Post your Reaction Paper for Unit 1 here by 1/28 at 11:59pm.

If you need to review the Reaction Paper instructions (on Syllabus-last page), see below:

To help you integrate what you’re learning in this course with your own everyday life, you will write one Reaction Paper for each of the (8) groups of readings listed on the Syllabus (copied below).
Your Reaction Papers are collectively worth 8% of your course grade (1% each).

For each group of readings, first complete all readings. Then, write up a Reaction Paper responding to those readings and the material you have learned in class during that Unit by:

• demonstrating engagement with the readings for that Unit (e.g., mentioning key concepts);
• connecting something you have learned from this course during that Unit to something you have observed/experienced in your own everyday life;[1] and
• composing an open-ended question that could guide/lead to further investigation into some issue from that Unit.

As you do the readings and listen to podcasts for this class, monitor for your ‘reactions’ to them:
What impact has course material had on you? What did you think of the material? Did it reveal something to you or teach you something that you had never known or even thought about before? Has it inspired you to be (more) curious about some aspect of your social world?

A reaction paper is more than a simple summary of the readings, and much more than a simple assessment or evaluation of the readings. You can state your opinion about a reading, but then you need to back your opinion up with a thoughtful elaboration about how and why you feel that way. And do not simply summarize the readings – instead, write up your reactions to them and demonstrate through your writing that you are actively engaging with material for the Unit by working to figure out how it fits within, and further develops our understanding of, the topic of this course.

Your Reaction Papers may be informal, and they should each be about 2-3 paragraphs long. Use active (not passive) voice in your writing. Write in the first person (using “I”). Assume your readers have also read the readings, but that they need a reminder about the specific details you wish to discuss. Run a spell-check and grammar-check on your Reaction Papers before posting them.

When you post your own Reaction Paper, read over your fellow students’ Reaction Papers.

This is a wonderful way for you to connect and communicate with one another. You may comment on others’ Reactions Papers – just be sure to follow one simple rule: Always be courteous and treat others’ contributions with respect.

Reaction Papers posted after 11:59pm on the due date will not receive credit.

[1] If you wish to include something in your Reaction Paper that you’d like to share with the professor but you’d prefer to keep confidential from classmates, please coordinate this with Prof. Pillet-Shore.

Unit 1 Required Material

Unit 1: Introduction
What phenomena are included within the scope of “Language and Social Interaction”?

Read the following two readings by 1/28/20:
Reading 1: Dunbar, Robin I. M. (2004). Gossip in evolutionary perspective. Review of General Psychology, 8(2), 100-106.
–Reading 1 read here: 2-Dunbar gossip.pdf

Reading 2: Gladwell, Malcolm. (2002). The naked face. The New Yorker (August 5 issue).
–Reading 2 read here: 1-Gladwell naked face.pdf

And listen to the following two podcast excerpts by 1/27/20:
Podcast 1: Fernald, Anne. (2007). Sound as touch. From Radiolab episode “Musical language.” WNYC Studios. September 24. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/segments/91514-sound-as-touch (Links to an external site.)
–Podcast 1 listen here: Fernald 2007 Radiolab 3m41s.movPlay media comment.

Podcast 2: Jefferson, Cord. (2018). Leave a message. Bonus episode of Invisibilia. September 14. https://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/647117828/bonus-leave-a-message (Links to an external site.)

–Podcast 2 listen here: Cord Jefferson 2018 Invisibilia_11m36s.movPlay media comment.