All social environments contain a tremendous range and variety of interpersonal relationships/ communication (romantic relationships, marriage, conflicts in the workplace, self-esteem problems, even interpersonal dimensions of politics or business, etc.).

A.  Selection.

All social environments contain a tremendous range and variety of interpersonal relationships/ communication (romantic relationships, marriage, conflicts in the workplace, self-esteem problems, even interpersonal dimensions of politics or business, etc.).  

FILM and LITERATURE are good and interesting 

places to find such issues.  For your project you will need to select a film or a book/play which portrays 

an issue or a situation that would be of interest to you. 

Once you have the specific film/book/play, you will 

have to analyze it and find the key issue (or issues) that you want to use for the paper.  You may select a 

specific relationship between two characters in the movie and explain their communication/relationship by using 

the concepts and theories from our class. Or, you could focus on a broader issue as, for example, how the 

movie illustrates the general theories of conflict or how self-esteem affects relationships.

B.  Project Report.

6-8 pages, double-spaced typed project report due on the last day of class.

This part should include the following:

1.   Detailed description of the situation/conflict (approximately 1-2 pages);

2.   Description and explanation of any necessary background and related issues (the length of this section 

will depend on the case you have chosen);

3.   Identification of the causes of the conflict (the factors contributing to the conflict).  In other words, why 

people involved in this particular situation behave the way they do?  Or, to put it differently: what makes 

them do what they do? (2-3 pages)

4.   Critical assessment of the causes of the conflict / factors contributing to either the success or failure of 

the relationship.  Which of the factors is/are the most important.  In this section you could also comment 

on possible solutions to the problem you are describing.  How the problem could have been prevented 

and what can be done now when the problem have already occurred?  (approximately 2-4 pages);

5.   A bibliography with a minimum of 5 sources.  Your main resource in preparing and writing the paper will 

be your textbook, but you should use other material as well.  There is a multitude of books and articles 

on the subject.  You will be able to do some research during the class time (library research).