ktmeng/mec huggingface dataset:
Topic: family

Surveys done by the New Delhi Operations Research Group in 1991 indicated that as many as 72 percent of rural parents continue to have children until at least two sons are born; the preference for more than one son among urban parents was tabulated at 53 percent. Once these goals have been achieved, birth control may be used or, especially in agricultural areas, it may not if additional child labor, later adult labor for the family, is deemed desirable. A significant result of this eagerness for sons is that the Indian population has a deficiency of females.
Topic: family

Slightly higher female infant mortality rates (seventy-nine per 1,000 versus seventy-eight per 1,000 for males) can be attributed to poor health care, abortions of female fetuses, and female infanticide. Human rights activists have estimated that there are at least 10,000 cases of female infanticide annually throughout India. The cost of theoretically illegal dowries and the loss of daughters to their in-laws’ families are further disincentives for some parents to have daughters.
Topic: family

Sons, of course continue to carry on the family line The 1991 census revealed that the national sex ratio had declined from 934 females to 1,000 males in 1981 to 927 to 1,000 in 1991. In only one state–Kerala, a state with low fertility and mortality rates and the nation’s highest literacy–did females exceed males. The census found, however, that female life expectancy at birth had for the first time exceeded that for males. India’s high infant mortality and elevated mortality in early childhood remain significant stumbling blocks to population control.
Topic: family

India’s fertility rate is decreasing, however, and, at 3. 4 in 1994, it is lower than those of its immediate neighbors (Bangladesh had a rate of 4. 5 and Pakistan had 6. 7). The rate is projected to decrease to 3. 0 by 2000, 2. 6 by 2010, and 2. 3 by 2020. During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the growth rate had formed a sort of plateau. Some states, such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and, to a lesser extent, Punjab, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, had made progress in lowering their growth rates, but most did not. Under such conditions, India’s population may not stabilize until 2060.
Topic: family

‘Porphyria’s Lover’ was first released in 1834 and is one of Brownings most popular dramatic monologues. The speaker of the poem recounts the killing of his illegitimate lover Porphyria, by strangling her with her own hair so that she can be his forever. ‘The Sisters’ by Lord Alfred Tennyson published in 1881, similarly shares the themes of madness, love and obsession that are subtly presented in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’.
Topic: family

Both poems were written in the 19th Century Victorian times. ‘The Sisters’ explores the ideas the Victorian Society had about the concept of tainted love and violence. During those times extra-marital affairs were fairly uncommon and as Victorian England was led by Christian Values, it was something that was frowned upon and was considered blasphemous. Victorian Society was obsessed with stories about spinsters, adultery and did their best to look as morally correct as possible.
Topic: family

The name Porphyria is another point that bears a remarkable revelation. By a contemporary reader it can be interpreted as a neurological illness which can cause acute mania, hallucinations, anxiety and other mental complications. This knowledge in itself would make the contemporary reader assume that the name Porphyria and the illness are inter-related and that the name of Porphyria was chosen purely because of this. In addition, the reader would assume that the behaviour of the speaker is in fact, caused by this illness, meaning that the thing that is destroying him and contributing to his madness is Porphyria, his lover and the illness itself. A reader in the 19th Century, on the other hand, would believe that Porphyria translates as a precious stone, of a purple colour that has a cold surface and a smooth texture. Porphyria stones were known to be very exorbitant and only people of high status were able to afford them. This is a reference to Porphyria herself, who is believed to be from the Upper-Class Society and very beautiful, just as the Stone, and likewise ends up cold and dead, like a stone.
Topic: family

Browning uses many different poetic devices to portray madness in the poem, one such device is pathetic fallacy. It is used at the beginning of the poem, and is useful as a metaphor describing the speaker’s mood, the quote, ‘…the sullen wind was soon awake, it tore the elm tops down for spite, and its worst to vex the lake.’ reflects on his dark and volatile mood. The Lovers unstable frame of mind and the fact that he appears to be such a depressed and erratic character further reinforces the theme of madness.
Topic: family

The placid manner in which the lover recalls the story, seemingly trying to vindicate his actions suggests a sense of underlying madness and an unhealthy fixation on Porphyria. There are many references of Porphyria’s hair in the poem, her weapon of seduction and manipulation that she often used, ‘…and spread, o’er all, her yellow hair’. Ironically, her hair is ultimately the weapon the lover kills her with. The lover murders Porphyria with her own hair, ‘…and all her hair in one long string I wound three times her little throat around, and strangled her.’
Topic: family

