A Second Chance Essay

It was my chance to prove myself; I was about to go out there and audition for a talent show through singing and playing the piano. I was so sure that I would do it, since I knew the judges personally and they were already aware that I had the talent. I haven’t actually practiced the song as much as I was supposed to, but I was certain that I would know it properly since I have practiced before several times. I was waiting for my turn, and while I was waiting, I was starting to get nervous and tense about the whole thing. When I was up, I took a deep breath and started playing the song. The first thing I did wrong was mix up the notes. The first time was excused as it was thought to be normal and that everyone makes mistakes. The second time was also excused, the third, the fourth.. It was starting to get irritating. Other than the note mix up, when I started to sing, my voice went too high and I started to get out of breath. In addition to this, I forgot and mixed all the lyrics of the song. This made me stop in the middle of the song excusing myself for all the mistakes that I’ve done. Since the judges were my friends, they were totally understandable; they realized that I was nervous and that I am good at this, despite my failed efforts. This made me feel miserable. I have failed to preform something I have known and been playing for almost a year. I couldn’t sing the song without making a word mixup every now and then. I informed the judges the next day that I would like to audition again, and this time I was going to do it right. The minute I told them I was going to audition again, I went home searching for a completely different song to preform, and this time I was going to focus on singing it only. I found the perfect song, and once I did I started practicing on it. I have noticed that the last time I auditioned, I was nervous when my turn was up, so I decided to ask different people I knew to hear me out, and anytime I would get nervous I would randomly start singing, to try and overcome my fear of preforming in front of a crowd. When the day of my second audition finally arrived, I was assured that I would do it this time, given the fact that I have practiced beforehand and tried to overcome my fear. The minute I preformed, I felt a tinge of nervousness, but then It was like I was preforming to myself, not scared at all. I was confident enough and because of this I did a good job and the judges loved it. This made me realize that once you set your mind on something, even if you fail it once, you can always achieve it. If you have the will to do it, you will succeed. The second thing I realized was that you should always, ALWAYS make sure you are prepared for any situation that may arise, even if you think you know how to handle it. After all, practice makes perfect. This has made me believe that I should never give up on where I want to study, and even if I don’t get accepted the first time, I can work harder and apply again, I have nothing to loose. I should believe in myself and prepare myself for what’s ahead and will hopefully succeed. A Second Chance Essay In Harold Ramis’s film, â€Å"Groundhog Day† and Franz Kafka’s story, â€Å"The Metamorphosis†, both main characters are faced with a life-changing event because of the way they live their lives. In Groundhog Day the main character Phil is an arrogant, sarcastic weatherman absorbed in his own discomforts, without hope, and cut off from other people. He is forced to relive the same day, groundhogs day, over and over again. In â€Å"The Metamorphosis the main character is Gregor Samsa, a man who spends his time working to pay off a debt for his father. Gregor wakes up to find that he has turned into a beetle. Throughout these two works the main characters try to go back to living their life as before not realizing that this is their second chance at life to make things right. Phil manages to do so only by breaking through and becoming a person of intimacy, creativity and compassion which sets him free from his exile of living in the same day over and over again. As for Gregor, going from someone everyone depends on to something no one wants to care for, he doesn’t get a chance to have everything go back to normal. He dies and his family, for once, is relieved. Groundhog Day lets us experience what it would be like to make a breakthrough like this in our own lives. The movie shows us a character that is like the worst in ourselves. Like us, he finds himself in an inexplicable situation, something like fate. But, unlike us, he gets the luxury of being stuck in the same day until he gets it right. Where most of us go semi-automatically through most of our days, he is forced to stop and treat each day like a world onto itself, and decide how to use it. In the end, he undergoes a breakthrough to a more authentic self in which intimacy, creativity and compassion come naturally – a self that was trapped inside him and that could only be freed by trapping him. Like many of the heroes of fiction, he can only escape his exile from himself by being exiled in a situation not of his choosing. This movie hits on a message that is commonly found elsewhere and that appears to express an essential truth. When we get beyond denial and resentment over the conditions of life and death, and accept our situation, it tells us, then life ceases to be a problem and we can become authentic and compassionate. Phil makes two such breakthroughs: first he accepts being condemned to being stuck in the same day, then he accepts the fact that everyone else is condemned to die. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s transformation is kind of an extended metaphor. He deeply resented having to support his family. Desiring to be in turn nurtured by them, he becomes a parasite. The complete dependence of Gregor’s family and employer on him, then, is seen as an ironic foil to the reality of Gregor’s anatomical transformation into a parasite. The Metamorphosis is not upon Gregor, but on his family, as they abandon their dependence on him and learn to be self-sufficient. One interpretation of the story holds that the title applies equally to Gregor’s sister Grete: she passes from girlhood to young womanhood during the course of the narrative. Another view of Gregor’s transformation is that it is an extended metaphor, carried from abstract concept to concrete reality: trapped in a meaningless job and isolated from the human beings around him, Gregor is thought of as an insect by himself and by others, so he becomes one only to die, and relieving the family of having to take care of him. Fiction allows us to identify with and play characters who find their true selves, putting us in touch with the universal human nature in each of us. The ability to watch and play the role of fictional characters makes the fiction more interesting and expands our vision of possible ways of being. But, one way or another, it must lead us back to our true selves, the universal, moral being we all are, which is as real as the physical world is real. Groundhog Day symbolizes just this since Phil treats his life as a game only when he is in despair. Once he has a sense of hope, he becomes more authentic and discovers himself. As for The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s state before he turned into a bug contrasts with the family’s state after the got jobs and began working. I guess Kafka is trying to say that we shouldn’t work like bugs for others leaving out time for ourselves as Gregor had but instead work for ourselves with pride and dignity as the family did at the end of the story. A Second Chance Essay Three years ago, my cousin Wael, aged 17, died next to me in a car accident. It was a very beautiful evening, I just got off work and was excited to go home and drive my new Nissan 350Z my boyfriend just got me. As I arrived to my house, Wael was waiting for me. I hadn’t seen him over a week or so, and the excitement to see him was killing me. I wanted to go out for a drive to catch up, as well as test drive the new car. We were out driving for about twenty minutes or so; we told each other stories and just laughed until we couldn’t breathe any longer. At a point, he kept asking me to let him drive my car. This car was probably every teenagers dream. I didn’t want to at first, because my boyfriend had asked me to please not let anyone else drive it. I couldn’t say no to Wael. He was my everything; we always did things with each other, and for each other. I finally gave up, parked at a random store and switched seats with him. The fun then really began. We drove everywhere; we drove past my house, past our high school and finally went on this road called Hillcrest Road. This road is known for how small and narrow it is, and its big bumpy hills. We both knew what was about to happened. We were about to have the best time. He got in it, stepped on the gas as hard as he could, and the car speed off. We were screaming with laughter from how fast the car was going, and how much fun it was to feel like we were flying in the air. Finally we made it at the end of the road. I was glad that was over with, because in my head I kept thinking,† please don’t scratch up the car.† He wasn’t done, he asked me, â€Å"one more time please?† I gave up arguing with him, and agreed. This time around he put his whole weight on the gas pedal and took off as fast as he could. We were laughing, screaming, and looking at each other as we were flying in the air. There was a moment when the car flew af ter the hill and started to drift to the left. I got scared and asked him to stay in the lane. I think he freaked out and didn’t know how to handle the car. He made a mistake by hitting the break while we were flying instead of hitting the break when we landed. The two front wheels locked and as soon as it hit the concrete ground, everything started moving in slow motion. I could feel the car sliding off the road and going towards a white fence. I don’t remember what happened after that hit because it happened so fast. I can recall waking up with glass pocking the soles of my feet, blood dripping down my neck; it was so wet and gushy. I was so sore and in so much pain. I looked over to my shoulder to see if my cousin is still there, but all I see is blood dripping down his nose and I tried to wake him up. I was screaming at him â€Å"Please wake up, please.† When he couldn’t respond to me I tried to get out the car even though opening the door was very hard. Everything was blurry and every muscle in my body was aching. I was told, I just passed out on the ground while I was trying to walk to a house to get help. Eventually, someone called 911 and the ambulance and care flight came for both of us. I was taken on the ambulance to be treated for severe head injuries, while they were working on getting Wael out of the crushed car. I have been hit in the head by the fences we ran into, and had lost too much blood. Wael was pronounced dead due to internal bleeding. When I eventually woke up in the hospital, I heard all the crying and screaming, and that’s when I knew someone died. I couldn’t understand who, I mean it wasn’t me because I was still here. I kept telling myself this is just a dream; I will wake up soon, but I never woke up. That person who died was my cousin. I couldn’t cry, I was numb, I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t understand what had just happened. I just couldn’t believe it, no way. We were just having so much fun a couple hours ago it seemed. I guess bad news spreads faster than good news, because the next morning I was surrounded by people who I knew as well as I didn’t know. It was variety of people from friends, police officers and even family members from all over that I haven’t seen in years. That’s when it hit me, that my cousin is gone forever. I cried and cried myself to sleep. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, and the nightmares kept getting worse as the days went on. All of my family hated me because they blamed me for his death. I developed very bad depression, I stopped talking to everyone, I got angry fast and I felt lonely. I had nothing going for myself. I felt like I lost everyone who I once loved, or at least those who loved me. One day my mom begged me to go get help, or just get out and do something with myself. I had to do something about this; it had been way too long. I had suffered enough, I grieved for way to long and that’s when I came to the conclusion that God has a plan for me and this is why he is still keeping me around. God gave me a second chance, he wants me to do something with myself. I believe everyone deserves second chance in life. It doesn’t matter if it a big mistake or a small mistake. Walking around with grudges won’t solve anything. Obviously when I was walking around grieving it didn’t do me any good. I blamed God, I blamed my boyfriend for getting me that car, and I took it hard on myself because I willingly handed the vehicle to my cousin. This world is filled with good and bad things. It’s sad to say that it took a car accident and losing the closest person I had ever had to make me realize this. Wael might be gone but he will never be forgotten. I feel like he begged me to drive the car for a reason. It me who was supposed to be killed, but God took him before me. I believe everyone deserves a second chance just like God gave me another chance. I felt like I died and came back. As long as I am alive I can survive anything, and I know I have a purpose in life. My life did change dramatically; I can’t say I am the same person I used to be. My family went from hating me to being the closest people I have in my life; I went from doing nothing for myself to enrolling at Kettering Medical College. Life can be cruel and destructive, but God gave me a second chance at life for a good reason. This I must believe.

