My hope is that by the end of today's class, you will have begun to develop your own idea of what it means to possess power in our lives. I would like you to respond to the following questions on this Blog -simply click on the Comment tab below. You can comment on the question, or if someone has left an interesting comment, you may comment on the comment (does that make sense??). Be prepared to discuss these questions in class tomorrow - and don't forget to meet me in the auditorium for Act 1, scene 1 of Macbeth!
- Why is it imperative to understand how our own personal power affects not only those close to us, but society as a whole? Explain.
- In her article The Necessary Evil, Nancy Gibbs questions whether good and evil are "dependent on each other." What do you think? Bonus to the student who can apply a literary term to this concept!!
1. It is imperative to understand how our own personal power affects not only those close to us, but society as a whole because how we act around others and how we treat them affects society and the world in general.
ReplyDelete2. I think that good is dependent on evil because if there is no evil in the world then no one could correct these evil doings by committing good acts. Evil drives people to act good. The literary term would be a metaphor because it is comparing two very different things like evil and good.
I agree with what Tyler said about good being dependent on evil. I think the without evil nobody would be inspired to commit good deeds.
Deletethe power that everyone possesses whether they realize it or not is more powerful than you can imagine as displayed in the movie "Butterfly Effect" your actions cause others to make decisions based on what you have done previously and so on and so on. so when you effect someone close to you on purpose or not you can in turn influence hundreds of people even slightly.
ReplyDeletei agree with Nancy Gibbs if nobody was neither good nor evil than everyone would be just a average grey. so if someone becomes evil they make everyone else look better and from there people will rise to be even better. the same works if good comes first. the whole idea of Good VS. Evil is a very hard one to judge since what is good or evil is judged by the individual. Hitler didn't think what he was doing was wrong and neither did any other "evil" people.
thought you'd like this as well- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ULG0RB6syU
Wow Miles - I LOVE that video clip - "Power resides where men believe it resides" - so true. This idea is illustrated beautifully in the Milgram project. I wonder what the answer to the riddle is??? THANK YOU for sharing this -
Delete
ReplyDelete1.Power can only be defined in the eyes of the beholder. We must realize that our power is only a microcosm in comparison to the entire world. One may presume that they obtain significant power over others, when in reality they only have minimal authority. Our own personal power can not only affect those closely surrounding us, but also to society as a whole. It is based on what we do with the power we obtain and how others perceive it. The power and authority we have can influence others in a positive or negative way. In the movie Schindler's List, Oskar Schindler said, "Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't."
2. Yes, I do believe that good and evil are “dependent on eachother”. In order to understand this concept, one could relate it to the analogy of dark and light. There is no darkness in light and not light in darkness. Therefore, they have to coexist in balance. Similarly, if there was no such thing as “good”, how could there be “evil”? Also the word “good” or “evil” could be interpreted differently based on how different people feel about each aspect. This could be an example of denotation and connotation.
Interesting - you and Brian raised the idea that one cannot exist without the other in the same way that light cannot exist without darkness. It is true, as is the concept that others' interpretations of acts that are either 'good' or 'evil' depends on that person's perception. I am going to ask you all to explore this concept further in Wednesday's homework!!
DeletePersonal power affects everyone around us. By using that power there are different outcomes and results because of it. For example, if someone uses their power to take charge and lead a group of people (i.e teacher and students), then the power of the leader positively affects the students as a whole. Power can also be used in a negative way. If someone teaches another person or society to believe something to be true or right, when it is actually false and wrong. An example is the Holocaust, Hitler chose to use his power to do terrible acts against humanity and told his soldiers and nation that it was right to kill all those people.
ReplyDeleteI do think that good and evil are dependent on each other because they "feed" off each other. In our society today, the evil events that take place make other people want to do good and get rid of that evil. The evil doers however want to defy their good deeds and "spread" their evil. Good and evil are mutually dependent on each other in the power struggle in today's society. Literary device: Antithesis?
you have to understand the effect of your power, so you do not hurt the people in your society by accident, and so you can understand the effects your power can have on other people.
ReplyDeletegood and evil do depend on each other because good defines evil and evil defines good. Evil things make the good things more good compared to the evil things.
-Jake
1). Your personal power can have an effect on many other people besides yourself. Say, for example, you are building a wall in a certain way and someone comes by and asks you about it because their wall just fell down. You tell them, and they do it the same way that you did yours. Then they tell someone else about it and they tell someone else until, because of your personal power over someone who was asking for help, everyone is building walls the same way as you.