The lover tries to convince the reader and at the same time himself that Porphyria did not feel any pain, ‘no pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain’, the repetition of that phrase makes it appear forced, as if he was trying to reassure himself. This is the only part throughout the whole poem in which the speakers mentality is the most sane, as it makes it appear as if he has a conscience, and is regretting his action, another quote that reinforces this is ‘ I warily oped her lids: again’ the ‘warily’ showing his uneasiness. The lover tries to rationalise his crime by saying that because he made sure her death was painless, he feels that the ferocity of the deed wouldn’t be as bad; this further intensifies the theme of madness Browning has created, as it shows the lovers increasing insanity and his precarious frame of mind.
Topic: family

Another way the lover tries to justify his murder is when he says, ‘And yet God has not said a word!’ he assumes that because God is silent, his crime has either gone unnoticed- therefore, he will not receive punishment- or God is content with what had happened. The fact that the lover expects to hear a voice he thinks to be God is proof enough that he is unstable; this also hints that the lover may suffer from a mental condition known as schizophrenia, fortifying the theme of madness.
Topic: family

Porphyria is also portrayed as domineering, particularly in her relationship to the speaker, Porphyria was the powerful one in their relationship up until the point where the lover murders her, ‘three times her little throat around, and strangled her’ he is also under the impression that he is an omnipresent being worth of worship, ‘Porphyria worshiped me’. The lovers grasp on reality seems exceedingly senseless and the reader questions the lovers increasingly insane notions that makes up the lovers mind, having also described her to have ‘glided in’, like an Angel, a pure being that is the exact opposite of what Porphyria is- an adulterer, who is not afraid to exploit people of mental instability in order to satisfy her own sexual desires.
Topic: family

Brownings use of enjambment is another way in which he shows madness in the poem. The lack of punctuation in the poem makes it appear as if it is non-stop, as if the lover is rambling, and disturbingly by himself and a person he had just murdered after his necrophiliac tendencies are first revealed. Free verse allows the poem to seem as if the lover is musing to himself, recounting the details of his day, and in this case making the lover seem more delusional. It also shows the fact that the murder was not planned, it was a spontaneous act provoked by the lovers ‘sudden thought’ of seeing Porphyria’s dead body in his mind and feeling aroused, reinforcing the theme of madness as it shows the lovers lack of control over his emotions.
Topic: family

The theme of power, shifts considerably when the lover murders Porphyria, ‘only this time my shoulder bore her head’, insisting that now she is in his power completely because her head is on his shoulder, as opposed to his on hers, ‘…made her smooth white shoulder bare,…stooping, made my cheek lie there.’ this suggests an underlying notion of jealousy of the power she used to possess over him and of his gladness of finally achieving what he wants, ‘that moment she was mine, mine, fair’, as if she was something to be possessed by him.
Topic: family

The lover also believes that it is Porphyria’s choice not to leave her husband, unaware of the social stigma surrounded by adulterers, this shows his warped view of reality and signifies the extent of his delusion. Again, he seems to be progressively more out of touch with reality. It makes it seem as if he is imprisoned in his mind, and is unable to interact with people other than Porphyria, this would also explain his unprincipled notions on what he believes is love, which in fact is an unhealthy obsession and a relationship based on personal gain.
Topic: family

Browning has perfectly portrayed the madness in Porphyria’s Lover, the fact that it is a dramatic monologue is also a revelation that explains the lover’s thoughts and portrayed his haunting insanity well. Due to the use of enjambment, the reader is able to figure out what is going on in the story because it is written to appear as if he is having a conversation- albeit with himself in the story- and includes the reader into it.
Topic: family

Another poem that shares the same characteristics as ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ is ‘The Sisters’. Similar to ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ in the aspects of madness and tainted love, but the madness in ‘The Sisters’ is unlike the madness in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’. The Sisters motive for murdering the Earl is understandable as there was provocation as well as the act of wanting to get revenge. Another difference is in the way the murder takes place; the Sister stabs her lover repeatedly, while Porphyria gets strangled with her own hair.
Topic: family

At the beginning of the poem, the Sister explains of her motive for the murder that will take place, ‘we were two daughters of one race…she fell…therefore revenge became me well’. The phrase ‘she fell’ is a metaphor describing that she fell pregnant in a relationship that was not bound by marriage, which was, in the 19th Century, considered very blasphemous. The sister’s lover, the Earl is of high status and is a respected upper-class man this is supported by the fact that titles such as ‘Earl’ was not common among lower-class Victorians. It is speculated that the Sister had committed suicide because of the Earl and her unexpected pregnancy, ‘She died; she went to burning flame; she mix’d her ancient blood with shame.’, as it was such an abhorrent feat during those times, the sister felt that it was the only way she would escape from the cruel punishment she would receive from the Victorian society.
Topic: family

