The Secret Lives of Bees, All About Steve & Sunshine Cleaning: Odd Occupations

These movies are great, especially The Secret Life of Bees. Sunshine Cleaning is unusual, but clever. All About Steve could be better, but it has great moments. I used these scenes to discuss strange or odd occupations. My students loved it.



















I. Match the strange occupations below with what they do.



1. Breath odor evaluator



2. Diener



3. Ocularist



4. Beer tester



5. Dog sniffer



6. Safe cracker



7. Foley artist





( ) What they do: Odor judges smell nasty morning breath or breath “insulted” with strong scents, like garlic or coffee. They rate the breath on a scale from one to nine, one being the worst. To test odor-reducing products like gum or mouthwash, they smell the breath again and assign it a new rating.



( ) What they do: Prepare cadavers for the pathologist before autopsies are performed in hospitals.




( ) What they do: In short, they paint artificial eyes. It sounds easier than it is, since as with real eyes, no two are exactly the same.




( ) What they do: Taste – and spit out – beer all day to approve new and existing flavors.




( ) What they do: Once a week, they analyze the odor of dogs' breath to test the effect of the animals' diet on their teeth. Breath is graded on a scale of zero to 10 and is categorized as sweaty, salty, musty, fungal or decaying.




( ) What they do: When combinations are lost or forgotten, they use their ears and fingers to open the safe.




( ) What they do: Use whatever they can find to create and record the noises used to make the sound effects in films, like heavy footsteps, rolling thunder or creaking doors.








Answer key: They are in the correct order from 1 to 7






B. Talk about the following questions.




1. Which of the occupations above do you consider the oddest? Why?




2. Which one is the lost interesting?




3. Which one is the least interesting?




4. Rank the from the most to the least interesting occupations.




5. Talk about other odd occupations you know.








C. Watch the first segment from the movie Sunshine Cleaning and answer the questions.








1. What does she do for a living?



2. Describe what she has to do?




3. What's your opinion about this job?




4. What special equipment or clothes does she need for her profession?




5. What kind of personality and qualities does someone who does it for a living need must have?






D. Watch the segment from the movie The Secret Life of Bees and answer the same questions in exercise C.










E. Finally watch the segment from the movie All About Steve and answer the questions in Exercise C.










F. Wrap - Up - small groups





1. Which of the occupations from the segments is (justify your answers):





- the most interesting






- the most exciting






- the most dangerous






- the most boring






- the most stressing






- the most necessary





MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES 



MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - ALL ABOUT STEVE



MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - SUNSHINE CLEANING

The Secret Lives of Bees, All About Steve & Sunshine Cleaning: Odd Occupations

By: Abdallh Gamal on: 8:02 PM

View from the Top: Job Interview

This movie is great and this scene is especially funny. It is perfect for talking about job interviews.







A. Work in small groups:



Come up with 8 tips one should follow during a job interview in order to impress the interviewer and get the position you're applying for.







B. Share your list with the class.



C. Now read the tips below. Check the ones you consider important for the interviewee. Also explain why they are important and how the tips would impress the interviewer. The first one is done for you. This was found at ehow and wikihow, great sites with tips for the employee and for jobs!



( x ) Remember and use the names of the people that are interviewing you.







Forgetting someone's name is basically telling that person, "You are not important enough for me to remember." It's a psychological fact that people love to hear their own name. Use this to your advantage to create a positive anchor about you in the mind of your interviewer.





( ) Make sure to dress appropriately and conservatively. Dark blue and dark brown suits with white shirts are the best colors for job interviews. Men should remove their earrings. Women should not wear earrings that are larger than a dime and not wear too much make-up. Make sure shoes are polished. Hair style should be conservative.







( ) Don't arrive too early or late to a job interview. Make sure to leave early enough to be on time, but do not show up earlier than 10 minutes before an interview.







( ) Firmly shake the job interview manager's hand. Don't shake hands too roughly. Just make sure not to give a wimpy handshake suggesting you lack confidence.







( ) Watch your body language during a job interview. Sit up straight. Don't slouch. Sit comfortably, and make sure not to cross your arms. Don't stare into space. Women should sit with legs or ankles crossed. Smile.







( ) Be polite. A job interview is where you want to practice manners. Say, "thank you" and "please." Use "Mr." or "Ms." unless the job interview manager asks you to call him or her by first name.







( ) Make sure to do your research before the job interview. Check out the company's website. Do a Google search.







( ) Don't interrupt. Be a good listener.







( ) Speak audibly and clearly.







( ) Don't talk about religion, politics or make negative remarks about your previous employee.











C. Work in pairs. Each student will have a role. Don't read each other's role. After reading and understanding your role, role-play the job interview to the class.





Student 1:







You are the interviewer for a position as a flight attendant at American Airlines. You need the best flight attendants in the country. The most important features for the job is confidence, tranquility, ability to solve emergency problems, friendliness, politeness and commitment. Ask the necessary questions to decide whether the candidate suits for the position.





Student 2:







You are applying for a position as a flight attendant at American Airlines. It is your dream job. Your qualities are the following: you are very polite, committed, eager to start working as a flight attendant. However, you are a bit anxious and do not work very well under pressure. Don't lie to the interviewer, but try to convince him that you are simply perfect for the position.





D. Watch the movie segment and discuss the following questions:










Paige (left), Christine (center), Donna (left)















1) Which of three candidates performed best during the interview? Why? Who was hired?



2) What were some of the things that they did wrongly, according to the tips given in exercise C?



