Encountering Conflict

What is ‘creating and presenting?’

Outcome 2

On completion of this unit the student should be able to draw on ideas and/or arguments suggested by a chosen Context to create written texts for a specified audience and purpose; and to discuss and analyse in writing their decisions about form, purpose, language, audience and context

The focus in this area of study is on reading and writing and their interconnection.

Our chosen context is: Encountering Conflict.

Whaaaaaaaaaaat?

So what does that really mean?Basically, you are to examine the ideas of ‘encountering’ (how people are involved and why they choose to become involved) and notions of ‘conflict’ (various types: personal, interpersonal, local, global etc.)

How do individuals respond when faced with conflict? Why do people react differently? What are the consequences of active ‘encountering’? What are potential consequences of passivity? (choosing not to ‘encounter’)

The focus is on writing…NOT just an understanding of A Separation.

You can demonstrate your great ideas and fluent writing in different ways.

For this Outcome, you have 3 options:

• Expository (informative essay based on facts & range of examples)

• Persuasive (definite point of view; trying to convince)• Creative (narrative, monologue etc.)

Encountering conflict in A Separation

The piece of writing (SAC) must engage with the ideas and arguments presented in A Separation, even if it does not specifically mention this text.

Why is this so?

Because your SAC is not just on A Separation; it should use the ideas presented in it as a way to

examine different levels of encountering conflict.

Encountering Conflict

A Separation

Wider Reading;Quotes etc.

General knowledge

Historical knowledge

You

Einstein: ‘Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds.’

Dante: ‘The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crises maintain their neutrality.’

David Friedman: ‘The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.’

David Hume: ‘Truth springs from argument amongst friends.’ Dorothy Thompson: ‘Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence

of creative alternatives for responding to conflict -- alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence.’

Meldrick Lewis: ‘If you ain't never pick up the sword, you ain't never have to worry about fallin' on it.’

Quotations

Dale Carnegie: “The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.” Margaret Thatcher: “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” Lazurus Long: “Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes.” Dorothy Thompson: “Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of

creative alternatives for responding to conflict — alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence.”

Lord Acton: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely” Indira Gandhi: “You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.” Mary Parker Follett: “There are three ways of dealing with difference:

domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish.”

John B. Gough: “It is the minority that has stood in the vain of every moral conflict, and achieved all that is noble in the history of the world.”

Walter Lippmann: “Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.”

Different types of conflict

Personal

Inter Personal

Local

Global

• How might an individual’s greed lead to conflict with other people?

• Is envy between nations the same as envy between people?

• Do arguments between neighbours have the same causes as aggression between nations?

• How is it that some seemingly minor conflicts become larger and more intense?

Follow on Questions

Conflicts involve a clash of ideas, interests and expectations...

• Can a conflict have more than one cause?• Is fear a source of conflict?• Is the cause of conflict between nations similar

to the cause of a conflict between 2 individuals?• What role do different values play in the

creation of conflict?

Big Idea 1

• All conflicts share a similar cause – they are often born from clashing ideas (and ideologies), competing interests and expectations that are not met.

• It is how conflicting ideas and ideologies are addressed and the way in which they are permitted to be expressed that will determine the nature of any conflict that ensues.

• Conflict is often a result of miscommunication.

People’s responses to conflict vary...• Is a person’s response to conflict always

dictated by the cause of the conflict?• Are there cultural factors that might

contribute to different responses to conflict?• Is what we call ‘manners’ really an informal

system designed to limit instances of conflict between individuals?

Big idea 2

• Individuals respond to conflict in different ways.

• Factors that influence how an individual will respond to conflict include their gender and social and cultural background.

• Violence is an extreme response to conflict. Despite its problematic nature and devastating consequences, violence remains one of the most common methods for settling conflict.

Conflict occurs between the powerful and the powerless...• Must the pursuit of power always have a

negative impact?• Do you think that those in positions of power

are more or less likely to incite conflict to get what they want?

• Are there always two valid sides to every conflict?

Big idea 3

Conflicts may be difficult to resolve...• Often, resolutions are about compromise – for

a solution to be reached, parties will have to be prepared to give and take, and there may not be an outright ‘winner’.

Big idea 4

Conflict can be a catalyst for change...• Is it possible to live in a society without

conflict?• Is conflict something we should always avoid?

Big idea 5

• Conflict can lead to creative solutions to difficult problems and even to improvements in a society or in personal relationships.

• Without conflict, we don’t grow. As individuals, our ideas about the world and out place in it develop by being challenged by other people’s ideas and viewpoints.