The Blindness of King Lear

In the classic Vincent Price horror film, THEATER OF BLOOD a demented Shakespearean actor murders critics who have savaged him in the past with a series of gruesome traps based on death scenes from Shakespeare’s work. At the film’s conclusion, a critic faces permanent blindness as punishment for being blind to the actor’s greatness in the same way King Lear was blind to his own folly and ego.When one reads the TRAGEDY OF KING LEAR, one can see that the curse of Lear is that he was blind to the full spectrum of the consequences of his actions. Lear had a single minded approach to how he defined his outlook of the world and such blindness lead to the deaths of his friends and family as well as the creation of a needless war with France.At the beginning of the play, Lear wishes to divide his throne amongst his three daughters. Lear opts to tie the division of his throne into the performance of his daughters in a speech delivery contest and this raises the ire of Cor delia, as she refuses to take part in such a contest. This results in Lear disowning her and that set into motion a chain of events where Cordelia marries the leader of France which provides France with the justification to invade Lear’s country to seize territory; these events would never had been possible without Lear’s narrow-minded paranoia governing his psyche and his actions.From this, it is evident that Lear’s â€Å"blindness† to his daughter’s feeling lead to the â€Å"blindness† in being able to see the consequences of his actions. Lear conducted himself in a manner that was impetuous and ego driven. His inability to understand that he was not being insulted or rejected by Cordelia, but rather Cordelia ( a character who is clearly  defined as having a strong moral core) was rejecting the notion that she should compete with her sisters for her father’s rewards.The irony to this is that because King Lear saw an enemy where an enemy did not exist, he fed the real enemy (France) with the justification it was loosely looking for in order to take an action against Lear.FOOLNo, he's a yeoman that has a gentleman to his son; for he's a mad yeoman that sees his son a gentleman before him.The character of the Fool often represents Lear’s subconscious, as it is the character of the fool that impresses upon Lear the importance of paying attention to what actually â€Å"is† and what truly exists in the world, as opposed to paying too much attention to what is merely his own personal perception of reality; a perception that is tailored by Lear’s desire for what he wishes to be true. That is, what exists and what one wishes to exist are two separate creatures.Conversely, this is not to infer that Lear is merely paranoid. There is great need to be wary of foreign invaders and influence. History has shown that the world has suffered my imperial expansions into sovereign territories and it would no t be outside of Lear’s proper reason to worry that a foreign power would wish to threaten the stability of his kingdom. It had not been without precedent that members of royalty’s own family conspired against them, so Lear’s response was not without merit. Lear’s problem, however, derived from the fact that he saw enemies where enemies did not exist (as was  the case with his daughter), took the advice of those who ultimately were not helpful to him (his close associates) and, essentially opted to ignore the advice of the person who had his best interests at heart: the Fool.FOOLHe's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's oath.With that statement, The Fool provides a cohesive logical center to the character of Lear, who has gone blindly adrift amidst his own conspiracy theory passions. It is ironic that the Fool truly is the wisest person in the cast of characters, yet is outwardly dubbed a fool, while tho se who should know better are in decisive or outright wrong.At certain points, Lear does at least initially make an attempt to take the advice of the Fool or at least give the Fool’s advice serious contemplation as evidenced in the following response to the Fool’s commentary:KING LEAR It shall be done; I will arraign them straight. Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer; Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, you she-foxes!At this point, it appears that Lear is leaving some of his blindness behind and has finally seen the truth. The Fool has made a wise-man of the king, as the king appears to finally understand the concept that a clear understanding of a real threat vs. a perceived threat is reached. Lear’s problem, however, is that he is always seeking third party  validation of his beliefs. He will prescribe to the Fool’s advice for a short time, but then will waiver and side with his associates who are more willing to tell him what he wants to hear. T his allows the Fool to become symbolic of a moral conscious. When the Fool appears and reappears throughout the play, it symbolizes Lear’s central, endemic problem: reason, logic and clarity of thought are inconsistent with Lear. As a leader, is judgment is not sound and prone to radical faltering.A great deal of the irony of the play derives from the fact that while Cordelia appears to be the instigator of the loss of Lear’s throne, it is actually she who is the one who seeks to restore Lear. Lear’s other daughters, Goneril and Regan, ultimately prove that their loyalties lie with the material aspects of the throne and their true natures surface when they start to squabble amongst themselves over the affections of Edmund. All of this provides a scenario that is more damaging to Lear’s self-preservation than he initially perceived. In other words, he never should have directed his venom towards Cordelia, but did so because of his perpetual blindness towar ds what actually is vs. what he perceives reality to be. In reality, the threats lie with the â€Å"good† daughters such as Goneril, as evidenced in the following dialogue where it is clear she shares little regard for the value of Lear’s life.GONERIL By day and night he wrongs me; every hour He flashes into one gross crime or other, That sets us all at odds: I'll not endure it: His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids usOn every trifle. When he returns from hunting,I will not speak with him; say I am sick: If you come slack of former services, You shall do well; the fault of it I'll answerIn the following passage, a clearly unhinged King Lear tries to make sense of the disastrous situation that he finds himself in, all the result of the foolish wedge he drove between himself and his daughter(s) when he conceived of the ill-advised and ill-fated speech contest:KING LEAR No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to prison: We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage: Whe n thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down, And ask of thee forgiveness: so we'll live, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them too, Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out; And take upon's the mystery of things, As if we were God’s spies: and we'll wear out, In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, That ebb and flow by the moon.Unfortunately, as much as he wishes it were possible, Lear can not correct the past. It has been said that all human beings develop their core, central beliefs revolving around the fact that their life experiences create their perception of the world.  In Lear’s situation, as a King and leader of a nation, he was never used to hearing the word â€Å"no† as those looking to remain in the favor of the king and avoid his wrath would simply not take up a position that the King would perceive as threatening. Hence, King Lear de veloped a predictable and thoroughly unhealthy cause and effect response to the word â€Å"no† to where any negative sentiment would result in retaliation to the (perceived) threat.Ultimately, Lear realizes his error when he loses his thrown, sees his family fall apart and then has to contend with internal soul searching in order to find some sort of moral lesson that could at least rationalize the entire experience within his own heart as having ultimately been worth a greater good. That greater good is, essentially, Lear realizing the error of his ways, but his realization does nothing to reverse the damage. In fact, the final result of all the conflict in the play yields the death of Cordelia, the only daughter who truly loved him.As such, Lear eventually must give up his blindness to what his emotions have created and see the world for what it truly is. Unfortunately for King Lear, these realizations come very late in the equation and his lessons are learned at a point th at is far beyond where a benevolent conclusion could have been reached. This is why the story of King Lear is called a tragedy.

