Overview
This writing assignment asks you to apply what you have learned from the textbook and other sources. In order to participate actively, you must have completed the reading assignment in advance.
This Week’s Prompt
Review the major developmental theories covered in your readings for this section. After your review, select five of the scenarios below to apply a developmental theory to the scenario. For each one of the five scenarios you pick, select a given theory and apply it to how that theory would deal with the given scenario. You can choose which theory you want to apply to which scenario. You do not need to apply the same theory to all five different scenarios. To be more clear: Compose thoughtful answers to at least five of the following “developmental difficulties,” using a selected theory. Explain how you would use your understanding of one of the major theories (Piaget or Erikson, for example) to deal with your selected scenario listed below.
A well-intentioned, but meddling, relative comes to visit the weekend before your child’s first birthday, in April. She cautions you that you must be spoiling the child, because he hides behind your leg and clings to you when she tries to give him a hug, and he did not do this when she visited at New Year’s. How will you explain what is happening with your child?
Your three-year-old constantly drives you nuts with attention-seeking behaviors while you are on the phone.
Your infant daughter puts everything in her mouth, including the dog’s food.
Your eight-year-old son is failing math; all he cares about is baseball.
Your eight-year-old son is failing P.E. and growing obese; all he cares about is Nintendo.
Your teenager has decided not to attend college in favor of joining the stage crew for a touring rock band.
Your nine-year-old son is being victimized by the class bully.
Your nine-year-old son IS the class bully. (NOTE: Pay close attention to the difference between the scenarios described in Questions 7 and 8.)
Your two-year-old daughter refuses to wear the clothes you pick for her every morning, making getting dressed a twenty-minute pitched battle.
Your thirty-six-year-old friend is showing symptoms of the classic “mid-life crisis,” buying a trendy new sports car, flirting dangerously, and alluding to leaving his wife.
Your sixty-eight-year-old neighbor is chronically depressed, feeling she has wasted her life.
Take your time and carefully integrate the concepts as presented in your text with the issues at hand in each scenario. One or two paragraphs per vignette will probably suffice but use your discretion to ensure each scenario is fully addressed in your response. Some responses may be longer than others.
How to Complete Your Writing Assignment
This assignment requires an essay response. To receive full credit, essay responses follow this criteria:
Write in full sentences in paragraph format
Include at least 5 paragraphs (introduction, body [at least three], and conclusion)
Include in-text citations
Include a reference page
Reflect that you have read the required reading assignments, have thought about the content, and that you are able to apply the content in a critical manner to the writing assignment prompt
DO NOT copy and paste from sources at all. Only your own words should be present
DO NOT include any bulleted or numbered lists
In other words, quality writing assignments reflect effort, accuracy, and thoroughness.
Grading
This assignment is worth 10 points. I will use the following rubric to score your essay. View the rubric prior to writing in order to prepare for the expectations of this assignment.
