External Conflicts In The Morrison Family

Matt strongly does not put up with Jamie’s family’s thoughts of selling the lake house. He becomes irritated with Linda and tells her “Me and Jamie do not owe you anything.” Linda’s reply of “you owe us everything, if Charlton had not taken you on you would never have been able to make a down payment on that lake house”. This only strengthens Matt’s decision to follow his dreams with Jamie. It is astounding that Matt and Jamie are looked down upon because their life together is

The film, Precious, is a powerfully charged story that delves into the family dynamics of a 16-year-old girl and her struggles to survive an onslaught of treacherous experiences. Throughout the film, the viewer is enveloped in a dramatic web of extreme situations, experienced by the main character, and those to whom she is close. The themes of domestic violence, rape, incest, drug addiction, gambling, poverty, social justice, social services, housing and education are laced together throughout the story. Particularly poignant attention is paid to various systems that help shape the experiences of the characters. The social services industry, and its associated workers, educators and administrators, set the foundation for the social themes that are highlighted by this film.

In the film Ordinary People, a lot of poor communication leads to conflict between the Jarrett family. However, most of the conflict is started by the mother, Beth. Throughout the movie, Beth is grieving the loss of her oldest son, Buck. Bucks death occurred when Conrad lost grip on his hand and he slipped away into the raging waters of a storm and drowned. Conrad feels guilty and blames the death upon himself later leading to his attempt in taking his life. While all this is going on the father, Calvin, is doing the best he can to keep the family moving in a positive direction. Because of all the issues and anger held against one another, conflict management could have been very useful in strengthening the relationships in the family during arguments. The aim of conflict management is to enhance learning and group outcomes, including effectiveness or performance in organizational settings. Occurring repeatedly throughout the film are acts of “silence” and “violence”. The family could have used a gentle tone or even just been opened

When her family and close friends disappear one by one, Mattie is forced to make decisions through hardships by herself. By doing so, she matures and becomes a better person throughout the process. For example, Mattie takes care of her grandfather when there was

and financial situation. They both live on the farm in a small, wintery, northern town. Mattie’s

With their death came many situations that needed solutions -harsh solutions- that almost drifted the family apart. Losing them forced Matt to act like an adult at the tender age of seventeen. Knowing that his parents are gone, Matt made sure that he looked after his little sisters while their older brother Luke was away looking for odd jobs that could support the family. In fact, his idea of babysitting was bringing his younger sisters to the pond. He taught them about the ecosystem in the pond - how the different beings in the pond lived. In a passage, Katie recalls the effect their parents’ death made on Matt: “..everyone assumed that I was the one most affected..[but] I had Matt to turn to..[he] had nobody” (102). Everyone assumed that he would just cope with the tragedy because he was expected to. After all, he was turning into an adult. Although he was pushed to the responsibility prematurely, Matt still stepped up and did the best he can to raise his little

He did face problems which caused him to worry, but he did always try to solve each problem reasonably. Matt also did a lot for his siblings too, as he would work when he could and would watch the girls so Luke could work. Matt was very devoted and willing to help out however he could. Although Matt didn’t stay in school, due to the dilemma with Marie Pye he does make the best of his life. It was a shame for him to not go and finish university since he worked very hard to get the scholarship, but he made the best of things and built a life for himself, Marie and their child. Matt had to face many difficulties and they shaped him into the good life he has made for himself and his

However, she uses these portrayals to contrast them to the strong bonds of friendship that she writes about in the middle of the book when Taylor is in a new community. Unlike many uncaring and unsupportive family members written about before, the introduction of the character Mattie immediately reveals her friendly personality. Mattie brings them a few snacks “...just [because they] needed some cheering up” (60), and she has a very maternal attitude towards Taylor and her child. Her compassion and caring toward them help her many times; for example, Mattie allows Taylor to “...leave [her] car there for the time being” (64) and even offered Taylor “...a job at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires” (104). Mattie helps her in her new community, and she therefore quickly becomes a motherly figure in the narrator’s life. Another person Taylor meets here is Lou Ann, when Taylor sees that she has space for rent. After talking for a while, they already agree that they get along very well: “‘Of course you can move in,’ she said. ‘I’d love it. I wasn’t sure you’d want to.’ ‘Why wouldn’t I want to?’” (101). These two characters form a genuine friendship. Even when Taylor, being independent, argues that “‘[she] doesn’t want’” them to act like a family, the two quickly make up. They appreciate each other, and Lou Ann quickly becomes like a second family to Taylor. While many families depicted previously

Throughout his short story, Mr. King symbolizes cigarettes and smoking as a deadly weapon. When smoking becomes an addiction, it may be considered a deadly weapon as everytime Dick, the main charachter, smokes a cigar, he shoots down the relationship with his family. Due to the fact that Dick can't just simply stop smoking, he affects the relationship with his family as the act of smoking can bring severe internal family problems, which may end in a catastrophic event, such as a divorce. Not only does Dick affect the relationship with his family, in fact, he also affects his family with physical damage. After signing the contract with Mr.Donatti, he agrees that everytime he smokes a cigarette, a member of his family will get a punishment.

Mattie; however, is not considered able to live and support herself and is considered a burden her family members. Because of this she is moved around

Throughout the book, Becoming Nicole – The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt, there were many topics and vocabulary that were semi new to me. With that in mind, there was a lot that I learned from the book itself, relating to what it actually meant to be transgender, and the glossary in the back helped to even further my understanding of different vocabulary.

in debt. No one wanted to help Mattie at the young age of twenty because they were so

The Symbolic Interaction theory refers to ways in which a family or society attaches meaning to verbal communication, non-verbal communication, people, and objects. We are taught from a young age communication using verbal language and accepted ways to express our needs. The theory represents perception of objects or actions (Macionis, 2007, p.17).

For our film focus, we chose to look at my uncle, John Greg, and his partner Michael and the relation to same-sex marriages and the “white wedding.” In our film, we ponder whether many same-sex weddings defy the traditional standards of an American wedding or if they conform to their own ideas. In my family’s case of John Greg and Michael, they conformed to many of their own concepts, while choosing to keep many of the classic wedding traditions that have been circulating for decades. John Greg and Michael present a fusion wedding, that stands out among many of the other same-sex weddings. Their wedding relates to our course material through Karen Dunak’s book, As Long As We Both Shall Love: Weddings In Postwar America, as she presents a chapter on same-sex marriages.

The Luke’s family comes to therapy in hopes of helping the eldest daughter, Olivia who is 18 years old and her struggling with anorexia. Jason and Mary, the parents, have been divorced for over 3 years. Olivia’s problems started when she was 13 years old, during the time her parents separated. Olivia has two sisters Betty (7 years) and Peggy (12 years old). Mary reported that their marriage ended because Jason wanted out.