Using ONE of psychodynamic/psychoanalytic, cognitive or behavioral theory, as detailed in chapter 2 (and using additional materials as needed – though there is no requirement to use references unless appropriate), your mission is to write a fictional biographical paper on the TV, movie or book character of your choice. You should choose someone whose behavior is odd, dysfunctional or even deviant, and using every ounce of creativity and theoretical understanding you can muster, create a fictional biographical history that explains how the abnormal behavior developed, how it is maintained in this character today, and what the resultant approaches and targets of therapy should be

Using ONE of psychodynamic/psychoanalytic, cognitive or behavioral theory, as detailed in chapter 2 (and using additional materials as needed – though there is no requirement to use references unless appropriate), your mission is to write a fictional biographical paper on the TV, movie or book character of your choice. You should choose someone whose behavior is odd, dysfunctional or even deviant, and using every ounce of creativity and theoretical understanding you can muster, create a fictional biographical history that explains how the abnormal behavior developed, how it is maintained in this character today, and what the resultant approaches and targets of therapy should be. Basically – write a case study of the character from the point of view of a psychologist who works from the theoretical perspective you have chosen. You should of course start the paper with a half-page (or so) description of the character. Diagnosis is not necessary and you should not waste a lot of space on it.

Of course at this level I do not expect that you are going to write a scholarly, highly insightful (or even accurate!) account; however I will be looking for clear evidence that you have familiarized yourself with and accurately interpreted the chosen theory. I will also be giving major points for creativity and of course spelling and grammar (slightly less). And if you choose someone other than the ones everybody else does, this will likely help your grade.

Late papers (after midnight Atlantic time of the due date) will be deducted 5 points out of 100 for every day late.

Anticipating the question: NO, I will not be giving early birds their paper grades back early, so that they can improve the paper and re-submit at the end of the course. Once it’s in, it’s in!

6-8 pages, double-spaced, one-inch margins, APA style references, headers, cover page and page numbering required.

Any character not on the pre-approved list (see Brightspace) will have to approved by me in advance

 

 

***PROOFREAD YOUR PAPER!!!!! (and no, that doesn’t mean spell-check)

TV

Arrested Development characters

Seinfeld characters

Dr. House (from “House”)

CSI characters

Any adult from Simpsons/Family Guy/South Park

Scrubs characters

Sopranos characters

“The Office” characters

Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers)

How I Met Your Mother characters (not Barney)

Star Trek characters

Glee characters

Mr. Bean

Sesame Street characters

Bones

Rabbit, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet

Trailer Park Boys characters

Three and a Half Men (Adult) Characters

Big Bang Theory Characters

30 Rock characters

Desperate Housewives characters

Grey’s Anatomy characters

Californication characters

House of Lies characters (except Marty)

Shameless characters

Orange is the New Black – but not a character whose history has been shown already

Homeland characters (except Claire)

Sherlock characters

Stranger Things (adult characters)

Sense8 characters

IT Crowd characters

Silicon Valley characters

Supernatural characters (except Sam and Dean)

Breaking Bad characters

Wentworth characters

Firefly characters

Doctor Who (human) characters

Mr. D characters

Blacklist characters (not Liz or Tom)

House of Cards characters

 

MOVIES

James Bond

Hannibal Lecter

Serial killer from “Seven” (or any other really)

Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver)

Alex Forrest (Fatal Attraction)

Michael Corleone (Godfather)

Jay or Silent Bob

Norman Bates (Psycho)

Vizzini (Princess Bride)

Pulp Fiction Characters

Kill Bill characters

Harry Potter characters

Sex in the City characters

Stiffler – from American pie

“dude” Lebowski – from the big lebowski

 

Any characters from any movie featuring Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, John Cusack, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Steve Carell, Michael Sera or Seth Rogen.

Marking Scheme: Psyc 3335 Term Paper

1. Case History/Conceptualization

-does the history reflect a basic understanding of the chosen /25

theoretical perspective?

-does the “current” conceptualization (what maintains the /20

behavior pattern) fit the theoretical perspective?

-use of creativity in composition of the case history /15

2.General Impression of the Technical Quality of the Writing /25

-Logical flow, construction of argument

3.Spelling and Grammar /15

Total Score /100