In my house, there are two rabbits who have cages on a linoleum floor. The rabbits' primary source of food is Timothy Hay, which makes a huge mess. In addition, when it gets close to cage cleaning-time, the rabbits kick up small pellets of fecal matter when they are "running laps" in their cages. Long story short: their cages have to be swept in the morning and the evening, or else hay and fecal matter will get tracked into the kitchen.
In general, I feed the rabbits in the morning, and my brother feeds them at night. Whoever feeds the rabbit is responsible for sweeping the floor and using a Clorox wipe on any spot of linoleum that needs it (I won't go off on a tangent about the incontinence of again rabbits). But what happens when one of us is in too much of a rush or too tired to clean the floor? That is one possible source of conflict in our house.
In Sag Harbor, "Even Steven" is what Benji refers to when resolving chores conflicts with Reggie. Whoever used the Soup Pot last has to clean it out. They take turns taking out the garbage, and everything has to be even. One problem arises when their mother neglects to clean out the pot, and by Even Steven logic, neither of them should have to clean it! But logic and hunger prevails, and they end up working together to clean out the plot.
In our house, how we resolve the conflict of someone not sweeping is like so: If the person before you didn't sweep, you don't have to sweep, and they must sweep as soon as they can. As an example, if my brother goes to bed without sweeping and it is a mess in the morning, then he must sweep that morning after I feed the rabbits. If I am in a hurry to get to school and leave hay strewn all over the floor, then I must sweep right when I get home.
A similar problem to Benji and Reggie arises after a long trip when the bunnies are fed for us by a loving grandparent or a helpful neighbor. Unfortunately for my brother Michael John and I, helpful neighbors and loving grandparents neglect to sweep, and leave us with a huge mess when we get home, leaving the next sweeper a lot of work. A similar situation arises if someone forgets to sweep, so the next person doesn't sweep, so the next person doesn't sweep, and in a few days we can't remember whose fault it was in the first place. In these situations, someone (usually me) has to do the grunt work and sweep the damn floor, similar to how Reggie and Benji worked together to clean out maggots. Except not. Now I'm a little angry about this :)
Friday, May 8, 2015
Jason > Holden
This post is musing upon and responding to this post by Mr. Mitchell.
The Catcher in the Rye is a book title that I heard a lot growing up, and I used to get it mixed up with Where the Red Fern Grows although I quickly figured out the difference once I started reading the book, of course. I imagined it to be some kind of old and boring book that English teachers had some particular fondness for. When we read it for class, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, which was a pleasant surprise, but it still wasn't an easy of a read as the books I read for fun.
In terms of relating to Holden as a narrator, I understand where he is coming from, although the thoughts that he has reflect in me only as passing thoughts which I can quickly counteract. As a result, the whole time that Holden fails, I want to yell at him, "Try in school! It matters!" Holden does come off as spoiled and not understanding the system. Even if the system was as Holden thinks it is, he still has to live in it and should play by the rules. That is why Holden frustrates me. Besides, the freedom that Holden has is no longer reasonable in today's culture of fear. We can't wander around now, so that part of the story isn't easy to relate to.
Black Swan Green on the other hand is a book that I had never heard of before this class. I really enjoyed it. It was a breeze to read, and I definitely would have read it for fun. For this reason, it serves as a much better book to read in a discussion-based class, because the easier a book is to read, the easier it is for people to talk about the book. Even though Black Swan Green takes place in the past, just like Catcher does, it is a little bit less in the past and it's easier to relate to the situations that Jason experiences.
Simple things, like the fact that I don't meet a lot of people that do Lacrosse or fencing, but I do go to school dances, affect how I read the books differently. Catcher isn't outdated, and we can relate Catcher to Black Swan Green, but I enjoyed reading the latter more, it was easier to talk about, and easier to relate to.
The Catcher in the Rye is a book title that I heard a lot growing up, and I used to get it mixed up with Where the Red Fern Grows although I quickly figured out the difference once I started reading the book, of course. I imagined it to be some kind of old and boring book that English teachers had some particular fondness for. When we read it for class, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, which was a pleasant surprise, but it still wasn't an easy of a read as the books I read for fun.
In terms of relating to Holden as a narrator, I understand where he is coming from, although the thoughts that he has reflect in me only as passing thoughts which I can quickly counteract. As a result, the whole time that Holden fails, I want to yell at him, "Try in school! It matters!" Holden does come off as spoiled and not understanding the system. Even if the system was as Holden thinks it is, he still has to live in it and should play by the rules. That is why Holden frustrates me. Besides, the freedom that Holden has is no longer reasonable in today's culture of fear. We can't wander around now, so that part of the story isn't easy to relate to.
Black Swan Green on the other hand is a book that I had never heard of before this class. I really enjoyed it. It was a breeze to read, and I definitely would have read it for fun. For this reason, it serves as a much better book to read in a discussion-based class, because the easier a book is to read, the easier it is for people to talk about the book. Even though Black Swan Green takes place in the past, just like Catcher does, it is a little bit less in the past and it's easier to relate to the situations that Jason experiences.
Simple things, like the fact that I don't meet a lot of people that do Lacrosse or fencing, but I do go to school dances, affect how I read the books differently. Catcher isn't outdated, and we can relate Catcher to Black Swan Green, but I enjoyed reading the latter more, it was easier to talk about, and easier to relate to.
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