The Sister is outraged by this, ‘therefore revenge became me well’ and the writer creates madness here as it shows of the woman’s uncontrollable desire to avenge her sister. Another huge difference in the poem compared to ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ is the fact that this murder is premeditated and is done out of revenge. In ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ there was no provocation aside from the Lover’s necrophiliac tendencies. The fact that she spent ‘Whole weeks and months, early and late’ to get her revenge shows her obsession to get reprisal and her predator-like indignation for revenge. The phrase ‘she lay in wait’ brings to mind a lion about to strike its prey. This also craftily adds to the madness as it suggests of the Sister slowly turning into an animal with no rational thoughts.
Topic: family

As with ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ the Sister also seems to have a fixation on the Earl. The phrase ‘O the earl was fair to see!’ is repeated in each paragraph, suggesting the fact that the Sister may have liked the Earl too and was jealous of her sister’s relationship with the Earl. ‘She was the fairest in the face’ suggests the Sisters contempt for not being picked by the Earl as his lover, making her desire to get revenge on the Earl a twofold. Her jealousy over her sister and the fact that the Earl was the cause of her sister’s suicide are some factors that could explain the madwoman’s need for retribution.
Topic: family

The Sister skilfully seduces the Earl, luring him into her trap, ‘I made a feast; I bade him come…I won his love, I brought him home.’, this adds to the madness as it shows the lengths the Sister will go to get what she wants, going as far as to make him fall in love with her in order to get her revenge, ‘to win his love I lay in wait’. The phrase ‘And after supper, on a bed, upon my lap he laid his head’ has a romantic air to it. This is the only part in the whole poem where the stereotypical romantic scene comes in, reappearing when the madwoman- after killing him- ‘curl’d and comb’d his comely head’.
Topic: family

Again, the Sister comments on the Earls beauty, ‘O, the earl was fair to see.’ including numerous references to his beautiful appearance throughout the poem. The oxymoron, ‘I hated him with the hate of hell, but loved his beauty passing well.’ this shows the Sisters contradictive belief; her lust and her purpose are completely different, her lust in this instance, defying her purpose. This is an addition to the theme of madness as it shows the madwoman’s unruly, contradictive and whirlwind emotions towards the Earl.
Topic: family

A further indication of the Sisters increasing insanity showing signs of her enjoyment in necrophilia. The turn of phrase, ‘he look’d so grand when he was dead’ supports this, as it suggests that the Sister is attracted toward the Earls dead body. The verb in the repeated refrain goes from ‘raving’ back to ‘blowing’ showing her calm state of mind, after she had fulfilled her deed. This, in addition to everything else, emphasises the madness as it shows the madwoman’s lack of conscience- treating the murder of the Earl as someone would treat a domestic task.
Topic: family

The ending phrase ‘I wrapt his body in the sheet’, is the Sisters closure from the whole episode and has an ambiguous meaning that could refer to her success in getting reprisal, or can literally be interpreted as the Earl being laid by his mothers grave. The extent of the Sisters madness is shown, who after killing the Earl still resumes appreciating his attractiveness, the poem ending with the phrase, ‘O, the earl was fair to see!’. The ease in which the Sister slips back to normality after killing the Earl fortifies the theme of madness as it shows of her perverse principles and her warped view of reality.
Topic: family

On evaluation, Tennyson uses many different techniques to portray the poem in the way it is supposed to be; a dramatic monologue, showing her insanity. The usage of repeated refrain to show her mounting madness is also useful, as well as the usage of oxymoron in the poem. ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ likewise manages to effectively create the tense atmosphere when reading it and the theme of madness is depicted well in the poem. Both writer’s usage of literary devices such as structured verse, rhyme and repeated refrain successfully captures the theme of madness in the poems and creates the atmosphere it was meant to, simultaneously captivating the reader into the story. In contrast of Browning’s use of enjambment and Tennyson’s use of structured verb, the outcomes of both poems are not deterred and the desired effect is gathered from the readers.
Topic: family

The aim of this section is to forbid the making, storing, manufacture or testing in our country of nuclear weapons, devices or parts thereof as well as the use of our territory as dumping site for radioactive wastes and transit within our territory of ships or planes with nuclear weapons. The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity andindependence of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provideadequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and animproved quality of life for all.
Topic: family

“Nothing is secure when you become a parent, except the love you have for your children” Dr. Samuel Caddish. As a personal opinion, I would agree on that, parents make the best teachers to their children because they are the ones who begin the whole education, from the first word to the first steps, they are the ones who love them the most so they’d give their best as teachers. According to Pablo Riba (missionary in India) many Indian parents sell their lands and other kind of things with the desire of giving to their children a better education than the one they had.
Topic: family

