Nonverbal Cues Tell a Story

Nonverbal Cues Tell a Story

  • Submitted By: jstal20
  • Date Submitted: 11/11/2009 7:31 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 855
  • Page: 4
  • Views: 340

Throughout our lives, we are sometimes faced with making decisions about standing up for what is right and being responsible for our actions, or occasionally others’ actions. Often, these decisions are based upon our ethical and moral upbringings. To help get everyone thinking about their responsibility as citizens, Liberty Mutual created the Responsibility Project. One video in particular titled “Transit,” questions what you would do if you witnessed a crime. All through the video there is not much verbal dialog; however, there is a plethora of non verbal cues to decipher each individual character’s thoughts and possible actions. In the end, you are left hanging to decide for yourself what you believe is the outcome. After watching “Transit” over and over and jotting down every verbal cue I noticed, I came to the conclusion that the man witnessing the crime (let’s call him the good guy) ends up standing up to the thief (the bad guy). To come to this assumption, I had to understand each character.
The good guy enters through a crowd of walkers on a busy street. The first thing you notice about this man is that he seems to be content while walking through the city carrying what looks like a pastry box. He walks with a slight smile and a proud stature. According to “Nonverbal communication” (no date of publication) “happy expressions are universally and easily recognized, and are interpreted as conveying messages related to enjoyment, pleasure, a positive disposition, and friendliness.”(paragraph 2) The good guy also displays sociability and chivalry by helping a random woman on the street open a sticky newspaper box. From this brief visual encounter with the gentleman, I determined that he is a person with noble and honest intentions. While boarding the bus, though, his honesty and nobility are tested by being an eyewitness to a man stealing a woman’s purse; the woman he had helped with the jammed newspaper dispenser a moment ago. The gentleman’s facial...

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