Book Review “Prejudice and Pride” by Krishna Kumar Essay

The piece of work which is being reviewed is authored by an eminent educationist Krishna Kumar. The title of the book is Prejudice and Pride which has been published by Penguin Books India Limited,Viking in the year 2001. The subtitle of the book ‘School Histories of the Freedom Struggle in India and Pakistan’ reflects major concern as well as the prime area of investigation in this book by the author. It is a comparative study between the school history textbooks of the neighboring countries India and Pakistan. The impetus to take up this path of exploration by Krishna Kumar can also be seen somewhere as his response to the several decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. The writer takes this despair further and observes the general gloom prevailing in the education system of both the countries. However, according to him this becomes clearer by looking on the situation of children’s education in both India and Pakistan, which can be seen as a recipient o f a certain degree of despondency giving it a low priority. Moving on to history teaching more specifically we can see that this problem aggravates as the focus of teaching history only arises political concern without translating it as a concern for the children who are at the receiving end. Therefore with the study of school history textbooks of both the countries Krishna Kumar seems to be tracing different trajectories of ideological presentation of a shared past. This can be seen as also adding up to the hostile attitude of both the countries towards each other. This study is thus based on a comparative study of the school history textbooks of India and Pakistan. Out of this comparison the author brings forth a number of concepts and ideas where both countries who share a common historical background have different takes on its account and staging. However the basic question which the author enquires into is the perception of the past that Indian and Pakistani children encounter at school. Following this research question the major objectives of the author while writing this book can be stated as follows. The one is to examine the rival ideologies of nationalism into which schools attempt to socialize the young. While another is to probe the politics of history writing as a means to understand the contribution that schooling makes to the Indo-Pak conflict. However the author is focusing only the master narratives available in the textbooks for the period of freedom struggle. The relevance of taking textbooks as the centre of observation to achieve these objectives  can be seen in the very nature of textbooks. This can be further explained as interrelation between economy, state and culture can be better understood through the textbooks. They are the clearest embodiments of these relations. Textbooks are simultaneously economic goods (they are often sold to students, parents, and schools), political objects (they are subject to state control and regulation and hence a re the result of political and ideological tensions and compromises), and cultural representations (what is included and not included, and how such knowledge is organized, is a form of cultural politics). Thus the textbooks can be seen as a real epitome of a nation’s ideological, cultural and social background. The central theme of this book thus revolves around the idea that history textbooks are also a recipient of certain kind of representation which is in accordance with the national ideology. This is further elaborated by the author during the course of study where he finds that how the knowledge about the past is selected, reconstructed and represented in the textbooks. This he assumes that holds a great significance for this type of study which intends to probe how a common past acquires distinct versions under two systems of education. He further adds to this argument that why history has taken such a symbolic form. He says that this is because education in India and Pakistan is conceived in both learning and committing to memory, sets of facts that encapsulate, rather than explicate and interpret meaning. This is evident in the examination system where a student is required to learn certain things and just reflect the same in the paper. This he makes clear by using a concept of memory posters which makes a child to remember the reconstructed past without giving much space for reasoned analysis. Thus the history textbook are also conceived as a storehouse of knowledge about the past, about the ‘great men’ of those times and their vision, which children have to learn, imbibe, as it were-never mind that this vision was seldom unified or synchronic in the manner that textbooks would have us believe. Therefore through this the author portrays how the formulation of history textbooks on these premises serves the abovementioned idea that they are primarily composed of nationalistic ideology. The central idea which is propagated through this book is explained very explicitly through various explanations and concepts. The book is divided into three parts excluding the introduction. The part one primarily consists of three chapters where he  focuses on the basic ideas of how the children are made familiar to past, the popular perception about the shared past in both the countries and how a certain ideology is propagated through textbooks. The chapter one possess the title Children and the Past. This chapter examines the psycho-social characteristics of children’s response to the past. Here he talks about the tacit knowledge which is imparted in a child during the course of early socialization in his home. This type of knowledge does not provide any room for rational enquiry. This further leads a child to build up a notion of self as a member of a society and also at the same time to build up a notion of ‘other’ for whom they have a fixed image whose me mory stocks are different to theirs. Thus we can see how the seed of otherness for the one having different historical picture is sowed in the primary socialization of a child. Later the child enters the realm of education in school. Here he explains the need to understand history as a subject with a capacity to enter into a time frame and perspective without being submerged in it. But to attain this he says becomes a hard task as the teaching of history faces challenges against the knowledge of past by children in the form of beliefs and attitude. His next chapter then comes toward the general conceptions of different popular perceptions of past in both India and Pakistan. The idea of freedom and partition is explained very differently in both the countries. The use of the images of Jinnah and Gandhi in Pakistan and India respectively can be seen as a means to portray the image of a reminder of the unfinished business of the freedom movement in both the countries. The chapter after this tends to focus on the relationship between ideology and textbooks. He uses the concept of ‘prescribed’ texts to define the nature of books used in the post colonial countries where teaching of history is highly related to larger socio-political milieu. He uses the concept given by Ayesha Jalal to reflect upon the argument that in both India and Pakistan textbooks represent the grammar of ‘national ideology’. Moving towards the second part of the book which is coined as Rival Histories has six chapters in it. The part initiates with a chapter on how freedom struggle is presented as a narrative in both the countries. The effort to consolidate the nation state is very much explicit in the history teaching. He uses the idea from Anderson that how ‘deep shaping of imagination’ among children is required to have faith in national community. This is the  chapter where he introduces the very important concepts which were used to compare the master narratives of both the countries. The first refers to how history textbooks in both countries choose or do not choose to represent events. Facts are chosen to illustrate the distinctive turn of the narrative that each nation favours at crucial moments in the freedom plot. The second concept is that of pacing. Pacing or the rhythm to which the historical tale is set in the textbooks of both countries is problematic. The tale in both instances is a fast paced one and children are expected to read on and on continuously. They actually slip upon several decades of historical account and focus mainly upon the great personalities and their constructed role. The third concept which he mentions is about the way they end the history writing. The history ends on a different note for both the countries master narratives. It is precisely due to the way they perceive the time of partition. For India the moment of freedom was a time of partial happiness and a sense of loss are reflected in the narration of partition. However for Pakistan it appears as a great triumph to be finally freed from the clutches of highly dominating Hindu country. It does not end only on this note but it also expresses how entering into the new era of self rule of will be exciting and what should be the goals to be attained. This is evident in the Pakistani books as an extension of historical account is visible there in comparison to India where the post partition problems and the activities related to it are also discussed. On the basis of these measures we can see how Krishna Kumar in further chapters investigates into the history from 1857 to 1947. In these chapters he proceeds with a very keen analysis of comparisons of the accounts on all events and their different interpretation. Moreover he also points that how some episodes are omitted and how some are given over emphasis. He takes up the accounts of 1857 and brings up the differences between the presentations. The major differences can be explained in context of portraying the causes of uprising. In India though the writers desist from using the term national but they do say that revolt made the Indian people more politically conscious than before. But what politics might mean in a mid-nineteenth century context is not explained. While in Pakistan a completely different picture is projected where emphasis is mostly on the role of Muslims. Moreover it goes beyond and this is seen as the dilemmas in history writing in Pakistan. This is because  the narrative should not only describe how colonial rule ended but also explain how Pakistan came into being. Thus to justify the happening of Pakistan it must also have a long national movement seeds of which can be seen in the revolt of 1857.Thus Krishna Kumar says that with the help of highly compressed story which does not allow the listener to ask for details therefore the aim of Pakistani textbooks can be seen in the indoctrination rather than explanation. In later chapters writer presents the difference in periodization. Pakistani textbooks put an emphasis on the period from 1907 to 1927 by contrast Indian textbooks generally select the year 1919 as marker of historical times which shaped the course of freedom struggle until the mid 1930s. He further brings above the motive behind focusing on different years as it makes way for the portrayal of Gandhi and Jinnah as heroes and their actions as the ultimate deeds. One more thing he points out is the vise-versa attempt on the portraying Gandhi as a Hindu leader and Jinnah as a Muslim leader in Pakistan and India respectively. Similarly in the book we can see several events which have been a shared experience for both India and Pakistan has been selected and depicted in very different manner. Both the nations form a different take on all the instances and personality. By using the three concepts which has been mentioned earlier i.e. politics of mention, pacing and concept of ending he thus brings forth different angles of the history textbooks in India and Pakistan. He points to how each of these time segments is recorded in the textbooks and reads both omissions and inclusions as symptomatic of larger national anxieties. Importantly, the choice or omission of an event che ats the child of an opportunity to know a situation in all its complexity. In fact, this is a recurring theme in the book the manner in which history textbooks conceives of and interpellates the intended child reader. Thus children are not made aware of the complex arguments in regard to certain historical events. Krishna Kumar ends this book on a very interesting note where he asks children from both the countries to write on the topic ‘The division of India and Pakistan’. He thus brings above a varying picture of opinions. In India he sees a dominant picture of Pakistan coming over where the children perceive it as a synonym for Muslims. This is evident in the idea of a Hindu India with a stereotype of Muslims which is based on hatred and distrust as writer points out. Moving to ideas of the Pakistani students  we can see whole range of historical periods mentioned where the aim is to show how Muslims suffered at the hands of Hindus and thus partition actually gave them the space of first class citizens. In both sides we can find a common bone of contention between India and Pakistan is Kashmir. Thus in this exercise also there is a reflection of the ideas which are propagated through textbooks. In the last chapter he brings forth the relationship between history and peace. The major argument which he traces in the whole book is that both India and Pakistan differ on the grounds of depicting freedom movement. In India which is defined in terms of tensions between communal and secular forces it actually reflects India’s national identity which also makes Pakistan come under suspicion. On the other hand the freedom movement in Pakistan attains the picture of an age long movement for the freedom of Muslims from a Hindu country. This is evident in the idea that an Indian historian focuses on as to why the partition took place whereas in Pakistan the new birth is celebrated by focusing on how the partition took place. This can be precisely the answer to the question he posed to enquire in the starting of the book. However in the different parts of book he tends to achieve the objectives of his study. The comparative study of history textbooks from both the countries thus helped him to probe into the reflection of the conflict between India and Pakistan in the history textbooks through which the ideologies of young minds are framed . This thus preserves the hostility between the two countries. However he ends on a very positive note where he sees role of education as vital one which can lead to overcome the unsettling effects of their interlocked frames of perceptions. This books thus in comparison to his earlier works can be on one hand as an extension of his focus on school and curriculum and their flaws. While in his book ‘What is worth teaching’ he focuses on fractured, contradictory and divisive nature of curriculum and school knowledge in our country and its insidious disempowerment of the teacher. His very important work the Political Agenda of Education also revolves around the concept of political ideologies involved in the education system. However this book in comparison to his other works comes up with a very different objective and method of investigation. While looking on for other books from other writers which have ventured into similar type of analysis cannot be found yet. Moving from the achievements of the writer we also come across certain gaps  visible in the work. It is known that he is building up a picture of investigation around the period of freedom struggle but he confines himself to a very limited events and personalities of that period. His projection that part of history comes up as if it is only in relevance to Pakistan. He also tends to omit the other popular beliefs of the time which was visible in the form of questions raised by Dalit leaders and also the division of India on the basis of language leading to a discontent in South India Thus the book can be seen as a very different creation with experiment of a new type. The central idea that national ideologies shape the history writing of school textbooks is very cogently presented in the books. The role of history teaching and its impact on the socialisation of the young minds and leading to their formulation of the notion of ‘other’ is also very much clear in this book. But this book also suffers loops and holes in course of omitting other aspects of freedom struggle like low caste and tribal resistances. Book Review Prejudice and Pride: School Histories of the Freedom Struggle in India and Pakitan

Romantics and Transcendentalists Research Paper

Romantics and Transcendentalists - Research Paper Example According to Emersion Waldo’s Nature (1836), â€Å"the movement of Transcendentalist was a vast and diverse phenomenon where by the representatives, in many voices, addressed themselves from various perspectives to significant concerns agitating thought in the decades that preceded the Civil War and the New England life†. The author used his characters and themes to inform the New England transcendentalism. In commenting against the values and tenets of the Age of Enlightenment, the authors exemplify commitment to the idealism of philosophy. This, in the view of diversity, may however seem hazardous to claim the values and tenets of the Age of Enlightenment as a central argument to the Transcendentalist movement. The authors also comment against the values and tenets of the Age of Enlightenment using their themes, that man and nature is one, and that God and nature need to coexist, and that when a man simplifies his life and lives with nature as one, he would be peacefu l with himself and the world. This is a much more view of nature in practice. All these aspects and voices of Romanticism from the authors contribute to the development of a vigorous thought nationally. The impulse of Romanticism and Transcendentalism played a primary role in the mid 19th century. Through the themes and characters in the works of these Romanticism and Transcendentalist authors, they have vastly commented against the values and tenets of the Age of Enlightenmen

No title needed Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

No title needed - Article Example According to CBO, if the legislation is passed, it will grant $1.047 trillion in ordinary appropriated funding for government functions on yearly basis. The funding is line with the discretionary spending caps found in the Budget control Act. The ordinary appropriated financing in the bill is $7.9 billion which is 0.6% above that of FY 2012. It includes the financing of overseas contingency functions /global war on terrorism (c.9 billion) and disaster aid at $6.4 billion. Therefore, as stated by CBO, the total expenses in the bill are said to be below the FY 2012 total spending levels by $26.6 billion.1 The requirement of the legislation to grant $1.047 trillion in ordinary appropriations is steady with spending maximum enclosed in the BCA. To arrive at this financing level, the legislation would appropriate amounts suitable for offering ordinary discretionary financing at the FY 2012 levels raised by 0.612% across the board. The appropriated finances would be obtainable until the prior of enactment of valid appropriations legislation, that is, march 27, 2013. The BCA permitted modifications to discretionary spending perimeters for appropriations to grant disaster funding, lessen waste and exploitation in social security disability and healthcare financial support and ensure global war on terrorism. One of the hurdles the bill had to overcome is the long running disagreement among the parties over how much expenses should be allowed in the FY 2013. The debt ceiling agreement for the previous year ascertained a discretionary expenses cap of $1.047 trillion but earlier 2012 the House GOP surpassed a budget resolution, which restricted overall expenses at $ 1.028 trillion2. Hence this led to the disagreements between the two parties in the house regarding this bill. The bill has as well overcome the hurdle of being considered to increase expense limits beyond the open limits in the bill, a focus to a point of order. This is because;

Online education Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Online education - Assignment Example Strategies like this can directly influence learning process and enhance it for the better. Though online education with the help of modern modes of technology translates into less student-teacher interaction, but the truth is that the merits of this mode of education far outweigh its demerits. Out of all teachers and students interviewed during the course of this research, majority coincided with online education giving logical reasons to augment their approval. It is a well-established scientific fact that some students are right brain dominant, while others are left brain dominant. While verbal lectures among other conventional teaching methods are more suitable for left brain dominant students, right brain dominant students learn better through videos. The conclusion is that though online education is quite beneficial, real learning process should be a mix of both conventional and modern teaching methods because student-teacher interaction cannot be substituted by anything

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Photography Under Consideration and All Aspects of Art and Visual Design - Essay Example Photography has been applied in the need to complete information sharing and articulate the plot development in relaying stories. The need to present a visual communicative, the process has been involved in the desire to present the information within the visual process. Photography has been applied to relay a vivid informative, process that complements the visual elements within the created form (Norton 1). Depending on the means applied to take photos and the medium applied in completing the final piece, the visual composition may vary from a medium to the next. Pictures have been applied in variable platforms to predict the outcome of an event and record memories for future reference. All aspects of art and visual design are included in an outstanding piece to give the picture form and definition. However, colour may not be the leading element within the picture composition because forms devoid of the entity have managed to predict outstanding visual composition (Norton 1). To ana lyze a pictorial composition, the forms captured within the frame, direction and angle of the shot can be analyzed to create the information desired to read the mood of the composition. The photography under consideration has been taken in the wild with nature as the subject of the study. The six photos captured have been taken from a similar location and the time for the shoot fluctuates from variable periods. The first shot taken suggests that the photographer had been having a worm's eye view with the towering trees and sky as the subject. The picture taken during the morning period presents an almost perfect balance of the captured features within the window frame.