My grandfather used to teach my dad and every time my dad forgot the lesson my grandpa hit him with his belt until my dad says the right answer. Nowadays some parents try to teach their children but they get tired of it, so they would rather hire a tutor and some others get frustrated about themselves when their own children can’t get it, for example those kids who are kinesthetic intelligence but their parents teach them in a verbal way, so their learning becomes really slow, some get disappointed about their kids for being “too slow” but the truth is that they need other way to learn.
Topic: family

Kids often want to know whether you studied hard or not and why you did it, for them your answer is going to be the way they want to do it. From my point of view there are many people who can teach your children, but no one can do what parents can. Nowadays parents have to take their roll, and realize that whether they want it or not, they are teachers. I have a teacher that always says “monkeys see, monkeys do” I would like to ask you ?what kind of education do you want to give to your children?
Topic: family

In spite of the saying “parents are always right” they are not always right. If you look at the divorce rate it has more then doubled. And they say that it doesn’t hurt the children. If they really look at it, it tares the children apart. There sense of safety is gone, shattered. They are unable to trust anybody. Some people don’t see this. They see the face that the children put on so they can’t see the way that they are feeling.
Topic: family

But after school or whatever they are doing is done they don’t want to go home. There is a song out, I don’t know the name, it talks about how this guy when he was young his parents would get into fights, he would put on a face so his friends wouldn’t know, and go up in his room and dream of another life that he didn’t have, and ask “how you can tell with all those tears in your eyes that everything is wonderful now”. That song tells us a lot of what children do and how they truly feel inside.
Topic: family

He was even “siding with mom” when his unworldly brother failed to prioritize between work and play. The speaker remembered his brother for his “planes swirling with grace”, and “bubbling laughter’s pace”, some qualities that he himself did not possess. After the death of his younger brother, it then dawned on the speaker that the earth did not seem as “dull” as he made it out to be, and that his brother understood the ways of the world better than he.
Topic: family

Originally attachment theory has been based upon and is greatly influenced by psychoanalytic theorists e. g. Freud. Attachment theorists especially Bowlby (1969) agree with psychoanalytic tradition that the attachment bond between mother and child forms the basis of all relationships in later years of life. Erik Erikson suggests that the child’s early experiences will determine how he /she will be able to attach to other people. He further notes that some people work on this problem all their lives if they have not engaged successfully as a child.
Topic: family

He states that they will become rigid in their efforts to find optimum distance and their relationships will either become too close (symbiotic) or too distant (ambivalent) Although attachment appears to be an inherited disposition, infants do not have a natural inclination to become attached to any one specific adult. Rather, the baby becomes attached through ‘learning’. It is the primary caregiver of the child who is the object of attachment, which is usually the mother.
Topic: family

Birch, A (1997) identifies that research, which has been carried out in a number of societies has shown that fathers are just as capable of performing the parenting role, as are mothers. Other research detected few differences in signs of attachment with both parents. (Lamb 1977 as cited in Birch, A. 1997). Grandparents have also have recently been viewed as having positive influences in attachments. They can considerably influence the behaviour of their grandchildren and provide emotional support especially when a child is in conflict with their parents.
Topic: family

They do not exist however in a familiar environment for example but termination of attachment behaviours may require touching or clinging etc. (Bowlby, J. 1981). The greater the threat of separation the greater and the more intense are the actions elicited to prevent it occurring. This has become known as the stage of protest and involves great amounts of stress and emotional distress. If these behaviours are successful in prohibiting the separation, the bond is restored and the distress becomes alleviated. However if they are unsuccessful the efforts diminish but do not usually disappear.
Topic: family

Usually after periods of time the urge to search for the attachment figure return and behaviours reappear. Bowlby (1981) comments that, “the condition of the organism is then one of chronic stress and is experienced as one of chronic distress. ” Research into attachment behaviour in babies carried out by Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues (1967, 1974) hypothesised that in an effective attachment relationship the child would use the mother as a base to explore from, would be distressed by her absence and would seek closeness on her return.
Topic: family

(Birch, A. 1997). This concept of using the mother as a base was developed by Bowlby, J (1969) who formed the opinion that the attachment figure provides a secure base which is needed for a child to operate. The stability of security will establish social confidence, lack of behaviour problems, greater autonomy, interpersonal competence and enables eagerness to learn and problem solve. Maternal deprivation is the term coined to describe the effects of a child being separated from its attachment figure in the prime stages of development.
Topic: family

