As I continue my weekly trips to
Tunbridge Public Charter School, I continue to learn so much about myself and
others. Through the different ways I communicate with the students and faculty,
to how I connect the class readings to my experiences, I feel as though
Tunbridge is a great way to bring together service and our readings especially
this week.
“Theology” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Talbeau”
by Countee Cullen, and Frankenstein by
Mary Shelley are all works that center around the theme of acceptance and how
individuals can often be scared or unwelcoming of something, simply based on
appearance. In addition, I noticed that the works showed how humans sometimes crave
fulfillment and acceptance from others. There are few things that can be left
without question for us, and we almost always crave a type of gratification
from others. We want answers and justifications for what we don’t understand. I
was able to notice how these ideas connected to my daily life, specifically
when I am at Tunbridge. It is interesting to see how the need for acceptance
and answers to fulfill our curiosity are so prevalent in our daily lives.
When reading “Theology”, I felt as though
the speaker needed an answer, or solution, to what his neighbors would “get”
for their seemingly negative actions. The speaker uses religious beliefs about
a heaven and hell to justify that those who do bad will end up where they are supposed
to. I believe that this is an example of how humans always want an answer and
justification for everything. In this poem, the speaker says “There is a hell,
I’m not quite sure; for pray/If there were not, where would my neighbours go?” His
knowledge of a heaven could be looked at as his way of reaching acceptance from
God, while his neighbors get what they “deserve” in Hell. I was able to loosely
relate to a teaching mechanism at Tunbridge I noticed. In Mrs. Grimm’s first
grade classroom, students are often rewarded and praised for their
achievements, whether they be big or small. This positive reinforcement the
students get from finishing a book or doing a math problem correctly gives them
a sense of fulfillment and a reward for their work. On the other hand, students
who misbehave and choose not to listen to the teacher can receive a “reflective
lunch”, meaning they must each lunch separate from their class and write about
what they did to receive this reflective lunch. I find this relates to the idea
of getting answers, because the students are able to clearly be told what they
did wrong and figure out how they can correct it in the future.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the theme of acceptance and fulfillment is shown
again. When Victor Frankenstein creates the monster, he is immediately
frightened and disgusted by what he has done, and he wants nothing to do with
the monster. This initial lack of attention and nourishment that each new life requires
was lost at the very start, which caused the monster to grow up angry and
violent. The creature was not born with bad intentions, but was rather
neglected and did not know anything else. The lack of acceptance the creature
received from the start correlates to the way he acts as time goes on. The
monster sees himself as ugly and is mocked by others for this as well, when all
he really wants is some type of acceptance and reassurance that he is more than
just an unattraction creation. The isolation the monster experiences ultimately
leads to him being violent. I think that because it is so important to grow up
with the attention and fulfillment of other people’s love, Tunbridge places a
big importance on making sure the children always interact with each other
nicely, and nobody feels left out. I know that from a young age, we are always
taught to be inclusive and not judged on appearance, and I see this with the
Tunbridge first grade class. I have personally never seen the children not
being inclusive or malicious towards one another. For example, one little girl
was reading her books on the carpet, and she was very sweet about making room
for another little boy who wanted to sit with her as well. Then, the little boy
knew to be nice to another student who wants to join, and he even helped make
room for him on the carpet. I think even little instances like this show how important
inclusion is, while Frankenstein shows
how detrimental feeling unaccepted and judged can be.
The last work, “Tableau”, by Countee Cullen
is another example of how quickly appearance can be judged. Two boys, one black
and one white, simply walking together “arm in arm” is able to set off stares
and talk from others. The speaker says, “Indignant that these two should dare/In
unison to walk.” Such a simple action is questioned by many, because they
cannot understand why. They are so
taken back by the action of two boys of different race together, that they
simply cannot let it go. Their curiosity and inability to accept/understand is
shown through this. While at Tunbridge, I have found that children love to ask “why?”
They can never fully be satisfied unless they know what is going on. I think
that curiosity is an amazing quality for these first graders to have, but
curiosity can also be turned negative as shown in the poem.
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