We read
The Bear That Wasn't by Frank Tashlin. Please share with the class your thoughts about the story and the class discussion about it. Remember, you want to write at least a paragraph for full credit. You have 24 hours to complete the assignment. The time starts at the end of class. If you were not in class on the day of the reading or film - your comment will be "I was absent."
30 comments:
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I thought the story was good example of how we think of ourselves vs. how other people think of us and how we'd like people to think of us in the same way we think of ourselves. Howvere that doesnt happen because each person is going to have their different opinion about you. You can either choose to accept what other people think of you or you can choose to regect what they think of you whether its good or bad.
I personally thought that the story did a great job showing how outside pressures can encourage a person to think that they are something they are not. Throughout the story, more and more characters told the bear that he was not a bear which made it harder and harder for him to keep his personal identity. Explaining to others that he was not a bear only drove the bear further and further away from his peers, so eventually the bear agreed that he truly wasnt a bear. This struggle is present in everyday life; people must decide between being themselves or compromising their individuality in order to fit in with a group.
I feel this story showed how people can influence how you look at yourself. It shows that if people start to say something about you, it can eventually stick with you. This happened to the bear when everyone told him he wasn’t a bear. It shows that you can fight it off though, which the bear did at the end. It shows that it doesn’t matter what other people think you are, all that matters if you know who you are.
The bear that wasn't is both an observational statement and a cautionary tale. Since the beginning of mankind we have banded together and formed groups, however; these groups have become so well defined that all people, or bears, belong somewhere,nobody is independent of those around them. Secondly, picking a group, for any reason, should be your own choice. I think of the bears winter as being a representation of assimilation. all things are the same yet, like a snowflake, no two individuals are the same. the bear realized that e wasn't a person and that's the best choice he made, to go back into his cave.
I really enjoyed reading The Bear Who Wasn't during class. I’ve read this book once before with the third graders girls who I babysit. One thing I love about this book is the strong message its leaves the reader with: always be true to yourself. We live in a world where authority, media, peers and friends strongly influence our decisions and choices. As a result, we do anything to fit in and try to fit into the mold of a “normal” person. However the story illustrates the damage that this can do.
The protagonist of the story, the bear, knew that he was a bear. From the start of the book, he had a strong sense of his own identity. However after conversations with the Vice Presidents, the President, the circus animals and the zoo animals, he let them convince him that he was not a bear, infact he was a man who needed to shave. The bear was stripped of his own identity because he let others tell him who he was and eventually he started to believe it. At the end of the story, the factory shut down and the bear had nowhere to go and he sat alone confused and cold. I believe that this illustrates what will happen when you let others define for you who you are. You lose your identity and sense of self. Throughout my four years at Westborough High School I believe that I tried to shape into a mold to please other people and to fit in. Freshman year I shopped at certain stores, wore certain clothes and did my hair a certain way fit in. But looking back on this I wasn’t fitting in I was conforming being someone I wasn’t. By junior year I disregarded what other people thought and decided to be myself. Although it was nothing dramatic or eccentric, I was being true to myself. My musical theatre career has made me realize that being an individual is very important and if you don't know who you are and aren’t comfortable in your own body it is very hard to be successful. At a musical theatre workshop I participated in this summer, I learned that nobody is “you-er than you” and nobody can do you, better than you. Not only do you have to know yourself you have to love yourself and be comfortable in your own skin. Sometimes when you lose yourself, you truly discover who you really are. The bear lost himself but by the end of the book he reestablished his identity and ended up happy. The lesson taught in this story is a very powerful one and one that our society needs to be constantly reminded of. Being true to yourself really never goes out of style.
The story was a great example of the mob/group mentality. The bear knew deep inside that he was a bear and even though all of the factory workers denied it, the bear wanted to be a bear but second guessed himself. Groups ruin an individuals true identity. People change who they are in groups for the approval of their peers. The bear knew deep down inside that he is a bear and the groups mentality is that he is a human. This story is about the struggle of the bear against the mob mentality and how he handles it.
Through a storybook representation, “The Bear That Wasn’t” portrays a larger theme that if enough societal pressure is applied, man will conform. I think that the story served as a solid depiction of the influence that society has on individuals. The story also exemplifies that one’s opinion of oneself can be altered due to beliefs of those around them. The bear knew that he was a bear, but because so many men and bears told him otherwise, he ended up in the factory anyway.
I liked “The Bear That Wasn’t” because it thought it did a good job illustrating how it’s extremely difficult to be yourself when you’re consistently told you’re someone you’re not, but deep down you always have the option to be yourself. It also depicts the strength of a group, when the foreman, general manager, vice presidents, president, circus bears, and zoo bears were able to convince the bear that he was a silly man who needed a shave and wore a fur coat. It’s important to realize that if someone hears something enough, it is likely they will begin to believe it. It’s also important to recognize that people have set ideas of who a person is. Even people who are similar to you will deny you if you don’t meet their expectations, like the zoo bear and the circus bears did to the bear. Despite all of this, at the end of the day you need to be yourself because that’s who you really are. The bear recognizes this when he is freezing in the snow and doesn’t know what a silly man would do. He only knows what a bear would do, and does that because he is a bear. You have the choice to either masquerade as something you are not or you can be yourself, and only you can make that choice.
