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