Battling Couples

In this assignment, you will find a movie or a television show containing a scene depicting an argument between two people who are romantically involved. You will discuss the topic of effective listening skills by taking the perspective of one of the characters in that scene.

For this assignment, please provide insight into how effective or ineffective you believe your character was in attending to, understanding, and responding to the partner.

Question 1: Attending

• How carefully did your character pay attention to the other character’s messages? For example, how much attention did your chosen character pay to what the other partner was saying?

Question 2: Understanding

• How well did your character understand his or her partner?
• Did any of the three principles of understanding help them understand one another? Explain.
• Which principles might have accounted for any misunderstandings that occurred in their conversations? Explain.

Question 3: Responding

• Did one character invade another’s physical space?
• Did the characters make eye contact with each other?
• Did their actions ever contradict their words?

Responding includes both verbal and nonverbal elements. When discussing this part of your character’s conversations, be sure to focus on both the characters’ words and their actions.