AUTOBIOGRAPHY, MIDDLE CHILDHOOD, ADOLESCENCE & EARLY ADULTHOOD

AUTOBIOGRAPHY, PART II: MIDDLE CHILDHOOD, ADOLESCENCE & EARLY ADULTHOOD

Unit II covers Chapters 5, 6 & 7, so your essay should address some of the major topics in those chapters.  Some of the topics you should consider from middle childhood would be:

• Physical development/growth

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• Health
• Accidents
• Psychological disorders
• Boys/girls
• Nutrition
• Obesity
• Motor development
• Special needs?
• Cognitive development
• Improvements
• Language
• School
• Reading
• Math
• Basic experience
• Intelligence
• Testing?
• Special programs?
• Social & Personality Development/growth
• Self-esteem
• Moral development ” behaviors
• Friendships
• Status & Popularity
• Friendships
• Family life
• Siblings
• Self-care
• Divorce
• Blended family/stepfamily

 
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Some of the topics you should consider from adolescence would be:

• Genetic Influences ” any of these that are still an issue for you in this stage
• Physical development/growth
• Puberty
• Early/late maturation
• Sex education and/or sexual behavior
• Body image
• Health
• drug/alcohol use
• eating disorders
• Motor skills
• Cognitive development/growth
• Scripts
• Maturity in cognitive growth
• Adolescent egocentrism
• Personal fable
• Imaginary audience
• Poor decision-making
• School achievement
• Media participation/influences
• Social & Personality development/growth
• Identify vs. role confusion
• Identity status
• Religion, spirituality
• Identity of race/gender
• Depression/suicide
• Relationships with family
• Autonomy
• Conflict
• Cultural differences
• Relationships with Peers
• Popularity & Rejection
• Peer pressure
• Juvenile delinquency
• Sexual behavior, orientation & teen pregnancy

 
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Some of the topics you should consider from young adulthood would be:

• Physical development/growth
• Health/Pregnancy, if applicable
• Nutrition/Physical Fitness
• Risk-taking
• Stressors
• Cognitive development/growth
• Maturity in cognitive growth
• Intelligence
• College decision-making (See writing prompts in Module)
• Career selection/focus
• Social & Personality development/growth
• Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Loving relationships/partnerships
• Friendships
• How did you or do you choose a spouse?
• Specific characteristics in partner

Remember that you will be addressing some of the topics from childhood again, since they may be applicable now.  For example, if your parents got divorced and/or remarried in this stage, you would want to bring that back in for this paper.  Some of these topics might be VERY influential in your development and others not as much.  The essay will not be graded based on whether or not you discuss all of these topics/subtopics, but the general influences and specific examples of those most critical.

Essay Assignments:

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During this course, students will be reviewing the major influences on human development from the prenatal stage to the adulthood stage.  Physical, cognitive and psychosocial influences need to be considered based on the research found in the text and in other academic sources.

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Each unit will require a 5-7 page review of the student’s own development in light of the significant influences during this stage of development.  (The length of the paper will vary, depending on the ages/stages covered in each unit, but good essays usually are a minimum of 1500 words, often longer.)

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Students should include material from the readings to support their analysis. 

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These assignments can be accessed through our CA site.  Students should write each essay and save it as a Word document.  Then they can be uploaded to CA.  Further instructions will be found with the assignment online.

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The essays will be graded according to the rubric, complete with comments and be worth up to 50 points.  Always return to the assignment to review the rubric and the comments after each essay has been graded.

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