Analysis of Grey Matter free essay sample

‘Grey Matter’ is a short movie script by Jeanette D. Farr which concerns itself primarily with race relations and stereotyping. A young African-American male confronts an old white woman in a police station with regard to her apparent racial profiling. As it turns out, he is there to return the very same wallet that she is about to report as lost. The dyadic conversation between confrontation and conclusion is initiated by the nonverbal cue of her moving her handbag away from him. Through language and interactive listening, the conflict plays itself out in perceptions of self and other. Ultimately, the interpersonal relationship between the two characters is deepened. The many facets of communication, which include the nonverbal, self perception, stereotypes, language, listening and personal relations, do not occur separately but manifest throughout the text. A discussion of these elements is necessary to illustrate the degree to which they initiate and/ or resolve action. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of Grey Matter or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Non-verbal cues punctuate the entirety of this short piece. They expose the true nature of the communication passed from one individual to another. These cues are therefore relational in nature. Russell, the African-American male, is twenty-one years old and wears baggy clothes and a baseball cap. Despite her verbal protestations to the contrary, Russell is able to show that, on first impression, by relocating her handbag, Marge, the old white woman, has already assumed the worst about him based on stereotypical assumptions about his race and attire. She completely ignores his conventional nonverbal behavior of signing-in and instead hurts his feeling just as he is about to initiate the very conversation to accompany his good deed. This is an illustration of why nonverbal communication is listed as ambiguous in nature. Russell’s hurt feelings, though, are not played out in anger but in jest. When Marge says that she was merely searching her bag for gum as an excuse for moving it while she performs the very action, this is an example of the nonverbal technique of repeating. When she goes back to her â€Å"project†, without saying anything, this signals an end to the conversation. She is substituting the action for the verbal instruction. Equally, when Russell moves from chair to chair, closer and closer, he moves from a social distance to a personal distance, innervating Marge nonverbally through inappropriate proximity. When he threatens to sit on her lap, this indicates an intimate distance unbearable to the old woman and she goes for the bell. Later on, her ruse of a false name is exposed by her unresponsive silence when he calls her. Russell illustrates the fallacy of her stereotyping to her, and his resistance to it, with the repetition of his white open palm and his black closed fist while saying the words â€Å"black and white. † All’s well that ends well, though, when Marge shows that she accepts him by showing rather than simply telling him about her granddaughter. The piece even ends by revealing Marge’s forgetful nature in a nonverbal fashion. Much can be made about the truth revealed by nonverbal cues, but what Russell accomplishes through his clever manipulation of Marge’s perception using his intuited understanding of her perception of him, is quite significant. Without giving the game away, he carefully cajoles her into understanding how he feels. He plays out the model of the self-fulfilling prophesy with her by first appearing to fit the stereotype of a young black criminal type, then destroys the illusion by introducing markers that he knows she will find acceptable, such as him having a car and a job. He understands her conservative nature, and her high context introverted ways. He, alternatively, is low context. Russell even gets Marge to admit that her gut instinct was false and shows her how it feels to be misunderstood (He is fully aware that her reticence is, in part, induced by her recent loss). He can do this because he empathizes with her even though he does not sympathize with her. (He knows her purse is safe and sound). It must be noted, however, that none of this action would be possible without both subjects’ willingness to speak and to listen to each other. In the end, self-disclosure in this sequence occurred slowly and cathartically. This is because Russell’s initial language was powerful while Marge was full of hedges and hesitations. His listening style was of the ambushing type, forcing Marge to be defensive listener. He was fraught with many counterfeit questions which she guiltily tried to explain or evade. Both characters, though, were similar, in the sense that they gave each other the space to respond. By following this convention, Russell was able to explain how he felt to be profiled and Marge was able to draw insight into how her self-concept skewed her perception, while still maintaining a modicum of self validation. Her language then moved out of the arena of excuses, equivocation and euphemism and her listening, from extremely insulated to a bit more content oriented. Eventually, the interpersonal relationship between the two improved to the point of mutual acceptance, and this was before the wallet was returned.

Deforestation and Global Warming Essay Example

Deforestation and Global Warming Essay Example Deforestation and Global Warming Paper Deforestation and Global Warming Paper Essay Topic: Deforestation Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Often many small farmers will each clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known as slash and burn agriculture. Logging operations, which provide the worlds wood and paper products, also cut countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forests. This process just leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban populations. Hydroelectric dams are quite controversial because while they help to power communities, they also contribute to deforestation. Damming opponents believe that the building of such structures not only has a negative environmental impact, but it also opens up the area to loggers and more roads. To build a hydroelectric dam, acres of land must be flooded, which causes decomposition and release of greenhouse gases. Local people can also be displaced by dam projects, causing further deforestation when these people resettle elsewhere. Although not all deforestation is intentional, some s caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and subsequent overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees. Fires, both accidental and intended, destroy acres of forest very quickly. Areas affected by logging are more susceptible to fires due to the number of dried and dead trees. Milder winters and extended warm seasons due to global warming also helps fuel fires. For example, certain species of beetle that usually die off each winter are now able to survive and continue feeding on trees. This feeding causes the trees to die and dry out, making them more susceptible to fires. Effects of Deforestation Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earths land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes. Soil erosion, while a natural process, is accelerated with deforestation. Trees and plants act as a natural barrier to slow water as it runs off the land. Roots bind the soil and prevent it from washing away. The absence of vegetation causes the topsoil to erode more quickly. Its difficult for plants to grow in the less nutritious soil that remains. Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts. Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the suns rays during the day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more extreme temperatures swings hat can be harmful to plants and animals. Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. Fewer forests mean larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere. Scientists are finding more and more links between deforestation and global warming. The carbon footprint created by four years of deforestation is equal to the carbon footprint of every single air flight in the history of aviation up to the year 2025. Solutions for Deforestation The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees. Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make this unlikely to occur. A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clear-cutting to make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced by the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones cut down around the world. Most deforested areas when left alone will eventually regenerate to fertile landscape. We can certainly plant more trees in a process called reforestation. In fact, many nonprofit organizations have popped up to support reforestation. Although the number of new trees planted each year is growing, their total still equals only a tiny fraction of the Earths forested land. Conclusion In conclusion, deforestation is a serious problem affecting all areas of the globe. The effects of deforestation are long lasting and devastating. Entire species of insects and animals have disappeared because of the destruction of their habitats. Scientists see that deforestation has a significant effect on climate change, or global warming. This alone should be enough to cause change in our approach to deforestation.