In reading the story “The Bear That Wasn’t”, it showed how easy it is to place huge life lessons and morals within a fictional piece of writing designed for children. It is a piece that allows readers of any age to connect to problems just like this that actually exist within the world. Very specific devices such as the mob mentality, denial, and faltering persistence are used to show how easy it is for someone to think they’ve lost their identity and become one of the crowd or get lost within it. The Bear in the story tried to keep true to his identity, although every character told him that he wasn’t, even bears of his own kind. Once the people you believe are most like you, tell you that you’re different you begin to believe them. The Bear stayed true to his identity by countering anyone who challenged him with “I am a Bear,” until even the bears told him he wasn’t. At that point he faltered, but redeemed himself by realizing that by the end of the story it was once again time to hibernate, showing that identity can’t truly be lost. It still lives somewhere inside of you no matter how many times people try to rid you of it.
I was absent.
The short story called into question how much we truly value our identity, and how easily it can be changed as a result of external forces. Though the plot and characters in the story were very simple, the moral of the story is profound, especially for a book where words occupy only about 20% of each page. The story exposes the truth that our individual identities rely heavily, in this case too heavily, on the beliefs and actions of others. Generally, being part of a group is a beneficial experience, because it provides a sense of belonging and camaraderie that one can’t get alone. However this story illustrates the negative side of a group, it can change the individual in order to fit inside the confines of said group. In this case, a bear is convinced that he is not in fact a bear, but a human factory worker. The bear’s environment and everyone inside it combined with his desire to belong and eventually succeeded in changing his identity into a factory worker. It is only because of a life-and-death situation that the bear finds his true self again.
In "The Bear That Wasn't" the bear was subject to a situation where he was surrounded by people that were extremely unlike him. When surrounded by these people he began to lose sight of who he really was and forget his true identity. After only a short amount of time he started was forced to assimilate with the rest of the factory workers even though he knew he was still a bear at heart. He always continued to fight for his identity even though his “boss’s” and even other bears told him he was not. This caused the bear to question whether or not he really was a bear. Once the leaves start to fall again and he sees the birds beginning to fly south he knows it is again time for hibernation. But factory workers don’t hibernate do they? He soon realizes that he in fact has been a bear this whole time and goes back to hibernation just as a bear should. This shows the bear that no matter what authoritative figures tell you to believe, nothing can change who you really are.
Throughout the story, the bear is repeatedly told that he isn't actually a bear. He begins to assimilate and lose his own characteristics. In the end of the story, he goes back to hibernation and acts as a real bear would. I think this is showing that a group of people can tell you who you are or who you're supposed to be, and they can make you into someone that you're not. The pressure to fit in can cause you to lose some of the things that make you who you are. But in the end, you are still the same person. It is better to stand out and be unique than to have to pretend to be someone you're not.
I believe that this story taught a very valuable lesson. In this story, the bear was doing everything he could to prove that he was a bear. He kept on insisting that he was and never gave up. Eventually after everyone, including the bears at the zoo, told him he wasn't a bear, he was finally convinced. This story does a good job at showing how people can be influenced and convinced by other people's opinions. Towards the end, the bear comes to his senses and realizes that everyone was wrong. The lesson taught here is that no matter what people say, you are the only one who knows who you really are.
I think this story was thought provoking and definitely showed how the human need to become part of a group can detract from individuality. The more that someone tells you what you are, the more you believe it, and since all people fundamentally desire to be part of a group, everyone eventually assimilates unless they make a conscious effort to stay unique. Its actually sad how few people believe in themselves and accept their ideas and perceptions of the world as correct simply because people around them say otherwise. Everyone tries to become part of a group, and in the end, they aren't even people anymore, simply identical husks of humans. I guess that this story really resonated with me because I've seen it happen so many times and been affected by the same kind of group mentality of the bear in the story. And despite all of my best efforts to resist conformation, I am not the same person in public that I am at home. In the end, nobody really talks about the issues with individuality, and therefore, most people fall prey to peer pressure in a hopeless effort to fit in.
