Hello and WELCOME, and I look forward to getting to know you through your blog posts!
Instructions for the first week of summer reading:
First, please email me at evigue@msad48.org with the following information: (1) your name, (2) your blogspot username -NOT THE PASSWORD, however- and a link to your blog, and (3) your book choice for the contemporary American novel and how you think it will relate to one of our essential questions. It can be a volume of poetry or a fiction work.
Second, please post your mini report, on your blogsite. Wait until a few more people have posted their mini reports on their blogs, and then go ahead and post at least one response on at least two of your peers' blogs to their mini-reports. I will demonstrate the latter for you, to give you an idea of how to respond to your peers (as soon as someone has posted). PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO CITE YOUR SOURCES.
A mini report takes off from a concept that relates to your book. If you look up the Tlingit Indians, then you should explain how the Tlingits play a role in the book and how the theme of the book relates to the Tlingit philosophies or practices based on what you found in your research. I would suggest the following theme for the book: justice should heal, not punish (p. 12). If you look up Kermode Bears, you should share what you found about them, and what role they play in the book. Why did the author choose that particular breed of bear? What is special about them that might relate to Cole's circumstances?
(3) Question for the week. Please post a response to this question RIGHT HERE. Do you think that Cole should be excused for his behavior based upon the circumstances in his home? Why or why not? Answer this question and respond, on my blog, to at least two of your peers' responses.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
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22 comments:
I think Cole's action are inexcusable. Even though his home life isn't "up to standard" and it gives him a reason to be angry, it doesn't mean that he had the right to bully others. Most people think that your attitude towards others an life in general comes from what you see and are accustomed to at home. And since Cole was used to being angry at the everyone,it became his way of life.
I do not think Cole's actions are excusable. I understand that his home life isn't the best. I'm sure that we have all experienced a time in our life when we just want to scream our heads off and punch something but, that does not give us a free pass to hurt someone. It's called anger management! I agree with Whitney that our attitude comes from what we know but we all have the power to change. Cole doesn't really look like he truly wants to change. I'm sure we will see a difference by the end of the book though.
There is no way that the actions Cole has taken in these first two chapters are excusable. Just because you are angry at your parents divorce and amount of money to just bail you out of any trouble does not give you the right to rob a store and put a kid in hospital. A child always has the power to choose how they act and he made the wrong decision. I agree with both Whitney and Ashlee when they say that your attitude on life comes from what you see but we all have to make our own choices whether we make the right ones or not it is always that persons choice. I also agree with Ashlee in the fact that we are going to see a big change in Cole by the end of the book.
so here is my attemp to respond to my peer's responses. we all agree! not much to respond to.
In all honesty, I think excusing people from doing something based on their how they had a bad childhood, and no credible upbringing... I think that's just not right at all. Of course when someone does something that society considers horrible, there's going to be a reason, a state of mind that caused that person to act in such a bad way. Lawbreakers aren't emotionless monsters, they're human beings who through their experiences in life have been pushed towards doing things that endanger the security of the rest of society. Letting someone be excused from that does nothing but further endanger everyone else. Obviously one needs to try and help those that are in these circumstances and not just lock them up and throw away the key(those that can be helped that is), but you can't expect anything to be solved by excusing people like Cole from doing horrible things. It just doesn't work that way. (I love ranting.)
YES!! I agree Cory! Because when delinquits are thrown in jail or "juvi" it only seems to make them harder on the outside along with the inside. It teaches them that what ever happens happens, and you have to defend yourself. You can't really "excuse" someone from what they did no matter what, because someones always going to have to deal with the after effects of the incident. Like with Peter, he has permanent damage to his head, even though Cole didn't have any permanent damage you could see, if he learns to forgive himself, then he's going to have never ending guilt about what he did, and the what-ifs on it.
If you all seem to agree, it would be wise to take the position of a devil's advocate. You may not agree with that position, but you ask a question that raises more questions, and, hopefully, conversation. You might risk some strong opinions coming your way, but that shouldn't be a difficulty.
;P
Example:
Could there be circumstances with Cole that we as readers are not aware of? Does Cole's dad seem like the kind of dad who nurtures his son and sets an example for his son to follow? What happens to an animal if they are beaten and bullied? Do they end up with a sweet temper, or do they often become a danger to society? Why is a kid any different?
Cole's home life makes you sympathize with him, and feel some compassion for him, but it doesn't take away the fact that he seriously hurt some one and that this isn't even his first crime. He has had many chances; and Circle Justice is still giving him a oppertunity to get out of jail time. You can't just excuse people's bad actions because of something bad that happened to them. Where would you draw the line? Probably almost everyone has a reason for what they do. Cole's life makes his story more sad, but he should still be punished, after all he should know what it's like. However, maybe his father should join Circle Justice too.
I definitely believe in nurture versus nature, and I think that the home life that people grow up with is one of the most deciding factors in who they turn out to be. Cole's parents never showed him anything but violence and anger, and eventually, that's all he knew. With Cole never being given a more positive example to follow, it's almost not surprising that he acted out like he did. While I don't think your relationship with your parents or how you grow up necessarily excuses your actions, I do think those things should be taken into consideration when dealing with cases like Cole's, and that the offender should be given an opportunity to change, which is the premise of this book so far.
I am first going to state that I pretty much agree with what everyone else has said. Cole may have had a tough life, but it still doesn't excuse his horrible behavior. There is no excuse for someone to purposefully hurt another human being (or any other being for that matter) just because they themselves have a hard life. There are so many people who have hard lives; many even harder than Cole's. He only makes everything much worse for himself with his attitude and inexcusible actions.
