Small Group Movie Analysis Paper
After completing this learning activity, you will be able to identify types of groups, analyze the characteristics of healthy groups, list the stages of group development, identify group roles, and analyze and apply the problem-solving process.
This is a big project worth a lot of points so give yourself the time to do a great job!
Choose a Movie
After reading Chapter 9 and 10 in your textbook, view one of the films below (click the links beside each title to see a brief synopsis of the movie). You are responsible for obtaining access to the film you choose. Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Apple, HBO, cable, are all options. Many of these services include a free trial period that you may want to use to access the film of your choice.
Stand By Me: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092005/
Little Miss Sunshine: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449059/
The Internship: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234155/
Apollo 13: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112384/
Oceans 8: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5164214/
Look for Examples:
After viewing your chosen film, you will write a paper in which you address the following small group communication concepts with specific examples from the movie. I recommend you view the film twice. The first time to familiarize yourself with the story and the second time to take specific notes on each of the items below.
1. What type of group is exemplified in the film?
Assess the health of this group using the Characteristics of Healthy Groups guidelines found in chapter 9. For each of the 6 characteristics, assign the movie’s group a score between 1 and 5, with 1 being very unhealthy and 5 being very healthy. Use specific examples from the film to explain your rating.
2. Explain how the group progressed through the 5 stages of group development. Provide examples of each stage from the movie.
3. Review Roles in Groups. What roles did each group member play? Give a specific example of something each group member said or did that demonstrate the role they played.
4. Explain how the group worked through systematic problem solving. Pick a obstacle or challenge they faced. Provide specific examples of how the group did (or did not) progress through each of the 6 problem-solving steps explained in Chapter 10 of your textbook.
Paper Requirements:
INTRODUCTION
• A thesis statement
• Your film choice – How/why you decided to watch that movie
• A BRIEF summary of the film
• A preview statement (an introductory explanation of the concepts you analyzed in the film)
• Note: the introduction should not surpass 1 page of text
BODY
• Organize the body into 5 sections to address each question listed above.
• Use subheadings for each concept in the body
• Each section of the body should first start with a BRIEF definition of the small group concept you will be discussing.
• Describe and analyze the communication in the film’s small group using the selected concepts that apply. Use concrete examples from the film and examples of dialogue that will show how the concept is useful in explaining communication between characters. Each section in the body should have several examples from the movie.
• With the exception of the first question, each of the remaining sections should be at least one page long.
CONCLUSION
• A clear summary of your main points of analysis
• What you have learned about small group communication as a result of this analysis.