Emerging Adulthood in the Media
The purpose of this assignment is to apply the concept of emerging adulthood to a specific example, and to analyze the example in accordance with the five distinctive features of emerging adulthood as identified by psychologist Jeffrey Arnett.
STEP 1
Review the module in the text on “Emerging Adulthood.†Jeffrey Arnett proposed that emerging adults have five distinctive features, which include exploring their identity, instability in their lives, a focus on the self, a feeling of being in-between adolescence and adulthood, and a sense of having an open future with many possibilities.
STEP 2
Think of a character from a movie, show, or book that you recently watched or read that illustrates some of the distinctive features of emerging adulthood. Re-watch a scene from the movie or show (or re-read a section from the book) that depicts the character expressing these features. Make sure that this character is in the early adulthood stage; that is, between 18 – 29 years of age.
STEP 3
Write an analytical paper that describes and illustrates specific features of emerging adulthood. Use the following structure.
Paragraph 1
Introduce the topic of emerging adulthood. Identify and provide brief descriptions of each of the five features of emerging adulthood identified by Arnett. Provide a citation to your source. In addition, explain how the concept of “emerging adulthood†differs from adolescence and the more traditional notion of “early adulthood.â€
Paragraph 2
Identify and provide a brief synopsis of the movie/show/book that depicts a character in emerging adulthood.
Paragraph 3
Describe in an appropriate amount of detail specific scenes/events that illustrate features of emerging adulthood. Describe at least two different scenesthat illustrate different features of emerging adulthood. First describe the scene and then explain how it depicts the feature of emerging adulthood.
Paragraph 4
Reflect upon what you learned from this analysis. Can you relate to the character you selected for discussion? In what ways can you relate, given your own life experiences? In what ways can you not relate? Discuss some specifics.