Theories of Human Development301
You should focus on the two readings of your choice, and write a single essay which treats each article, but also finds common themes, themes that occur in both articles. One direct citation with page number from each of the two readings is required – a few words or part of a sentence, or a single sentence, at most two, of actual words from each article.
The questions below are suggested guidelines for each article – feel free to rephrase them, or to formulate your own questions (as long as they are clearly relevant to the material presented in the article). You do not have to answer every question – choose one or two, or formulate your own similar to these.
Erik Erikson on The Eight Ages of Man (from his book Childhood and Society)
This classic discussion by a noted psychoanalyst asks us to look at the human life cycle as a whole. What is the significance for human development of Erikson’s epigenetic perspective (pp. 272-273)? How does it encourage us to view all the stages of human development, from infant to child to adolescent to adult to elder, in the perspective of the entire life cycle? Take any one or two of Erikson’s life stages and discuss them; what insight do they provide insight into the human life cycle?
Erik Erikson, Hunters Across the Prairie (from his book Childhood and Society)
What happened to the Dakota Sioux in their tragic encounter with the American military, government bureaucracy and other representatives of the U.S? (pp. 114-118) Is it going too far to call this “deculturation?” What are some of the dimensions of the loss, which Erikson (p. 116) refers to as “an apocalyptic sequence of catastrophes.”
Thank You!
