Freudian Basics; Personality Tests; Lab
Previous key concepts/questions to consider...
Freud in a nutshell:
Freud created "Freudian Psychology" (psychoanalysis): interpreting what people say and do in order to figure out what their root problems are. Freudian psychology is used by literary critics using psychoanalytical criticism. In order to use this type of criticism, you need a basic understanding of Freud's key concepts.
Freud believed that psychological desires influence the forming of a personality.
Theory of Unconscious:
The part of the mind that thinks and feels without you being aware of these thoughts and feelings is called the UNCONSCIOUS.
The UNCONSCIOUS is comprised of 3 sections: The Ego, the Id, and the Superego.
1. The Ego is the selfDreams are one way of communicating with the unconscious. They are coded messages mailed to your conscious self.
2. The Id is the animalistic or primitive side of the unconscious.
3. The Superego is the control
Freud also stated that:
We all have desires.We are sexually motivated from birth. Freud divided people into three major developmental stages:
Sometimes the self cannot admit that it wants certain things, because we all learn (usually during infancy) that some things are bad for us.
As a result, the mind REPRESSES (repression) or hides these desires in the unconscious until they resurface as expensive psychoanalysis bills.
In general, most repressed desires are sexual in nature.
1. Oral (infancy to about 1 year old)Freud had two major principles:
2. Anal (2-3 years)
3. Genital (until about adulthood)
1. Pleasure Principal: we pursue pleasure. From the moment we're born, we want to be comforted, fed, etc. This pleasure seeking can be both physical and emotional.These two principles combine to affect our personalities and make us who we are.
2. Reality Principle: You can't always get what you want. Sometimes you have to alter your instinctual behavior to get what you want. Often this leads to supression.
Jokes, dreams, myths, compulsions, obsessions, fetishes, hysterical fits, etc. all are part of our repressed desires, says Freud.
Two Famous Complexes:
Oedipus Complex: A desire to get rid of one's father and "marry" one's mother.
Virtually all men deal with this repressed desire, says Freud.
A male child develops an Oedipus complex as a result of having to compete with their fathers for their mother's attention/affection. They have not learned to accept their fathers' authority and are still dependent on the mother.
Girls go through the Electra Complex - basically the same thing, but reversed gender roles: daughter wants father, etc.
Well, well. More about Freudian disorders & defense mechanisms next class. Let's recap some key concepts on Freud by watching a short video presentation (see below). Then it's off to the lab to do the following:
1. Take a personality test for you--OR...take a personality test for one of your characters. Pretend to be that character and answer as your character would answer. You might get to know her or him better. This can be helpful in fleshing out your character's backstory. Go ahead and try it!
2. Watch the psychology videos and take some notes if you care to remember any of this. Perhaps it was all a dream anyway. What does that say about you?
3. After these things, please either read or write. Yep. Read or write. Write or read. Aim to finish your selected novel by the end of next week. Plan and meet this deadline by reading in your advisement periods instead of talking to your best friend for 42 minutes, or by scheduling time to read this weekend. As you read your chosen book, please apply what you have learned about psychology to the text itself. Notes aren't a bad way to remember details...particularly if you want to score well on a future test.
Personality tests
Personality test #1
Personality test #2
Jungian Personality Test
Psychology videos:
Rorschach & Freudians
Consciousness
Cognition
HOMEWORK: Read your chosen book (The Bell Jar or One Flew Over...Nest). Read the handout article(s). Spend some time studying.
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