Methods ProjectUsing data from the National Child Development Survey Essay

Methods ProjectUsing data from the National Child Development Survey (NCDS) explore the extent to which the British education system has a meritocratic outcome - Essay Example Social mobility has become an issue even in politics since each and every policy now deals with whether it will allow people to change or rise from the current situation (Marshall, G. & Swift, A. 1996). According to Saunders, P. (1997), mmobility in Britain compares to that in the US only that, that fro Britain is declining since the haves have benefited from education opportunities. According to Scott, J. (1999), class is a matter of social background within which one is brought up in. to him, class is reflected right in our attitudes and in our lifestyles as well as in our talking accents and in the way we dress. To him further, social stratification is a particular way of dividing people in a particular way on emphasis of the idea that, individuals are distributed in levels of social hierarchy due to their economic relations or their economic value. These are real social groupings are able to reproduce themselves over time and are forged together through economic relations and the associated social relations as well as social interactions i.e. groupings of people who have similar occupations, similar marriages, who are kins etc. To Saunders, P. (1997), the interrelations between social stratification and things like gender, ethnicity and age are very complex and all combined structure these social divisions; inequalities are gendered, are racialised and are aged. To him, social exclusion and discrimination which is based on gender and ethnicity generate inequalities in life chances in Britain and other countries. Swift, A. (2002) argues that, surveys of children who were born in the 1950s and the 1970s reveals low mobility due to increasing positive relationship between family income and educational attainment by the children.  According to him, additional education opportunities which allow them to stay in education at age 16 and age 18 benefits children from

Brahms Symphony N0. 2 1st Movement Research Paper

Brahms Symphony N0. 2 1st Movement - Research Paper Example On the other hand, the existing of social classes during the period could have also played a critical role in his desire to be a composer as opposed to a performer. As a composer, Brahms particularly wrote a number of symphonies, piano works and choral compositions among other pieces. However, his greatest pieces were primarily those based on symphonic and sonata styles. Brahms’s second Symphony was one of the most successful pieces of Brahms’ compositions. Compared to the nearly fifteen years it took Brahms to do his fist symphony, the composition of the second symphony was relatively brief since it only took one year to be completed (Frisch 68). The first movement sonata form which is also known as â€Å"allegro non troppo† begins with double bases and cellos. Without any introduction, the first movement opens just with a Basic motive. The Basic motive generally assumes diverse rhythmic shapes and is gradually shifted to the other measures in order to effective ly pervade the movement. In the Allegro non troppo, the double bases art and the cellos begin the initial movement in a sonata form. Although the composition has no separate tempo designation, the opening movement initializes with a slow introductory section those thematic composition keeps on repeating itself frequently. The tranquil mood is overtaken by introduction of the horns as the standard theme. After around every 50bars the lively main theme that is particularly marked to be played gently and sweetly (dolce) is slowly introduced with the first violin sounds followed by marked cantando in the cellos. Johannes preserved almost every aspect of the structural principles based on the classical masterpiece. In this musical composition the two lively external movements frame slows while the second movement is overtaken by a slightly shorter scherzo. A number of musical frame works in the concerto No. 2 1st movement makes this musical flow fabulous. For instance, Brahms bases most of his movements in this concerto on a melody he had formerly tranquil for the Wiegedlied Op.49 often referred to as the â€Å"Brahms’s lullaby†. In the symphony No.2 1st movement, Brahms’s tune introduces an 82 bar and is continually brought back into existence, re-shaped and restructured both harmonically and rhythmically. In addition, Brahms has also effectively developed the section in a more unique instrumental join that gradually progresses into a full bodied forte in between bar 57 and 58. Much like was in his first symphony, Brahms ha a primarily used simple unifying motive in the first movement of his second symphony. For example the two main unifying motives in the first movement include a half note that is followed with a quarter note and an interval above or below the 1st and 3rd notes (MacDonald 98). As the first movement gradually progresses, the two motives increasingly become more altered, embellished and enterwined. However, these modifications are carefully juxtaposed against the original motives in order to provide a sense of continuity and preserve the fluidity of the piece. For example, in some cases, the second motive occasionally undergoes tonal mutation and transforms into a series of flowing octaves. This is particularly evident in measures between 21 and 28. On second Codetta in the first move

Literary genres Essay Example for Free

Literary genres Essay lit ·er ·a ·ture (ltrchr, -chr) noun. 1. The body of written works of a language, period, or culture. 2. Imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value:Literature must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings into a unity (Rebecca West). 3. The art or occupation of a literary writer. 4. The body of written work produced by scholars or researchers in a given field:medical literature. 5. Printed material: collected all the available literature on the subject. 6. Music All the compositions of a certain kind or for a specific instrument or ensemble: the symphonic literature. 1.  written material such as poetry, novels, essays, etc. , esp works of imagination characterized by excellence of style and expression and by themes of general or enduring interest 2. the body of written work of a particular culture or people Scandinavian literature 3. written or printed matter of a particular type or on a particular subject scientific literature the literature of the violin 4. printed material giving a particular type of information sales literature 5. the art or profession of a writer 6. Obsolete learning 1. writing in prose or verse regarded as having permanent worth through its intrinsic excellence. 2. the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people, etc. 3. the writings dealing with a particular subject. 4. the profession of a writer or author. 5. literary work or production. 6. any kind of printed material, as circulars, leaflets, or handbills. 7. Archaic. literary culture; appreciation of letters and books. | literature the humanistic study of a body of literature; he took a course in Russian lit. literary study the humanistic study of literatureliterature creative writing of recognized artistic value| | | literature published writings in a particular style on a particular subject; the technical literature; one aspect of Waterloo has not yet been treated in the literaturepiece of writing, written material, writing the work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect); the writing in her novels is excellent; that editorial was a fine piece of writingliterature creative writing of recognized artistic valuehistoriography a body of historical literature| | | literature the profession or art of a writer; her place in literature is secureprofession an occupation requiring special education (especially in the liberal arts or sciences)literature creative writing of recognized artistic valueTypes of Literature: Fictional Literature Drama: Drama is the theatrical dialog performed on stage, it consists of 5 acts. Tragedy, comedy and melodrama are the sub types of drama. e. g William Shakespeare, an Elizabethan dramatist composed the plays Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear that are famous because of its combination of tragedy and comedy. Problem play, farce, fantasy, monologue and comedy of manners are some kinds of drama. Tragedy: It is a story of the major character who faces bad luck. Tragedy, elements of horrors and struggle usually concludes with the death of a person. The Illiad and The Odyssey by Homer are the two famous Greek tragedies. Comedy: The lead character overcomes the conflicts and overall look of the comedy is full of laughter and the issues are handled very lightly. The elements used in the comedy are romanticism, exaggeration, surprises and a comic view of life. Melodrama: Melodrama is a blend of two nouns melody and drama. It is a musical play most popular by 1840. Uncle Toms Cabin is one of the most popular plays describing cruelty of labor life. It has happy ending like comedy. Tragicomedy: The play that begins with serious mode but has a happy ending is tragicomedy. Prose Literature History, journalism, philosophy, fiction and fantasy writings, scientific writings, childrens literature authors and writers are included in Prose Literature. Myth Myths are the fairy tales with lots of adventure, magic and it lacks scientific proof. Nursery rhymes, songs and lullabies are forms of myths that strike the interest of children. Creative and nature myth are stories of the stars and moon. Magic tales are wonderful tales of quests and fantasy. Hero myths are ideal heroes of adventure. Short story  The small commercial fiction, true or imaginary, smaller than a novel is known as short story. Short stories are well-grouped that followed the sequence of easy and no complexity in beginning, concrete theme, some dialogs and ends with resolution. They are oral and short-lived which have gossip, joke, fable, myth, parable, hearsay and legend. Novel Novel can be based on comic, crime, detective, adventurous, romantic or political story divided into many parts. The major kinds of novels are: Allegory: The symbolic story revolves around two meanings. What the writer says directly is totally different from the conveyed meanings at the end. Political and Historical allegory are two forms of Allegory. Comedy: Satire is very common form in comedy novels and tries to focus on the facts of the society and their desires. Epistolary: The collection of letters or mails is the epistolary novels. Samuel Richardsons Pamela and Henry Fieldings Joseph Andrew are the few examples of Epistolary novels. Feminist: These types of novels are written by women writers around the world to describe the place of women in a male dominated society. E. g Virginia Woolfs A Room of ones Own. Gothic: Gothic fiction is the combination of both horror and romance. Melodrama and parody were grouped in the Gothic literature in its early stages. Ironic: Ironic novels are known for excessive use of narrative technique. It is satire on the contemporary society about cultural, social and political issues. Realism: The realistic novels are based on the truths of ordinary society and their problems. It focuses on the plot, structure and the characters of the novel. Romance: Love and relationship topics are handled optimistically in the romantic novels. It originated in western countries; basically the story revolves around love affairs of main characters. Some popular sub categories of romantic novels are paranormal, erotic, suspense, multicultural and inspirational romance. Narration: In narrative style, writer becomes the third person who narrates whole story around the characters. Naturalism: Naturalism is based on the theory of Darwin. Picaresque: It is opposite to romance novels as it involves ideals, themes and principles that refuse the so-called prejudices of the society. Psychological: Its the psychological prospective of mind with a resolution. Satire: Satirical novels criticize the contemporary society. The most famous novels are Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels (1726), Kingsley Amiss Lucky Jim (1954), George Orwells Animal Farm and Randell Jarrells Pictures from an Institution (1954). Stream of Consciousness: James Joyces stream of consciousness is all about the thought coming up in the minds of the readers. A novel also constitutes categories on social and political aspects like proletarian, psychological, protest novel, government, didactic, materialist novel, allegorical novel, novel of engagement, naturalistic novel, Marxist novel, radical novel, revolutionary novel, anti-war novel, utopian novel, futuristic novel, anarchist novel, problem novel, social philosophy novel, novel of ideas, problem play and speculative novel. Folk Tale Folk Tales are traditional stories that have been creating interest since ancient times. The children and old persons like religious story, magic and superstition as well. Fable, tall tales, cumulative, trickster and proverbs are the sub categories of folk tales. Mythology or legend is the ancient religious stories of origin and human civilization such as story of Robin Hood. Types of poetry Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in the tranquility. Greek poetry is found in free verse and we have rhymes in the Persian poem. Are you wondering how to write a poem, here are the followings forms of poem? Sonnet: Sonnet is the short poem of 14 lines grouped into Shakespearean and Italian sonnets. Ballad: The poems that are on the subject matter of love and sung by the poet or group of singers as telling readers a story. Elegy: This type of poem is the lamenting of the death of a person or his near one. Elegy Written in Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray is one of the famous poems marked as sad poems of the ages. Ode: Ode is the formal and long poem serious in nature. Allegory: Allegory is the famous form of poetry and is loved by the readers because of its two symbolic meanings. One is the literal meaning and another is the deep meaning. Epic and Mock epic: Epics are the narrative poems that convey moral and culture of that period. The Odyssey and Iliad are one of the largest philosophical epics written by Samuel Butler. Rape of the Lock is the great mock epic focusing on the minor incident of cutting of a curl. Lyric: It has Greek origin that gives a melody of imagery. It is the direct appeal of a poet to the readers about any incident or historical events. Lyrics are most of the time similar to ode or sonnets in the form. Nonfiction Literature: Nonfiction Literature is opposite to fiction as it is informative and comprises the interesting facts with analysis and illustrations. Main types of Non- fiction literature Autobiography and Biography An autobiography is the story of the authors own life. Family Life at the White House by Bill Clinton is focused on his life and achievements. Wings of fire by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Mein kampf of Adolph Hitler are the autobiography books on real life. Essay Generally the authors point of view about any particular topic in a detailed way is an essay. Essay has simple way of narrating the main subject; therefore they are descriptive, lengthy, subject oriented and comparative. Different types of essay: Personal essay, expository essay type, response essay, process essay, persuasive essay, argumentative essay, critical essay type, interview essay, reflective essay type, evaluation, observation essay, comparison type of essay, application essay, compare and contrast essay and narrative essay type. Literary criticism It is the critical study of a piece of literature. Here critics apply different theories, evaluation, discussion and explanation to the text or an essay to give total judgments. Plato, Aristotle, T. S. Eliot, Saussure and Frye are some of the famous critics. Travel literature It is the narration of any tour or foreign journey with the description of the events, dates, places, sights and authors views. Francis Bacons natural philosophies in the middle of Seventeenth century is one famous example of travel literature. Diary Diaries are the incidents recorded by the author without any means of publishing them. It is the rough work of ones daily routine, happenings, memorable days or events in their life. E. g. Anne Franks Diary of a Young Girl was published by her father in 1940s; its a story of a girl trapped during German invade Amsterdam. Diaries consists of business letters, newsletters, weather listing. In todays world of Internet, writers write in blogs, forums, polls and social networking sites to convey their thoughts. This also is a form of diary writing. Some profound forms of diaries are online diary, travel, sleep, tagebuch, fictional, dream and death diaries. Journal Journal is one of types of diaries that records infinite information. They are of following types: Personal: It is for personal analysis. In this journal one can write his goal, daily thoughts, events and situations. Academic: It is for students who do research or dissertation on particular subjects. Creative journals: Creative journals are the imaginative writing of a story, poem or narrative. Trade: Trade journals are used by industrial purposes where they dictate practical information. Dialectical: This journal is use by students to write on double column notebook. They can write facts, experiments, and observation on the left side and right side can be a series of thoughts and response with an end. Newspaper It is a collection of daily or weekly news of politics, sports, leisure, fashion, movies and business. Magazine Magazines can be the current affairs or opinions well collected covering various content. Frame Narrative The psychoanalysis of human mind is present in a frame narrative. Here we find another story within the main story. Some of the popular narratives are Pegasus, Wuthering Heights, The Flying Horse, The Three Pigs, A Time to keep and the Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays. Outdoor literature Outdoor literature is the literature of adventure that gives whole exploration of an event. Exciting moments of life such as horse riding, fishing, trekking can be a part of literature. Some outdoor books are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Treasure Island by Robert Louis, Voyages by Richard Hakluyt and A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby. Narrative form of Literature Today we find movies, audio and video CDs and Cassettes that present current literature in use. Digital poetry is an upcoming trend too. Comic books, cartoons, eBook and Internet games are the learning methods for children. Literature includes centuries, human nature, cultures and souls. Isnt it? Read more at Buzzle: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/types-of-literature. html|

