COMM 490 Communication, Culture & Society

Individual Project

LISTENING JOURNAL

Task

Keep a journal of your interactions within one intracultural relationship and write a six-page paper about the experience.

Directions

Identify a personal relationship to study (such as a friend, spouse, romantic partner, parent, child). You must be an active participant in the relationship. The relationship must –

Have some history (two months minimum, but the longer the better),

Be ongoing (expected to continue beyond the current semester), and

Involve frequent contact (at least two sustained interactions a week).

Write a journal entry after each contact, but no more than four each week (choose the most significant or lengthy). The entry, running no more than half a page (handwritten), should describe the communication that occurs, and it also may –

Include verbatim quotations,

Describe your feelings and perceptions, and

Indicate any behaviors or actions.

Write a paper telling your story of how you perceive yourself as a communicating person in an intracultural context. Point out cultural patterns, beliefs, values, norms, social episodes, and so forth, as they affect the relationship. Also discuss the cultural guidelines affecting the communication, after examining your journal for how you use particular words, what you say (or don’t say) and why, how you feel, and whether you observe any inconsistencies or deviant behavior.

The six pages (total) must be typewritten, double-spaced proofread, printed out, and turned in at the beginning of class on the due date.

Outcome

Come prepared to discuss your experiences extemporaneously.