Reading+Reflections

Mrs. Jean Brodie is one strange woman. I mean she seems like a good person and all, but she does some pretty wacky things. For example, she tells her students about her personal life. In the beginning she told them about her love for Hugh Carruthers. Also, later in the novel she tells Sandy about what happened with both Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Lowther. I mean I understand that teachers want to connect with their students and everything, but there is somethings I wouldn't want to know about my teachers. Mrs. Brodie reminds me a lot of Mrs. Esme' from __Teaching Esme__. Both of these teachers become on a personal level with their students. Both women let kids come over their house. Mrs. Brodie has tea and plays golf with her students. Mrs. Esme' lets kids sleep over her house. These women do many odd things that they probably shouldn't do but they do everything with the kids best interest in mind. I do have two questions though. 1) Who is Alan, Miss Alison and Mr. Rochester and why does Sandy keep talking to them? 2) Is Edinburgh the name of the school? If not, then what is it?

Kristin,

Ms. Brodie is. . . unique. There is a saying that rich people are eccentric, poor people are crazy. The same may be said of good and bad teachers. If it works, you are eccentric, like Esme, if it does not work, you are crazy. I think another point can be made about the similarities and differences between Esme and Brodie. When Brodie brings students into her confidence, i.e. by telling them about her personal life, she is using it as a weapon and making the student uncomfortable. This is the strategy often used by child abusers. Lure the child in with candy or treat them like "adults" and then use the relationship to trap the child into "keeping their secret." I think Brodie, consciously or unconsciously crosses this line. When Esme intervenes in her students life, it is centered on events, i.e. an abusive household, forgetting their birthday, etc. and not governed by the teacher's prerogatives. You make connections with students by affirming the student's interest, not affirming your own. It is often not the actual behavior that is problematic, but the context in which the behavior is occuring.

Questions: These are just "teachers" at the Blaine school. They are not important, I think, to the story's narrative. Edinburgh is a large city in Scotland equivalent in size to Boston, MA. Edinburgh is where the Marcia Blaine school is located.

Mr. Brunelli

Reading Reflection 2 Why is there a person somewhat stalking these people? What is Tec Taking? Why is everyone scared of policemen and why would they be taking notes? So I'm trying to read the book and watch the youtube video at the same time and it is not working! The lines hardly match up and the movie is skipping so many lines. Anyway right now I'm at the end of Act One and I'm rather enjoying the book. I'm rather curious about this note taker guy. I want to assume that Henry Higgins is going to become the teacher. I'm not sure if I'm going to like his character or not. It is still early in the book to tell. I wonder if Freddy, Clara and the mother are going to be important or if they just opened up the book. Once I get more into the book, I'll be able to make more connections but for right now I'm just filled with questions and curiosity.

Reading Reflection 3 So I'm reading act 2 and I go up to the part where Liza and Higgins are talking but I'm confused. Higgins said he could help Liza and he is naming all the the things he wants done to her, but why all of a sudden does she not want it anymore? Anyway I don't understand, everyone says that Higgins is being mean to Liza. I think that he is making good, strong points. He is trying to help her. I know he could be a little nicer about it, but why sugar coat the truth? I think if anyones a jerk in this book thus far it would be Liza's dad. He doesn't even want his daughter like he is willing to sell her to Higgins. I do like the quote on page 25 when Higgins says "Time enough to think of the future when you haven't any future to think of." I like this quote because in a way he is saying to live life in the now and stop and think when you can do no more. Another thing I don't understand is Pickering. Who is he and what does he do? What relation does he have to Higgins? Other questions I have: What is a blackguard? What is going on between Doolittle and Higgins? What is a Landlady? Why did Liza say she didn't have parents?

Questions: What does it mean to have an at home day? What is a phontic job? What does Ahdedo mean? What is Liza saying about her dead aunt? Like is Higgins ok with this kind of conversation?
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I really like Henry Higgins. He reminds me of Mrs Jean Brodie. Both educators talk to their students and other people anyway they want. Henry does not watch his words around his mothers guests and Mrs Brodie talks to the principal of the school with hardly any respect. I know Mr. Higgins is helping Liza to show how great he is, but I still think he is doing a good thing. It's a win win situation if you ask me because Liza will become more civilized and be able to work in a flower shop and Higgins gets his pride. Higgins is my favorite character in the book. I think this is because we share the same sense of directness. We are both speak the truth no matter regardless if people may feel hurt or not.

