Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Family studies on TV show-breaking bad Research Paper

Family studies on TV show-breaking bad - Research Paper Example It is the nucleus of civilization and the simplest social unit within the society that is established through marriage between the two couples (Dallos & Draper, 2010). According to Aristotle, the family is the first community, the first society and the simplest form of government that has the power to determine the destiny of its people in the face of challenges and opportunities. Bad breaking, an American TV series explores the elements of a family and the devotion that parents make to their families to enable them live a better life in their presence and absence. The thought of an early death before the financial stability of his family is assured convinces him to begin producing methamphetamine, an illegal drug to maintain the status of his family. As a man, he feels obligated to care for his family and use any means available to secure their present and future, even if the spouse leaves him due to his actions. In this paper, the elements of family as the basic unit of the society will be analyzed in line with the movie bad breaking to demonstrate the principles and elements of a family system. The development of a family is covered under the family development theory that discuss the process of family development and the systematic changes that families experiences as they move up the development hierarchy. The family cycle theory was conceived by Reuben Hill and Evelyn Duvall in the 19th century to describe the stages of development that a family undergoes till death. Based on the two social researchers, family development underwent stages that began from the early marriages, couples with young children, children beginning independent lives out of home and the empty nest of retirement and death (Dallos & Draper, 2010). Based on this approach, the family development can be studied from three levels of development which include the individual-psychological stage, the interactional-associational and the societal-institutional models

Monday, October 28, 2019

Evaluation of Suicide Research in the Elderly

Evaluation of Suicide Research in the Elderly A CRITICAL COMPARISON OF TWO RESEARCH APPROACHES TO SUICIDALITY IN THE ELDERLY: the qualitative and quantitative paradigms Introduction: Suicide may be considered a common and devastating emergency in the general practice of mental health. It is a phenomenon that is generally complex and inherently difficult to predict. Suicidality, which is the spectrum of psychological activities that culminates in the eventual death of the individual, may be especially complicated in the elderly. This is because people of that age group are known to traverse the continuum of suicidal behaviour with extraordinary secrecy, determination and lethality. Thus, there may be up to three new cases of elderly suicide for every one below the age of 25 years in many countries (Diego et al., 2004, Mello-Santos et al., 2005). Giving the intricate nature of the phenomenon in the elderly, understanding the immediate and remote factors that may be suggestive of imminent death by suicide may be an important step to setting up targeted interventions before it is too late. In the context of suicide research, immediate pointers to an impending suicide may, on the one hand, include a subjective ‘experience’ with suicidal ideas or the wish to die. This very personal experience may sometimes be expressed in signs and symptoms such as talking or writing about the end. A phenomenon sometimes referred to as suicidal warnings (Rudd et al., 2006). In this regards, immediate factors for imminent suicide may also extend to the ‘meanings’ attached to such notices by their recipients. The understanding of peoples experiences and meanings is strengthen by the qualitative research paradigm (Fossey et al., 2002). The more remote pointers to an imminent suicide may include correlates of suicidality within the larger population, as against the individual. The investigation of such independent risk factors within the population, or a systematically generated sample from it, is underpinned by the quantitative research model (Godwin et al., 2003). To provide a clear understanding of the qualitative and quantitative frameworks, this discourse aims to critically compare two studies using contrasting approaches in elucidating the factors related to suicide in the elderly. The context and comparison This first study, hereafter referred to as Kjiolseth and Ekeberg (Kjolseth and Ekeberg, 2012), was an investigation of the experiences and reactions of people to warnings they have received about the suicidal intention of their elderly wards. The authors relied on the technique of psychological autopsy (Beskow et al., 1990). Wherein, they re-created the circumstances of the suicide through interviews of 63 formal and informal carers of 23 individuals who had died in that manner aged 65 years or over. The second study, hereafter referred to as Ojagbemi et al (Ojagbemi et al., 2013), examined the predictive relationship between several health related variables and three behaviours occurring on a continuum leading to eventual death by suicide. The authors relied on a multi-stage probability sample of 2149 participants aged 65 years or over, and spread across a geographical area equivalent to a quarter of the national population. The main research question explored by Kjiolseth and Ekeberg was; how did people perceive and react to suicidal warnings communicated to them by the elderly around them? Perception