Instructions
Complete only ONE of the following two essay options. Turn
in your one-page, single-spaced essay to the Essay #2 Assignment folder. If you
include information from resources, you must cite that material to its sources
when it appears and include a works cited page as the second page of the essay
document.
This assignment requires you to use your own thinking and to
draw your own conclusions. Use of AI is not permitted; any use of source
information must be cited to its source when it appears in the essay (in
addition to your second page listing the details of the sources you cite in an
MLA works cited or APA resources list).
Essay
Option #1: Your Listening Skills
Observe and self-monitor your interpersonal interactions
during the next few days. Identify your own listening strengths and weaknesses.
In your one-page essay:
Discuss of types of ineffective listening you most often use
and why you don’t always listen.
Discuss benefits of talking less and listening more.
Identify specific strategies you will adopt to improve your
listening effectiveness.
** Remember, while the prompt asks you to examine your own
listening, the informative ESSAY must be structured to share information about
what listening is, what the challenges are that a listener encounters and how
to be a more effective listener; use examples and experiences from your own
life and consideration of the prompt to support the main ideas you are
discussing. Include and use course terminology appropriately to show your
mastery of the content. (Do not make this a list of responses to the prompt
questions; keep to a more formal, academic style — do not present a personal
journal style paper.)
Essay
Option #2: Effective Conflict Management
Use the conflict assessment tools in the textbook chapter to
identify strengths, challenges and weaknesses in your usual styles of managing
conflict. Identify, observe and self-monitor your own interactions that involve
expressing disagreement with people you have interdependent relationships with
over the next few days. (Include times you find yourself avoiding expressing
your disagreement.)
In your one-page essay, address the following:
Which conflict styles seemed to produce the most satisfying
outcomes in each situation?
Which style best characterizes your approach?
Describe the pros and cons of your style.
Did you identify any conflict rituals; why did these
conflict rituals develop?
Are there changes you wish to make about the way conflict is
managed in your life? If so, how would you go about making changes?
** Remember, while the prompt asks you to examine your own
conflict experiences and management, the informative ESSAY must be structured
to share information about what conflict is and how it can be effectively
managed in interpersonal relationships; use examples and experiences from your
own life and consideration of the prompt to support the main ideas you are
discussing. Use course terminology appropriately to show your mastery of the
material. (Do not make this a list of responses to the prompt questions; keep
to a more formal, academic style — not a personal journal style.)