Dabhol power plant: Stakeholder management

Dabhol power plant: Stakeholder management Effective Stakeholder Management in a Project Environment Stakeholders are those individuals, corporations, public, and government bodies etc. which are directly affected by the outcome of a project. In recent times it has been seen in India that many projects have failed or delayed due to lack of proper stakeholder management. Some of the major projects which have failed or delayed are Dabhol Power Project, Tatas Nano Project in West Bengal, Reliance Dadri Project in UP and many more. These projects failed in the planning phase itself. In the Dabhol power project firstly the stakeholders were not identified in an efficient way and then communication various stakeholders was lacking. Stakeholder Management is a process which is continuous in nature and spans through the life cycle of the project. Stakeholders in a typical project company(special purpose vehicle ) can be discovered through various techniques like brainstorming, Delphi technique, etc and various other techniques included in this report. The next big thing in stakeholder manag ement is doing a stakeholder analysis through which we will be able to draw a mind map of the stake holder also we would be able to rank the stakeholder according to their influencing power on the project. Next we draw a communication plan for the stakeholders, this will include type of medium, frequency, format of communication. Communication has emerged as one of the major factor affecting a projects outcome, cost and time. The diagram below shows a general framework of stakeholder management: In this dissertation report we have taken a study of ultra mega power plant (UMPP), which are under construction and are in various stages of completion. Ultra mega power plants will have an installed capacity of 4000 MW. UMPP policy was unveiled by the Ministry of Power through Electricity Act, 2003. The government envisages power for all by 2012, which means an addition of 100000 MW to the installed capacity at the end of 10th plan. In the 10th plan India missed the targeted capacity addition by almost half of the total to be added. Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has been assigned the task of creating five special purpose vehicles (SPVs). Of the five sites identified initially for UMPP, four have been already awarded up till now. Objective To find a method of controlling time and cost over runs using a better stakeholders management techniques through the planning, implementation and closing stages of a UMPP project. Methodology The dissertation report is based on applied research. Various reports of international consultancies have been cited in this dissertation report. Data have been collected from infraline , Central Electricity Authority (CEA) websites. A detailed study has been done on new trends in stakeholder management. INDIAN POWER SECTOR To write pages and pages of theory on the power scenario in India would not be an effective way to communicate the current problems faced by this sector. The statistics given below can more effectively communicate the sense of urgency that this sector requires. A study conducted by the Manufactures Association for Information Technology (MAIT) and Emerson Network Power (India) reveals that in 2008-2009 power outages both scheduled and non-scheduled accounted for about Rs 43205 Crore losses to Indian Inc. This amount was Rs 22000 Crore in the year 2003. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK IN POWER SECTOR In India, control over the development of the power industry is shared between the Central and the State Governments. The Ministry of Power is the highest authority governing the power industry in India. The CEA, a statutory organization constituted under the Electricity Supply Act, is the technical branch of the Ministry of Power assisting in technical, financial and economic matters relating to the electricity industry. The CEA is responsible for giving concurrence to schemes involving capital expenditure beyond a certain limit as fixed by the government from time to time, and it is also responsible for the development of a sound, adequate and uniform power policy in relation to the control and utilization of national power resources. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission constituted under the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act1998 is an independent statutory body with quasi-judicial powers. Its main functions include the formulation of policy and the framing of guideli nes with regard to electricity tariffs. Several states have set up State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) and others are in the process of setting them up. The SERCs are engaged in regulating the purchase, distribution, supply and utilization of electricity, tariff and charges payable, as well as the quality of service. State Governments have set up State Electricity Boards at the State level, which are responsible for ensuring that the supply, transmission and distribution of electricity in such states is done in the most economical and efficient manner. These State Electricity Boards are required to coordinate with power generating companies, as well as the government entities that control the relevant power grids. Some States have amalgamated their respective State Electricity Boards to form Regional Electricity Boards, to ensure that the electricity supply, transmission and distribution policies are consistently applied. Private sector companies operating in the electr icity supply, transmission and distribution industry report to the Ministry of Power, as well as their respective State Electricity Boards and their State Electricity Regulatory Commissions. Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) There is a great difference between the supply and demand of electric power in India. According to CEA monthly report in January2010 the peak deficit was 12.2 % i.e. 112029 MW. A KPMG1 report sites that per capita consumption of electricity is 700 units in India, 1800 units in China and 15000 units in USA while the world average is 2300 units. Therefore to bridge this deficit and raise per capita consumption, the government came out with reforms through electricity act, 2003. Ultra Mega Power Projects are part of these reforms, in which power plants with an installed capacity of 4000 MW, with an estimated cost of Rs 16000 Crore, will be constructed across the country. The nodal agency for UMPP program will be Power Finance Corporation (PFC). Nine sites have been selected for construction of UMPP. Five sites are coastal sites, while four are pithead sites. PFC has set up separate Special Purpose Vehicles(SPVs) for each of the nine UMPPs identified so far as to act as authorized representatives of the procurers. The SPVs have been named after the name of the site. All the 9 SPVs are wholly owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation Limited. Akaltara Power Limited is renamed as Chhattisgarh Surguja Power Ltd (CSPL). The main features of the Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP) are:- The UMPP would use Super Critical Technology with the view to achieve higher levels of fuel efficiency, which results in saving of fuel and lower green-house gas emissions. Flexibility in unit size subject to adoption of specified minimum supercritical parameters. Integrated power projects with dedicated captive coal blocks for pithead projects. Coastal Project to use imported coal. Role of Ministry of Power (MoP):- Coordination with Central Ministries/Agencies to make sure:- Coal Block allotment/coal Linkage Environment/Forest Clearances Water Linkages Required support from State Governments and their agencies Working out allocation of power to different states from UMPPs consultation with the states. Facilitating PPA and proper payment of security mechanism with State Governments/State Utilities. Monitoring the progress of shell companies with respect to predetermined timelines. Role of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Appointment of consultants to undertake preparation of Project Report, preparation of rapid Environment Impact Assessment. Appointment of Consultants for International Competitive Bidding (ICB), document preparation evaluation. To finalise RFQ/RFP documents in consultation with states / bidders. To carry out RFQ/RFP process and award of projects. Acquisition of land for the project. Obtaining coal blocks for pit-head projects. Getting clearances regarding allocation of water by the state Govt. for pit head locations. Approvals for use of sea water from Maritime Board/ other Govt. Agencies for coastal locations. Obtain clearances from state pollution control boards, initiate forest clearances etc. as required for the project and for the coal mines, followed by environment and forest clearances from the central government. Obtaining geological reports / other related data from CMPDI for the coal blocks. Tie up the off take/ sale of power. Role of States Rehabilitation Resettlement PlanLand Owners Give authorization to the PFC/SPV to carry out the bidding process on behalf of the distribution utilities. Facilitate signing of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Ensure proper payment security mechanism with the distribution utilities. Sasan Power Ltd Sasan is situated in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh. Singrauli is the 50th district of the state, Madhya Pradesh. Singrauli is known as the Energy Capital of India. It has the 10 % of the total installed capacity of India. The district also has large deposits of coal in nearby coal fields. River Rihand has a dam on it known as Govind Vallabh Pant Sagar Dam. Thus Singrauli provides excellent conditions for thermal power generation. Sasan UMPP is a pit head-based thermal power project with an aggregate capacity of 3,960MW (6660 MW) using supercritical technology. The project also involves development of captive coal blocks, viz Moher, Moher-Amlohri Extension and Chhattrasal at the Singrauli coalfields to meet the coal requirements of the power project. *. Thus fuel risk is being managed by the SPV on its own. Therefore risk of fuel shortage is minimised, giving a positive impact on the project. The location of the project itself reduces many risks like availability of fuel and water. Both coal mines and a reservoir are available in the vicinity. On other hand the area is less densely populated thus problem of land acquisition automatically got resolved. The Bidding Process Sasan UMPP was awarded through a two stage competitive bidding process. Lanco infratech and Globeleq Singapore Pte Ltd ( a Singapore based firm) were declared winners after they quoted the lowest bid for the project of Rs 1.196 / Kw, in dec2006. In Feb2007 Globeleq Ltd, Bermuda, parent company of Globeleq Singapore, sold its Singapore business arm to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and Lanco Infratechs, Mauritius based holding company. This move was challenged by the rival bidders in the court. The government declared the bid of Lanco Infratech ltd -Globeleq Singapore Pte Ltd. as invalid. A week later Reliance Energy submitted a fresh bid of Rs 1.19/ Kw. Consequently the project was awarded to a consortium Reliance Infra Ltd. this consortium consists of Reliance Infra Projects UK Ltd (RIPUL), an affiliate of REL Infra. Sasan Power Ltd. (SPL) had invited bids on behalf of state electricity boards/ electricity distribution companies/ state electricity utilities of Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on 31st Mar2006. Technical Requirement for the bidders:- Should have experience of developing projects ( not necessarily power projects) in the last 10 years whose aggregate capital cost must not be less than Rs. 3000 Crores. Out of these projects , the capital cost of at least one project should be equivalent to Rs. 500 Crores. For the purpose capital expenditure on the projects that have been completed at least 7 days before the RFQ submission date shall be considered. Lead member shall be the company having at least 26% stake in the Bidding Consortium. Financial Requirement for the bidders:- Internal resource generation equal to atleast Rs. 1200 Cores or equivalent US$ computed as cumulative internal resources generated during last five years business operations, networth of Rs. 1000 Crore or equivalent US$ based on any of the past three years annual accounts and annual turnover of Rs. 2400 Crores or equivalent US$ based on any of the past three years annual accounts. The financial requirements of each Member in Bidding Consortium shall be combined in proportion to the investment commitment by each of them. Enclosures with the bid proposal:- Covering Letter Joint Deed Agreement between Members in Bidding Consortium. Letter of consent from all Members in Bidding Consortium. Board Resolution. Initialling of all pages of Bid by authorized signatory. Executive Summary. Last five year annual Accounts of Bidding Company or each of the Member in case of a Bidding Consortium. Reliance Infra Ltd. Reliance Infra Ltd. is the flagship company of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). The company develops and operates power plants both domestically and internationally. The company on its own and through subsidiaries is currently developing 13 medium and large sized power projects with a combined planned installed capacity of 28,200 MW, one of the largest portfolios of power generation assets under development in India. 