This was primarily proposed by John Bowlby in 1951 who believed that if a child was deprived of the opportunity to form an attachment during the early years of life then social, emotional and/or intellectual problems would develop later in life. Bowlby also suggested that it could lead to conditions such as depression, bed-wetting and even dwarfism. (Birch, A. 1997). Rutter, M (1972, 1981) supported Bowlby’s position that disruption of early child care could have adverse effects on psychological development. However he disagreed and contested Bowlby’s concept of maternal deprivation.
Topic: family

He stressed the effects of maternal deprivation were more likely to be due to the lack of something (privation) rather than any kind of loss (deprivation). Rutter M. believed that the crucial factor in determining the adverse effects of psychological development was what happened before and after the separation. His more plausible explanation attributed children’s problems to family discord, loneliness, and changes in discipline and the changed circumstance of the residential parent e. g. the lower income or having to go out to work.
Topic: family

Despite the debate on the actual causes, either the separation itself or other factors surrounding it all researchers agree that children are seriously affected in their psychological development and more often than not will continue into adulthood with serious problems. This could and does lead to a vicious cycle that is affecting many families. The concepts of ‘attachment’, ‘loss’, ‘separation’ and ‘change’ are very important for understanding lifelong human development and is a crucial component for social work.
Topic: family

“No direction home” follows the story of three brothers and sisters, their estranged relationships and how they come to terms with the legacy of their parents’ troubled separation when they were children. Now as adults the siblings are forced to address some unfinished business… The basic story line of the play was about Dee, Hal and Emily, how they were having great average lives as children at home. Dee was 10 years old. Emily was 16 years old. Hal was 14 years old. It starts off with the reunion of the three at the end point of the play.
Topic: family

Hal a few months on gets into a big fight with Emily and tells her that he never wants to see her again if she keeps defending dad but tells Dee to keep in touch because she is too young. From there the play develops back to the 3 as adults. Dee says he wants the two of them Emily and Hal to sort everything out so they can be a family again after 15 years. Hal looks at a letter their dad wrote them now that he is dad he could give him that last respect. Dad is very sorry about everything and how he couldn’t talk to Hal in person but says how it was all moms’ fault.
Topic: family

The acting in the play was excellent I believe personally. I was particularly impressed by various fields of their work. Hal (Actor): I think the actor highlighted the subtleties of playing his part. I really felt as if I was not seeing the actor himself but the character he is supposed to be playing and in this case Hal. This might also have been due to the fact that as a group we had not heard the actor speaking or known his personal character at all before the start. As a 14 year old boy he was very playful and mischievous and you could hear and see it in scenes he played.
Topic: family

The tone of his voice was also very good despite the natural deepness of the actors voice you could tell the character coming across was not an adult at all. The scene when he came back home drunk was acted very well and showed the change in attitude and lack of control a child of his age would be. I think as an adult the actor was brilliant and really showed the emotion which would be flowing in Hal after what he has been through and his slight mischievousness which as a child he would keep throughout his life. The actor made such a serious play as this very funny at the appropriate times.
Topic: family

This was mostly done in the childhood scenes, his constant telling of jokes, childhood pranks, emotion during these pranks. The scene of Hal drunk did this especially the best as it was just after the scene of him leaving and all the sadness it just lightened the mood and took the audience back to the times of them being in so much joy and happiness. Generally the stereotype of drunken people is very funny and when this is acted well it bring the comedy into the play. The comedy also made some scenes brilliant especially scenes with high tension like the argument at the end it jut lightened the mood.
Topic: family

The actor very well physically played the character of Hal with all his emotions, jokes, pranks, feelings and energetic movement to a high level and made him most enjoyable to watch. Emily (Actor): I think the actor highlighted the character highlighted the subtleties of playing his part in one way but not in another. I really felt as an adult version of Emily the actor was brilliant and showed all the aspects for a woman in her situation and really took the role in a deep level. The character showed the incredible emotion which comes across family being torn apart, from the tears to all the anger being felt.
Topic: family

The tone of the voice was also used very well to sound it a most quite sincere fashion. The end scene where he was trying to talk to Hal but Hal wouldn’t listen was acted particularly well and showed that character exactly as she should be depicted. As a child of 16 I felt that the actor could have put a little bit more in. She seemed to be at times playing two different characters. At times she seemed as if she was playing the character very well and showing the emotions, feelings and thoughts which a 16 year old would take.
Topic: family

But at times she seemed to be showing emotions and voice tones a girl at a younger age than 16. The actor’s role did not involve comedy in general so the comedy in the play was not shown through her. But one scene when she dresses up Hal as a girl was good comedy. Also sometimes as a 16 year old her over anger made some events 2quite funny and exaggerated. She did not completely inhabit the role of the character in a way that for the whole play she seemed to be playing none else but that character.
Topic: family