in this context may be broadly understood as the individual’s cognizance of the events external to them. Such perception may also feedback on how the individual will react. In the view of empiricists such as Locke (Baird et al., 2008) the awareness of externally occurring events may only be possible if they are mentally represented. In this regards, the reality is created in the mind of the recipient. Further, Bekerley (Atherton, 1987) contends that this reality is inherently modifiable according to previous experience. Therefore, since the previous experiences of different individuals may be inherently different, and dynamic, the proposition of a single or unitary reality may be less likely. In other words, the research question of Kjiolseth and Ekerberg may be best answered if the perception and r eaction of a variety of carefully selected individuals who may have received the suicidal warnings are considered. Qualitative interviews may afford the opportunity for the researchers in this instance to generate more nuanced accounts from a wide selection of individuals who may be knowledgeable about the phenomenon of interest. In contrast to Kjiolseth and Ekerberg, Ojagbemi et al wanted to find out if there are indices of health and wellbeing in the general population that may demonstrate predictive associations with suicidality among the elderly living in sub-Saharan African communities. This research question may suggest as follows; firstly, by indices, the authors appear interested in numerical or value indicators of health and wellbeing. Secondly, by predictive associations, they may also be interested in relationships. Thirdly, Ojagbemi et al appear interested in the general population, rather than individuals. The interest of the authors in the examination of predicted relationships between numerical and/ or non-numerical (i.e, categorical) indicators, with a focus on the general population may support a non-experimental quantitative approach (Martens, 1998). In line with the quantitative framework, Ojagbemi et al specifically investigated the predictive relationship between a wide range of demographic and health related variables and three categories of behaviour occurring on a continuum leading to eventual suicide in people who have attained the age of 65 years or over at the start of the study. They additionally sort to investigate the transition between one behaviour and another. These categories of behaviour were namely; suicidal ideation, suicidal plans, and suicidal attempts. They hypothesized that several of the health and wellbeing indicators will predict the presence of these suicidal behaviours. The study was a community based cross-sectional survey of the elderly living in a geographical area equivalent to a quarter of the national population. Giving the research question of Ojagbemi et al about predictive associations, the exploration of several demographic and health related variables should allow the investigators to examin e the independent effect of individual variables on the suicidal behaviours while holding the others constant. Furthermore, giving the interest of the authors on sub-Saharan African communities, the focus on communities spread over a wide geographical area, should allow for a wider generalisation of the findings to several sub-Saharan African communities. Conversely, the community based design may inherently exclude the elderly in care and nursing homes, as well as hospitals. Therefore, the findings may not be generalizable, after all, to the entire sub-Saharan African elderly population. Also, the cross-sectional design makes the picture of whether the elderly have had these behaviours long before they attained the age of 65 years unclear. As such it may be doubtful if the result represents the true depiction of affairs in the elderly population. On the other hand, the study by Kjiolseth and Ekerberg studied people’s experiences and reactions to the ‘warnings’ they have received about the suicidal intentions or plans of the elderly around them. They have relied on psychological autopsy, based on several interviews with people the authors thought should have the knowledge and experience about the phenomenon they planned to investigate. Giving the research questions of the authors about how people perceived notices of suicide communicated to them, a re-enactment of the situation surrounding the eventual suicidal act, through information from key informants, may help shed light on people’s experiences and the processes involved in the reaction of individuals. The individual meaning is also referred to as phenomenology in the context of qualitative research (Thompson et al., 1989). However, with individual meanings it may be difficult to demonstrate ‘probabilistic’ generalisability to the w ider group of formal or informal carers of the elderly who have died by suicide. On the other hand, it might be possible to generalise findings with strong ‘internal validity’ to similar contexts (Pawson and Tilley, 1997 ). Furthermore, They were also interested in the general population of the elderly living a wide geographical area. In this regard, it is the ideal for the authors to access very elderly person living in the location of interest. However, it may be a near impossibility to attempt to interview every elderly person living in an area equivalent to a quarter of the country. As such, the authors resorted to a systematic method of taking a representative sample of the population of the elderly in the location of interest. In this way, they relied on a multi-stage area probability sample of the elderly living in households