To help you identify interpersonal communication principles and theories at work in your everyday relationships (i.e. put theory into practice) To identify ways to positively affect your relationship through communication To reflect personally on the relevance of this course/to reiterate your role in relationship satisfaction As a culmination of course materials, you will write a paper analyzing a relationship you are currently in (or have been in recently) by applying relevant communication concepts from the course. Connect the concepts together!! There are many communication themes which impact our relationships (and connect to each other) as we have seen throughout the term. For instance, how we express our feelings and manage our identity may impact the way we handle conflict in a particular relationship. This might, in turn, lead to a defensive climate cycle in the relationship in which we use evaluative language and so forth. To get started, follow the steps below:  Step 1: Focus on a significant interpersonal relationship in your life. Choose a relationship from one of the following contexts: work, family, friends, romance, or school. Pick a relationship that is significant enough to you that you will benefit from exploring it – as well as have enough experiences from which to draw conclusions in your analysis. Only analyze one person in your life (not an entire family, group of friends, multiple coworkers, etc.). Step 2 (reflection): Select the specific principles from class that you find are particularly evident in this relationship. To help you, first explore what works well in this relationship and why (try to think about various communication aspects). Now think about what doesn’t work well or what you wish would be different in this relationship (again, try to think about the chapters we’ve discussed, the concepts we’ve covered). Be sure to look at your behavior as well as the other person’s communication behaviors. Step 3 (the paper): Write an analysis of this relationship using concepts, strategies and guidelines from this course. Your paper should have a clear thesis that identifies your focus – i.e., what topic areas will you be using for the analysis. Be sure to 1) briefly describe the relationship to provide context and show that it is an interpersonal relationship as defined in class (about a paragraph MAX), 2) define and discuss which concepts from class apply (show me you know what these terms mean explicitly), 3) illustrate why/how they apply to your relationship using specific, detailed examples from your relationship (make connections across the concepts), and 4) reflect by discussing your feelings or thoughts on the state of the relationship, your satisfaction with your communication behaviors and goals (use specific concepts from class you want to use to improve the relationship) for making changes as a result of your learning in this class. Remember to keep this an analysis and not simply a description of your life – ask yourself how did these behaviors impact the situation or other person, was it satisfactory or difficult, what does the text recommend for effective communication? Do not merely describe—look at the impact! Note:   It’s better to identify just a few (about 3) major concepts rather than trying to cover as many as possible. This will allow you to go deeper and be more thorough. Look for communication concepts that relate to one another – show your understanding of how these communication ideas or behaviors affect each other (synthesis). For example, you may look at conflict styles, expressing emotions, and supportive/defensive communication climates (these are three big concepts). The most successful papers will focus on more complex themes (tied together)—meaning you should bring in specific terms from those larger concepts. If you choose to write about culture or gender, you must tie it to a more complex topic. Do not simply just describe culture or gender—how does it connect to the concepts from the book?   Example paper outline (organization): Conflict Styles and Management Between Mom and Me   This is just one sample of an outline for a paper you could do for this assignment. I will provide one in class verbally about my brother, Mathias (Mat) **.  Introduction - includes a brief summary of the relationship, and the thesis statement and preview of the key concepts/summary of relationship. ..., The Troubled Relationship –use of unproductive conflict styles A. The problem existing between my mother and me (brief) --Examples of our difficulties – and how that ties to concepts from class or illustrates the various unproductive conflict styles and defense arousing behaviors we’ve covered in class. ...  Unproductive conflict styles impact our relationship climate (see the connection?) Defense arousing behaviors when we argue create a difficult climate Difficulty in effectively expressing emotions because of this style and behaviors  .... Unproductive expression of emotion-because of our defensive climate, we have trouble expressing emotions properly. Use of emotion labor, which leads to bottled up feelings Bottled up feelings are due to negative climate Negative climate leads back to negative emotions that are spread via emotion contagion .... Effect of this leads to debilitative emotions Leads to loss of functioning Spirals back to unproductive climate .... Conclusion – summary of what was discussed/restatement of thesis, final reflection, suggestions moving forward with specific class concepts to work on. ...  You can organize any way you’d like. There is usually more emphasis on the issues and analysis itself.   Mechanical Requirements: See grading rubric for assessment expectations on content, style and analysis in more detail (On Canvas) Five FULL pages, typed (double spaced, 12 pt. font size, Times New Roman, 1” margins) Must be turned in as a Word.doc via Canvas. Use a standard essay format -- include an introduction (with clear thesis), a body of main points (your analysis) and conclusion (summarize your ideas and include recommendations for future) Check for spelling and grammar errors! Show college level writing skills.