Chapters 10 and 11

April 4 - 17

Saturday - Tuesday (4/5): Quiz over Unit Six: Chapters 10 and 11

Wednesday (4/6): Post your initial answer in your group discussion forum (see information on Units page for Successfully Using Discussion Forums) to the following:

Given the case study, "Dealing with a Jealous Partner " on page 356, determine what your response would be.

Write a sentence or two stating exactly what your next action/response would look like. Then, support your decision using information from your text. The format for your answer (and the group's final answer) should be:

Action: Sentence or two

Support: Paragraph or two that provides support, explanation, reasoning using what you have learned in the chapter

Wednesday - Wednesday (4/13): Discussion of case study in your groups. Final answers (in the above format) must be posted in your forum on 11/17, with the topic "FINAL ANSWER FOR YOURGROUPNAME".

Friday (4/8): Your sixth interpersonal analysis addition to your webpage is due this unit. To help you better understand some of the concepts in the course and be able to apply them to improve your own interpersonal communication skills, you need to:

Choose two of the following:

1. Comment on the differences in beliefs and behaviors when love is viewed as a "choice" (p. 327) rather than something you "fall into."
2. Choose a romantic relationship, friendship, or family relationship, and discuss which of the maintenance strategies (from your textbook) you might use to enrich that relationship. Now, try that for a day or three. What happened?
3. Take the conversation/conformity quiz on page 387. Based on this, decide which of the family types (p. 372) your family most closely resembles. Explain how well (or not) this works for your family and why.
4. Social exchange and equity models are an attempt to apply economic models to relationships. How well does that work? To answer this question, apply social exchange and equity theory to an analysis of one of your romantic relationships (past or present). For instance, what is your comparison level, i.e., what benefits and costs do you expect in a romantic relationship? How well did/does your relationship match these expectations? How well did/does your partner match up to your comparison level of alternatives? Compare the costs you incurred to the benefits you received/are receiving in the relationship. Were/are you over- benefited, under- benefited, or equally benefited? Now: how well does this analysis explain your relationship? Does it leave anything important out?
5. Consider the dysfunctional relationship beliefs your book discusses on pages 349-350. Do you have any of these (or have you had any of these)? If so, where do you believe those beliefs came from, i.e., family, friends, media? Be as specific in your analysis as possible.
6. One of the parts of the definition of family, according to your text, is "a group of people who create and maintain a mutual identity" (p. 367). Explore how your family has created and maintained a mutual identity. Consider stories, rituals, rules, conversation patterns and/or family traditions.

Want to find out more about your own relationships? Try these:

Online attraction test - find out what kind of person you are attracted to

Gottman's Relationship quizzes - test the health of your relationships

Friday - Thursday (4/14): Comment on group member’s webpages in the Unit Six Webpage Comments forum. Answer the following questions for each of your group member’s webpages:

1. First check your group members’ webpages to be sure they have:

• Answered all parts of the assignment;
• Supported their answers with specifics;
• Written for the web: bullet points, headings, phrases – not sentences and/or paragraphs;
• Post helpful suggestions for anyone who you feel could probably improve his/her answer before I grade the webpage

2. Then, choose one person who you feel “taught” you something about this unit’s concepts – what did that person teach you with his/her website? Why does learning about that concept matter?

Things to remember about webpages:
• Read the information on the Units page about Additions to Interpersonal Analysis webpages (IAW)
• Start early and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.
• Post pictures, if you like, but please do not post too many… slows load time
• Write for the web (information about this is on the Units page as well)

Friday (4/15): Final revisions are completed to your webpage.

Thursday - Sunday (4/17): Debate final answers for case study in Unit Five Debate Discussion Forum (see Units page for information on Debating Final Answers).