spread over the study location. They interviewed one elderly person per household, and eventually arrived at a sample size of 2149 participants REFERENCES ATHERTON, M. 1987. Berkeleys Anti-Abstractionism. In: SOSA, E. (ed.) Essays on the Philosophy of George Berkeley. Dordrecht: D. Reidel. BAIRD, E, F., KAUFMANN WALTER 2008. From Plato to Derrida, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Prentice Hall. BESKOW, J., RUNESON, B. ASGARD, U. 1990. Psychological autopsies: methods and ethics. Suicide Life Threat Behav, 20, 307-23. DIEGO, D. L., SHELLEY, B., M, B. J., KERKHOF, D. J. F. A. BILLE-BRAHEUNNI 2004. Definitions of Suicidal Behaviour. In: LEO, D. D., BILLE-BRAHE, U., KERKHOF, A. J. F. M. SCHMIDTKE, A. (eds.) Suicidal behaviour. Cambridge: Hogrefe Huber. FOSSEY, E., HARVEY, C., MCDERMOTT, F. DAVIDSON, L. 2002. Understanding and evaluating qualitative research. Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 36, 717-32. GODWIN, M., RUHLAND, L., CASSON, I., MACDONALD, S., DELVA, D., BIRTWHISTLE, R., LAM, M. SEGUIN, R. 2003. Pragmatic controlled clinical trials in primary care: the struggle between external and internal validity. BMC Med Res Methodol, 3, 28. KJOLSETH, I. EKEBERG, O. 2012. When elderly people give warning of suicide. Int Psychogeriatr, 24, 1393-401. MARTENS, D. 1998. Research methods in education and psychology : integrating diversity with quantitative qualitative approaches, Thousand Oaks, Sage. MELLO-SANTOS, C., BERTOLOTE, J. M. WANG, Y. P. 2005. Epidemiology of suicide in Brazil (1980-2000): characterization of age and gender rates of suicide. Rev Bras Psiquiatr, 27, 131-4. OJAGBEMI, A., OLADEJI, B., ABIONA, T. GUREJE, O. 2013. Suicidal behaviour in old age results from the Ibadan Study of Ageing. BMC Psychiatry, 13, 80. PAWSON, R. TILLEY, N. 1997 Realistic Evaluation, London, Sage. RUDD, M. D., BERMAN, A. L., JOINER, T. E., JR., NOCK, M. K., SILVERMAN, M. M., MANDRUSIAK, M., VAN ORDEN, K. WITTE, T. 2006. Warning signs for suicide: theory, research, and clinical applications. Suicide Life Threat Behav, 36, 255-62. THOMPSON, C. J., LOCANDER, W. B. POLLIO, H. R. 1989. Putting Consumer Experience Back into Consumer Research: The Philosophy and Method of Existential-Phenomenology. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 133-146.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Magic and Superstition in the Middle Ages Essay -- superstitions, beli

Superstitions have influenced the lives of human beings perhaps since the beginning of mankind. For millennia, people have clung to beliefs and practices surrounding preternatural activities. Even after science has produced evidence to explain what was once considered supernatural, the superstitious traditions have continued. During the Middle Ages, many new superstitious rituals were developed and some can still be seen in use today. However, the trivial superstitious rituals of today, such as hanging a horse shoe on a door or knocking on wood to bring good fortune, did not begin so simply. Superstition, as defined by the Oxford dictionary is, â€Å"excessively credulous belief in and reverence for the supernatural.† In no other time was the supernatural ever so excessively believed than in the Middle Ages, where witches flew on broomsticks, Jewish sorcerers conjured spells, and sneezes could kill you. In ancient times, mysterious circumstances were explained by the imaginations of our ancestors. Without science, occurrences which seem obvious now were once described as supernatural. For example, a person’s shadow cast on a sunny day was defined as a reflection of that person’s soul. Natural phenonemons were more or less personified. To get to the roots of supernatural beliefs, it is necessary to look at the roots of philosophy. Bernard McGinn, author of The Growth of Mysticism, said that in the ancient Mediterranean world philosophy was defined as, â€Å"the love of wisdom, to express the highest mode of human life, one dedicated to more than the ordinary tasks of survival and self-aggrandizement† (32). The Middle Ages began around the fifth century, when the Roman Empire disintegrated and Christendom began to take shape. The people th... ... Simeoni, Manuela. "European Pagan Memory Day." The Canon Episcopi and the Beginning of the Matter about Witches. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. Trachtenberg, Joshua. "Jewish Magic and Superstition: 1. The Legend of Jewish Sorcery." Jewish Magic and Superstition: 1. The Legend of Jewish Sorcery. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. Trachtenberg, Joshua. "Jewish Magic and Superstition: 2. The Truth Behind The Legend." Jewish Magic and Superstition: 2. The Truth Behind The Legend. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. Trueman, Chris. "The Black Death of 1348 to 1350." The Black Death of 1348 to 1350. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Williamson, Allen. "Joan of Arc, Brief Biography." Joan of Arc, Brief Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Wolchover, Natalie. "The Surprising Origins of 9 Common Superstitions." LiveScience.com. TechMedia Network, 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Imagine you are a southern soldier

