Friday, October 21, 2016
Fables & the Modern World
Review the list of Aesop fable morals and select one moral that interests you because it relates in a substantial way to the modern world. Read the accompanying fable, and write a 3-sentence response about WHY you selected that moral, using evidence from the story to connect to contemporary society.
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Growing up in the 21st century I have noticed that teens do not think before they do. Teens leap into new activities without looking or thinking; causing them to fall into a metaphorical deep well. They do not think of what repercussions might lead in the future; teens need to slow down and look before they leap.
ReplyDeleteThis issue has been popping up all over the world. I think teens become very impatient and think they can do things their own way without any help. This can impact the teen and the people around them.
DeleteThis idea is significant because if we continue to do this as teens, we may make it a habit and never fully think through our actions as adults.
DeleteDue to the current disparity in wages between laborers and executives, the moral of the Lion the Bear and the Fox, it sometimes happens that one man has all the toil, and another all the profit, still proves relevant in today’s society. In the fable, a lion and a bear fiercely fight for the possession of a child, only to see a fox scamper in and seize the child while they lay too exhausted to move. In the modern world, minimum wage workers and laborers play the role of the lion and the bear while business executives play the role of the fox, making millions or even billions off of the work put in by those who make only $15,000 a year.
ReplyDeleteThe disparities between the higher class executives and minimum wage workers is steadily increasing--the gap between the highest and lowest positions in a company are only widening, resulting in greater dominance to the wealthy. This in turn creates a cycle of poverty in which the wealthy (business executives) benefit, and the poor (laborers) are left with an income below the standard of living, with no ability to bring themselves out of poverty.
DeleteThe connection between the disparities of wages puts me in a state awe. I have never made this distinction, even though I have read this fable before. These issues are slowly increasing, impacting our society greatly. These problems effect our governing system greatly. I feel as if this moral relates to many issues in reality including in the lives of children.
DeleteI chose to write about the moral of the Man, the Boy and the Donkey, because I feel that people try to please too many people instead of sticking to what they previously said or did, which I consider a bad thing because it is important to be a man of your word and to keep your promises. In the story, the people criticize the man for not riding the donkey, letting his son ride, not letting his son ride, and for putting too much of a burden on the donkey, and for each criticism the Man tries to meet their demands, eventually killing the donkey, showing that the man should not have tried to meet everyone’s demands and simply stuck with one option. In the real world, no one is truthful with one another, and people are hesitant to say no to someone, which is detrimental to society because people do not stand by their opinions and try to please everyone instead of going with what they know is the best method or option.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree in how this is commonly seen in the modern world. For most people, it is natural to want to make others happy but that would not always be practical or possible.
DeleteSaying no is something that we should all have the right to do, as anyone deserves the right to deny something that they have no interest in doing. Another example of this concept in the present day would be peer pressure; students do detrimental things against their will because of their peers encouraging them.
DeleteThe suicidal hares in Aesop’s 1500 year-old fable The Hares and the Frogs remind me of the recent cases of teenagers committing suicide to escape from bullies, social pressure, and judgement from their peers. However, unlike the hares, these teenagers did not take one last look and notice the many frogs who live under much more dire and extreme circumstances: children in China working long hours under inhumane conditions and children in Syria who have lost their homes and families and continue to live under constant threat from ISIS or Bashar Al-Assad. While I am nowhere close to contemplating suicide, I too can take inspiration from this fable to complain less about my English Homework.
ReplyDeleteI believe these idea's really have reflect on the impact terrorism has had on people throughout the Middle East. I also was intrigued by the fact that you reached out globally and talked about how teenagers live in China as well.
DeleteSo many Poly students complain about their own "first-world problems" without realizing just how lucky they are. If we decide to check our privilege and take a look at the problems faced by those less fortunate than us, we would be truly humbled.
DeleteThe Aesop Fable The Peacock and the Crane relates to our contemporary society because it demonstrates how we believe the better looking person has the better personality or how the worse looking person has a worse personality. In the fable, the peacock brags about how he is so colorful, but he is being snooty and rude to the crane which is an example of how the small things, like the colorful feathers, that may seem good can make up something that is truly bad like the peacock’s personality. This relates to our society because we often associate that if someone may look good on the outside, they have the kindest or most friendly personality when this may not always be true.
ReplyDeleteI think that this moral also relates to the workplace and job applications. If two people with similar credentials apply for the same job, the person who is more attractive will get the job instead of the other person because the more attractive person is presumed to have a better personality.
DeleteThis idea can definitely be seen all the time in present day especially with the presence of media. Society has created this untrue idea where beauty represents one's worth.
DeleteLying is a very negative power and I chose the moral, “A liar deceives no one but himself” from the fable, “The Shipwrecked Impostor” because I believe it is one of the most important morals when it comes to friendships. When a person lies to impress others, the truth will eventually come out and when it does, the person could lose friends faster than they made them. In the fable, the chimp lied to the dolphin to impress him, but when it was made clear to the dolphin that the chimp was lying, the dolphin left, abandoning the chimp and leaving him alone.
ReplyDeleteLying can hurt more than it can help. I agree with everything you said.
DeleteLying is never a good thing to do, no matter what the intuition its is always a better idea to. Be honest than to try to deceive another person. Not only will you get found out for lying, but as Mark Twain once said,"If you tell the truth you do not have to remember anything."
DeleteI chose the moral “you can’t please everybody” because it connected to every presidential election that has taken place. In the fable, the father tried to make both of his daughters’ wishes come true even though they landed on opposite ends of the spectrum, and this can be seen in the modern world as many political candidates have hoped to make everyone happy in order for them to win. They will often make promises that they cannot realistically fulfill, showing how it is not possible to accommodate to everyone’s needs.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very salient point, which actually has more to do with the election than was described here. Politicians try to meet everyone's needs, which makes them unable to satisfy any, since their effort is so divided between the needs that they cannot focus on a specific group of voters.