ReplyDelete2). I think that this is absolutely true. Evil can come from nowhere. It only takes someone doing the wrong thing for an evil to occur. Good, on the other hand, needs an evil to be present. There is no opportunity for a good deed to happen unless there is an evil for the good to counteract. Think of some very small good deed, like picking up trash. It took someone doing an "evil" deed for that trash to get there and needing to be picked up by you. If that person hadn't thrown the trash on the ground, then there would be no trash for you to pick up, therefore no good deed for you to do.
1. Power can only be defined in the eyes of the beholder. We must realize that our power is only a microcosm in comparison to the entire world. One may presume that they obtain significant power over others, when in reality they only have minimal authority. Our own personal power can not only affect those closely surrounding us, but also to society as a whole. It is based on what we do with the power we obtain and how others perceive it. The power and authority we have can influence others in a positive or negative way. In the movie Schindler's List, Oskar Schindler said, "Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't."
ReplyDelete2. Yes, I do believe that good and evil are “dependent on eachother”. In order to understand this concept, one could relate it to the analogy of dark and light. There is no darkness in light and not light in darkness. Therefore, they have to coexist in balance. Similarly, if there was no such thing as “good”, how could there be “evil”? Also the word “good” or “evil” could be interpreted differently based on how different people feel about each aspect. This could be an example of denotation and connotation.
It is important for us to understand how power has an effect on society so power is not abused. when people have power they often become out of touch with their roots and dont feel empathy for those around them.
ReplyDeleteGood is dependent on evil because without evil our society's impression of evil doesnt exist. You cant have warmth without cold, nor light without dark, nor good without evil
1: It's imperative because there are always people with more power, and those beneath them want to be as close as they can get to the amount of person above them.
ReplyDelete2: Without Evil, there would be no good, and without good, there would be no evil. Both good and evil set standards for the opposition. Without one of them everything is just normal.
1. It is important because even though you may not think you can make a difference in a society, every small change adds up. Whether the change is a good one or a bad one, if you have enough power, or if enough people think the way you do who also have small amounts of power, you can change society.
ReplyDelete2society. I don't think good and evil are dependent on each other. I think that if there was no good, evil would simply be prominent in the world and vice versa. It is also obvious that good and evil can coexist as they did during the Holocaust.
PS: Is it just me or am I the only one who commented on this?
1: Power can be dangerous if it is abused. Power can also lead people to do good things. It is important to understand power because it CAN be abused and CAN be dangerous if it is not fully understood.
ReplyDelete2: I believe good and evil are dependent on one another. Without good, evil would just be the norm and wouldn't even be called evil, it'd just be... whatever... nothing. It is a relative thing. Good is relevant to evil.
It's important to know how our own personal power affects everyone because people want to know how everyone stands in a society, and the people that have a lot of power, they will try to take other people's power.
ReplyDeleteGood and evil are dependent on each other because we need good to determine what is evil.
It is Important to know how our power affects those close to us and society. This is important so we can understand the influence and affect we have on our own social microcosm and on society in a whole.
ReplyDeleteI think good and evil are codependent and could not exist without each other. They could not exist without each other because with just one it would be the status quo and there would be nothing to compare it to so it would just be the norm.
Wilson Fay
1. Personal power effects everyone in the world. It can be a good thing or a bad thing for example, if a person teaches someone else something good to help the world be a better place and a bad thing would be like the Holocaust and how someone was taught that it was a good thing to kill all of the Jewish people.
ReplyDelete2. I think that in some ways good and evil are dependent on each other but in some ways they aren't. Sometimes there is evil present without any good and sometimes there is good present without any evil. When someone commits a crime there is evil present and then the cops catch him which is the good.
Joshua Nicholson
ReplyDelete1.) Our power on people close to us and in our society is important. This effect can sometimes cause a domino effect on others lives. Let's say that for some reason our power effects a few people in our society in a negative way. Then those people who are effected might act abnormally then they usually would, effecting the lives of their own close friends negatively as well. Our microcosm of people we effect in society mimics the macrocosm of how our leaders effect the nation as a whole.
2.) I think good and evil are not always dependent on each other. Although it's true that we can decipher more clearly what is good and what is evil when they are opposing against each other at the same time, there can be cases where good is present where bad is not and vice versa.
It is important to understand our personal power because the way we use it can affect others, so if we misuse our power it can create a domino effect of abuse of power
ReplyDeleteGood and evil are connected because we wouldnt have them if we didnt have both. We wouldnt be able to categorize actions as one thing or another if we didnt have two categories.
1.Personal power usage, can become detrimental to ones self when used to oppress a people.
ReplyDelete2. For the debate on the neccesity of good verus evil, a proverb that i use comes to mind. "You don't need a god for a crusade, but you most certainly need a devi."
1. power can be used for good or bad. It effects others and can have control over people. It is gained by fear or respect.
ReplyDelete2. Good and evil are dependent on one another. Without evil, the doing of good looks less than what it is if evil exists.