Assignment:
WATCH the DOCUMENTARY “AMERICAN TEEN”
All semester we have been discussing different domains of adolescent development, and it is now time to put that knowledge to use using a real world example. The American Teen documentary chronicles the senior year of a variety of different high-school student. During the movie, it will be your job to look for parallel between what we have been learning in class and what is going on in the life of these teens. Then, you should CHOOSE 3 of the questions below and answer them. When answering each question, provide specific examples from the film to demonstrate/provide evidence for your answers. You should also reference specific material/concepts from the book for EACH AND EVERY question that are relevant to your answer. For example, you you see an example of adolescent egocentrism in the movie, summarize the example then describe how it fits the definition of adolescent egocentrism.
There is no page requirement, but you should write about one to two paragraphs (5 sentences each paragraph) for each question. BOLD any words or text you use/get from any of the chapters and include the page numbers.
1) What types of adolescent appropriate thinking do we see in these teens? Describe at least 2 specific examples (from the film) of one of the following: adolescent egocentrism or the personal fable, pragmatism, dualistic thinking. Discuss how each example demonstrates the bolded concept (Chapter 3)
2) What crowd is each adolescent a part of? How does their crowd membership impact their high school experience (provide examples)? (Chapter 8)
3) Describe the identities of at least 2 teens. What is their identity status (achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, or diffusion)? Give specific at least 1 specific example of why you think this (for each teen). (Chapter 6)
4) Describe the parents of at least 2 different teens in the film. What would you say their parenting styles are (provide examples of the behaviors that make you think they are using that particular style)? Also, how are these parenting styles impacting their kids? Is this typical of what should happen to kid as a result of that parenting style? Explain how they are/are not typical. (Chapter 7)
5) What kinds of conflicts are the teens having with their parents (provide at least 2 short examples)? Are these typical of the kinds of conflict our book says teens generally have with parents? Explain. (Chapter 7)
6) Choose 1 pair of friends from the movie. What kind of support are these friends getting from one another – instrumental, informational, companionship, esteem? Provide at least 1 example of this type of support from the film. (Chapter 8)
7) Describe an example of relational aggression from the film? How does it fit the definition of relational aggression? How does it impact the victim of the aggression, and does this impact correspond to what the book has to say about the impact of relational aggression? (Chapter 8)
8) Describe the teens’ romantic relationships. What are the reasons (from the bottom of pg. 243) that these teens are dating – support your answer with examples from the film? (Chapter 9)
9) Describe each teens’ sociometric popularity. Are they popular, rejected, neglected, controversial? Describe why you chose your answer (using info from the book and specific examples from the film). (Chapter 8)
