San Diego State University Verbal Immediacy in Good Will Hunting Video Analysis

Good Will Hunting

The Purpose of this Discussion Question set is to have you apply material regarding verbal immediacy behavior to a scene from Good Will Hunting. The scene on YouTube is titled, “The Best Part of My Day.” Here are your guidelines:

1. Read the material on verbal immediacy. On pages 203-204, verbal immediacy includes the following behaviors:
   • Word choice (e.g., “this” versus “that”)
   • Informal address (e.g., “Dan” versus “Dr. Canary”)
   • Depth of disclosure (level of intimacy explored)
   • Verbal Person-centeredness (focus on other person’s perspective and articulating that awareness)
   • Relationship indicators (e.g., “best friend,” “we are official”)

1. Watch “The Best Part of My day.” The YouTube url is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gfipuaIA68&ebc=ANyPxKrpHX48M3M2Ip-M_PBySykWhD_bq4ZOdPLac__SP54zfFB0ySFvKllGqFoaGZ57bIoYE3pzwEidsxyl_lwKdZECFLdVOQ (Links to an external site.)

1. Watch the scene again, this time reporting examples of any of the five behaviors listed above. In your examples, be sure to include the actual words that Ben Affleck says to Matt Damon. (Note: Not all five verbal immediacy behaviors are necessarily represented in this scene.)

1. Watch the scene again, this time recording behaviors you think represent verbal immediacy but are not in the above list. Include any message examples that might appear negative but, in their context, actually function as positive verbal immediacy. As before, be sure to include the actual words that Ben Affleck says to Matt Damon.

1. Based on the steps above, draw a conclusion about verbal immediacy and develop that conclusion. For instance, you might conclude that verbal immediacy is reflected in other behaviors besides the five listed above, or that the construct of verbal immediacy should be more narrowly defined, or that one or two kinds of verbal immediacy is/are more prominent or impactful than the other kinds. In any case, offer your conclusion with a brief rationale.
2. you only need an example for questions 3 and 4, that would mean 2 examples per paper