Word: awkward
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...Cheddi Jagan's economic policies on bauxite production in Guyana in the early '60s. Guyana--it wasn't that she was bored with the topic so much as she was simply sick of hearing Jim Jones jokes from people who had asked about her thesis and then felt awkward because they had nothing to say. Heather decided she wanted to go home...
...Channing and the intellectual life of nineteenth century America in academic prose that is alternately stiff and playful, making for some confusion but not obfuscating his larger interpretations. In seeking brevity, the author looks for neatly suggestive anecdotes and historical shorthands to portray his subject, and occasionally descends to awkward constructions, calling Trumball's M'Fingal a "bundle of hesitations," and stretching to describe Channing as fighting "an internal civil war that would last as long as he lived." There are also times when it seems the author reveres his subject almost unceasingly, remarking early in the biography: "William Channing...
...toward screenplays adapted from another medium has perhaps hit its peak over the past year. Whether from a lack of imagination and originality, or simply from a resurgent interest in adapting fiction and drama, original screenplays are becoming harder to find. The translation from another medium is often an awkward, difficult task. Lee Grant's screen adaptation of Tillie Olsen's classic 1961 novella about an aging Jewish immigrant couple facing the problems of elderly life haunted by the lasting effect of Nazi torture treats her subject with admirable restraint and sensitivity...
Though few escape awkward moments on stage, all the characters rise to moments of lyrical grandeur. Peter Cody, a visitor to the Harvard stage, begins his Nemorino with a strong tenor voice and a characterization even more bumbling than the plot requires, but the magical elixir appears to ease his stiffness. His second-act aria to Adina surmounts the frilly animation of the production, creating, somehow, a wrenching summer-night sweetness between the cardboard storefronts...
...embassy in Tel Aviv. After three decades of war, Israel and Egypt had at last embarked on a peaceful reconciliation and, as a first step, exchanged ambassadors. Since then, the attempt by the two erstwhile foes to become good neighbors has unfolded like an uncertain and at times highly awkward tango...