Dream Paper

Dream Analysis

The purpose of this assignment is to better acquaint you with Freud’s approach to dreams by inviting you to interpret one of your own. The assignment does not require acceptance of Freud’s ideas or methods, nor does it ask you to evaluate them; it is an exercise in psychoanalytic thinking. In it, you are meant not only to engage in the rational and structured process of analysis, but also in the unrestricted process of free association.

The essay should have at least four sections:

1. Presentation of the manifest dream content (without any interpretation)
   
   
2. An account of the material that emerges through free association, not trying to tie them together or make sense of them
1. The only rule here, of course, is that you must acknowledge and write down virtually anything that comes to mind in associating to the dream elements
   
   
3. An analysis of the dream, drawing on the associative material
1. Note the sources, when apparent, of the manifest content in your more immediate and past life experiences
2. Be aware of common themes and/or elements that seem particularly important and somehow connect with those experiences
3. Identify the thoughts “behind the dream” and the associations -- i.e., the latent content

i. There are no right or wrong answers here

4. Locate the latent content within your life more broadly -- i.e., with respect to themes, relationships, events

i. You need not go beyond your comfort zone in this section; but in any case, rest assured that I will treat your essays as entirely confidential

4. A description of the “dream work” that has taken place in your particular dream -- i.e., the process(es) by which the latent content was transformed into the manifest content.

The paper should be no less than five double-spaced pages long with 12 point font.