13 power projects are planned to be diverse in geographic location, fuel type, fuel source and off-take, and each project is planned to be strategically located near an available fuel supply or load center. The identified project sites are located in western India (12,220 MW), northern India (9,080 MW) and north-eastern India (2,900 MW) and southern India (4,000 MW). They include six coal-fired projects (14,620 MW) to be fueled by reserves from captive mines and supplies from India and abroad, two gas-fired projects (10,280 MW) to be fuelled primarily by reserves from the Krishna Godavari Basin (the KG Basin) off the east coast of India, and four hydroelectric projects (3,300 MW), three of them in Arunachal Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand. Reliance Power has acquired the two ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW each at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The 7,480 MW project to be located at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh is expected to be the largest gas-fired power project at a single location in the world. The power generated by these projects is to be sold under a combination of long-term and short-term PPAs to state-owned and private distribution companies and industrial consumers. Reliance Power limitedtoday has total generating capacity of 941 megawatts from five different plants located in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Goa, of which the Dahanu plant (Maharashtra) is the largest with 500 megawatts. Reliance Power is currently pursuing several gas, coal, wind and hydro-based power generation projects in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal with aggregate capacity of over 12,500 MW. These projects are at various stages of development. 5,600 MW Project (Phase I) at Dhirubhai Ambani Energy City (DAEC), Dadri in Uttar Pradesh 4,000 MW Power Project at Shahapur in Maharashtra 280 MW Urthing Sobla Hydro Power Project in Uttaranchal 700 MW Hydro Power Project at Tato II and 1,000 MW Hydro Power Project at Siyom, both in Arunachal Pradesh The 941 MW Generation capacity of the Reliance Power comes from five projects: Dahanu TPS the 2250 MW multi fuel based thermal power station at Dahanu near Mumbai. BSES Andhra Power Limited: The 220 MW combined cycle power plant at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh. BSES Kerala Limited: The 165 MW combined cycle power station at Kochi, Kerala. Goa Power Station : The 48 MW naptha based combined cycle power plant at Goa Chitradurga wind farm: The 8 MW Wind Farm Project at Jogimatti in the district of Chitradurga in Karnataka. Reliance Infra Ltd is also in the distribution and the transmission business. Reliance is already maintains a distribution network in Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Delhi, with the name BSES (BOMBAY SUBURBAN ELECTRICITY SUPPLY). Its transmission business is with the business arm, Reliance Power Transmission Limited (RPTL). Chapter 3 STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT Stakeholder has specific interest in the project outcome or in the initial stages of project planning, implementation and closing. If the stakeholder interest is not managed efficiently the project may get delayed or it may fail. We can say that with stakeholder management we are actually managing various risk associated with the project. Thus for efficient risk management, the project manager should have sound knowledge about the stakeholders interests, power and influence, to achieve this, one has to identify and analyse the stakeholders. Almost any person or organization with an interest in a project can be termed a stakeholder. The type and interest of a stakeholder are of great importance to a project manager since they enable him or her to use these to the greatest benefit of the project. The process of listing, classifying and assessing the influence of these stakeholders is termed stakeholder analysis. Stakeholders can be divided into two main groups: Direct (or primary) stakeholder Indirect (or secondary) stakeholder Direct stakeholder This group is made up, as the name implies, of all those directly associated or involved in the planning, administration or execution of the project. These include the client, project sponsor, project manager, members of the project team, technical and financial services providers, internal or external consultants, material and equipment suppliers, site personnel, contractors and subcontractors as well as end users. In other words, people or organizations directly involved in all or some of the various phases of the project. Indirect stakeholders This group covers all those indirectly associated with the project such as internal managers of the organization and support staff not directly involved in the project including the HR department, accounts department, secretariat, senior management levels not directly responsible for the project, and last but not least the families of the project manager and team members. A sub-section of indirect stakeholders are those representing the regulatory authorities such as national and local government, public utilities, licensing and inspecting organizations, technical institutions, professional bodies, and personal interest groups such as stockholders, labour unions and pressure groups. Each of these groups can contain: Positive stakeholders: who support the aims and objectives of the project Negative stakeholders: who do not support the project and do not wish it to proceed. Direct stakeholders mainly consist of positive stakeholders as they are the ones concerned with the design and implementation of the project with the object of completing it within the specified parameters of time, cost and quality/performance. They therefore include the sponsor, project manager and the project design, construction/installation teams. This group could also have negative stakeholders such as employees of the end user, who would prefer to retain the existing facility because the new installation might result in relocation or even redundancy We can divide the stakeholders based on various project requirements. The stakeholders a project are: Government-Central-State Governments, Government Organisations, Regulator Finance-Banks, Financial Institutions Concessionaire-Project Manager, Project Team Members Consessionee-Government Organisations Technology-Suppliers, Technology owners Environment Government Ministry, International Watchdog Land-Land owners Water-Ministry of Water Resources Fuel-Coal Ministry Stakeholders in a Business A successful business first identifies its key stakeholders and identifies their needs. A company can accomplish its stakeholder goals only by managing and linking work processes. High-performance companies are increasingly focussing on the need to manage core business process such as new product development. They are reengineering the work flows and building cross functional teams responsible for each process. For a business the stakeholders may be as following: Importance of Stakeholders Management Powerful stakeholders can influence the project in a big way Powerful stakeholders can help the project in securing important resources. Experienced stakeholders can guide the project managers during tough times. Communicating with the stakeholders early and often can make the stakeholders understand the benefits of the outcome of the project. It leads to understanding the reactions of the stakeholders during the progress of the project and thus the project manager can do the needful changes if required in the project. Stakeholder Analysis process: Stakeholder Identification The first step in stakeholder analysis is the identification of the key stakeholders. When the project manager starts identifying project stakeholders , he should do an organised study by giving the projects geographic sphere of influence. Here consider not only the main project site, but also the related project facilities, like the road to the site, cumulative affect of the project outcome or unplanned but predictable developments. Using this type of analysis to determine the projects area of influence and finding out that who all may be affected in this manner. This process will reveal those stakeholders, who are directly influenced by the project, may be by use of land , or by the effect to the nearby environment or by the process of new job creation. One of the techniques used for stakeholder identification is impact zoning Impact Zoning @ By mapping the sphere of influence of different types of environmental and social impacts, the project company can begin to identify distinct groups by impact area, and from this prioritize stakeholders for consultation. Steps in Impact Zoning Draw a sketch map of the key design elements of the project, both on and off site, that may give rise to local environmental or social impacts (e.g., the project site; ancillary infrastructure such as roads, power lines, and canals; sources of air, water, and land pollution). Identify the large impact zones for each of the elements Next over lay , the large stakeholder groups, over the impact zones. Through consultation with relevant stakeholder representatives, verify which groups are potentially affected by which impacts. This exercise may be performed more efficiently by using aerial photographs. The other common technique of stakeholder identification is brainstorming Chapter 4 COMMUNICATION One of the largest contributing factors for project failure or delay is lack of proper communication with the stakeholders. When communication is limited to periodic reports stakeholders, can be in dark as to when the project begins to slip. It may slip to a point, from where it is very difficult to recover the project. The remedy is consistent, frequent and candid communication. The project manager uses plans, agreements and status reports to communicate with the stakeholders and manage their expectations. In addition, as with everything on a project, a solid plan improves the probability of success. Every project should have a communication plan, a written strategy for getting the right information to the right people at the right time. The stakeholders identified in the SOW and responsibility matrix are the audience for most project communication. Information management In todays world, where there are ample mediums for communication, there is no shortage of information but instead there is abundance of information, which the stakeholder is not able to handle in the right way. Data and Information Information is always tied to the purpose of the stakeholder. Information is based on data, which is useful only when it is organised in a meaningful manner. It is the responsibility of the project manager to provide information to the stakeholder in a manner which is useful to them. Information can be classified as i) Relevant Information ii) Used Information iii) Cassandra Information. Therefore it is important to feed the right amount of information which can be used by the stakeholders. Otherwise it would lead to increased spending, increased confusion and consequently time delay in project completion. Guidelines to make a communication plan Use precise short status reports: obese reports are overwhelming for a busy audience. Determine what should go into the status report, by interviewing the stakeholders what they want. Different stakeholders may want reports on different aspects of the project. Have an escalation procedure: these are the procedure to elevate problem to senior management. Make the information timely: Executive sponsors may want reports less frequently than your immediate manager. Make sure regular status meetings are included in the plan: Many stakeholders may require meetings on project status as and when needed, i.e. only when there is big event or problem. By including schedule meetings in the communication plan, customers and higher level managers are agreeing to be more informed about the project- which avoids unpleasant surprises in the project. Be consistent with other projects: As much as possible, your project documentation should have the same look and content as other projects in your organisation. If there are standards, use them. If not, find good examples from good examples from other projects which have same stakeholders. Use multiple channels of communication: websites, newsletters, and project bulletin boards can be used to post information of interest to all stakeholders. These communication mediums complement status reports because they