I also agree with something that Emily said: ". You can't just excuse people's bad actions because of something bad that happened to them. Where would you draw the line?" This is exactly why Cole's actions and feelings to everyone and everything around him cannot be excused. So many people would be allowed inexcusible behavior and peoples lives would be that much worse because of these peoples actions.
I agree with Ashlee L. Cole did have a hard life but it doens't mean that he has to take that anger and violece out on other people like his father did to him.
Like my normal self, I can't decide which one I agree most with. If you have a bad upbringing and you are exposed to nothing but arguement, violence, anger and unloving surroundings then how are you supposed to act. No you shouldn't act by beating some kids head into a curb but if you are brought up in that kind of enviroment than you are not going to be giving the kid hugs. I do however believe that if you have a bad life, you have the choice to make it better. If you have no rules than you can set your own boundries and become a better person. If you have parents who fight and grow up in a violent environment than you can choose to become a better person and be better than your parents and your surroundings. Although how his parents always bail him out with a wade of cash doesn't help ethier. Even though it sounds dumb it hurts the pride that your parents don't care enough about you to make you suffer for you consequences and to never get punished for anything and to be just bailed out is not a sign of love. If you feel unloved than you do act in ways that Cole acts as a way to get his parents attention finally or just because he can't define good and bad and right and wrong because of the way he was brought up and because he is not loved by anybody. So as you can see I go both ways. Also as a side note I do think that because Garvey and the others care about his so much he is going to get a taste of what it is like to be cared about and it might change his attitude about things.
I can see where someone might be able to begin to conjure up a defense for Cole because of his homelife. I do not believe that what he did to that poor boy was excusable in any way though. There are a lot of problems that can stem from such a homelife uncontrolable anger being one. But to get angry is one thing. To become violent is quite another. There is never any excuse for violence.
I really like how Cory put it. I pretty much agree with him. Allowing certain actions to go excused will not be beneficial to that person at all. Too many things are excused for just such reasons in society today. I believe that a person that does something of this nature and magnitude needs to be punished accordingly to be shown that there are consequences for such actions and on top of that they need to recieve some psychological preventative treatment to keep them from further acts of violence or whatever it is that they've done.
I say that Cole's actions are semi-justifiable, at least for the beginning offenses. He had a bad upbringing; having the money to get away with anything, and his father not being very kind at all. Cole never really was taught what would happen if he did something wrong, all he knows is that he will be helped out of trouble by his parents. Although, after all of the different chances he had, he still doesn't get the point. So I think that he should be doing what he is doing now. Not going to jail, because like his 'handler' said, it wouldn't resolve anything.
So, I would say that his latest actions are inexcusable. He has had many chances, and didn't try to help himself at all.
A kid isn't any different than an animal, except maybe we have thumbs and less hair. But we still expect to be treated with respect. If a dog is abused by something else, it makes the dog hostile, and scared. It makes him withdraw from others. If a dogs in a bad home, it withdraws and feels like it needs to protect itself. With a human, its the same, Cole, growing up protecting himself against his father, still feels anger and resentment towards people in general. You can't just turn off how you feel, and how you were raised. Cole was raised in an angry enviroment, therefore, he's an angry kid. It still, however doesn't mean that anger = violence. Because you can have an angry person (or dog) and it doesn't mean they have ever smashed a kids skull into the side walk... So, what I'm trying to say is, if you are born into an angry family, or grow up in an angry family, your bound to have an anger problem. But it doesn't mean you can't try and control it. (and I totally got off topic, but I think I got my point across (O_o)
I would agree with everyone else who has said that Cole's actions are inexcusable. He had a rougher childhood than the average person, but that's no excuse. I know people who have had it rough, and they are some of the nicest people I know. You really can't change how other people treat you, but you can change how you treat other people. Cole will have to learn to stop blaming others and realize he is the problem before he can change.
P.S. I can think of a person in history who was more mistreated than any other person that ever lived. However, before he died, he asked his Father to forgive the people who did this to him. With that standard set, no one has any excuse for anything they do, no matter what.
I think the way a person behaves with Cole's sort of upbringing depends upon the person. Some people could become angry because they had it rough. Then there are some people who may turn it around and try to be different than how they were brought up to be; they may try to learn from their childhood and see it as something they changed for the better. Although this still doesn't excuse Cole's behaviors.
I think that there is a big difference between a boy of Cole's age and an animal. Yes, just as a dog who is abused might become timmid or lash out or become violent, a person could easily too. However I think that a person is more intelligent, and can go way farther beyond instinct. A person has the ability to reason and can there for see if they think about it that smashing another kid's head into the ground isn't going to help them, that it is cruel, and placing them on a level closer to the person who abuses them, becaue they are giving someone else the same treatment.
So am I not supposed to post my mini report on my blog?
Anyway... peer response time I guess.
I can understand how Cole feels (not exactly) but human emotions can get out of hand. Sometimes you cannot save yourself, and don't even realize you need to be saved. The farther into the hole you go, the easier it is to accept more bad things happening to you, instead of trying to help yourself. Sometimes even, you don't think you can be helped, or its not worth it. I believe this is how Cole felt. I'm not advocating his actions, because someone would have to be extremely stupid, cocky, or just apathetic to think that he needed no one; especially in the Alaskan wilderness.
I think there is no reason for Coles actions. He does have a right to be angry and different because of the situation with his parents but there is still no reson to behave in that manner. This somewhat follows the same story line as Oliver Twist. In that book Oliver is orphaned before he is born and has to work at a succession if work camps. All throught the book he is treated poorly yet , he still stays a pleasent child. He does not let his surrounding affect how he lives his life.
I agree with what ethan said. There are many people through history who had it bad yet they still were somw of the nicest people of the time.
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