Today Is July 4th 1863, the day after the battle ended. Brother Bob and myself fought bravely under Confederate General Robert E. Lee. At the start of the whole thing we were quite confident in our ability to win due to the astounding victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in May 1863.We all felt extremely good in the direction this was heading, as General Lee only intended to collect supplies from Pennsylvania farmland He also believed that we needed to leave poor Virginia alone, as the majority of the fighting had ccurred there already, Us Confederates only wanted to threaten those Yankees. stop everybody wanting to fight, but most importantly, win a battle on Yankee soil. That would teach them to respect our Southern pride and traditions. l, personally, dont necessarily want to be fighting all these other good men, but my Southern culture is being threatened.Surely you understand that Aunt Caroline. No one wants their lifestyle to be taken away from them. Anyway Aunt Caroline, let me tell you all about the fighting. We started ott Northwest ot the city ot Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1st. s confederates were fighting with 30,000 men and we had the Yankees outnumbered by 10,000. we were able to defeat them the first day although we werent so lucky for the rest. On the 2nd day of fighting, the union army brought 90,000 men to fight our 70,000 confederates.The fighting seemed to stay back and forth all of the 2nd day but I believe that the union army still had the upper hand on us at the end of the day. On the 3rd day of fighting we were atop Culp's Hill ready to fight those Yankees! General Lee came up with the plan to charge the center of the union line on Cemetary Ridge with 12. 00 Confederate men. This attempt was destroyed by union rifle and artillery fire. and we took great losses to our Confederate army. Lee led our army on a torturous retreat back to Virginia.Everyone is guessing that around 51,000 men from both sides died in the past few days here. I'm so very thankful that myself and Brother Bob made it through the fighting easily. The only unfortunate thing is that I managed to stub my toe during the night and now have quite the nasty bruise. I cant wait to get home to everyone soon Aunt Caroline, but please pass on the message that everyone is safe. Wth Love, Jimmy imagine you are a southern soldier By annachristinelee Things were rough here at the battle of Gettysburg.Today is July 4th 1863, the day Lee only intended to collect supplies from Pennsylvania farmland. He also believed occurred there already. Us Confederates only wanted to threaten those Yankees, stop everybody wanting to fght, but most importantly, win a battle on Yankee soil. That would teach them to respect our Southern pride and traditions. l, personally, don't necessarily want to be fghting all these other good men, but my Southern culture is ifestyle to be taken away from them. Anyway Aunt Caroline, let me tell you all about the fghting.We started off Northwest of the city of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1st. Us confederates were fighting with 30,000 men and we had the Yankees outnumbered by 10,000. We were able to defeat them the first day although we weren't so lucky for the rest. On the 2nd day of fighting, the Union army brought 90,000 men to fight our 70,000 confederates. The fghting seemed to stay back and forth all of the 2nd day but I believe that the Union army still had the upper hand on s at the end of the day.On the 3rd day of fghting we were atop Culp's Hill ready to fght those Yankees! General Lee came up with the plan to charge the center of the Union line on Cemetary Ridge with 12,000 Confederate men. This attempt was destroyed by Union rifle and artillery fire, and we took great losses to our Confederate unfortunate thing is that I managed to stub my toe during the night and now I have quite the nasty bruise. I can't wait to get home to everyone soon Aunt Caroline, but please pass on the message t hat everyone is safe.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Establishing the Academic Performance of Veterans in the Us Colleges Essay

The word veteran comes from Latin word, vetus which means old. It’s used to mean a person who has experience or has served for a long time in the armed forces. Though sometime it may be used to even include those still working in the armed forces (Howe 23). In some countries holidays dubbed Veterans Day have been celebrated to honor the veterans. After World War 2 veteran groups like the veterans of foreign wars and even the American legion pushed for the enactment of the GI bill which has ensured that veterans access free or subsidized education and health care (Howe 23). Objectives †¢ To determine the level of academic performance of veterans in the US colleges. †¢ To understand the reasons why veterans decide to go back to college. †¢ To comprehend the effect of being a veteran on academic performance. †¢ To classify the academic performance of the veterans i. e excellent, moderate e. t. c. Justification Frances claims that the Vietnam veterans, who were on duty between 1956 and 1975, were psychologically devastated and bitter (45) and addicted to drugs (46). They include the people who had an uphill task readjusting to the normal society life, in the US history context (47). Several movies e. g. Hi mom (1970), 1971’s hard ride and Marvel Comic’s movie The Punisher among others have constantly shown that the experience at the Vietnam war for example was so devastating (Jay 23). This warrants a study that probes to know if the government’s efforts to take the veterans back to college is the most appropriate measure. The results will boost the morale of the veterans. The researcher hypothesis will be a Null hypothesis-There is no relationship between high academic performance and being a veteran. It will be assumed that the respondents exam result will be a true reflection of their academic capability and that past exam marks achieved were not characterized by any