Perception

This month, well last month, we read my favorite book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This was my class teaching and there is one question on the Socratic Seminar that I would like to talk about. Question number five asks, “What is the significance of the fact that no one can describe exactly what Hyde looks like? This unknown, true identity of Hyde has put fear into all readers.

Everyone in our English class had a different picture of Hyde in there head. This varied from monstrous looking beast to deformed men to ordinary looking people in suites (like Dorian Gray). Also the characters in the book have different interpretations of Hyde. The reason why the people can’t describe Hyde is because everyone has a different definition of evil. I believe that Hyde is the embodiment of evil. This is why people saw him different. Thus being why he was described.

You see this in movies all the time. People will be afraid of something evil, but it has a different look to everyone. One of my favorite examples of this in a book/movie is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Professor Lupin is teaching the class about boggarts, a shape-shifting creature that takes on the form of the viewer's worst fear. Here are some examples from the scene: Ron sees a spider, Prof. Lupin sees the moon, Neville sees Snape, Harry sees a Dementor, and Voldemort sees his own dead body.

I have read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde six times. As I have grown and matured, my idea of evil has changed. There is evil in all of us, even those who are the nicest. Now I see evil as a regular human being, not a beast. I first read this book in 5^th and I pictured Hyde as a horrible monster. Now, reading it in 12^th grade, I picture Hyde as an everyday man. This shows how my interpretation of evil has changed.

Well this is my last post every, MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU ALWAYS

Thank you,

Ryan Sperratore

Sexism: Not Only Towards Woman

We have been spending a very long time on the topic of women and their role in society throughout the years. Until recently has the idea of equality between the sexes of human begun to start to work out, but there is still sexism in the world. The sexism does not only exist for women, but there can be sexism towards males as well. What I would like to talk about is an article from a 1950’s Home Economics textbook which I would like to talk about.

The article from the 1950’s Home Economics textbook states all that a woman should do in the house and for her husband. For example, having food ready, cleaning, taking care of the kids, etc. are some of the things mentioned in this article. In The Awakening, Edna’s society tries to conform her into the typical norms of a woman. All of her friends participated in the norms such as taking care of the kids and taking care of their husbands. I disagree with this article. It makes it seem like men can do nothing. There has been a stereotype for men being fat, stupid, and irresponsible. I do not see how it is so unfathomable for a man to be able to jobs that women do.

There was a commercial that I saw the over day which really annoyed me. It bashed men and had the underlying message that men cannot take care of children and cannot do things that women can do. The video is a Huggies Diaper commercial. It talks about putting the diapers up to the ultimate test, an hour alone with their dad’s. Really? Really? Men are just as good of parents as women are.

As I said, I do believe that the equality between men and women are coming close and I applaud that, but what I cannot stand is the way men are portrayed in society. Men are more that than just fat and stupid people. They can be a stay at home dad if they want. I agree with what Mrs. Burnett says how her husband feels on issues like this. He is disgusted at these statements and so am I.

Until next time, remember, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

Thank you,

Ryan Sperratore

Sorry

I'll have it done by monday night.

Dead Poets Society

Hello everyone! Long time no see. Well I can’t actually see you, but you get the point. I would like talk to my audience today about a movie that I have recently watched in AP English; Dead Poets Society. A student in the movie, Neil Perry, loves to perform extra-curricular activities and his new favorite one is acting. After his performance of a Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Mr. Perry was very angry and told his son that he had to stop acting, attend military school, and become a doctor. Neil does not like this idea, so he commits suicide. His suicide is not “I hate my life, so I’m going to kill myself” suicide, but a realization that he must do this to help benefit the rest of group of the Dead Poets Society. His suicide is performed in order to have his friends stand up for what they believe in and to not let anyone hold them back.

I connect Neil to a Christ-like figure. In the scene before he commits suicide, he puts on the wooden crown from the play; whereas Christ had a crown of thorns placed on his head. Also, Neil closes his eyes and stretches his arms out wide, thus resembling Jesus Christ hanging on the cross. Christ willingly went to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. He did this so that by believing on him, we could ask for salvation from Hell and go to Heaven. Christ died on the cross to benefit those who he loved and cared about.

