| One Experiential Essay in 1500-1600 Words (About 5 pages in length, double-spaced and typed) (17%) (Due at your professor’s office, COM-143, 12 PM or Noon on Wednesday, April 20, 2016) ***Important Note*** This essay will be provided to Assessment and Accreditation Services as evidence of Personal Responsibility, one of the required Core Objectives in the new Core Curriculum. This assessment is required by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. A certain number of essays from the class will be randomly selected and forwarded to third-party evaluators. You are required to write a “critical” and “conversational” experiential essay that contains 1500-1600 words. This essay should include one new communication theory of your choice from lecture materials (PowerPoint files and online lectures). The chosen theory must be not the same one you utilized in the informative critique essay. Again, don’t use Jae’s theories of wealth and open communication/leadership. You will use the theory to explain your own “memorable” experience, event(s) or communication behaviors or activities in everyday contexts, including your personal/interpersonal relationships, family/home, work, public/mass media, and other settings. Specifically, select and present one and only one communication theory from lecture materials in detail, describe your experience/observation, and use the theory to explain your experience/observation. In particular, you should describe how your learning has enhanced your understanding of your personal responsibilities for communicating successfully with others. Personal responsibilities in the essay mean that you examine ethical values/decisions (your own or those of others) within your essay contexts. You need to show that you recognize ethical dilemmas and alternative actions and evaluate the consequences of various ethical perspectives. You should cite 3-5 specific theoretical comments, notes, quotes, or writing from the required textbook. The essay needs an introduction, body and conclusion. In the introduction, gain attention, preview the scope and purpose of the paper, and offer a theme or thesis. The conclusion summarizes the points you made, often with your own concluding remarks or personal reflections. Additional tips 1. This essay should be like a good short story or case analysis–with a beginning and an ending. Start with a great title that summarizes/characterizes your experience, people involved, background of involved people, what has happened over time. 2. It should cover “a chunk of reality,” focusing on real events in your real-life context. 3. It should depict a series of events with a past as well as a present. 4. It should have a clear time structure; usually the past tense is most appropriate. 5. It should have some elements of argumentation, including multiple sources of evidence for support (for your theoretical points). 6. It should be engaging, with suspense and drama. 7. It should include background information, explicit boundaries, and multiple viewpoints, if appropriate. The experiential essay is due at 12 PM or Noon on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 (About 2 weeks after Exam 2). Late papers will be penalized 2 points/100 per day. The paper will not be accepted via email or one week after the due date. Deliver a hard copy to your professor (COM-143) by NOON or 12 PM by the due date (You can hand it in early). Slide the paper under the office door if you don’t see the instructor. Please also submit the digital copy of your paper to “turnitin.com” via a link established in Blackboard Learn. Without your digital copy in “turnitin.com,” you will receive “0” point for the essay. Shockingly Important Note: An experiential essay paper with less than 1500 words will not be evaluated, resulting in a failing grade of F or “0” point. At the same time, the essay is NOT expected to go over 1600 words. Any paper with 1601-1650 words will lose 2 points, 1651-1700 words 4 points, 1701-1750 words 6 points, and so on. The cover page and references are not counted as part of 1500 – 1600 words. Your experiential essay paper must have a cover page that includes, at minimum, title, your name, theory you used, number of words, and date of submission. |