can provide a wider scope of information. Finally, realize what you say in the written report may come across differently when you present it verbally, so consciously include face to face meetings in your communication plan. Communication Medium Choosing the right kind of medium for the right kind of stakeholders is again an area to be looked into. A communication medium should have the following characteristic: It should be easily accessible. It should be fast. It should be recoverable later at anytime It should be cost effective. It should be easy to use. There are many communication mediums available today. It depends on the project manager to use which kind of medium to communicate to a particular stakeholder. Below there is alist of mediums available: E-mail: the use of electronic mail continues to be extensive. Some contend that email is an overused (and sometimes inappropriately used) medium. It is certainly convenient to use for most of the people. And it reaches widely dispersed and distant recipients quickly, although there is no guarantee that the recipient will read the message immediately. It automatically provides the record for the sender and the receiver. Also as it is with other written messages, email messages are also subject to misinterpretation. With the ease, by which email messages can be forwarded, one should be careful about what one write in the email. Overall email is a convenient medium of communication. Telephone: Calling someone on the telephone can be an immediate interactive method of communication, without creating a permanent, written record. Phone conversation allows you to hear voice inflections, although obviously you cannot view body language. Although an upbeat phone call is considered warmer than a written note, it doesnt have the same effect as a personal visit or any other face-to-face interaction. Unanticipated phone calls are subject to the same shortcomings or advantages of impromptu communications. Voice Mail: When people dont answer their phone, you can often rely on voice mail. This may create issues for you, if youre not careful. When you place a call, youre often expecting a dialogue. If youre forced to use voice mail, you must immediately convert your message to a monologue, which doesnt always come out sounding as youd like it: the message can become awkward or confusing for the recipient. And, as with e-mail, theres no guarantee that the message will be received in a timely manner. Handwritten Notes: Probably the most informal of the all communication modes are the handwritten notes. Short hand written notes are an excellent way to provide positive recognition. Although they take very little effort, they convey the personal touch much more than the verbal approaches or formal memos or emails. The drawback of these kind of notes is that they are geographically limited. Printed and Mailed Memos and letters: with the advent of email, memos and letters are now generally reserved for more formal or official communication. They are slow and one sided, but good when formal signatures are required and a permanent record is desired. Hence, printed, mailed memos and letters are still used in contractual transactions. Informal Visits: A visit is simply an informal and personal way to maintain a communication link with a stakeholder. Although you may not be carrying any important message, an informal visit can often lead to a more valuable or productive communication session than you might have expected from a formal communication. Informal visits are also appropriate when confidential, personal, or sensitive subjects need to be covered. Formal Presentations: Formal Presentations are often used in situations where the distribution of information may be enhanced by an explanation or the information is too complex for written documentation. Formal presentations are often done in a group setting, thus ensuring that everyone gets the same level of understanding. They allow for impressive graphical displays of information, but often require a lot of preparation. Theyre effective when youre trying to promote understanding, enlist support, or expedite a decision (e.g., management approval to proceed). However, formal presentations can be challenging or risky, as you rarely have control over the entire session. And, if poorly done, they may do more harm than good. Communication through Project Management Software: This method of communication is unique. This is a new f When Harry Met Sally: Analysis of Communication When Harry Met Sally: Analysis of Communication When Harry Met Sally and Children of a Lesser God When Harry Met Sally†¦ (1989) is a romantic comedy that breaks out of the norm of the genre with some very real messages about interpersonal communication between both genders and how we handle different situations differently. According to IMDB the plot of the movie goes: in 1977, Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) graduate from the University of Chicago and share the drive to New York City, where Sally is beginning journalism school and Harry is starting a career. Harry is dating a friend of Sallys, Amanda (Michelle Nicastro). During the drive, they discuss their differing ideas about relationships between men and women. Harry says that Men and women cant be friends because the sex part always gets in the way. Sally disagrees, claiming that men and women can be strictly friends without sex. During a stop in a diner, Sally is angered when Harry tells her she is attractive; she accuses him of making a pass at her. In New York, they part on unfriendly terms . Five years later, Harry and Sally find themselves on the same flight. Sally has just started dating a man named Joe (Steven Ford) who is a neighbor of Harrys and Harry is engaged to a woman named Helen, which surprises Sally. Harry suggests they become friends, forcing him to qualify his previous rule about the impossibility of male-female friendships. Despite Harrys suggestions of exceptions to that rule, they separate, concluding that they will not be friends. Harry and Sally run into each other again in a bookstore five years later. They have coffee and talk about their previous relationships; Sally and Joe broke up because she wanted a family and he did not want to marry, and Harrys relationship ended when Helen fell in love with another man. They take a walk and decide to be friends. They have late-night phone conversations, go to dinner, and spend time together. Their dating experiences with others continue to inform their differing approaches to relationships and sex. During a New Years Eve party, Harry and Sally find themselves attracted to each other. Though they remain friends, they set each other up with their respective best friends, Marie (Carrie Fisher) and Jess (Bruno Kirby). When the four go to a restaurant, Marie and Jess hit it off; they later become engaged. One night, over the phone, Sally tearfully tells Harry that her ex is getting married. He rushes to her apartment to comfort her, and they unexpectedly have sex, resulting in an awkward moment the next morning as Harry leaves in a state of distress. This creates tension in their relationship. Their friendship cools for three weeks until the two have a heated argument during Jess and Maries wedding dinner. Following this fight, Harry repeatedly attempts to mend his friendship with Sally, but she feels that they cannot be friends after what happened. At a New Years Eve party that year, Sally feels alone without Harry by her side. Harry spends New Years alone, walking around the city. As Sally decides to leave the party early, Harry appears and declares his love for her. At first, she argues that the only reason he is there is because he is lonely, but he disagrees and lists the many things he realized he loves about her. They make up and kiss and marry three months later. Harry and Sally communicate in very different ways which is evident from the beginning of their journey to New York. Right from the beginning of their journey, Harry and Sally start to try and get to know each other on their long drive. Sally is obviously a more positive, upbeat and open individual. She maintains this character throughout most of the film during her communications with her friends and with Harry.   Her openness with others is very in line with how we view feminine communication. Harry, on the other hand, comes across more like a typical male. He is more closed off, seems detached when he talks about things that should be more emotional, and tries to make light when conversations turn more serious.   He also focuses a lot on the more sexual aspect of his relationships than in really developing emotional attachments. Sally thinks of Harry as rude and insensitive while Harry thinks she is obsessive and very naive. When they try to talk to each other, he makes just a bout everything into a debate, doing report talk instead of rapport talk. He always has to have the last word and isnt afraid to crack jokes and hardly ask questions. After bumping into his ex wife, Harry gets frustrated and yells about the difficulties of divorce while at Jess and Maries apartment. He then leaves the apartment, and Sally has to approach him to talk about it. When Sally learns that her ex boyfriend is getting married, she reacts with sadness instead of anger and calls Harry to talk about it. Differences can also be seen after Harry and Sally sleep together. The morning after, Sally is happy and approachable while Harry is uncomfortable and distant. This is because usually for women, intimacy leads to sex and for men, sex leads to intimacy. As the movie goes on, the two start to become friends after each little meet up they have and they no longer resent each other like they did all those years ago. Harry opens up about Helen while Sally keeps the details about Joe to herself until the very end. Their communication skills cross due to Harry and Sally both talking to each other on the phone before going to bed. They even do activities together such as shopping or eating out together. By the end of the film, Harry is more descriptive when he talks to Sally such as why he enjoys being with and around her. Interpersonal communication is seen throughout this film which is defined as interacting with others over the phone and face-to-face to build a relationship. Harry and Sally absolutely experience a relationship of this type. Harry and Sally really start exchanging feelings and personal things to each other after their first get together. Sally learns about Helen and Harry about Joe. They connect and decide to be friends and hang out and talk more often. They try to help each other get dates which leads to the double date with Jess and Marie. They spend a lot of time going out to eat, shopping together, and talking on the phone. They care about how the other is feeling and desire to keep the other happy. Their relationship became one of interpersonal communication after they learned of each others recent heartbreak. They were both going through the same thing and wanted to spend more time with someone they could relate with. 3. Does S have a need to disclose herself in early confrontations with H? Is this appropriate/inappropriate for the relationship? Is this just a style of communicating? Is it gender based? Explain. I believe that Sally does feel the need to disclose herself during her early encounters with Harry. She seems easily goaded into divulging intimate details about her life. I dont think that it was necessarily appropriate or not, just her reaction to Harrys behavior and communication style. Perhaps it speaks of the feminine pressure to please others with whom we communicate with Sally feels a need to disclose herself in early confrontations with Harry because he is making assumptions about her. When he says that she hasnt had good sex yet she feels a need to tell him that she has had plenty of good sex. This is inappropriate for the relationship because they have just met each other and Harry is dating Sallys friend. I think this style of communicating is gender based because men tend to disclose less in relationships, so the conversation is focused mostly on Sallys life. Since Harry and Sallys first meeting was off to say the least, the two seemed very incompatible at the very beginning. Harry seemed very rude and blunt when asking such personal questions while Sally was very naive and kept to herself about such personal questions such as Harry asking her about having lots of good sex. With their two personalities clashing at almost all times, it was hard to hold a conversation that didnt end up as a debate or small argument. Hence when Harry told Sally that she was good looking. To Sally it was inappropriate because Harry was dating one of her friends at that time. I feel it was harmless to say the least, but I can understand both sides and why Sally didnt want him to say that she was attractive. Especially when Harry keeps insisting that a man and a woman cant be friends. Which is another reason why I think the two of them always seemed