Sophs--Breakfast, Anyone? More Stock Characters!

THIS POST IS NOT YOUR JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT, BUT IT WILL HELP YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF THE STOCK CHARACTER.

 SEE THE POST BELOW THIS ONE FOR YOUR JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT. 

First listen to the video with the sound muted. As each character appears, try to identify the teenage movie stock character. This won't be too difficult, despite the somewhat laughable fashions of the 80s. The sad truth is that everyday we will also stereotype so quickly, often just based on the way someone dresses, walks, or talks.

The Breakfast Club, a 1985 John Hughes written and directed film, first builds up its characters' stereotypes, only to shatter them to pieces. We, and the characters within the movie, see how all of these contrasting "types" are really more similar than they are different. Who would've thunk it (this expression is a cliche, the bad grammar completely necessary)? And it only took two hours of being locked into a room for a Saturday morning detention. Could life be so easy?

My capsule review of the movie? The critic in me, no longer a teen or even a young hip teacher, says that much of the movie dialogue today sounds so unreal, so exaggerated, so silly. And yes, the repeated use of the F word bothers me (I'll never get used to hearing teenagers curse). However, I have to admit that it (the dialogue) and the rest of the movie are never boring. Even in the preachy long monologues (and there are many), Hughes' characters make us care about them.

The lesson is this. Stock characters are OK in literature and film, but stereotyping in real life is dead wrong, and probably responsible for creating every hateful ideology known to mankind. Watch the film to learn that a man (or woman) shouldn't be judged by his clothes or the company that he keeps.

Sophs #1 Journal: The Stock Character

POST BEFORE FRIDAY MORNING, NOV. 30

A stock character is a character type, often a stereotyped character, used repeatedly in genre fiction (like horror, sci-fi, moral tales) and of course, movies and television shows that like to use these character types. Examples include the mad scientist, the blond airhead, the femme fatale (sure, look it up if you don't know what this means), the rags-to-riches hero, and the conniving villain.

In The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom Walker exemplifies the stock character known as The Miser, one who would value money over everything. You should know the Greek tale of King Midas, a miser who learned, as many do, that wealth isn't everything. Go to this link to read the Midas tale. Tom Walker's wife is the stock shrew, the nagging wife who browbeats her husband.

You've read enough (and seen enough tv and movies) to recognize stock characters, so tell me ...who is your favorite "stock" character?

Define the stock character type you choose and then give me some details about your specific character that proves that he or she is, indeed, stock. Of course, tell me why you enjoy your character. Choose a character from books, movies, short stories, and television shows.

I've provided an example for you, namely Ebenezer Scrooge.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly misanthrope (he's a miser--all about money--and he's a misanthrope--a "hater of mankind") in the Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. His love of money and disdain for Christmas characterizes the original Scrooge. Note that the word scrooge to denote characters like him is now regularly used in our vernacular. Scrooge overworks and underpays his loyal employee, Mr. Bob Cratchit. Cratchit, a good and holy family man, has bills to pay and a crippled son (Tiny Tim) to take care of, but he faces his trying responsibilities with Christian fortitude. He even refuses to admit to his poor family that Mr. Scrooge is a bad man. You might say that Cratchit is a stock character himself, the "poor but happy" fatherly figure whose diligence and Christian piety keep his family in food and clothes.

Back to Mr. Scrooge, who grudgingly allows poor Bob to stay home on Christmas Day, but orders him to arrive earlier the next. He greets holiday well wishers, like his kind nephew, with a "Bah, humbug" that of course, is now universally recognized as the reply of the Christmas Scrooge. Suddenly, however, his world is turned inside-out when he is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, his former business partner and a scrooge like himself. The forlorn ghost, who now does penance by walking the earth in heavy chains, money boxes, and keys, warns Scrooge to mend his ways, lest he suffer the same fate.

Scrooge is shaken, but falls asleep. During the rest of the well-known story, he is visited by three Christmas ghosts. He then undergoes a miraculous change. The new Christmas-loving Scrooge sends a huge turkey to the Cratchit home, raises Bob's salary, and becomes a surrogate grandfather to Tiny Tim.

This Christmas tale is a story of faith, redemption, and the goodness that lies within us all. These qualities were once buried in Ebenezer Scrooge, but were unearthed in the joyful end of the novel.

If you need some more help with stock characters, see the Schoolsville post entitled, Sophs--Breakfast, Anyone? More Stock Characters!

Veterans Day

Here is the History of Veterans Day taken from www.military.com.
(Click on the link to discover even more about the holiday).

Veterans Day was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor Armistice Day, the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislature that was passed in 1938, November 11 was "dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day." As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.

In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress changed the name of the holiday to Veterans Day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Thank a veteran today, even if you're reading this someday after 11-11.

Sophomores: Aphorism Extra Credit

Those students who showed me on Monday their original aphorisms based on the four pillars of a St. Mark's education--faith, excellence, integrity, and humility--should write their aphorisms here in order to get their extra credit. If I post these aphorisms, I will do so anonymously.

POETRY OUT LOUD (announcement from Mrs. Healey)

It is time again for POETRY OUT LOUD, the national recitation contest for high school students.  This will be St. Mark's fourth year competing, and last year Windy Vorwick made it to the state semifinals. The national winner will receive a $20,000 scholarship awarded in April 2013 in Washington, D.C. 

This year’s Poetry Out Loud contest at St. Mark’s is planned for December 12, 2012, after school (usually about an hour long).  We need participants, and all grades are eligible.

The rules are simple. Each contestant must memorize two poems chosen from the Poetry Out Loud web anthology <http://poetryoutloud.org/poems-and-performance/>  and recite them in front of three judges and the other contestants. They do not have to be long poems, and the majority of the poems on the site are contemporary.  

All who are interested should see Mrs. Healey in room 366 or in the English office for an application form. 

Sophs Journal # 1--Be Like Ben [Franklin, of course]

Post before 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6

An older and wiser man writing his autobiography, Dr. Benjamin Franklin gave to the world his prescription for achieving "the bold and arduous task of moral perfection": list 13 virtues you wish to master, work on only one per week (like eradicating weeds from one flower bed at a time, he said), examine your day each evening to see if you had committed any actions contrary to that virtue (keep a record in a lined notebook), proceed to the next virtue the next week, and continue this process for a year (you'll be able to go through four cycles in 52 weeks). Sounds simple enough, right? About as easy and American as apple pie.

As a young man hiding behind the nom de plume of Poor Richard Saunders, Franklin's words of wisdom often took the shape of clever, pithily worded aphorisms like "God helps them that help themselves; a penny saved is a penny earned; fish and visitors smell in three days; an apple a day keeps the doctor away, etc."

Your journal assignment gives you some options. 

You should (choose ONE of the three):

A. Tell me a personal or family tale or practice that represents one of Franklin's thirteen virtues.

B. Tell me a personal or family tale or practice that represents the theme of one of Franklin's aphorisms. Write that aphorism as part of your title. Check out the "quotable Franklin" by clicking here.

C. Relate in detail some orderly plan that you contrived in order to achieve some goal.

Remember, write a minimum of 200 words.

As Ben would have said, "Do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.