Perfection ≠ Happiness

I agree with your idea that perfection does not equal happiness.  While one might assume that these two words go hand and hand with one another I would agree that they do not.  I liked the quote you used a quote from Benjamin which I felt was very meaningful.  It reads, “a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance” (Franklin, 9).  People are often jealous and envious of someone whom may be portrayed as perfect.  Normally when one is envious of another they usually do not like the other person very much.  As mentioned one may strive to be better or become perfect but, does this guide one to happiness and fulfillment?  I agree with your idea where you state Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography relates to Tom Sawyer that one can be happy even if he/she isn’t perfect.  I feel this relation speaks volumes and that one should be happy with his/her life even if they feel it isn’t “perfect” because at the end of the day what really is perfect?

This is my peer response to Kelly’s post.

I agree with Kelly’s claim in that Mr. Thackeray, the teacher from the movie “To Sir, With Love” is much similar to Professor Lupin in the novel Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. They both adapted their philosophy of teaching in a way that they thought would benefit the students in life more than by teaching them through some books that would only teach them the theory of things. Mr. Thackeray believed that talking about more serious topics on life, like love, sex, marriage, and referring to each other with respect in class, taught the students far more than what the books ever would. Similarly, Professor Lupin tells the students “Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today’s lesson will be a practical lesson” (130). After a while he realized that this method was really a good way to teach them and get them interested in class, “In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had become most people’s favorite class… His next few lessons were just as interesting as the first” (141).

This becomes evident in both texts when the students become fonder of the class and the teachers and the lessons themselves they were learning in class. They became more interested and were excited to be in classroom. In the end, “He certainly wasn’t the only one who was sorry to see Professor Lupin go. The whole of Harry’s Defense Against the Dark Arts class was miserable about his resignation” (429) the students were say to see Professor Lupin leave. Similarly, at the school dance the students of Mr. Thackeray sang the song “With love to Sir” and got him a gift that made him cry which led to him refusing the other job and staying as a teacher at the school. The students were highly impacted by this method of teaching and they really enjoyed the class as a result. Learning things that we will use in our everyday life in the near future is much more interesting and beneficial than what the books would teach us.

I agree with the many statements Jessica made in her post responding to J.K. Rowling’s novel. Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Azkaban provides thorough details that allow the readers to imagine and delve deeper into the fictional story. I believe this is what makes a novel successful. If an author is able to bring the readers on a mental adventure to explore the depths of an imaginary world, I would, and can, confidently conclude that the author has been successful in engaging its readers.

Just like our essays, the opening hook in our introductions are essential to the engagement level of our readers. Details are what keeps the readers engaged in novels and allows them to feel like an audience and possibly even a participant of the story. The game of Quidditch, for example, as Jessica mentioned in her post, is described vividly with the words of “zoom[ing]” and “soar[ing]” as Harry flies on his Firebolt in search and chase of the Quidditch (Rowling 309). The readers are similarly informed of the speed at which Harry flies with the sentence, “Harry put on a huge burst of speed; the wind was roaring in his ears…” (Rowling 310). Rowling’s many detailed descriptions provide the readers a visual image of the game and situation, stimulating their curiosity of the game and their longing to play too, all of which adds to their engagement into the novel.

This is a response to E.Chan, the post can be found here: https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/rethinkeducation/?p=2692

E.Chan makes a great point in saying that books can deliver knowledge and lessons. He mentions that these books may be childish but they have symbols that represent real life things or events. There are things like feeling alone, scared, confused about who you are or the happy stuff like love, laughter, friendship. I think everyone would love to have or do have a friendship like the those three main characters.

You can learn a lot from fictional texts. The story Narnia is full of knowledge and lessons. There’s how to be a leader, love for your siblings and much more. Most of the philosophers say that books are a limitation and that you are just using someone else’s thoughts as yours. Every idea has been influenced by another idea. Anyone creating something, has seen an image like it before or has taken an idea and developed it into something more. We all learn from each other whether it comes from books, events, nature, or society.  One step leads to the other. Just how Malcolm X was able to unlock his mind from ignorance through books, so can many others.

This is a response to Eric’s Post :https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/rethinkeducation/?author=19427

Eric wrote about the relationship between Background and Education, and how they correlate with one another. He basically stated that nowadays, it does not really matter about the quality of education you actually receive at an institution, but how that institution is regarded by society. He made the conclusion that nowadays, in terms of intelligence and education, people make judgments on other people based on what their personal background is, what school they went to, and how prestigious the school’s name is. For example, if a student went to Harvard University, and took the easiest professors and graduated rather easily, that student would still be seen as more educated than a student who graduated from Baruch College, even if the professors gave harder work than the Harvard professors.

He applied this theory to Professor Lupin in Harry Potter. Even though Professor Lupin was a great professor, he was a werewolf, so parents did not trust him teaching their kids, “they will not want a werewolf teaching their children” (423). In this case, the parents did not really care about the Professor’s ability to educate, but rather his background.

I also agree that nowadays, education and skill is being ignored and replaced by bizarre things, such as background. Names and labels are replacing qualifications.

In response to Eric’s “Background and Education”, I agree with Eric that nowadays people judge each other by their social background. Just like Eric mentions in his free post, people tends to respect more of those who studied at an Ivy League (the “Better schools”) than people who attend a normal school. There are two reasons why people think the Ivy League students are superior. First, there is an assumption that Ivy League students are generally smarter than regular students, although they might in fact pursuing the same degree; second, Ivy League students are wealthier then regular students, thus they have more power in the society.

Compare this social phenomenon to Harry Potter and the prison of the Azkaban, Malfoy always look down at Harry and his friends, make joke about how poor the Weasley’s family is, and laugh at Hermione’s Mangal parents. Malfoy is so ignorance because Malfoy’s family is at the higher social position and therefore has more influence in their society, thus makes him thinks he is superior to the three of them. (Harry, Ron and Hermione). However, the truth is that Harry and Hermione are more talented than Malfoy in magic skills, he doesn’t have anything to be show off except his family name.

In Eric’s example of Professor Lupin’s werewolf identity forced him to resign from his position is a good example of how people judge the book by its cover. Professor Lupin is a caring character, although he can be dangerous transform into a werewolf, he takes potion to keep his mind clear and stay away from his students during his transformation. Parents don’t allow their children to take classes with professor Lupin because they judge his identity over what his personality. However, it is understandable because parents never get a chance to understand professor Lupin.

This is a peer response to  J.abdullah Thesis exercise titled Malcolm X the Buccaneer Scholar. When reading about how Malcolm x and him reeducating himself while incarcerated, the very first thing the came to mind was this idea of self education as in the Buccaneer Scholar. The connection I made with both stories was that they taught them selves what they wanted to focus on. The 2 stories only share that in common since Bach only focused on a particular topic of interest he enjoyed learning about, while Malcolm reeducated himself to better combat society and be more intellectual, it was his duty to know more. The point that J.abdullah made that ‘the best way to learn is by teaching yourself ‘ I do agree with to a degree.  I do believe that everyone should have a foundation of knowledge first like English, Math, History, Philosophy but after a while if a person wants to focus on one particular subject that they find a interest in then a person should focus on that topic mainly. Especially if that topic is something they want to peruse as a career,  it would make sense to focus all of your energy into something you are interested in. The likely hood of you being successful in something you like is more possible since your energy and interest will be fully committed to the subject.