As an adult she was brilliant and showed so much emotion, movement, gestures that the role was perfect but as a child she was not quite in the right frame of mind. Dee (Actor): I think the actor highlighted the subtleties involved in playing this character extremely well. She showed a much exaggerated character with a babyish voice, babyish walk and babyish gestures. This worked very well with the 10 year old Dee. I was impressed so much with the depiction of the character that if the actor was very small I would have found it hard to believe she was acing, that is how well she took on the role.
Topic: family

She also showed well things children that age do for example temper tantrums, childish speaking and attention seeking. She also was very quick paced with the way she performed which is exactly how children live their lives especially at that age. As an adult there was a complete transformation to the depiction of the character in a way was amazing from the before of the childish voice, childish walking and standing to a complete adult which still bore the scars and personality of Dee but more mature. She was still very emotional but in a different way, a more grown up way like Emily was.
Topic: family

The actor here brought out the comedy which should have come from Dee very well. She did this throughout the play with the sound of her voice and her actions as a child. She did this a lot when with the other two characters through annoyance and curiosity. The character I feel physically inhabited their character in the best way possible compared to their other two actors. She did not just act one part of her character very well and enjoyably but both parts as an adult and a child. I think the design of the set worked very well. It was set in a round. This made it more powerful.
Topic: family

It enhanced the play because in the round everyone in the audience was so much closer to the actors they felt part of it. Even if an actor trod on your foot or felt on you; it all made you feel part of the play. At times the actors even interacted with the audience. All changes made to the set during moving equipment or anything was very y clear throughout the play. From what I noticed the actors did not have costumes and just had casual work clothes on but this did not take anything from the effect away. Due to there being no costumes in the play; the costumes were consistent throughout the play.
Topic: family

There was only one scene were costumes were used and that was the scene where Hal came back drunk and Dee and Emily made him dress like a girl. Here the costume were not designed in any way and probably were just chosen. There was no confusion about the period the costumes were based in any way and they were consistent to their certain time and place. The sound and lighting changed the play’s atmosphere very well. It gave a spot light to focus attention on certain characters at their key moments. It also blacked out to show when a scene is over or when scenery was being shifted around.
Topic: family

The sound was also particularly good because it gave more atmosphere when for example they were using voices in someone’s head the voice seemed like it was coming from everywhere and not just one place which was more interesting. The music played also was more interesting and gave a good idea of the time setting. All the sound was recorded. If I could see the musicians they would not be pat of the play and would conventionally be part of an orchestra pit. There were no special stage effects used which would wow or amaze someone besides lights and sounds.
Topic: family

This was quite a low budget drama piece and cost i??195 to perform. There was one thing which wasn’t spectacular but impressed me was the presentation of all the rooms in a micro form of their original selves in boxes. When every character got into deep dialogue or something in the scene was based on them they opened the box to show a miniature version of the characters bedroom. I wouldn’t like to think of the play as being an imaginary world because what they showed was very real and I would like to say they depicted a real life event very well.
Topic: family

I come to the conclusion that overall the play was brilliant there were minor things which I didn’t like but minor. I didn’t like the way Emily was shown as a 16 year old. To me it seemed a bit out of character didn’t match what was required. I really enjoyed the ending of how all the characters stood next to their rooms and started speaking synchronized and spun their rooms. I thought this was a great way of showing confusion. Below is the diagram of the basic stage setup of the play at the beginning. I have purposely left out the actors because they are not part of the stage-craft.
Topic: family

Nayar is a Hindu caste of the India state of Kerala. The region contained small, feudal kingdoms, in each of which royal and noble lineages, the militia, and most land managers were drawn from the Nayars and related castes. Unlike most Hindus, Nayar traditionally were matrilineal. Their family unit, the members of which owned property jointly, included brothers and sisters, the latter is children, and their daughters’ children. The oldest man was legal head of the group. Rules of marriage and residence varied somewhat between kingdoms.
Topic: family

This paper will include the examination of aspects of the life of the Nayar marriage, political organization, and belief and values. The Nayar family consists of all the descendants from the same ancestress, counting relationship exclusively from the side of the mother. Ordinary families consist of relations four or five degrees removed. In old and aristocratic families, one finds sometimes fifty to eighty people, though one or two families can be mentioned in Malabar, which contain one hundred and fifty to two hundred people.
Topic: family

The undivided family generally lives under the same roof. In the house, it only the female’s live, while the male members of the family occupy rooms set apart for them, or, if they are rich, live in houses in neighboring compounds. The Nayar house has always a large piece of enclosed ground in front of it, which is called Muttam. Often it is used as an ornamental garden, and no man of the lower caste may enter it. There the children walk about and play in daytime, and the women have their dance and general merriment in the evening.
Topic: family

