| To gain an “inside perspective” on the development that still lies ahead of you and to gain an appreciation for the developmental tasks that individuals are confronted with as they move through the adult years, you will complete the following final writing assignment. This final paper is worth a total of 100 points and will be graded on its content and your ability to make connections between the findings from your interview and your reviews of the websites and the content that has been discussed in class. Instructions: Interview a middle-aged (age 40 or older) or an older adult (age 60 or over) about their subjective experience of having grown older. The objective of this interview is to give you the opportunity to learn first-hand from an adult about his or her individual experiences of having grown older. In your interview you may address questions such as the following: Are you aware of your age? What makes or had made you aware that you have grown older? When you were younger had you thought that getting older would be like you are experiencing it? Has it been better or worse than what you expected? What are some of the good things that have happened with getting older? What are some of the challenges of getting older? What would you tell a young person about the years of adulthood or old age? Is there any advice you would want to give a young person? Your interview should have at least 10 questions, but not more than 15 questions. While you are interviewing the middle-aged or older adult, you should take notes of their major statements so that you can use them in your writing assignment. If you like you may audiotape the interview if the person gives you permission to do so. In completing your assignment, you need to pick two journal articles (not articles from popular magazines such as Time or Newsweek) that relate to the topics that were covered in the interview. The final section of your writing assignment must reflect on the content of the interview and must make a connection to the research covered in the journal articles and what you have learned in class. Follow the following guidelines: 1. Your paper must be typed, double-spaced, and in 12-point font. 2. There needs to be a 1-inch margin all around and your paper needs to have your name in the header and page numbers in the upper right-hand corner of the pages. 3. In your paper, you are required to use APA style for the cover page and any citations and references. If you have questions regarding the proper use of APA style, please talk to me and/or use the tutors in the writing/resource center. 4. Your paper should be at least 2 pages long, but not longer than 5 pages. This does not include the bibliographical references (or any tables or figures) that you need to provide. |
