Dreams
Writing Assignment #1
20 points available

For this writing assignment, you will want to use a memorable and detailed dream. To help you find the right dream for this assignment, keep a dream diary for a few nights. When you wake up in the morning, answer the following questions about your dream(s). Some of you will have a hard time remembering your dreams at all.   However, most people get better at remembering after a few days or so when they answer the diary questions as soon as they wake up. See page 225 of your text for hints to help you capture your dreams in your dream journal. You have two weeks to do this assignment, so keep recording and trying until you get a detailed enough dream for which you can answer most or all of the diary questions below.

Dream Journal

1.         Who was in the dream?

2.         What was happening in the dream?

3.         What were you doing in the dream?

4.         Where did this dream take place? 

5.         Did you know that you were dreaming?

6.         Why do you think you had this dream?

 7.         Have you had this dream before?  If so, how often?

Use your hand-written dream diary to select one dream for this assignment. Please do not TURN IN YOUR DREAM DIARY. ONLY TURN IN THE 1-2 PAGED TYPED PAPER AS DECRIBED BELOW. This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Monday, October 20.

When you have selected a detailed dream, please type a 1-2 paged paper (double-spaced) in which you answer the following questions:

• Describe your selected dream by answering each of the seven dream questions (or as many of the above seven questions as you can).

• Using the information in your  notes and on page 202 of your text, explain whether you think your dream is best explained by the Psychodynamic Dream Theory (the dream is indicative of some underlying unconscious wish) or the Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis (the dream was merely what was crossing your mind before bedtime and does not necessarily have any significant meaning about your unconscious thoughts or motives). There is not a right or wrong answer here, so please be sure to explain your answer in detail.