irregularities. Literature review A number of recent studies keep pointing at the fact that those combat veterans who have PTSD have exhibited memory lapse. According to Nash (112) and Andrew (99), other psychological dimensions including intellectual capacity, veterans with PTSD have been ok just like other non-veterans. According to the newly signed GI bill by the USA president George W. Bush on 30th June 2008, all American young veterans are assured of a chance to obtain a college degree or university degree free of charge (Montreal Gazette). An example of the serious attention being given to this sector is Horatio Alger association’s commitment in 2005 to distribute 10 million dollars to those veterans who fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This bill was signed in recognition of the Jewish War Veterans. It was also signed in order to review the educational benefits attached to the military, navy or the air force from which a majority of the veterans emanate and which have been outpaced by the standards of living. The bill has been timely because it eliminates the stringent procedures and replaces them with a minimum of three years of active service to the nation in the military, navy, air force or any other troops like reservists or guardsmen. The veteran benefits are to those who have participated actively in long term state duties and have received an honorary discharge from duty e. g. the American Soldiers who went to fight the war in Iraq and made it back home (National Guard). The financial Aid office and the department of veteran affairs in the US which is based at Ivy Tech in Southern Indiana have been very instrumental in promoting education for the veterans. According to a recent survey by Minnesota state colleges and universities (2007), 80% of National Guard soldiers from Minnesota completing their overseas deployment, said they were keen on beginning or returning to complete their higher education (Karmaz 345). These veterans returning from military duty abroad face numerous challenges i. e. personal, relationship, employment matters and education as they struggle to return their lives to normal civilians (Nash 116). As the president of Las Positas College DeRionne Pollard puts it in her welcome note, the veterans have made an astonishing difference in the lives of their countrymen and women. The peace and freedom that is enjoyed by the US for example as she puts it, is as a result of the tiresome work and a strong sense of duty exhibited by the veterans in their various state assigned duties (Andrews 34). This study will therefore be seeking to establish the general academic performance of veterans and the factors responsible for the standards In veterans elementary public school in Chula Vista that caters for approximately 542 students from grade k-6 in 2007 had an adequate yearly progress of 845 surpassing the 800 mark set by the state of California. Sounds impressive but, how about other schools/colleges? (Neubauer & Diane 376) Methodology This study will utilize both quantitative and qualitative methods. In quantitative method, the academic records of the veteran students will be analyzed; their performance will then be compared to the other non-veteran students in the same setting. A test will also be set and administered to all respondents. The research will utilize several resources including stationery, analyzing computers where data is entered and comparison charts and graphs produced. Qualitative method will also be used be used to generate the opinions of the respondents. Unstructured questionnaires will be used to generate this information. All qualitative information of similar nature will be grouped together i. e. information coding. The coded information will then be organized in the form of matrix and then conclusions drawn from the data, E. g. Oral examinations on general topics can also be posed, the respondent’s answers will then be checked for content and their levels of understanding understood. Data analysis The quantitative data on the performance of the subjects will be compared with that of a control reference population of students with the same characteristic but who are not veterans. The qualitative information will also be translated into percentages of the subject who prefer to go back to college for several reasons. The qualitative information will then be used to explain the performance of the veterans quantitatively. For example, if a majority of veterans go back to college because they want to gain knowledge or because they want to develop new careers and assist their families, then we would rightly conclude that the high performance by the same people is purely because of self motivation and not because of the harsh conditions they faced in service for the nation. Results According to (Willenz 56), a case study done on 204 veterans in Michigan, it was found that 60% of the respondents performed well in college at the beginning but later their performance depreciated and they eventually underperformed, with approximately 20% of them dropping out. Of those who dropped out, 90% of them were not going for counseling sessions. The results clearly show that though many veterans want to go back to college, their past experiences plays a major role in what becomes of that decision. However there is a serious need for the veterans to be attached to counselors or psychologists whose therapies should make them fit to go back to college and stay on course to achieve desirable results. Veterans most of the time have suffered severe consequences of war and therefore as a show of appreciation for the sacrifices they