to debate and argue. So Harry could keep his point. CLG 1. From their very first meeting, there was obvious dialectical tension between Sarah and James. She being a former deaf student and James being a transferred teacher to help teach deaf students to speak. Since Sarah had a tough time growing up with her sisters friends making fun of her, she was afraid to speak and decided that she would surround herself in her own little world of silence. If no one could communicate with her through her world, she wouldnt make an effort to do the same. She was completely happy with this world she created herselfuntil she met James. He was determined to get to know her, intrigued immediately by her vow of silence and the way she refused to let anyone get close to her. Including her mother he later finds out. They agree to try and get to know one another, both seeming interested in each others world. After simply their first dance together, you can see an obvious longing in the way Sarah seems to melt in Jamess embrace. Her happiness in her silence is a lie. Though shes still afraid of the unknown world James is providing for her. When he suggests she move in and let him take care of her, she panics; her deafness being her own personal shield to the outside world. Sarah even says that no one can understand her when James asks what she can hear. In the end, they agree to meet in the middle, not having a complete world of silence or vocally speaking. This dialectical tension connecting them in the end. 2. The pool for Sarah is her own personal haven. Underwater, youre completely submerged and cant hear a thing. Also, considering she swam naked, she is completely exposed and comfortable. She feels one with the pool because in the water, you dont have to speak. Underwater, everything is still. Its that silence she craves such as her job as a janitor. Sarah feels safe and herself in the pool. So when James falls into the pool after her, he enters her domain. That was her way of seeing he actually cares about her; that he would enter her safe haven, fully clothed, just to be with her and understand her sense of ease and stillness she loves so much. James also enters the pool again during their separation by himself, staying under the water and even reaching out towards where Sarah was before. The pool is the way James can connect with how Sarah hears and sees the world. 3. The social exchange theory states why people are drawn to each other through substantial benefits. For example, when James first sees Sarah, he is drawn in by her stubbornness and not to mention her beauty. He wants to teach her to speak and is so desperate in anyway to get her to conform. He makes a promise that she doesnt have to ever speak, but breaks it during a heated moment. He apologizes for it and I think that stayed with Sarah for a while. She kept backing away while he kept pressing forward. Eventually, during an argument Sarah finally speaks, letting him hear how awful she sounds when shes screaming that shes a freak before running out on him. Their relationship is very back and forth, fitting the social exchange theory to a T. 4. The social penetration theory is quite obvious the entirety of the film. Right from the get go, Sarah makes it almost impossible for James to even hold a conversation with him; she constantly walks away, sits when he stands up, and outright ignores him. When they finally start to talk its very basic. They talk about school, work, etc. They dont talk about deeper topics until much later. After James meets Sarahs mother and talks about her past, theres a breakthrough. Sarah finally opens up a little to let him know about why she never speaks. They However by the end of the film, they both agree they need to still be their separate selves but meet somewhere in the middle. She admits that she doesnt want to be without him and that she even loves him. And thats a huge step for Sarah. The uncertainty reduction states that each person in a relationship wants and needs certainty. James gives Sarah that when he makes a promise that he wont ask her to speak. However, as I stated before, he asks her to say his name in a heated moment and breaks that certainty for Sarah. Lastly, the existential theory takes place throughout the entirety of the film from Sarahs perspective. She had grown up without anyone listening to her or even trying to understand her. She was made fun of for trying to be normal as a child by trying to talk. That scared her. The fact James keeps reminding her that hes there and wants to be with her and take care of her gives her the opportunity to finally open up to a new world. One that isnt so silent but one thats also not too loud. 1) Discuss the dialectical tension of autonomy and connection in James and Sarahs relationship? There is a lot of tension of autonomy and connection in Sarah and James relationship. Sarah doesnt have a fulfilling life of her own upon meeting James. She has not reached her potential and is working as a janitor at the school she has attended since the age of 5. James has done many things to build his career, impressing the head of the school with his resume during his job interview at the beginning of the film. This causes problems in their relationship because James wants to provide for Sarah (he gets her to quit her job and move in with him) but also wants her to be able to provide for herself (he wants her to learn to speak so she can get along in life). Sarah wants to provide for herself, but fears that she cant, saying that she is not trained for any job that will bring her fulfillment and security. Towards the end of the film, Sarah starts a new job and intends to go to college with her earnings so that she can reach her full potential. Only then, when they can both provide for themselves separately, will they reach a healthy autonomy and connection. 2) What does the pool represent for Sarah? I think the pool represents connection. When James asks Sarah what her experience of sound is like, she answers by saying that no one has been inside her head she could answer his question, but that doesnt mean he will understand. Underwater is somewhere where that question doesnt matter. It is where James can have a shared sensory experience with Sarah. At the end of the film, the couple agree to find a place to connect that is between sound and silence, and the pool was the place where that first happened. 3) Now that you have read ch 9, what about this Social exchange theory? Do Sarah and James fit the theory? Explain. The social exchange theory proposes that relationships are based on exchanges of give and take made to maximize benefits and minimize detriments. I think Sarah and James fit this theory. James is drawn to Sarah because she is unique, beautiful, and someone he sees as needing his help. James is a teacher, so he gets fulfillment from helping others. Sarah is drawn to James because he accepts her and can provide security for her. She quits her job and moves in with him so that they can try to have the traditional life he wants. They both experience give and take in the relationship, but because Sarah has not yet reached her full potential in life, the exchanges do not seem balanced. At the end of the film, when James lets go of trying to help Sarah and she chooses her own path in life, the relationship begins a new course of equilibrium. 4) Discuss how Social Penetration theory, uncertainty reduction, and existential theory is evident in the movie (look in the Baxter article). In the Social Penetration Theory, people must share some of themselves for a relationship to grow while keeping some of themselves separate or the relationship will deteriorate. This is evident in the film after Sarah and James begin living together, because they start to lose their individuality. Sarah leaves a party she is enjoying because James is bored. James does not listen to music anymore because Sarah cannot enjoy it. At the end of the film, Sarah states that they must learn to be separate but equal. In the Uncertainty Reduction Theory, people have an equal desire for predictability and novelty in relationships. In the film, Sarah wants predictability. She lives at the same school she has for almost her entire life, knowing that the staff understand her ways and will not try to change her. When James arrives, he tries to get her to break down her walls and learn to speak. The Existential Theory states that a persons desire to be open with others is balanced with a desire for privacy. Sarah willingly tells James about her sexual encounters quickly after they meet, but she never wants to speak in front of him, even after they have become very close. 1. After watching the movie, it is clear there are many sources of tension on Sarah and James relationship. The couple grows close intimately, but they are separated in many ways, some more obvious than others. The first and most obvious factor keeping the couple apart is speech. Sara cannot speak, and while they are able to communicate through sign, she refuses to even attempt to read lips or produce noise. James says he is okay with this, but once or twice he begs her to try to make noise and say his name, which upsets Sarah so much it starts the end of their relationship. Sarah also has some issues of her own which are keeping the couple apart. Her fear of getting hurt like she did when she was younger have made her cold and angry, and it takes James a long time to even have a real conversation with her. When James finally does convince Sarah to go to dinner, and agrees and while dancing, she shows a tender side that lets James know she craves human connection. His persistant ques tions about her past and why she acts the way she does, why she refuses to admit she has been hurt, why she is afraid to speak coupled with Sarahs complex and silent demenour are enough to break the couple apart. Towards the end of the movie, Sarah admits she misses him, and the two agree to try again and come to a middle ground between silence and speech. 2. In my opinion, for Sarah, the pool represents solitude and equality. She can be totally by herself, and not have to worry about talking to anyone. Being submerged underwater is silent for anyone, not just her. For a moment, she can feel equal to everyone else. It is the one place where she is not being asked to speak, not being spoken to, and not missing out on noise. Anyone who goes underwater will hear silence, and I would imagine it is comforting to her to know she is the same as anyone else, even if just for a moment. The pool is her escape. 3. Our book defines the social exchange theory as being drawn to those who are able to offer benefits to you without asking for much in return. This is an interesting idea, and while I think it can be applied to most relationships, I do not think James and Sarah fit in this theory. Sarah and James do not have much in common, and neither has anything very huge or substantial to offer (no great deal of money, no great power, no great control, etc). James does tell Sarah she is the most beautiful and mysterious girl he has ever met, and Sarah tells James he is the nicest man she has ever met. They do offer each-other the benefit of compassion, love and companionship. But their relationship is far from perfect. James asks a lot from Sarah. He asks her personal questions she is not comfortable with answering and he asks her to let him help her speak, which she makes very clear is something she never intends to do. Sarah tries James patience, saying he is only with her because he wants to fix her and just wants to be with a blind girl just to say he has like every other hearing man. Their relationship is strained, and their expectations for eachother are strong enough to end the relationship. I do not think the social exchange theory applies to them. 4. The certainty reduction theory says that people always look for what they know what is certain in themselves and others. Predictibility is favored in relationships. This is true especially for Sarah. She admits she has never let anyone in, and says she has never been hurt by anyone. It is normal for her to have a wall up, and that is what is comfortable for her. She is constantly going back behind the wall and shutting down and shutting people out, like she did with James. Sarah does not like change; she would rather be in her silent world that she has known for her entire life. James tries to threaten that silence, and she reacts with anger and hostility. The social penetration theory can definitely be seen in their relationship. When Sarah and James first began to talk, they talked about school, mopping, and jobs. Sarah made it difficult for James to talk about anything deep, and she often abruptly ended conversations. As they got closer and their relationship deepened, they t alked about deeper topics, such as Sarahs dark past and why she pushes people away. Sarah admits she loves James and needs him and feels lonely without him, which is a huge break through since she told him earlier she never lets anyone in.