Philosopher's+Island+5

=Island Reflections Number 5= =[|Green Eggs and Ham] by Dr Seuss...= //Source:http://cartoonoveranalyzations.com// ||
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 * [[image:green-eggs-and-ham1.jpg width="264" height="360"]] || [[image:geah_all.jpg width="552" height="318"]]
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 * [[image:Akhtar_GRH_food.jpg width="264" height="234"]] || [[image:P1290878-1.JPG width="266" height="217"]][[image:P1290877-2.JPG width="281" height="225"]] ||

up loving the food.
= I am? = ||
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Are People just like Cauliflowers?
//Dear Peggy,//

//Initially the students were adamant that you can't know whether or not you like something, without trying it yourself: "Why didn't he try them first?"// //Macey felt there was a "lesson" learned in the book, but we found it hard to break through cliches ("Don't judge a book by its cover," again!) to\// //actually discuss what that lesson might be. (This has been another thread I have noticed in our discussions: cliches seem to replace thinking,// //and we find it very, very difficult to get past them once we run into them. Why are they so powerful? And so dangerous!)//

//As we explored other examples of experiences, we felt that perhaps there were some things (such as acts of cruelty or violence) where you don''t// //need to experience them to believe they are wrong. But where do you draw the line? Hitting people is wrong, but you MUST try brussel sprouts?// //Is it sometimes okay to have an opinion on something, even when you don't have first-hand experience of it? Would you trust someone else's// //experiences? Whose?//

//There was some suggestion that the character may have been basing his opinion of green eggs and ham on experiences of what 'green' might// //mean with other foods (green meat isn't generally the best). So if you have had a similar experience, is that enough? And what makes it similar// //enough?//

//The students gave examples of their own experiences. Elizabeth "hated" cauliflower until she finally tried it with cheese sauce, and now she likes// //it, but she has tried peanut butter, and "hates" that. If you believe you "hate" something before you try it, and you genuinely "hate" something// //after trying it, are these hatreds really the same thing? What if you have tried something, but your tastes or opinions change, and you eventually// //come to like or dislike it?//

//Lily didn't like someone, but felt obliged to play with her to be kind, and they turned out to be best friends. (Back to our English Roses!)// //(So people are just like cauliflowers?)//

//Mrs Stedman linked these experiences to the Holocaust (which the students have been taking an interest in at school) and the idea of "hating Jews".// //Elizabeth compared Hitler to "a six-year-old". So, had he not learned not to hate, or had he learned to hate?// //(Back to our Big Orange Splot discussions about when and how people un/learn morality.)//

//Lily pointed out that "anything is possible in Dr Seuss Land", so perhaps the character should have tried the green eggs and ham on the basis// //that he was a Dr Seuss character. (But does he know that he is only a character in a book? Why do I say only? In what way is he any less real// //than, say, Anne Frank? Do we experience them differently? How? Why?)//

//Lily commented that the book was thought-provoking because it was unpredictable. I wonder what might have happened with our discussion// //of The English Roses last week if the ending hadn't been 'tied up' in quite a predictable and conventional way?// //Would there have been fewer cliches in our conversations?//

//And what about that Sam I Am? What's his deal? There was some discussion of Sam I Am's name, and some speculation about biblical links:// // God said to Moses, "I am who I am." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I am has sent me to you.' " // //(New Revised Standard Bible, Exodus. 3.14). There were also some suspicions about Sam I Am's motives in "pushing" the other character// //to eat the green eggs and ham: "Maybe Sam I Am didn't like it and was trying to get rid of it!"// //(And the sequel: "What if they're poisonous and he dies?") Did Dr Seuss mean for us to speculate about his book like this?// //Does it matter whether or not he meant us to?//

//Did our attitudes to Sam I Am change by the end of the book? Did the other character's? Why?//

//And toward the end we moved away from the relationship between beliefs and experiences, and back into the subjective nature of experience.// //We discussed the way that something which may be extremely important to us (for instance a loving act, word or gift from a parent or friend),// //may not seem so important to others, and this can lead to misunderstandings and unintentional hurt between people.// //How do these actions, words and things take on these meanings for us? How can we overcome differences between what they mean to us// //and to others? Are there ways to let people share the way we experience the world? Can we do it through words?// //(Are we really listening to each other? Or waiting for a gap so we can talk?) Through art?//

//And here we are back at Ish again!//

//What is in store for us next week, I wonder?//

//Michelle x//