made the government through a specifically set financial scheme offers to take them back to school or if they accidentally passed on in line of duty, their family members are given the benefits. These benefits have been characterized with a lot of procedural technicalities that have denied genuine candidates their dues. The most common scenario is that of veterans living in conditions of poverty and engaged in a lot of legal battles with the state in an attempt to prove that they are worth compensating. For the veterans to become normal civilians after participating in military wars there is need for a carefully structured educative system that re- integrates them into the society through counseling and other methods. Recommendations The veterans occupy an integral part of any society. Their contribution in safeguarding the interests of their nation calls for more than is currently being offered even by the US. Young veterans only should have the option of going back to college as compulsory especially if they had not gone to college. But aged ones should be given an opportunity to access the compensation in terms of finances and be able to do what they like with it. The Compensation for duties discharged should not only be education grants but should also include job placements. Because of their selfless actions it would be prudent for the concerned governments to increase the compensations given to those who have been disabled in the line of duty. The duration of service should be a determining factor for compensation.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Bookreport on Richard Feynman essays

Bookreport on Richard Feynman essays From May 11, 1918 until March 15, 1988, Richard Feynman was thinking about physics. He made many contributions both large and small throughout his life, from working on the Manhattan Project, to winning the Nobel Prize. Richard Feynman was born to Melville and Lucille Feynman in Far Rockaway, New York on Mya 11th, 1918 and began his fascination with physics. His father can take a good amount of credit for this as he set out to stimulate Richard to think from an early age in a scientific way. Melville used to play games with Richard using small colored tiles while he was sitting in his high chair. Melville would have Richard setup the tile on end in no particular order and then topple them, eventually creating patterns for Richard to mimic in order to get him to think about patterns and the basics of mathematical relations. Melville also took Richard to the American Museum of Natural History and bought a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica to help expand his sons learning abilities. Richard went through school just like any other child but did most of his learning outside of school through books and encyclopedias. He learned much of his math before it came time to learn it in school, but when that time came, subjects like algebra were a breeze for Feynman. He learned that it wasnt important how you got the answer as long as it was the right one. With that attitude, and sitting in on his cousin Roberts tutoring sessions, Richard could solve simultaneous equations before he left elementary school. While Richard was in high school, he became a member of the school math team, which competed with students from schools all over New York. Feynman and his math team would travel to schools to compete in these competitions. Each member of the team was given a time limit to solve a problem independently. This time limit was short enough to make it nearly impossible to solve the problems by the rule book, but they w...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Children of a Lesser God essays

Children of a Lesser God essays The movie Children of a Lesser God can be best described as a love story that deals with barriers in basic communication. It is a story based on a play about a talented teacher for the deaf named James, who forms an interest in a deaf employee named Sarah, who works for the same school. His job is to help deaf children learn how to speak, so he feels he can help Sarah to do the same. Initially, James runs into problems with her because she doesnt have an interest in learning how to speak and she admits to him that she doesnt know how to read lips. James takes this as a challenge and begins to lure Sarah to him by coincidentally bumping into her from time to time. Once he draws Sarah in by taking her to dinner and communicating with her quite often, they realize that theyve fallen in love. The conflict in the movie is that James unwittingly tries time and time again to get Sarah to speak and learn to read lips and she basically wants him to step into her world of silence. Near the end of the movie we see as James explodes and finally tells her that hes tired of trying to reach out to her all of the time and doesnt understand whats holding her back. Her response is equally explosive as she explains her sentiments about the issue. After some time they experience separated, James and Sarah reunite in the end to resume the love that they share for each other. In the communication context, there are a few characteristics of communication that are dealt with in this movie. The obvious barrier of communication between the deaf and the hearing, relationship conflict, and the use of nonverbal communication, are all aspects in communication that are touched upon in this movie. First, the main subject of the movie obviously is how James a hearing instructor tries to communicate not only with his hearing-impaired students, but the woman that he eventually falls in love with, Sarah. This may...