I feel this story is reflective of society and the single individual. The bear grew up knowing he was a bear but then the scenery changes and the music stops. Yes, the bear knew what he was at first but he kept seeking verification. He went all the way through to the President and then to his own kind. People seek constant approval which is why we change who we are. This is when the story starts to bother me. For a character so sure of his own identity, he goes through ridiculous hoops to try to prove his identity. Eventually, the bear is whittled down by all these people and other bears telling him he’s just a man who needs a shave. He questions himself and in this moment of weakness, society takes over. The bear morphs into one of the workers and lives his life as one of them. However at one point he’s given a chance to realize his identity once again as fall approaches. The bear hesitates because knowing who you truly are can be scary. The internal conflict plays out, he stays out in the cold shivering. He’s a man, isn't he? It’s what everyone said he was, therefore it MUST be true. On the other hand, he has this natural urge to hibernate which feels more comfortable to him. He ends up claiming his identity once again by disregarding what everyone said about him. It is these moments of weakness when we’re forced to really think about who we are. In these moments, it is possible to know who we are even after faltering.
In The Bear That Wasn’t it really brings the question “who am I?” into perspective. In the book the bear is grouped with the rest of the workers by everybody higher than him and soon loses himself in those labels. I think it tells us that as humans we have always longed to be in groups and when we are put in them, we lose our identity. Those groups put labels on us that may not necessarily fit ourselves individually. This book shows how a person can allow others to tell them who they are and if they’re not strong and fight for their independence, they lose it. Unique personalities are an important part of the human race and we must stand up for ourselves before we allow for our groups to define us and lose our independence.
I'm going to be honest, it was really frustrating to read the story because we as readers knew the main character was a bear and everyone he spoke to said no you're a man that needs a good shave. It's interesting how much this book makes you think about yourself and how you act in groups or just in different environments all together. It brings to light that everyone does it, but you have the power to develop your own personality. It also mentions that you could either go with what everyone is saying or fight back and say "No, I am a bear." unfortunately the bear started strong and his strength deteriorated completely and started to believe the lie. I think also that people in the group discussions made good points
I felt that the story “The Bear That Wasn’t” was put into a perspective that made it easier to see how a large group of people can influence individuals and change their minds on views they wouldn’t normally question. In the bear’s case, before a large group of people starting telling him who they thought he was, he knew that he was a bear. But as more and more people started telling him otherwise, it was clear he was starting to question himself. It came to a point where he accepted what people were saying even though it wasn’t true. This is something that happens with people, if they are not careful with who they associate themselves with. The bear did end up hibernating at the end of the story, something that took him a while to realize, but realize none the less and I think it is a symbol that shows going against the crowd might be hard, but it can also be the right thing to do.
I thought this story was great way to introduce this class to us. I remember reading "The Bear That Wasn't" when I was younger and, at the time, I didn't think much of it. Years later, after reading it again, the story does a great job of displaying the importance of identity. The bear was told so many times that he was a man that he eventually questioned who he was, despite already knowing he was a bear. This book used a simple story to show how constant outside pressure forces people to believe anything. Just because he wasn't in the typical bear environment, all the men and even other bears refused to believe who he actually was. Unfortunately, the bear eventually questioned who he was too. This story shows the importance of believing in your own identity, and not becoming too influenced by others.
This story was a perfect example of an individual being influenced by a group. In the story the reader fallows the bear being convinced by several people that he is in fact a man. Although the bear knew that he was a bear after hearing from so many people including other bears that he is not a bear he began to believe it him self. After being told that he was man so many times he was no longer willing to fight to prove his own identity so instead he decided take the identity that he was given by the others in the group. Although he did cave into calling himself a man and being established a man by the group the bear knew his own identity.
Jocelyn perez said...
I thought the story was a great way to show how and individual should stay strong and defind him/herself. The bear in the begining of the book started off really strong and kept saying "I am a bear". The bear not for once said to the people from the factory that he wasn't, he stood by his word throught the book. Towards the end he began to doubt himself because every one was certain that he was a silly man who needed to shave and wore a fur coat. After his own kind had said he wasn't one of them he still said he was a bear and he wasn't scared to say it. This book was a good way to show how any "different" person shouldn't be afraid to be him/herself.
This story was a good example of what some poeple go through everyday. It showed how people want to fit in so bad that they act like someone that they're not. Peer pressure, pressure from adults or even parents can influence the way you look at yourself and can cause you to want to be someone different. This story shows that sometimes when a lot of people start to doubt you, you end up doubting yourself.
I thought the book was very good aand it shows how the bear stays with who he really is. Also The bear was very strong throughout the whole story because when people doubted him he always stayed for who he was which was a bear. People would tell him he was a man who just needed to shave because he was different from the other people. Everytime he kept hearing people and other bears that he was a man he started to doubt himself.
Zinah Alnaal said...
I wasnt in class
to gallagher
I was absent this day, but i still would like to give it my all. People looked at the bear in different ways due to the jobs expected of him. They didn't want to believe that he was a bear. They called him a "silly man." At the end of the book he didnt know what to believe. Also he didnt know who he was.
I sent you an email with my comment.
I wasn't in class during this story.
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