CTC Self Concept in the Mirror of Others Reflection

Introduction

The purpose of this assignment is to help introduce you to the theory of the Looking-Glass Self by Charles Cooley. This assignment will require you to summarize Cooley’s theory in your own words and then create three drawings of yourself that reflect how you think others think about you.

Directions

Step One: Summarize the Theory

For this first step, I’d like you to summarize Cooley’s theory in your own words. You can use short quotes and phrases if you’d like (that’s not required) but you will need to specifically reference ideas from the reading. In other words, you need to avoid writing a very general summary (like, “Cooley argues that we learn about ourselves by observing others”) and focus on describing specific things you learned from the reading. I will be looking for evidence that you carefully read and reflected on the theory.

Please also explain what this theory tells us about social interaction. What important conclusions can we draw? In other words, why does this theory matter? What insights does it provide?

Step Two: Describe an Example

For the next step, I’d like you to describe an example of the theory of the looking-glass self in practice. Please be sure to include each of the three steps that Cooley describes.

You’re welcome to draw on a real experience for this but it’s also fine to describe a hypothetical situation.

Step Two: Draw Three Reflections

Next, you should draw three “reflections” of yourself based on how you think others see you. I suggest you draw pictures that reflect how you imagine:

Your friends see you

Your professors see you

Your parents see you

1. If any of the groups of “others” won’t work well for you you are welcome to replace them with some other, comparable group.
2. In your drawings, I want you to reflect on how you think those others view you and then represent that to the best of your ability. Each drawing should contain at least three elements that represent you but I would you to include more depending on the complexity of what you’re trying to convey. In general, I would like you to reflect on more “fundamental” aspects of who you are. For instance, drawing a baseball cap on your head to represent that your friends know you like sports isn’t particularly thoughtful or complex. However, trying to find a way to represent the fact that you think your friends think you’re very laid back would be more complex (and challenging to draw).
3. You do not need any artistic skills to complete this assignment. I’d like your drawings to reflect that you put effort into them but that doesn’t mean that they need to be photorealistic. Simple line drawings are just fine.

I’d like you to communicate your ideas with your drawings as much as possible but you are welcome to write a short summary of what you depicted in each drawing or label elements of your drawings as necessary. This is not an essay assignment though and I will not give you credit for any ideas that were described in writing but not included in your drawings.

You can create your drawings using any medium that you like. If you draw them on paper, you can take pictures with your phone and upload them to Canvas. You can also create them digitally.