Assignment: Sojourner Truth
The purpose of the term paper is to give the student a chance to understand and apply some of the personality theories covered in this course in more depth than is possible in the take-home essays, and to provide an opportunity for the student to compare and contrast the usefulness of different theories in understanding the same person. The basis for the term paper will be an analysis of the personality of the subject of a biography or autobiography you will read this semester. You should choose a biography about someone you are particularly interested in, but please avoid serial killers and persons suffering from multiple personality disorder or schizophrenia. You will also find it easier to write a term paper if your biography includes at least some information about the subject's early childhood. The instructor will be happy to help you choose a biography to read if you have no idea where to start.
In the paper you should discuss how at least two different theories or lines of research in personality psychology can help one understand an aspect of the life of the subject of the chosen (auto)biography. It will usually be best if you choose your theories so that they come from different parts of the text; you should not discuss two trait theories or two developmental theories unless you clear this with the instructor first. Of course, if you have time and energy, you may use more than two theories, in which case you may be able to discuss two of the same general type. The most important thing, however, is not which theories you choose, but how you apply the ones you do choose.
In addition to using material from the text, The Person, An Introduction to the Science of Personality Psychology by Dan P. Adams, you should make reference to at least one book or article dealing with each of the theories you discuss. These references may be original theoretical works or research articles based on the theory whose findings are relevant to your arguments. Wikipedia and About.com are NOT proper references, but peer-reviewed articles from ProQuest or PsycArticles are. You must have bothproper referencing within the body of the paper in APA reference style and a reference list at the end of your paper, also in APA style.Remember to include the biography itself in your reference list!
Since you will be using this paper to apply theoretical material to the study of an individual life, you must give evidence both that you understand the theories and that you can relate them to specific events or statements presented in the (auto)biography. Do not just say "Ms. Kumquat is extraverted"; rather, "According to Eysenck's definition, Ms. Kumquat seems to be extraverted. She spends a great deal of time describing the parties and social functions she attends, and her behavior is often impulsive. An example of this was when she shot her third husband immediately after discovering him reading her diary..."
Papers which show that several different interpretations can be made of the same events or traits will be especially valued. In discussing the two or more theories you present, you should point out which part of your subject's behavior each theory is best at explaining, and which parts of her/his life the theory has difficulty in accounting for. You will also want to keep in mind that historical and social forces such as sex roles, social class, changing attitudes toward divorce, etc., may explain some differences between your subject and "average" persons in the present day as well or better than a purely "individualistic" analysis of personality traits, particularly if you are dealing with someone living in the 19th century or before.
Successful papers are usually equivalent in length to ten or twelve typed double-spaced pages.