Knapps Stage Model

Dear John, the drama-filled romance movie, John Tyree, a young soldier, meets Savannah Curtis, a college student on spring break, and they quickly fall in love. The movie directed by Lasse Hallstrom, adapted from Nicolas Sparks’ novel of the same name. Dear John showcased many aspects of communications in its most simple forms. Including the ten stages of the Knapp Stage Model, which could actually be witnessed throughout the Dear John the movie and the book, as the two main characters, John and Savannah, developed their relationship and as they tried to maintain their relationship.
In the Knapp’s Stage Model, Mark Knapp describes the progression and development of relationships as a series of ten stages in two phases: the ‘coming together’, initiation is followed by the experimenting , intensifying, integrating and bonding stages. In the ‘coming apart’, the differentiating, circumscribing, stagnating, avoiding and terminating stage occurs. These stages are illustrated in the film Dear John.
In the opening scene of Dear John, it was John’s and Savannah’s first time meeting, it was attraction at first sight. During the night scene at the beach, they conversed. I would still think it’s the initiating stage because the content of their conversation. They didn’t ask questions with the intention of knowing more of each other apart from that one question, ‘’When are you going back? ” which was rather casual. That will sum up the initiating stage.
In the later scene, John asked for a date and Savannah agreed. That means they have both passed each other’s test so there is an experimenting stage. By the way, John actually stayed at the Barbeque till the night when he mentioned that his dad cooked dinner. Why else would one blow off his dad if it isn’t because he likes the girl? Therefore, that supports my stand that they were already attracted to each other at the beach. At the dinner scene, they were started talking about something more personal. They were making