding
board for ideas on this paper. Although more than one student may write about the same
concept or principle, it is expected that students will work alone in constructing their own
arguments.
Select ONE of the bullet-pointed concepts or principles as your topic of discussion, following
any specific instructions provided for the selected bullet. Although other concepts may have
been discussed in the chapters, the only eligible concepts are listed here.
Concepts from Module 3 Lectures
 Society (Must be discussed according to Symbolic Interactionist framing)
 Self (Must be discussed according to Symbolic Interactionist framing)
 Mind (Must be discussed according to Symbolic Interactionist framing)
 Cognitive Schemata and Cognitive Complexity (Must discuss both concepts if selected)
 Expectancies and Expectancy Violations (Must discuss both concepts if selected)
 Attributions (Must be discussed with reference to at least one pattern of logic OR one
pattern of bias discussed in the lecture of textbook)
Concepts from Chapter 4 not covered in lectures
 Physiological Influences on Perception (Must discuss/compare two discussed in chapter
if selected)
 Psychological Influences on Perception (Choose one)
 Social Influences on Perception (Choose one)
Concepts from Module 4 Lectures
 Roles (Must be discussed with reference to audience)
 Performance (Must be discussed with reference to audience)
 Teams (Must be discussed with reference to audience)
 Front Stage and Back Stage (Must be discussed with reference to audience)
 Face (Must be discussed by Goffman’s framing)
 Facethreat and Facework (Must explicitly discuss at least one kind of face threat and
one strategy of facework)
 Depth and Breadth of Self Disclosure (Must discuss both if selected)
 Expression-Privacy Dialectic (Orientation on role in self disclosure)
 Boundaries, Boundary Coordination, and Boundary Negotiation (Must discuss all three if
selected)
Concepts from Chapter 3 not covered in lectures
 Impression management and social media (As discussed in textbook)
 Impression management and honesty (As discussed in textbook)
Concepts from Module 5 Lectures
 Relationships as structured exchange points of resources
 Stages of Relational Escalation (Must discuss all five)
 Relational Forces (Must discuss with mention of forces being internal/external and
centrifugal/centripetal. Identifying one force with description of how it fits in both
continua would be sufficient)
 Expression-Privacy Dialectic (Orientation on role in relationships)
 Integration-Separation Dialectic
 Stability-Change Dialectic
 Strategies of Relational Maintenance (Must discuss/compare at least two of the
strategies mentioned in the lecture or book)
 Relational Equity (Must discuss according to lecture’s framing)