At the end of Chapter 4, Moose says, “I always do what I am supposed to do”. I have noticed that the main character in most popular teen fiction is usually mischievous. By contrast, Moose seems like he is always doing his best to be a good son, brother, and friend.
Before reading chapters 5 & 6, I am going to have Ben do a quick write on the question: “Should you always do what you are supposed to do?” I will be looking for meaningful, personal examples to support his point of view. How would you answer the question?
Today’s reading includes Moose being called to visit the Warden. Piper, the warden’s daughter, ends up sitting in on the meeting and it could be argued that she orchestrated its conclusion. (I added a link to a virtual tour of Alcatraz. It mostly shows places in Australia but if you open the ‘places’ dropdown at the bottom you will find Alcatraz. Once there, see if you can find the Warden’s office.)
Who would you say was the most powerful person in the meeting – Moose, Piper, or the Warden? What is your Evidence?
Somehow this is not going to turn out well for Moose. Any idea how?
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Warden Calls
Posted by Mr. Z at 6:37 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 Comments:
Regarding the quick write question "Should you always do what you are supposed to do?"
(Ben was not very excited about the task so I told him I would write my response as well)
I had to think hard about how to answer that question. In fact, this is the second time I have written a response. I started by answering the question with a question - How do you know “what you are supposed to do”? Then I realized that a simpler approach was to ask a different question – “Why don’t I want to do what I am supposed to do?”
If the answer to the second question is “because I don’t want to” or “because I don’t feel like it” or “because I have something else I would rather do” then I have not provided a very good reason. “I do not want to do this writing because I do not like to write,” would be hard to get much sympathy from a teacher for.
However, if the answer is “because I do not think it is right” or “because there is a better way” or “because I should be doing something different” then you have a point of discussion with the person asking you to do it.
If asked “Please show me your homework before you watch TV.”
You would not likely not be successful with: “No – I do not want to.”
However if you responded, “I always do my homework. It is complete. Based on my past experience you can trust me when I tell you it is done,” you might get the requester to rethink. They still might say they want you to show it to them and then you would have to decide how important this issue of trust was to you.
In summary, we should not blindly do whatever people ask us to do, but we need to be thoughtful in deciding whether we are going “do what we are supposed to do” or not.
Should you always do what you’re supposed to?
I would say it all depends.
If your feelings could get hurt easily, I would not. If you have too many jogs, you might get very frustrated, and just quit. Therefore, no matter what, you would not do all the jobs. But If you didn’t get your feelings hurt easily, it wouldn’t be as hard of a job. This may sound a bit weird to you, but it sounds right to me.
One example is getting ready for moving. There is a set of cardboard buildings in my room, and we had to pack It up before we move. I didn’t want to do it at first, but I got it over with, and nothing bad happened.
Who was more powerful?
Ben and I talked about Piper.
“How did she behave in the meeting?”
“She was sweet and nice.”
“Yes. How do you think Piper is when she is around adults?”
“I think she is always nice and sweet.”
“Any other words?”
“Mature….Polite.”
“Exactly.”
“How do you think she behaves when adults are not around.”
“I think she can be meaner.”
“Yes. I liked the word Moose used – Bossy. We saw that in how she first greeted Moose. So she is a different person depending on whether adults are around or not.”
Eddie Haskel came to mind.
When the meeting was over, both Piper and Moose knew what its true purpose had been. Only the Warden was left out in the dark.
The boy who ‘does everything he is supposed to do’ is going to have a hard time standing up to Piper – but he is going to need to!
At the meeting, everyone played a roll, but I think piper ruled the meeting. The whole reason for the meeting was psychology. Piper was having trouble carrying her projects at school, so she probably said something like:
“Excuse me, dad. There is a new boy on the island, and we should tell him the rules. Also, did you know he is going to my school?”
That way, the warden would decide to make moose her school helper (carrying everything for her.)The warden probably won’t find out about the psychology, at least until later. At that point, Piper will be prepared for the hurricane.
That whole question of doing "what you are supposed to do" is a really intriguing to me. I deal every day with people who don't want to do what they are supposed to do and it is my job not only to get them to do it but also to do it better than they have before. I have lots of methods to work with them but it repeatedly comes down to the carrot or the stick for them. Overall the stick is of little value on a long term basis and the carrot is only meaningful if eventually the individual agrees that there is value to what they are supposed to do. My day is considrerably easier if they do it on their own!
Ben- when you see Piper as being "sweet and nice" in the meeting I get the feeling that Moose sees through her but her father does not. Could the warden really be that unknowing about his own daughter? What do you think?
Post a Comment