• We often learn what we think and who we are by being confronted by ideas we do not agree with.

• If we remain sheltered from opinions we disagree with, we also never develop the strength to express of defend our own point of view.

• How might different individuals respond as they encounter conflict?

• What effect might conflict have on individuals, families and communities? Consider the immediate and long term impact.

• How might conflict be resolved? Can conflict be resolved?

The context and the text

• How do the texts expand and support the way you think about these idea or arguments?

• Do the texts introduce any new perspectives on the Context?

• Are there any features of the text that might influence your own writing?

The Context and the Texts

• The genesis of events depicted in the text: is it possible to identify first causes?

• Various characters’ individual responses to events

• Inner conflicts experienced by these people• How encountering conflict manifests strengths

and weaknesses of characters• Irrevocable changes and far-reaching

consequences of conflict for individuals

For each text consider…

Married / separated

Daughter

Hired to care for elderly father

Married

Simin

Nader

Razieh

TermehHojjat

Sues him for causing her miscarriage

• The text details the breakdown of a marriage.• The opposing perspectives of Simin and Nader

highlights the different ways in which men and women respond to conflict.

• Running parallel is the legal battle in which Nader finds himself.

• The emotional and ethical tensions that arise as a result of these conflicts are examined.

A Separation

• The film also shows the critical role of religious and cultural contexts in peoples lives.

• Religious conviction gives the law a moral authority that is difficult to challenge and can override every other consideration.

• There is potential for conflict when the conscience is no longer a ‘private matter’ but becomes one of ‘state administration’.

• Asghar Farhadi (the director) implies that the likelihood of dissent in a theocratic setting may be greater than in a secular society where freedom of expression is tolerated.

• Explores the idea of divorce as a process as well as an outcome.

• The conflict is established in the opening scene.

• The film explores the stalemate as ‘consent has to be mutual’.

• Termeh is bewildered and powerless.

Marital conflict

• At the initial court hearing, Iranian politics come to the fore:

Magistrate: ‘So the children living in this country don’t have a future?’Simin: ‘as a mother, I’d rather she didn’t grow up in these circumstances’• This is an unspoken criticism that women in

Iran experience hardship and discrimination in a way that men do not.

Political and personal conflict

• The relationship between the couple is atypical – Nader is seen as performing domestic tasks and actively involved in Termeh’s and his father’s care.

• Nader recognises the importance of encouraging Termeh’s independence and assertiveness, as well as her academic education

• Legal hearings bookend the text.• The courtroom is a motif that encapsulates

the idea of Encountering Conflict as this is the forum where conflicts are publicly presented and resolved.

Legal conflict

• The application of the law in Iran is rigid and inflexible.• The film argues strongly that sometimes conflict cannot be

resolved.• The fact that the audience does not know Termeh’s decision,

suggests that both parents have a legitimate argument and Farhadi is reluctant to award a victory to either.

• The differences in social status, attitude and religion set the 2 couples up for failure to resolve their dispute:

- Simin and Nader are moderate Muslims from the educated middle class.

- Roziah and Hojjat are strict Muslims and poor

This results in lack of empathy and trust

Religious, cultural and class conflict

• Clothes worn by the women reflect their social and professional status.

• Simin, as an educated woman, wears the hijab but not the full veil.

• Razieh wears the traditional black chador which marks her as a conservative Muslim.

• What the 2 families have in common is that their daughters bear silent, helpless witness to their parents’ conflicts.

• A key concern is the importance of truth.

• Nader sees the world in black in white and tries to teach his daughter to do so, however the text demonstrates the difficulties of being completely honest and suggests that life is much greyer.

• Razieh’s callous treatment of the old man seems indefensible and her feeble excuses provide no real insight into her behaviour

Ethical conflict

• Subsequent events test the honesty of Nader and Razieh – truth is a fluid concept that might need to be adapted to circumstance.

• Razieh’s irresolute manner suggests that she has something to hide.

• Nader places Termeh in a cruel position when he confesses her knew of the pregnancy – the fear and self-interest generated by conflict often position good people to behave in negative ways and moral compromise – Termeh is forced to choose between honesty and loyalty.

• The film challenges its audience to reflect on the merits of the lie and the ethics of telling it.

• Swearing on the Quran is a symbol of the truth and a way to confirm it

• There is also the ethical consideration of looking after the father – how far do love and duty extend?

Do any of the ideas or characters appeal to you immediately?

• Take a quick note of anything you have found interesting in our discussion about conflict and A Separation. This may form the foundation of your study of encountering conflict and A Separation.

Ready to get started!