One book that comes to mind when talking about this is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I have talked about this book before in my last post, so I will not go into great background detail. The Igbo is facing a conflict with the Christian Missionaries who have come to convert them. Okonkwo does not like this and revolts. During a meeting trying to rally the tribe to take action, he chops off a white messenger’s head and then Okonkwo flees and commits suicide. The suicide he commits is to have the tribe can realize that what they are doing is wrong (in the sense of moving away from their traditional viewpoints). I believe that Okonkwo believed that his suicide would benefit the people because they would see what was wrong and take action to fix it.

I personally believe that Neil’s suicide was supposed to awaken his friends and make them realize that they do not have to be oppressed with the wishes of their parents. I honestly believe that his suicide was supposed to be equivalent to Christ’s crucifixion. It was so sad that the events played out the way they did because I really liked Neil and found him to be relatable, not from his parental problems, but his leadership role and the various activities that he partakes in. In the words of Mr. Keating, “CARPE DIEM!”

Until next time, don’t eat yellow snow.

Thank you,

Ryan Sperratore

 

Cultural Relativism: A Good or Bad Thing?

I hope that everyone is having an amazing Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year. Can you believe that I have to write a blog entry during my school break? I mean it is LUDICROUS!!!!!! Well, I would like to talk to my audience today about an interesting topic I have recently read about. It is called Cultural Relativism. Cultural Relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood in terms of that individual's own culture. Cultural relativism is the view that no culture is superior to any other culture when comparing systems of morality, law, politics, etc. It's the philosophical notion that all cultural beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the cultural environment. The article that we have read also describes the arguments and opposite viewpoint.

In class, one book that we have read connects perfectly with this topic and article.. The book Things Fall Apart. In things fall apart, the author, Chinua Achebe, describes the Igbo tribe in great detail. He does this so the readers understand the culture of the tribe and will be able to understand this topic in the story. When the white settlers come and push there religion and culture on them, some of the Igbo tribe, like Okonkwo, reacts violently to them and others do not really care. Each culture has their own viewpoints of what is right and wrong and that is why they clash. The first Reverend of the white settler's church had the idea of Cultural Relativism. The Reverend wanted everyone to get along, have everyone understand each other's culture, and have them believe that no culture was greater than any other culture. The novel focuses on the chaos that Cultural Relativism affects on the people when it is put into affect; nothing can progress or be accomplish.

A modern aspect that this can connect to is extremist in Islam. These Muslims believe that their religion is the one and only way to be. They believe America to be the Great Satan because of our Democracy and beliefs. In America, if we do not agree with something, we do not go around killing each other these things. With Radical Islamic people, if they disagree with others, they go around bombing everything to make it right. They are not capable of Cultural Relativism because they obviously do not want to understand the other cultures and will only believe that they are always right.

I believe that Cultural Relativism should not be put into play. Not to sound racist, but I do not like believing that all cultures are the same. I believe that you should uphold your culture, take pride in every aspect of it, and believing that it is the best culture in the world and not just some other mediocre culture. Also when you apply Cultural Relativism in your world, nothing will be accomplished or progressed. If you look at history, the way that cultures progress is by becoming better than the one before. For example, the way our military advanced was during the Cold War, where the U.S.A bettered their weapons on the Soviet Union weapons. This is why Cultural Relativism should never be put into affect because it hinders advancement among cultures.

Until next time, remember to buckle up; its the law!

Thank you,

Ryan Sperratore

The Impossible Questions: What is the truth? What is the meaning of life?

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I know I did. I ate way too much, but anywho……let’s get back to business. I would like to address something that has been pondered on since the dawn of time. Great philosophers all through the ages have asked this question. It is simply, “what is truth?” With truth, other questions come into light like “what is the meaning of life?” These quotes bring up the questions of reality, fate, and truth. These questions have had theological, philosophical, and scientific speculations. It has caused much controversy between religions and other groups. You can see these questions in literature we have read.