DeleteYour topic sentence made me realize that even though it is human nature to want to please everyone, in some cases it is better not to make promises one can not keep.
DeleteThe story of the Bald Man and the Fly has a moral of “Revenge will hurt the avenger,” which interestingly has ties to American politics, being the endless struggle for power in the election of 2016. The Bald Man slaps the fly, and remarks that he would kill the fly while sustaining damage to lessen harm in the first place, reflecting how Hillary tries to quash the blatantly misogynistic and Islamophobic views spread by Trump while risking conservative swing voters switching to Trump’s side. While these concepts may seem completely disparate, the idea behind the fable is responsible for the leader of 324 million people.
ReplyDeleteWhile revenge is a desire that comes with being human, examples of it coming back to haunt us are all too common. When we try to benefit ourselves in spite of others, we are often punished for our negative intents.
DeleteYes, we often see in the media that the most chaotic situations come from a place of hatred and revenge. Sadly this is an emotion that we have all felt or will at one point in our lives.
DeleteThose who have least to complain about often complain most. The poor farmer who is grateful for a small blessing such as bit of rain and the happiness of food on the table is an example of a stark contrast to a well-to-do businessman who is unsatisfied that he doesn’t have the latest iPhone and who also does not appreciate fully his education; this attitude is more typical than not in our society today. Reflecting on the story reminds me to appreciate what I have rather than continuously wanting more.
ReplyDeleteI also see this very commonly in our community, with us complaining about tests, or technology problems, when in reality we are some of the luckiest kids in the world. Instead of being thankful for what we have, we instead complain about the few things that don't go our way, just as the fable goes.
DeleteSo many fortunate people in America always are complaining about not having the new iphone, not enough instagram likes, or not having good wifi connection. However, the one's who are not as successful and live in poverty treat the smallest thing's such as something to eat for dinner or a new toy car with a lot more appreciation.
DeleteAesop’s Fables: The Ass and his Purchaser
ReplyDeleteAesop’s fable The Ass and his Purchaser says “A man is known by the company he keeps” reminds me of a quote by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter books “If you want to know what a man’s like, look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”. These two quotes connect because they share an idea of knowing how someone acts, due to the kind of people they like to be around, which surprises me because I normally would not look at this situation that way, and it makes me think about the people I know and who they like to hang out with. This matters to me because I want to be aware of the people I am around a lot, and make sure that they are benefiting my life, or bringing it down.
http://www.aesopfables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?sel&TheAssandhisPurchaser2
This is a very interesting idea because when we look at others, we must be aware of who they are, but also who they are around. The people and environment we are surrounded by influence us a lot and how we act.
DeleteThis is an important lesson in life because certain people don't reach their fullest potential because of the people they surround themselves with. It is important to have friends, but it is equally important to have friends that won't hold you back or keep you down because of their antics or behavior.
DeleteThe fable “The Boy and the Filberts” conveys the message that attempting too much at once will get you nowhere, an idea applicable to our current society’s schooling system, which fosters the idea that the more activities you participate in, and the greater time spent on schoolwork, the higher the chances of success in high school, college, and life. In the fable, the boy’s greed and desperate need to reach his full potential actually held him back and prevented him from getting anything at all, similar to a high school student juggling too many activities at once, and therefore failing to excel in any one subject. I selected this because as a country, we are becoming an increasingly competitive nation, which places more strain on high school and college students to thrive and cover their bases in all talents, whether that be academics or sports or theatre, and many students attempt to do more than they can handle to try and get ahead, which in reality only sets them back.
ReplyDeleteIt is never a good idea to bite off more than you can chew, especially in a community like Poly where it is so easy to overbook yourself. Having too many things to do stresses you out, makes you tired, and makes you a generally unhappy person, and no one wants that.
DeleteTrying your best is always a good thing, but being to obsessive with reaching one goal can result negatively. When being too invested with one final result or idea, we tend to lose the experience of the process. Being too stressed at school about one specific topic, can cause even more stress and can be the reasoning for missed opportunities.
DeleteA man may smile yet be a villain.
ReplyDeleteI selected this moral mainly because it reminded me of my visual essay project on Khattam Shud from Haroun. In the book Kattham Shud is very deceiving and may seem like a good guy even when he has malicious intent. This moral is important in the modern world, especially when on the internet where anyone can put up a fake facade.
This is very true nowadays. There are so many ways in which you can hide yourself from the world. Have you ever known someone to hide their real identity? A person can hide their true self behind a mask of deceit.
DeleteThe internet is a great example for your moral, but I would emphasize on social media and how people put up a fake smile yet be a villain on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and more.
DeleteThe Boy and the Filberts
ReplyDeleteThe moral of this fable “Do not attempt too much at once” interested me for it connects to our 2016 presidential election. Our two Presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have gone completely out of their way to reach out and persuade several races, cultures, and communities across America to vote for them. In the story when the boy attempted to grab too many filberts, his hand got stuck in the jar and he wasn’t successful, just like our presidential candidates who are not properly persuading many of these voters because they are not personally connecting with the people they are reaching out to.
I also did this fable for my own assignment, and I thought the political take on the fable was a very interesting and creative perspective. I completely agree--the candidates are so desperate to win the votes of different groups of people that they are stretching themselves thin, which is keeping them from creating a solid and directive plan of what they wish to do as President.
DeleteThis moral applies not only to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, but also to the American populace as a whole. Our society constantly strives for more: more money, more cars, more houses, but what we don't realize is that this insatiable thirst for what we cannot have will ultimately lead to our downfall, whether its through another stock-market crash or global warming.
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