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Perspectives 5-Westrick
Personality (PY 370)
University of Alabama at Birmingham
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Perspectives on Personality: Chapters of My Life
After watching the three videos where Cole, Evelyn, and Taylor discuss the Chapters of Their Lives, answer the following questions. Please put your answers in a word document and restate the questions. A good guide for answering the questions completely is including 5-10 sentences in your answer.
How did they organize their chapters? What did they use as “meaningful markers” to distinguish the beginnings and endings of their chapters? Evelyn organized her chapters in chronological order. She started with her childhood in Europe and then into adulthood. Cole’s chapters were organized chronologically too as he talked about grade school and college. His markers for the beginnings and endings of his chapters were when he changed grades. Taylor organized his chapters into the different phases of his life.
Were there any particularly salient stories or memories associated with any of their chapters? Evelyn’s salient memories were her childhood in Europe and the experiences she had with her parents in adulthood. Her father was diagnosed with cancer, and she had to experience a divorce between her parents. Cole talked about facing difficulties in his life. He went from being bullied and not fitting in, to being respected and valued. Taylor went through a phase where he was free and did what he wanted. During this time, he bought a vehicle and did not care about how he affected others.
Did you see any themes or threads running through their chapters that spoke to core themes or plot lines in their stories? Evelyn loves to talk about Europe and her travels. I think her talking about her luxurious life speaks to her being spoiled. Cole’s themes were his difficult childhood. His experiences taught him how to grow and better himself. Taylor’s theme is freedom, and his stories show how he has been influenced by this.
From listening to their stories, can you say anything about them that might distinguish them from one another? Evelyn is different from the other two because she lived such a luxurious life. Her being spoiled distinguishes her from Cole who had a difficult childhood. Cole had to build himself up from the kid who was bullied. He also seems like a hard worker. Taylor went through drastic phases unlike the other two. He had a long hair phase and a careless phase.
Chapters of My Life
Now it’s your turn. The use of Personal Narratives derives from multiple sources and can serve multiple purposes. Erik Erickson’s theory is often described as a “lifespan” personality theory
and for that reason is often covered in courses on developmental psychology, as well as personality. In this exercise you are going to be asked to consider your life as if it were a book, and do the following:
Step 1: Write the chapters of your book and give each chapter titles. You can start any place you would like (For example: with your birth or with a “preface” that precedes you) and organize it any way you might like. There are no “right” or “wrong” answers; what is important is that the chapters are meaningful to you and that they capture some element or elements of your experience and your life as you have developed. (Please develop at least 3 chapters with 4- sentences explaining each chapter) Big Happy Family: This chapter is about when my parents were still married. During this time, we all lived together, including my brothers, and life did not seem so bad. I do not have a lot of specific positive memories from this time, but I do remember feeling happy. Although I only have positive emotions from this time and not positive memories, the few memories I do have are very negative.
The Downfall: This chapter is after my parent’s divorce. I titled it ‘The Downfall’ because this was a very influential time of my life but in a negative way. The problems and situations I experienced during this period have stuck with me the most and altered my brain chemistry. Thanks to this chapter, I have to work through my problems in therapy for the rest of my life.
Universidad: This chapter is about my college years. This time of my life has been very influential as I have had to learn to live without my support system. I have also found myself during college. I titled it ‘Universidad’ because I studied Spanish in college and university is one of my favorite words to say in Spanish.
Step 2: When you have finished, if you haven’t already done so, consider adding a Preface (a chapter that precedes your birth) and a chapter that reflects your “next chapter(s)” if you ended your chapters prior to your death. In other words, what might the future chapter(s) look like for you, beyond where you are now? (you should add at least 2 chapters and have 4-5 sentences describing each chapter) A preface chapter could include how my parents met. This chapter would also include my brothers and how they felt about having a little sister on the way. I think I would end the chapter on the day of my birth. I would end it on a cliffhanger with my grandmother driving on the wrong side of the road to the hospital.
My future chapter might include where I am at with my career. I think this chapter would include a family too. Keeping up with my other chapters, I must include some drama somehow. I think I would include more of my mental health journey and where I am at then. I would want to also talk about my mom in a future chapter because she is the most important person in my life.
Step 3. Now step back and look at your chapters. How did you organize them? By age? By geographical location? By grade in school or stage of life? By meaningful relationships,
Perspectives 5-Westrick
Course: Personality (PY 370)
University: University of Alabama at Birmingham
