This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Friday, January 29, 2010
PERIOD 7 - "THE BEAR THAT WASN'T"
Today you read The Bear That Wasn't by Frank Tashlin. Please share with the class your thoughts about the story and be sure to post at least one comment on another classmate's reflective post.
I thought the story sent a message about people believing an idea just because it was repeated over and over not because it was actually true. If someone is constantly repeating an idea that is not true one may begin to believe it’s true. In the story people are constantly saying the bear is a man and eventually the bear believe he must be a man because everyone is saying that he is. Just because everyone says its true doesn’t mean that it is.
I thought that this story was really interesting. This story's message was against stereotypes. People should not be limited in what they can do simply because of stereotypes that exist about that group. Eventually repeated stereotypes will stick. And people will come to believe that to be true. To the people in the story a bear can only be found in the circus or the zoo, because this bear was in neither place, the people believed, he was not a bear.
I feel that the eventual point of the story was to show that only you know who you really are and you can choose not to fit in. The bear kept trying to tell people he was in fact a bear. They did not believe him. He alone was able to realize, for himself that he did not have to fit into the stereotypes to be happy. He was content to be who he was, a different kind of bear. He knew he was a bear and that was enough for him.
Rachel, I think that you made a good point about how, with repetition, it becomes easier and easier to believe that it is true. I know that this does not just happen in the story but have found it happens in real life as well. I often find myself second guessing something the more people repeat that I am wrong.
I thought that this story was really interesting. This story's message was against stereotypes. People should not be limited in what they can do simply because of stereotypes that exist about that group. Eventually repeated stereotypes will stick. And people will come to believe that to be true. To the people in the story a bear can only be found in the circus or the zoo, because this bear was in neither place, the people believed, he was not a bear.
I feel that the eventual point of the story was to show that only you know who you really are and you can choose not to fit in. The bear kept trying to tell people he was in fact a bear. They did not believe him. He alone was able to realize, for himself that he did not have to fit into the stereotypes to be happy. He was content to be who he was, a different kind of bear. He knew he was a bear and that was enough for him.
I thought the story was interesting too. I thought that the story meant that sometimes people don't believe you when you say something. Also, if something is being repeated over and over again and it isn't true then others may think that it is true because of the repetition of what is said. Finally, I thought that you shouldn't let people tell you who you are, you create your own identity.
I agree with you guys about the story's being interesting and about stereotypes and all of that, however i thought that the story was more about self-identity. I took the story as meaning that one should never question what they think of themselves, no matter what the rest of the world says.
Along with Jon, I thought the story's message about identity was very important. The story made it very clear on how important it is to have a strong identity, no matter what other people say. I also found it interesting how it only took a few people to convince the bear otherwise- this showed how vulnerable we are and how crucial it is to not be so easily influenced by other people's words. Before being swayed by other's opinions, the bear should've realized how vulnerable he was and should've stood up for himself at the start (much like Rachel A. said).
I thought the story meant that if you repeat a certain idea to someone after a while they will start to believe it.Even if they didn't believe it at first.
I defiantly agree with what everyone has said so far. The story is about stereotypes and people associating jobs with certain races, genders, or in this case species. Also, like what Jon and Rachel were saying I think the story is telling people to not let others tell you who you are and what you should be doing with your life. I also like the idea, but didn't think of it till I read other peoples posts , that the story is also about how easy it is to believe something you know is untrue if someone keeps repeating it.
I agree with Rachel that the story highlighted for me how quick people are to believe something they are not sure is true. However, if everyone except you believes something is true or society defines you as one way does that mean that it is that way? Just a question!
I do not believe anyone should be able to dictate who you are.
Lastly, it was interesting how the bear might have wanted to stray from who he was but then he came to the decision that being in his cave and beaing a bear was most comoforting. I liked this message because it reinforces the theme; stay true to yourself.
I agree with Rachel with the whole repitition and how it gets easier to believe but i beleive that mostly this story is saying dont let someone tell you who you are, because only you can decided that.
I thought the story was good and I agree with everyone on how the story tells how everyone likes to be who they are. But everybody with there own veiws of who you are will always want to change or "mold" you into the person they want you to be or who they think you are, and sometimes they sucseed but in the end your true self emerges and shows who you are and what makes you "you" and not the person who everybody thinks or wants you to be.
I thought that the story conveyed a very powerful message about what can happen to you when someone tries to instill beliefs into a perosn. When this persists and persists, a person will eventually break down and start to believe what they have been told.
I feel as though this story showed the way society sees people, not based on who they are, but where they are, what they look like, and how they act. The story stated that he wasn't a bear, not because he didn't look like one but because he wasn't in a zoo or the circus. The book continued to show how people can then lose themselves in other peoples opinions, but the only inportant opinions are your own.