Behind the house are a vegetable garden and a bathing tank, which is reserved exclusively for women. The dominant idea in the arrangement of the house is the proper separation of sexes in the family. The family owns property in common. What a private individual earns belongs to him exclusively, but when he dies, it is joined to the rest of the family, according to the old Nayar law, which is still prevalent in some parts. When the family becomes unwieldy, or certain members show insubordination, the family property is partitioned equally among each female line.
Topic: family

The is to say, if there are three sisters in the family, each having daughters and granddaughters, the partition is done in such a way that each of the ancestresses founds a separate family among whom the original property is equally divided. The partition of property does not affect the relationship. The members of a divided family are called by the classificatory names, and a birth or death in one family creates pollution to the whole stock. Centuries might pass, but they would remain strictly exogamous groups, and the rights of relationship would continue, though in a lesser degree.
Topic: family

There are many instances in which, though family partition took place at least a hundred and fifty years ago, the members continue to call each other brothers and sisters, as if they were the nearest blood relations. The marriage restrictions prevalent among the Nayars have nothing much peculiar from the rest of the Hindu society. The bride must always be younger than the man, and must in strict orthodoxy belong to the same generation as his. He may not his mother’s sister’s daughter, who is to him as his own sister. All his sisters, own and collateral, together with women of a previous generation in his family, form a legal incestuous group.
Topic: family

A man has, therefore, to marry either entirely out of the circle of his relations, or from among his cross cousins. Marriage customs among the Nayars have evoked much discussion and controversy in India among both jurists and social scientists. There was considerable sub regional variation as well as variation by sub caste and family prestige. There were two kinds of marriage: talikettu kalyanam (tying ceremony) and sambandham (the customary nuptials of a man and woman). The tali-tying ceremony had to be held before puberty and often the ceremony was held for several girls at the same time to save on expenses.
Topic: family

According to Gough, at a convenient time every few years, a lineage held a grand ceremony at which all girls who had not attained puberty aged about seven to twelve, and was on one day ritually married by men drawn from their linked lineages. The ritual bridegrooms were selected in advance on the advice of the village astrologer at a meeting of the neighborhood assembly (Gough, 1959). There after various ceremonies, each tied a gold ornament around the neck of his ritual bride. The girls had for three days previously been secluded in an inner room of the house and caused to observe taboos as if they menstruated.
Topic: family

After the tali-tying each couple was secluded in private for three days. It was traditionally, if the girl was nearing puberty, sexual relations might take place. As stated by Gough “the pre-puberty tali-rite was essential for a girl” (Gough, 1959). If she menstruated before it had been performed, she should be expelled from her lineage and caste. This tail-rite brought girls social maturity. She now thought to be a least ritually endowed with sexual and procreative functions and thenceforward accorded to the status of a woman.
Topic: family

After the rite, people addressed the girl in public by the respectful title “mama” meaning “mother”, and she might take part in the rites of adult women. Second, after the tali-rite a girl must observe all the rules of etiquette associated with incest prohibitions in relation to men of her lineage. She might not touch them, might not sit in their presence, might not speak first to them, and might not be alone in a room with one of them. Third, after the tali-rite and soon as she become old enough, a girl received as visiting husbands a number of men of her sub caste from outside her lineage, usually but not necessarily from her neighborhood.
Topic: family

In addition, she might be visited by a Nayar of the higher sub castes of the village like the headmen, chiefs, or royalty. In Nayar the attitudes of big private business to the government are economic planning that dominated the economic life over the past decades has found persistent conflict and only incidental adaptation. The quest for profits conflicts with the goals of mass welfare or “power. ” The fluctuations in these attitudes over five planning sequences testify to cooperation only during periods of short lived, now-and-then nationalist fervor on the part of usiness, or during the temporary economic crises that compelled occasional indulgence of private enterprise on the part of government. Such private business progress as there has been reflects the inadequacies of public sector planning and program implementation more than any success for business in politics. As written by Malenbaum (1971), it is not surprising therefore that the conclusions on the public-private interplay in Indian economic life correspond with Nayar’s. Mostly business in politics is a record conflict. There are temporary adaptations but these are scarcely additive in their influence.
Topic: family

They sum to limited achievement toward an interplay that contributes effectively to India’s economy and society, “since business cannot be relied upon to practice self-restraint, government must provide a strong harness for the monster it feels it has to with” (p. 846). With Nayar, emphasizes the philosophical and emotional gaps that separate governmental and business elites. The recent efforts by younger and better-educated business leaders primarily to improve the business image and to exercise larger political influence through election activities have had no systematic success.
Topic: family

