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This assignment asks you to watch at least two TV family sitcoms, each from two different decades prior to the 2000s (e.g., from the 1950s-the 1990s). You’ll use examples from the episodes to analyze a variety of family communication concepts. The paper will also ask you to reflect on how or in what ways these TV family sitcoms from past eras have portrayed (or not portrayed) increasing diversity of families and family interactions over these decades, and how these limited family portrayals from the past compare to more diverse family portrayals on TV today. ( The fresh prince of bel-air & That 70’s show)
DETAILS OF THE PAPER
The typed, double-spaced paper (12 point font) should be around eight pages, though you may be able to accomplish your goal in fewer pages, (you likely won’t be able to address everything in less than 5 pages).
Communicate in writing with a commitment to clarity and conciseness. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors undercut your credibility and distract the reader from the points you are making in your paper.
Use of AI (e.g., ChapGPT) will result in a failing grade on the assignment and will be reported to the NMSU Academic Misconduct Office. The paper will be run through an AI detector, and further, AI generators do not produce what is needed for an assignment such as this anyway.
You will use material from the text, lectures, video, and personal examples. Be certain to cite sources when you are quoting from the text, using APA format. If you cite sources, you should include a reference page. However, you do not need to cite sources in order to create an “A” paper.
The Paper #1 rubric, which can be found under the Modules link shows how the paper will be graded. Be sure to address every prompt in the assignment below and also make sure your paper shows:
accuracy and completeness of your theory/concept description in each part of the assignment
appropriateness and detail of the examples provided
use of appropriate terminology throughout the paper
overall quality of writing, including accuracy of spelling and grammar
STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF THE PAPER (consider using the headings below in your paper to organize yourself)
Introduction
Very briefly explain the purpose of your paper and the direction you plan to take. Identify which families you will analyze in each part of the paper.
Body (There are three parts to the body of the paper.)
Part I: Family Structure and Interaction
Base your responses to Part I on ONE TV family (this family can be from any era–the 1950s, 1970s, or 1990s)
Choose any one of the families and describe them according to EACH of the bulleted structures below. For each one, name the kind of structure the family appears to follow in most cases. Define each structure and provide specific examples of specific interactions from the episode to support why the family is a certain kind of structure:
power-authority structures
decision making structures (e.g., accommodation, defacto, consensus)
interaction structures (e.g., centralized and decentralized types such as the wheel, Y, chain, or all-channel)
family rules (e.g., regulative, constitutive).
In other words, tell which kind of structure the family appears to follow in most cases. Discuss each concept in detail, and then apply the concept to the family experiences. Provide specific examples of specific interactions in the family to illustrate your points.
Then describe the family according to Olson’s model of adaptability and cohesion by telling what level of cohesion and what level of adaptability the family has. Again, provide specific examples of specific interactions in the family to illustrate your points.
In this same family, choose one sibling relationship OR one parent-child relationship Analyze this relationship using at least one major concept from lecture or the book. Discuss the concept in detail, and then apply the concept to the relationship. Provide specific examples of specific interactions in the relationship to illustrate your points.
Part II: Family Stress
Base your responses to Part II on TWO different TV families from two different eras
What kinds of stressors did the families have to deal with in each program? Describe them. How serious are they? Do you see a trend developing here (as you look at shows from the 50s, 70s, 90s, and compare them to shows today)?
Choose two families and describe the function of the stressor with Hill’s ABC-X model. Define and identify each component (A, B, and C), and then estimate how stressful you thought this would be for the family (X). Do you think that any of the other families that we saw would react differently (i.e., their X would be different). Explain.
Part III: How Do Our Own Families Affect Us and How Are Topics of Family Diversity Treated in Family Sitcoms?
Examine the effect your family has had on your communication behaviors with others by focusing on one communication term/concept from the class to this point. Examples of communication concepts you may want to focus on are: communicator styles, self-concept issues, ways of dealing with conflict, the fundamental attribution error, or any other concept from the book or lecture. It may be that your communication behaviors (effective or ineffective) are patterned after your family. Possibly you have learned what not to do when communicating with others based on the ineffective behaviors used in your family. Use specific examples of specific interactions.
Comment on the expanding portrayal of diversity in TV families today in comparison to the past century (e.g., whether there is a need for more diversity or whether you see any trends toward increasing diversity–you might even discuss an example of a current show that shows more diversity of people or family interactions). Are there more portrayals today of diverse family interactions (both positive and negative) and diverse treatment of topics that affect families? Feel free to give examples of shows. Are negative stereotypes still prevalent? Also what expectations do TV families create in real ones?
Conclusion
Provide a very brief summary of each part of the body of the paper. Last, provide a discussion of what you have learned (more generally) about family communication by analyzing and applying the concepts/theories to your family’s behavior.
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