Reading The Bear that Wasn't I thought the story was about identity. It is important to never doubt yourself even when others do. The bear gave in to the doubt the others had about him being a Bear, however by the end he realized he was right all along.
I agree with you Allie about the ending and how it is important to stay true to oneself, and trust yourself more than anyone else. No matter what others say, in the end it is important to believe what you think because you will deal with the consequences in the end.
This story shows that you need to believe in yourself and be able to make your own decisions and not care what others say or think about them. Live your life the way you want to live it and don't let others tell you anything else about it because they don't know always know whats best or right for you.
I'm going to go out on a limb and disagree with all of you. Its a children's story, nothing more nothing less. It has nothing to do with a case of societal pressures changing an individuals identity. Its only a kids story meant for 7 and 8 year olds, and there is no hidden agenda that the author is trying convey. Had people read this story under any other context you would have thought, yea... what a cute kids story. In my opinion, its just a story, and if you think its something more you over analyzing it.
I believe the story is about finding yourself. What people say, or what they think should not affect you enough to question your identity,likethe bear did in the novel. If you know who you are no one elses influence should matter.
I believe that the story showed readers how people constantly tell you to be a specific identity. Constantly people told the bear his identity and what he should and should not be. In our world right now stuff like this is happening everyday as it comes down to having the most hottest outfit, and having the hottest body,which all narrows down to advertisement and how they imply towards a person to have an identity that is "cool". In my opinion i recieved the message that no one can truly know your own identity better than youself, because you yourself was the one who created you identity.
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To me, this story represents someone who has lost their identity due to stereotypes made about them. This is very common in todays society. So many stereotypes are made blindly without a second thought.
Josh, I can backup your statement that when it comes right down to it, only you are able to decide what you are identified as and this is through the choice that you make. In the end, the bear decided that he was a bear.
28 comments:
Rachel Afshari
I thought the story sent a message about people believing an idea just because it was repeated over and over not because it was actually true. If someone is constantly repeating an idea that is not true one may begin to believe it’s true. In the story people are constantly saying the bear is a man and eventually the bear believe he must be a man because everyone is saying that he is. Just because everyone says its true doesn’t mean that it is.
Allison Shea
I thought that this story was really interesting. This story's message was against stereotypes. People should not be limited in what they can do simply because of stereotypes that exist about that group. Eventually repeated stereotypes will stick. And people will come to believe that to be true. To the people in the story a bear can only be found in the circus or the zoo, because this bear was in neither place, the people believed, he was not a bear.
I feel that the eventual point of the story was to show that only you know who you really are and you can choose not to fit in. The bear kept trying to tell people he was in fact a bear. They did not believe him. He alone was able to realize, for himself that he did not have to fit into the stereotypes to be happy. He was content to be who he was, a different kind of bear. He knew he was a bear and that was enough for him.
Allison Shea
Rachel, I think that you made a good point about how, with repetition, it becomes easier and easier to believe that it is true. I know that this does not just happen in the story but have found it happens in real life as well. I often find myself second guessing something the more people repeat that I am wrong.
Allison Shea
I thought that this story was really interesting. This story's message was against stereotypes. People should not be limited in what they can do simply because of stereotypes that exist about that group. Eventually repeated stereotypes will stick. And people will come to believe that to be true. To the people in the story a bear can only be found in the circus or the zoo, because this bear was in neither place, the people believed, he was not a bear.
I feel that the eventual point of the story was to show that only you know who you really are and you can choose not to fit in. The bear kept trying to tell people he was in fact a bear. They did not believe him. He alone was able to realize, for himself that he did not have to fit into the stereotypes to be happy. He was content to be who he was, a different kind of bear. He knew he was a bear and that was enough for him.
Sanjiv Banavali
I thought the story was interesting too. I thought that the story meant that sometimes people don't believe you when you say something. Also, if something is being repeated over and over again and it isn't true then others may think that it is true because of the repetition of what is said. Finally, I thought that you shouldn't let people tell you who you are, you create your own identity.
Jon Rohald
I agree with you guys about the story's being interesting and about stereotypes and all of that, however i thought that the story was more about self-identity. I took the story as meaning that one should never question what they think of themselves, no matter what the rest of the world says.
Along with Jon, I thought the story's message about identity was very important. The story made it very clear on how important it is to have a strong identity, no matter what other people say. I also found it interesting how it only took a few people to convince the bear otherwise- this showed how vulnerable we are and how crucial it is to not be so easily influenced by other people's words. Before being swayed by other's opinions, the bear should've realized how vulnerable he was and should've stood up for himself at the start (much like Rachel A. said).
