Before You Write

The purpose of this writing assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to connect yourself with not only the course readings but also Oklahoma’s history, civil discourse, and those who have different life stories than your own. To begin your assignment activities, please select and watch one interview from the list provided that represents an outgroup you plan to analyze for this assignment. Consider the following:

Critically think about the interview. What do you know? What did you think you knew before watching? What was said in the interview that confirmed what you thought? What was said that was different than what you thought? What was said that was completely new information? Considering all this, how has your point of view been impacted?
Next, summarize the interview, identify the speaker, point out the key topics covered and the arguments made. You can include a couple of quotes or paraphrases in your summary. Remember, a summary highlights what you feel is the most important.
Finally, choose three concepts/terms/ideas we covered from your course readings. Define them using a paraphrase from the textbook. Then explain how they see these concepts/terms/ideas relating to each other: the way that we understand ourselves, the way that we learn about ourselves, how important groups are to us, the way that groups influence the self, the ways that groups can impact how we form attitudes, the way that attitudes can/do change over time.