Literatures that we have read that apply to this situation are Oedipus and Waiting for Godot. In Oedipus, Oedipus has to face the truth with his fate. No matter what, he will marry his mother and kill his father. The he has to deal with the reality of realizing that he is the one who is causing the plague on the city of Thebes that is killing many people. Then in the play Waiting for Godot, it deals with surrealism of everyday life. In the play, it addresses that a human being's life is totally dependent on chance, and, by extension, time is meaningless; therefore, a human's life is also meaningless, and the realization of this drives humans to rely on nebulous, outside forces, which may be real or not, for order and direction. The basic premise of the play is that chance is the underlying factor behind existence. This is seen when Vladimir mentions the parable of the two thieves in the Bible. This play focuses on the philosophical theory of Existentialism.

When I think of this quote, there is one movie that comes to mind…..The Matrix. Tom Anderson (Neo) is an average computer programmer by day and by night, a hacker known as Neo. Neo has always questioned his reality, but the truth is far beyond his imagination. He has always felt that there was something wrong in the world and that there is a lie that is covering him from the truth. Neo finds himself targeted by the police when he is contacted by Morpheus, a legendary computer hacker. Morpheus meets Neo where he gives him a choice to choose between what is the truth and what is fake. "You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." Neo chooses the red pill and learns the truth and fate about life.

I believe that intellectual people spend a great deal of time wanting to learn more about life and they ponder on questions like these. I have spent many sleepless nights asking myself, “What is truth?” and “What is the meaning of life?” I can’t come up with a definite answer. Even being a religious person and using what I’ve been told that we live our life for God, I’ve always had a sense of doubt where I wonder if what I believe is true. No one knows for sure what the truth is and what the meaning of life is, but we can always ponder the questions.

Until next time, keep your heart open and love will always find away.

Thank you,

Ryan Sperratore

The Troubled Life of a Great Man!

Happy Halloween to my fellow bloggers out there; I hope everyone has been well since my last address to you. I would like to talk about a great king. His name is Oedipus. When Oedipus was born, a prophecy was made that one day he would kill his father and marry his mother. His parents gave him to a slave to place and leave him on a hill so he would die, but he could not do it. A family adopted little Oedipus and raised him as their own. When he grew up, he heard the prophecy and left for Thebes so it would not come true (he did not know that his biological family lived there). On his way, he killed the Sphinx that would kill people if they got its riddle wrong. When he arrives, he gets into an argument with man and kills him (his true father, King Laos). Then, he becomes king and marries Queen Jocasta (his mother). He soon finds out that the prophecy is true and who he truly is and tears out his eyes. This leads me into my discussion.

I would like to talk about how Oedipus took on the weight of the world and was dealt a bad set of cards for doing such a great job. The city of Thebes was facing a plague. People were dying in such great numbers that there was not enough of the living to ensure that each of the victims was cremated. Oedipus had to deal with this. He took on the weight of the city and took the responsibility for everything that was happening. Oedipus must find the person who is responsible for this curse and he even curses the person to be exiled. After searching for a very long time, Tiresias, a blind prophet, gives Oedipus some bad news. Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the cursed one. Because he is the one who has cursed the city, Oedipus inflicts pain on himself by cutting out his eyes and exiling himself.

When I think of Oedipus, I can relate him to many modern figures. The main person who comes to mind is Michael Jackson. You are probably thinking, “Wow, this doesn’t fit at all,” but hear me out. Just like Oedipus, Michael Jackson was a man with everything and had a lot of responsibilities of raising children and keeping up in mainstream media, but tragedy soon hit. He was diagnosed with Vitiligo, had problems with drugs, and convicted with child molestation (he was found innocent). In a sense, he was exiled, just like Oedipus.

I personally have a great sense of pity for Oedipus. He was man who had everything, but soon it all went awry. I believe that Oedipus took on to much than he could handle. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. He had to deal with a terrible plague, find the person who was cursed, and find his true self. Then, when everything is revealed to him, he takes it badly. I do believe that he had to exile himself, but not inflict that much harm on him. If there is something I have learned from this story, it is to not judge people too harshly and to forgive mistakes that they have made.

Until next time, may the Force be with you.

Thank you,

Ryan Sperratore