Zach Yanoff
I thought the story meant that if you repeat a certain idea to someone after a while they will start to believe it.Even if they didn't believe it at first.
I defiantly agree with what everyone has said so far. The story is about stereotypes and people associating jobs with certain races, genders, or in this case species. Also, like what Jon and Rachel were saying I think the story is telling people to not let others tell you who you are and what you should be doing with your life. I also like the idea, but didn't think of it till I read other peoples posts , that the story is also about how easy it is to believe something you know is untrue if someone keeps repeating it.
Allie Lonstein
I agree with Rachel that the story highlighted for me how quick people are to believe something they are not sure is true. However, if everyone except you believes something is true or society defines you as one way does that mean that it is that way? Just a question!
I do not believe anyone should be able to dictate who you are.
Lastly, it was interesting how the bear might have wanted to stray from who he was but then he came to the decision that being in his cave and beaing a bear was most comoforting. I liked this message because it reinforces the theme; stay true to yourself.
Josh high
I agree with Rachel with the whole repitition and how it gets easier to believe but i beleive that mostly this story is saying dont let someone tell you who you are, because only you can decided that.
Josh, I agree with you about how you can only decided who you are. In the end the bear knew that he wasn't a man.
-Rachel Afshari
I thought the story was good and I agree with everyone on how the story tells how everyone likes to be who they are. But everybody with there own veiws of who you are will always want to change or "mold" you into the person they want you to be or who they think you are, and sometimes they sucseed but in the end your true self emerges and shows who you are and what makes you "you" and not the person who everybody thinks or wants you to be.
I thought that the story conveyed a very powerful message about what can happen to you when someone tries to instill beliefs into a perosn. When this persists and persists, a person will eventually break down and start to believe what they have been told.
Evan Pappazisis
I feel as though this story showed the way society sees people, not based on who they are, but where they are, what they look like, and how they act. The story stated that he wasn't a bear, not because he didn't look like one but because he wasn't in a zoo or the circus. The book continued to show how people can then lose themselves in other peoples opinions, but the only inportant opinions are your own.
Reading The Bear that Wasn't I thought the story was about identity. It is important to never doubt yourself even when others do. The bear gave in to the doubt the others had about him being a Bear, however by the end he realized he was right all along.
I agree with you Allie about the ending and how it is important to stay true to oneself, and trust yourself more than anyone else. No matter what others say, in the end it is important to believe what you think because you will deal with the consequences in the end.
This story shows that you need to believe in yourself and be able to make your own decisions and not care what others say or think about them. Live your life the way you want to live it and don't let others tell you anything else about it because they don't know always know whats best or right for you.
I'm going to go out on a limb and disagree with all of you. Its a children's story, nothing more nothing less. It has nothing to do with a case of societal pressures changing an individuals identity. Its only a kids story meant for 7 and 8 year olds, and there is no hidden agenda that the author is trying convey. Had people read this story under any other context you would have thought, yea... what a cute kids story. In my opinion, its just a story, and if you think its something more you over analyzing it.
Asher Abrahams
I believe the story is about finding yourself. What people say, or what they think should not affect you enough to question your identity,likethe bear did in the novel. If you know who you are no one elses influence should matter.
Amazing story...nothing else to say
Haemin Burke
I believe that the story showed readers how people constantly tell you to be a specific identity. Constantly people told the bear his identity and what he should and should not be. In our world right now stuff like this is happening everyday as it comes down to having the most hottest outfit, and having the hottest body,which all narrows down to advertisement and how they imply towards a person to have an identity that is "cool". In my opinion i recieved the message that no one can truly know your own identity better than youself, because you yourself was the one who created you identity.
oh sorry i'm logged in as my sister account...woops!
To receive full credit, you must use your FIRST and LAST name and you must make the comment on either the first or second day the blog is posted. If you were absent you must post a comment explaining that you were absent. You will not see your post published if you are posting three days after the original post as it will be sent to me for moderator approval. I strongly suggest that you first enter your post in a Word document - save it - then copy and paste it into the blogger "comment" field in case it gets lost when you hit the "publish your comment" button. If you are commenting on the same day or second day of the original post and you don't see your comment - you should email me with your comments - that day - with the explanation that you are having problems publishing your comments.
Mr. Gallagher
To me, this story represents someone who has lost their identity due to stereotypes made about them. This is very common in todays society. So many stereotypes are made blindly without a second thought.
Josh, I can backup your statement that when it comes right down to it, only you are able to decide what you are identified as and this is through the choice that you make. In the end, the bear decided that he was a bear.
i think that this story is for children but it has its message and its message is that you will eventually find in your self who you are
Sorry for my delay in blogging, but I come to inform my absence on the day of the reading.
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