The traditional political organization was feudal in nature with many small states. Rulers had only limited control. After the British occupation of Malabar and the posting of British resident officers in Cochin and Travancore, the state came to have greater influence. Some independence, large units of approximately 10,000 to 12,000 people has been governed by an elected panchayat (village council). There is a large bureaucratic structure and an elected legislative assembly in the state. Politics and political parties, especially those of the left, have penetrated into every niche and hole the state (Panikkar, 1918).
Topic: family

Finally, the religious beliefs of the Nayars show an extraordinary mixture of Hindu and Dravidian cults. According to Panikkar, all the temples are dedicated to Krishna Siva or Kartyayani (Panikkar, 1918). There are also a few kavus or groves for the worship of the lesser Hindu deities. Nevertheless, the important point with regard to this is that the Nayars are as whole people almost without a religion and they use the Hindu temple for practices, which receive no sanction even in the generous vagueness of that creed. The religious conceptions of Hinduism have but the slightest influence on the Nayar community as a whole.
Topic: family

Nothing shows so much the extreme persistence of primitive culture, even in the face of higher civilizing agencies, than the wide and almost universal acceptance of spirit-worship, and the almost entire absence of religious life, among the Nayars, after least twenty centuries of contact with Hinduism. Their contact with religious has not been limited indeed to Hinduism. According to Panikkar, “the Jews flying after the destruction of their Temple found refuge among the Nayars, and have lived in their midst for nigh 2,000 years” (Panikkar, 1918). According to Panikkar (1918), Nayars have any religion apart from a veneer of Hindu influence.
Topic: family

Their beliefs are mainly magical. The orthodox French opinion that the difference between magic and religion is that the latter is social while the former is anti-social, which has been proved by Mr. E. S. Hartland and Dr. Marett. To be untenable; while the contention of Dr. Marett himself, that the difference between magic and religion lies in the attitude of society towards them, seems also to be inadequate (Panikkar, 1918). Among the Nayars, there is an implicit distinction between practices to propitiate a GOD and those with which to bully a spirit.
Topic: family

Bullying a spirit for purposes of social benefit, which have not considered religion, though it is recognized by society as beneficial. In addition, to that it does not possess the emotional and the psychological elements which Dr. Marett himself has with great truth insisted on as the essence of religion. This such practices is called practices magical, not only because they lack the emotional and the psychological elements of religion, but also because the fundamental presupposition in such performances is the power wielded by the magician, the orenda which he has acquired, over the ghosts (Panikkar, 1918).
Topic: family

As written by Panikkar (1918), the Nayars are at present an essentially agricultural population. The vast majority of them are peasant proprietors owning small farms. Rice and coconuts are the chief things cultivated, though in North Malabar pepper. With regard to these matters, the Nayars have attained a certain stage of excellence. Their coconut estates are planted with a considerable amount of scientific skill and they are proficient in the industries, which are allied to coconut and rice such as coir matting, copra making, and extraction of coconut oil.
Topic: family

Extensive coconut plantations owned by the same man are very few. The position is much like that in England before the Enclosures. Even if the same person owns all the land in a particular area it is seldom enclosed and transformed into one large estate. On the other hand, they continue to be regarded as separate compounds and the houses on them are generally occupied either by Nayar tenants or by Pulaya slaves. The fact that Nayar families live in garden houses is one of great significance. Horticulture is practiced with great interest in all families, rich as well as poor.
Topic: family

It is, in fact, very seldom that any Nayar family uses vegetables bought from the market. All that is necessary is grown in the compound. The great difficulty of village life, effective sanitation, becomes an easy matter. Rice cultivation is still based on self-labor (Panikkar, 1918). In conclusion, this paper discussed some importance aspects of the Nayars life. Marriage among the Nayars has evoked much discussion and controversy in India among both jurists and social scientists. There was considerable sub regional variation as well as variation by sub caste and family prestige.
Topic: family

Thus, there are ready explanations for private industry as against public enterprise, for big business as against small business, for industrialization as against agricultural development. This was discussed as the symposium as they are, at length, in growing literature of politics and political action in poor lands, and in India notably. On the other hand the evolving theories of economic development place more emphasis on closing internal gaps within a poor nation than on closing external gaps through net imports to meet the problems of scarcity.
Topic: family

Finally, Nayar practices are carried on in secret, and nobody knows what they do except those initiated. Only people who want to do harm to others, or satisfy ignoble desires procure their assistance. A man often gets the help of a magician of this sort to perform his “art,” so that an enemy of his who has gone on a pilgrimage may not return. All decent people, and society avoid them in general, though it fears their “art,” consider them charlatans.
Topic: family

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