COMM 11: Reasoning and Analysis Paper Assignment

Writing the Paper

COMM 11: Reasoning and Analysis Paper Assignment

Write a 3-page paper (750-1000 words, 12 pt. font, double-spaced, one-inch margins), to support a thesis about culture and interpersonal communication.

What is this paper about? For this paper, you will use: one film, two articles, chapter 2 from your textbook, and an example from your own personal experience to write about a topic with the theme of intercultural communication.

There are various co-cultural groups represented in the film (socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, gender, disability, region, nationality, and politics), and various instances of intercultural conflict, both dramatic and subtle.

Your task is to pick ONE character from your chosen film who experienced instances of intercultural conflict, and discuss how his/her conformance with and/or rebellion against the cultural values and norms (see Chapter 2) of his/her culture and co-cultures affected the conflicts he/she experienced.

How to write this paper 

Your PAPER should be structured with an introduction that ends with a thesis statement, 3 to 4 body paragraphs, and a conclusion that restates your thesis and brings your 3 to 4 main points together in a reasoned way.

Your THESIS STATEMENT should be one sentence that clearly states your position on why you believe the specific character you chose experienced intercultural conflict, and briefly introduces the 3 to 4 main points you will analyze in the body of your paper.

EACH BODY PARAGRAPH should include:

1. A TOPIC SENTENCE which describes the cultural value/norm you are going to examine and how you believe it affected your chosen character. 2. REASONING AND ANALYSIS: in each body paragraph, your challenge is to analyze a scene where your chosen character experiences intercultural conflict according to the cultural values and norms from chapter 2, and use the article and your personal experience to support your analysis.

This means you need to include several sentences after each of your article quotes and film examples where YOU are discussing the connection between the scene and the article in your own words. 3. A sentence that transitions to your next paragraph.

Your CONCLUSION:

Restate your thesis, and then answer this question:

knowing the impact of co-cultural differences on intercultural communication success, what communication competence strategies could the characters have used to help them better communicate with the other characters?  Film - Moonlight (2017)  

2. Chapter 2 in Interplay, focusing on the section of Cultural Values and Norms (textbook)  

3. Select TWO of these articles to use in support of your analysis: - Avruch, Kevin. “Cross-Cultural Conflict.” Conflict Resolution. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems.

References and Citation When you use other people’s words, ideas, or work in your paper, you must cite them. If you directly quote their work, you use quotation marks to signify this and give the page number, as well. If you are simply paraphrasing or borrowing from one (or more) person’s work, you do not need quotation marks, but you still need to indicate whose words you are using with a citation (for example, put their names in parentheses after the paraphrase).   At the end of your paper, you should have a Works Cited page where you list all of the references used in your paper. For the articles, you will find the citation information included on p. 1 of this document.  If you need more information on formatting and citing in MLA, go to the OWL at Purdue on MLA formatting: