Critical Thinking - Analyze the possible consequences of conflict

Throughout human history, conflicts have arisen many occasions and people have come up with many ways to resolve them. People have conflicts between them due to many different reasons, and different people have different ways to compromise and come up with their own solutions. It is important to resolve conflicts in a proper manner or else, it can cause diversity among people or sometimes even war.

In order to resolve a conflict properly, we must first understand what exactly a conflict is and why people have conflicts in the first place. Conflicts among men arise mainly due to differences in thinking, opinions and culture. When two parties do not agree on an idea, they naturally will voice their opinions out and begin to compare and listen to their reasoning. Sometimes, when both parties understand both points of view, they may agree that people have different opinions or accept each other’s reasons. However when they do not agree or accept and finding means and ways to change each other’s idea, violence could get involved and turning into an armed conflict. Therefore it is important to first listen and analyze each other’s opinion carefully. Before debunking the other party’s view, we must first check if we had misinterpret the tone and whether we understand how their culture or religion or tradition view the matter before we jump into a conclusion. The French war of religion would be a good example of unresolved conflicts. As the initial conflict was not resolved properly, it leads on to seven wars and several assassinations.

When a conflict occurs, people will begin to have division among themselves into the different group of thoughts. In an organization or country where there is a population and management or a government, the main aim usually would be getting everyone having the same thought and mindset. However during conflicts as everyone is trying to voice out their opinions, those who agree with each other will naturally form a group among themselves to add on for support. When conflicts are not settled properly, they cause diversity among the people. For example, during the French wars of religion, the division was between the French Catholics and the Protestants. Although the war has ended, tension between both parties still exists even until today. When there is diversity within a country or organization, chances are conflicts would arise again.

When an armed conflict occurs, it can escalate into war. An armed conflict is when verbal conflict has involved violence between both parties. The idea of compromising becomes rather vague and either party is interested in reaching an agreement or compromise anymore. At this point, both parties would be focusing more on either changing or forcing upon each other’s point of view or simply just getting rid and eliminating the other party. The French wars of religion are a good example of eliminating and conquering, and eventually resulted in division among people. When an authority fails to keep tension between both parties in control and an agreement is unachievable, diversity and tension would remain throughout between both parties. Many other conflicts in human history resulted in war, such as World War I and II, Mexican Revolution and Arab war etc.

In conclusion, we must understand that conflicts are bound to happen when there is communication and interaction. They are inevitable but it is through conflicts that we learn and understand different perspectives. However when one fails to understand the concept of learning, one became negative towards new opinions and rejects progress. Therefore it is important to resolve and understand conflicts in order to keep in pace within an organization or the world.

Reference List:

Cline, A., (N.D.) French War of Religion. About.com. Retrieved on 2011, August 16^th from http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_frenchwarsreligion.htm

(N.D.), Conflict History. Retrieved on 2011, August 16^th from http://www.conflicthistory.com/#/period/1966-1970

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English Fundamentals Movie review – Life is Beautiful

Plot

The movie is about Guido, an Italian Jewish man who came to Italy hoping to open a bookstore. He took up a job as a waiter with his uncle and falls in love with a local school teacher, Dora. After several attempts of impressing her and even stealing her away from her own engagement party to another man, they eventually got married and had a son, Giosuè. However World War II broke out and the whole family was taken away and separated to a concentration camp. Throughout their internment, Guido had to find means and ways to convince his son everything is okay by telling him they are participating in a game. Just one night before the Americans took over; Guido was caught outside trying to find Dora and was shot to death by a Nazi soldier. The movie then ends with young Giosuè reuniting with his mother, not knowing that his father had died, and a grown up Giosuè narrating in the background of his father’s sacrifice for him.

Plot Holes

The film shows inconsistencies in terms of information and facts regarding the war and the storyline of the characters. Audiences were shown that Guido was to open a bookstore, but somehow being a waiter with his uncle without much explanation. Also the film does not show enough information to let audience know that the Holocaust period was approaching. There wasn’t ample background information about the film setting.

Plot Twist

The film started out as being a romance and comedy film but after Guido and Dora was shown settling down with their son; the plot took an immediate twist. Dora who just fetched her estranged mother to attend her son’s birthday, came home to the whole house being ransacked and both Guido and Giosuè were gone. From there the film starts depicting the characters being taken away to the concentration camp.

Characters

Guido Orefice is the film’s protagonist. He came across as someone being smart and funny, very quick to react to situations and very witty. Despite his Jewish backgrounds he was able to fit in with the locals well. He appears to be very friendly and someone who does not care much about race or politics. One could tell that Guido was very determined as he went through a lot to impress Dora, who was not Jewish and came from a wealthy family while he had nothing. During his internment in the concentration camp he was also very protective towards his son, making sure Giosuè does not feel threatened about the real situation. He put himself in many dangerous situations just to maintain his story right for Giosuè about them participating in a game. As he was separated from Dora and does not know where she is, he tried means and ways to ensure Dora that he and his son are safe and still loves her, by using the loud speakers. It really shows how much he loves her and all the effort he would put in to protect and ensure the people he loves that he is there for them always. He was killed by a Nazi soldier while trying to find Dora in the camp, just one day before the Americans came in to take over the camp.

Dora is the film’s second protagonist. She was local school teacher from a wealthy family, initially engaged to a wealthy man. However she was not happy about the engagement and having met Guido and amused by him, she falls in love with him and runs away from her own engagement with him. They settled down, had a son Giosuè and Guido succeeded in opening his own bookstore. However Guido and Giosuè were taken by the Nazis when World War II started. She was not captured as she was not Jewish, but she was determined to be with her family and demand on being in the same train as her family. It shows how much sacrifice she was willing to make just to be with them.

Giosuè Orefice is the son of Guido and Dora. He was about 4 years old in the film and was a very clever child. He was taken to the concentration camp during the Holocaust with his father and being an innocent child, believed that they were participating in a game as told to him by Guido. In the film he was seen mostly being taken care of by Guido, but kept questioning the situation.

Theme

The theme of the film is rather hard to determine as there are elements of relationship, comedy, sacrifice and struggle throughout.

Critique – Likes and Dislikes

I personally loved the way the film started, very classic 90s setting in Italy and thought it was a romantic and comedy film. All the tricks that Guido used to impress Dora were very funny and witty. However I thought the film could show a bit more of how they eventually overcome the part where Dora’s family did not like the idea of her marrying a Jewish man who is not very well to do and how Giosuè came about. The film was somewhat hasty in that as suddenly, they were settled down, showing that the film is beginning to rush into something. Also another part that I did not like is the ending. I was not aware of the film being narrated by a son telling of his father’s story from the start. It felt as though there has to be some way to end the film and the director did not know how to end it, and therefore resort to a narrator.

Strength and Weakness

One of the strength I think the movie has is that it has got all the elements of all emotions. There are parts when audiences are laughing, worried, nervous, confused, sad, angry and relieved. One could sense that there should be a strong meaning behind the film. However it does not come across as being a war film as it doesn’t start as one; but when it ends one might think there is a very strong anti-war sentiment. It could come across as not being clear enough: One might not be sure what exactly the director is trying to portray more: a Jewish man going after a non-Jewish woman in a time where race can be a problem, a father’s love for his son or the cruelty of the war.

Opinions

Generally I think it is a good film to give people the general idea of what Jewish families go through during World War II. It does portray the racism and a little bit of the problems Jewish people went through back in those days. However the history and information was not enough to inform the audience how bad the situation was exactly. Also there is no balance in the film in terms of the comedy, the romance, yet not entirely about the war either. Audience could be laughing away at the front as all the funny parts are there, but totally heart wrenched as there is almost no sense of humor at the later part of the movie. Also given all the information we get on history today, one would definitely know that the movie is entirely made up as life in a concentration camp is definitely not that easy during the Holocaust. There is no way you can hide a child in a camp so long with no other people in the same camp telling it out.

Feelings

I think the film definitely portray out the sense of unworthy well. For example, just one day after Guido was shot by the Nazis, the Americans immediately took over and Giosuè was reunited with his mother. The director was smart in the sense to make audience feel that it was just the next day after Guido died. Also, Jewish people may take to offense after watching the film, as the seriousness of their suffering during the Holocaust was just not depicted well in the film at all. There wasn’t really much suffering shown in the film. But that might be on purpose to maintain the light feeling of the film the director is trying to portray.

Overall, I did not regret watching this film as the actors are excellent and the plots and twists did caught me by surprise. However I would not recommend this film to anyone who is going after something that educates about World War II.

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How an Individual’s definition of Needs differ from one another?

Everyone has got their own set of needs and wants. A need is something that a person requires for daily usage and consumption, while a want is something that a person desires but will not affect his daily lifestyle if he does not have it. However as everyone is unique and different from one another, we may not have the same idea of what is a need and what is a want. What a person think is a need in life, may be interpreted as a want to another person because everyone has got different sets of needs.

As the living standards increases, it is generally harder to differentiate needs and wants as what was deem as a ‘want’ in the past, is now deem as a ‘need’. For example, a mobile phone was deemed as something only for businessmen or important people, at some point even as a luxurious item to show one’s status. However in today’s living standards, a mobile phone has turn into one of the basic needs as people need at least a simple phone to communicate. Another example would be branded goods. Brands that were seemed only meant for those in upper social group few years ago would be considered as a normal house brand for today. In fact in some societies, having at least a branded item is considered normal or even ‘necessary’.

Many people tend to confuse both needs and wants as it can be hard to prioritize what exactly a person needs, and what exactly a person can choose to live without. For example, a woman may think it is a need to have at least a few different pair of shoes in the closet for different occasions, while a man would think just one normal pair of shoe for all sorts of occasions would be sufficient. Because we all are brought up with different values, our perception of what is a need and what is a want can differ greatly from one another. Another example would be a child born in a well to do family may think having a maid in the house is one of a basic need at home, while a child born in an average class family would not think that way. Rather, the child may think a broom and knowing how to use it would be the essential need in the house.

However one important thing to note is that a person’s needs and wants changes as they get older. It changes every once in a while depending on our current situation. What we perceive as a want now, may gradually becomes a need. As we enter into certain phases of life our expectations of ourselves change. A person during his teenage phase would think of having a suit is a want. But as he enters adulthood having a suit is no longer a want as he may need a suit at work, therefore the suit becomes a need instead. It is then at this stage he may think an expensive suit would be a want. As he progresses further, the expensive suit may even go on to become a need, depending on his working environment and his change of perception. At this point, another person may think that the expensive suit is purely for vanity purpose and not an absolute need in life. One may say it’s a change of living standards, but may also argue that the person is being psychologically insecure as there is always a need to feel contentment.

End of the day, our definition of needs is something that is very unique and special to us as individuals. Perhaps two people may agree on some things in life as an essential need, but definitely no two people would agree totally and completely.

Eassy - How does one's perception of success influence his decisions?

Being successful is many people's ultimate dream. However it is almost impossible to thoroughly define success, as each and every one of us are individually special with individual goals. It is very hard to give a definition of success as everyone has got their own definition of success and it is a subject that is too generalized.

A person’s own definition of success depends on several factors, such as his characters, his perception and aptitude etc. Naturally we would all be asked what we wish to be in the future when we were children. From there interest begin to build up and we would set a goal, hoping someday we will excel in that venture and eventually gain certain rank or position in it. Whether we continue to pursue on that venture or not would depend on how motivated we are in getting to our goals. People who have very strong will power and competitive would naturally have lesser problems in achieving their goals and be successful in their own ways.

Being successful doesn’t always mean achieving high status or being a rich person. There are people who see success as finding contentment in life. Materialistic gains may not be the direct goals. What they aim for is being truly happy and enjoying whatever they have achieved so far in life. It could be something spiritual, emotional, or finding social well being within them. For example, some people think success is finding a stable job and having started their own family. While for travelers they might think success is being able to travel around the world to experience different cultures and freedom.

Sometimes a person’s definition of success could be imposed upon them by someone else such as a parent. There are parents who due to reasons unable to fulfill their own wishes, and hope their children would achieve their goals for them. Some parents are so strict to the point that they pose expectations onto their child, such as a parent who aim for his child to be an engineer would not deem the child as being successful in any other field, unless it is engineering. There are also people who wish to carry on a family business, to them being successful is continuing what the previous generation has started, and continuing it forever. These people deem success as upholding a family honor or continuing a tradition.

In general, every one of us would definitely have goals that we pose onto ourselves. It could be a form of self-challenge or sometimes even something we do to prove ourselves to others. However it is important for us to remember that success should not be something being expected out of us, but rather something we aim to achieve in our own standards, for ourselves.