3) Did they all deserved to be hired? Why (not)?



4) How about the interviewer? Were his questions appropriate? Explain it.



5) How differently should the interview be conducted?



6) What's your opinion of having a job as a flight attendant?



7) Would you like to apply for that position? Would you be suitable for it? Why (not)?



MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - VIEW FROM THE TOP

View from the Top: Job Interview

By: Abdallh Gamal on: 2:57 AM

17 Again: Promotions

This movie is just great. I love the idea of going back in time to our golden years and facing all the difficulties we used to face in our teenage years with the mind of an adult. This scene is one of the best of many interesting scenes in the movie. Wonderful for a class about jobs, promotions, workmates, office.














A. Work in small groups. Check the items that you consider important if one wants to climb up in his/her career. Explain why it is important (or unimportant) and give examples of how to do it.



( ) Concentrate on just doing the best you possibly can in your current position



( ) Make sure people know that you are doing a very good job



( ) Be popular



( ) Make sure the right people know you want a promotion



( ) Look for dominating new skills



( ) Be assertive to get what you want



( ) Put pride, passion and belief in everything you do



( ) See challenges as opportunities



( ) Do more than necessary



( ) Compete against other possible employees who look for the same promotion



( ) Establish a connection with your boss



( ) Be a team player







B. Watch the movie segment and answer the questions that follow:












1. Describe the scene.



2. Was the main character surprised by the boss's announcement? Why?



3. Why do you think he didn't get the promotion?



4. What's your opinion about the boss's announcing the promotion during a business

meeting?



5. Why do you think the young businesswoman was promoted instead of him?



6. What's your opinion about her reaction in the elevator?



7. What's your opinion about his reaction?



8. What would you do if you were in his shoes? What about in her shoes?







C. Work in pairs.





Imagine that one of you is the boss and the other one is an employee. Role play the following situation:





Employee: You have been working for this company for many years and you believe you are doing a great job. You deserve a promotion but you are afraid your boss hasn't noticed the good work you have been doing. Talk him into giving you a promotion.





Boss: You know your employee is a good worker, but he is not good enough for the position he is applying for. You have better candidates. Listen to what he has to ask you and be tactful justifying why he will not be the one to be promoted.



MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - 17 AGAIN

17 Again: Promotions

By: Abdallh Gamal on: 8:13 PM

View from the Top: 1st Job

A. Talk to a partner about the following questions:





1) Do you remember your first job? What did you have to do there?





2) What were the qualifications you had to have to perform the assigned tasks?





3) How did you apply for that position?





4) Did you have to go through a job interview? How was it?





5) How long did you work there?





6) Was this job important for you? How so?





7) Does it have anything to do with the field you work in nowadays? Explain it.





8) How different is your current job from your first job?





9) Are you happy about your current job? Why (not)?





10) Did anything ever go wrong in your first job?





11) What can go wrong on the first day of work of a flight attendant? Think about at least 10 different reasons and list them.





12) What are the qualities a flight attendant must have? Which ones she can't have?







B. Watch the movie segment and check whether what happened to Donna, the flight attendant on her first day of work of her first job as a stewardess, is on your guessing list.




















C. Now work in pairs to answer the following questions about the segment:





1. Describe the scene.





2. Why did she react the way she did?





3. What were some of the things that she did wrong? Why?





4. What could she have done so that she didn't react like she did?





5. What should the airline do about the situation?





6. If you were a passenger on that flight, what would you do?





7. What's your opinion about her qualifications for the position? Explain it?





8. What were her greatest qualities and which ones were the worst?

View from the Top: 1st Job

By: Abdallh Gamal on: 12:53 AM

Labor Pains & The Proposal: Boss x Employee

A. Talk to a partner about the following questions.



1. What should the ideal boss be like? Mention at least 5 important qualities he/she must have.






2. Mention 5 qualities a boss can't have.






3. What is the limit for an employee to bear with a rude boss?







4. Would you quit a position because of your boss even if the job were excellent pay and you didn't have any other opportunity in mind?







5. Would you tell the truth to your boss if you didn't like the he/she treated you? Why (not)?









B. Watch the first part of the segment from the movie Labor Pains and decide.


















1. Who is right? The boss or the employee?


2. Was the boss too strict about her delay? Why (not)?






3. What would you do if you were the employee?






4. What would you do if you were the boss?






5. What were the wrong things both the employee and the boss did? Explain it.







C. Now watch the second segment from Labor Pains and answer the questions that follow.
















1. Is the main character actually pregnant?




2. Why did she make that up?






3. Is it okay to lie to your boss just to keep your job?






4. Do you think it's fair that a pregnant woman can't be legally fired? Why (not)?






5. What are the laws in your country concerning pregnant women at the workplace?






6. What will she have to do so that her workmates don't find out she's not pregnant.







7. What will happen next?








8. What should the boss do if/when she finds out about that she is not pregnant at all?








9. What other excuse could she have made up in order to keep her job? Would it be better or worse than hers? Why?









D. Watch the next segment from the movie The Proposal. Then discuss the questions.










1. How do you describe the relationship between the boss and the employees? How healthy is it?




2. What about the boss and her secretary?



3. Does the boss deserve her reputation? Explain it.



4. What's your opinion about the way she fired her employee?



5. What's your opinion about the way the fired employee reacted to it?



6. Would you like to be her secretary knowing that the pay is extremely profitable? Why (not)?

Labor Pains & The Proposal: Boss x Employee

By: Abdallh Gamal on: 7:14 PM