Reading Reflection #5 Bruno Bettelhem: __The Uses of Enchantmen__ First, I would like to point out that it is pretty crazy that this guy was famous for causing controversy. He was a major liar. Through this work of literature I found a few of Bruno Bettelhem's beliefs. One belief is that people do well because they can come up with stories. Second, young children have the ability to tell stories. This is a way for them to express their emotions. I believe this one hundred percent. Like we said in class, how many fairy tails have an evil step mother or prince charming? Kids use fairy tails to escape/curse out their parents without getting in trouble. This is a positive way for children to get their anger out. It also helps promotes creativity. One thing that I don't like that Bettelhem said was that he blamed moms for having autistic children. I can't believe he would put that on mothers. He believes that autistic children can be cured by getting them to reconnect. This is where creating/ writing stories comes into play. Stories are an outlet for children of all mindsets to get their feelings out.
 * Marking Period 2**

Reading Reflection 6 Han's Christian Andersen's __The Little Mermaid__ I can't believe how different the Disney's Version of the Little Mermaid is from the original. The original is so cruesome. First the mermaid doesn't have a name! What author would right a book and not give the main character a name? Second, the mermaid has to cut out her tongue and give it to the sea witch. The third difference that I found shocking was that the mermaid and the prince don't end up together. What child would want to read a story where the prince and the princess don't end up together? I feel like this story would kill every girls dream of finding their perfect man. I'm really surprised that someone would write a child story where so many bad things would happen to the main character. I didn't like Hans Christian Andersen's version as much as I liked the Disney version, but it was cool to see where the inspiration came from.

RR: 7 Flowers for Algernon- Daniel Keyes I hope that Dr. Strauss and Professor Nemurs are not just making fun of Charlie. Charlie seems like a really sweet guy. He is eager to learn and please people. I really like that he is eager to learn. Even though he is mentally handicapped he wants to learn and work. He has determination and doesn't let anything stop him. He wants to be a normal guy who is smart and to have a conversation with the rest of the guys he works with. I hope that in the end the operation really does do something in the end.

#8 ﻿ Hans Christian Andersen's: The Little Match Girl I feel so bad for the little match girl. She is poor, cold and it's New Years Eve and she has yet to sell a match. Also her father is going to beat her if she doesn't sell anything. I don't understand why people would write children's stories like this. What parent would let their kid read something like this? Actually, a better question would be what kid would want to read a story like this? First in The Little Mermaid, the mermaid's tongue gets cut out and now a girl who is poor and is going to get beat! What kind of person writes stories like this? Also, I can't believe she died! Why are all these fairy tales so sad!? I'm really glad Disney made remakes of all these because the original version would be way too sad.

So I decided to read a different fariy tale author to see if they are all as dark as Hans Christian Andersen. So I decided to read Roald Dahl's The Three Little Pigs. I love this version of the Three Little Pigs. It's just like the original but in a poem form. So I don't get it, why is Hans Christian Andersen so negative in his fairy tales? Did he believe what Bruno Bettelhem said about fairy tales? Was he even alive at that point?
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 * Marking Period 3**
 * 1) 10 Daniel Key's: __Flowers for Algernon__ -I’m honestly in love with Charlie Gordon. The more I read about him, the better he becomes. I’m only on page 72 so there is time for that to change, but so far he is such a sweet heart. All he wants to do is learn. To be a normal kid who can go to college and have intelligent conversations. Unfortunately, because of his condition he can’t, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. Also, all he wants to do is make everyone happy and get their approval. I wish people weren’t so mean to him. Instead of teasing him, they should help him learn. That’s all he wants to do, learn. But almost everyone is saying he is too dumb. Yet, this still doesn’t stop him from trying.

#11 Daniel Key's: __Flowers for Algernon__- I feel really bad for Charlie. Now that he is smart he understands what all his so called friends are saying about him. I wonder if he wishes he was never smart, because apparently it is doing him more harm than good. Also, I hate that his friends are being mean and ignoring him now. Charlie didn’t do anything wrong, and if they were true friends they should be encouraging and welcoming to the new Charlie. I hope Charlie stops worrying about pleasing them and realizes they are not true friends.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time-Mark Haddon Christopher is such an energetic, eager to learn boy. Is that a trait of Autism? I only ask because in both this book and Flowers for Algernon, the two main characters were very eager to discover new things. I wish I knew more about Autism, so that I could understand more of what goes on in Christopher’s head. One of my favorite things Christopher does is figure out how he can be a detective and get answers to the questions he has, without breaking the promise that he made with his father. If I were Christopher I would do the same thing. If I have an unanswered question, I would do everything I could to find the answer.
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Reading Reflection 13 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Mark Haddon So I’m up to the part where Christopher finds his letters from his mom. I cannot figure out if I would have wanted my father to lie to me if I was in that situation. I could only imagine what is going through Christopher’s head at this moment. I do not understand how his father can sit there and say it was an accident. He knew what he was doing, so how could it have been an accident? He is only sorry because he got caught. No doubt, he meant to keep the letters from Christopher. I also do not know if I would be able to trust my father after that. It would take a lot of time for him to gain my trust back.

Reading Reflection 14 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Mark Haddon I really enjoyed reading this book. In the middle when Christopher ran away to live with his mother. I felt sort of bad for the father. I mean I understand why Christopher left. He was scared of his dad, with good reason. Christopher’s father killed the next door neighbor’s dog and even though he did it out of spite, Christopher doesn’t understand that. I thought Christopher’s mother was pregnant, not going to lie. Especially when she kept saying that “things were hard” and when she ran out of the room covering her mouth. I also understand why Mr. Shears is upset. He was taken completely off guard when Christopher, who is not even his child, shows up at his door. I also think he overreacted. I like how the father tried to gain Christopher’s trust back. This shows he really cares about Christopher. In the end everything worked out for the best. This was a really good book because it gave a lot of insight into the world of an autistic kid.

Reading Reflection 15