Fear in Literature, Tuesday 4th period

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon looked noticeably tired today, though he was still as put-together as possible, with the exception of his hair, which he kept forgetting and running his hands through. He took a deep breath and forced himself upright, nodding to the students as they filed in and sat.

On the board was written: The Lonely: fear of isolation, being disconnected or abandoned.

"Right. So. I trust you all read today's assignment. Or possibly watched the Twilight Zone episode based on it. The story posits that loneliness can wear on even the most antisocial person and cause them to better themselves. Do you think it adequately gets across that fear of loneliness? Do you think it's right? How do you think the protagonist will get through his second year?"



As usual, before they left he wrote the next week's assignment on the board: All Quiet on the Western Front.

Comments

Sign in!

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

All alone!

Re: Sign in!

[x_discospider_x]

Troy Barnes

Re: Sign in!

[onlyajones]

Josephine Jones

Re: Sign in!

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle

Listen to the lecture

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Worry about your instructor, if you're so inclined.

Class activity

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Does the story get the fear across? Is it right that loneliness would work to turn antisocial people better? How do you think the protagonist does in his next sentence?

Re: Class activity

[onlyajones]

“I think it can work both ways,” Jo said as she thought about it, “sometimes you can definitely try too hard and it can have the opposite effect,” yes she was speaking from past experiences here.

Re: Class activity

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon nodded. He wasn't exactly good at people, either, so he sympathised. "I'd like to know if you think the fear is the same."

Re: Class activity

[onlyajones]

She considered her response, "I think so," she said at last, "I think being afraid of both being alone and being rejected have the same level of fear,"

Re: Class activity

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon nodded. "The Lonely is insidious. It can make you think that being rejected is so bad that being alone is better. That's one of the ways it gets in."

Re: Class activity

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"What a cruel thing to do," Belle said. "And not just for those being punished. I don't see how it would really help, treating others as if they don't exist."

Re: Class activity

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"I'd like to know if you think it helped the protagonist," Jon said. "The story seems to imply that it did. Or maybe you feel that even if it did, it isn't worth the trauma."

Re: Class activity

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"It might have helped him understand why it was so cruel but I'm not sure it truly helped him."

Re: Class activity

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"I'm curious if you think it instilled a fear in him that he didn't previously have, or only exposed one that was already there."

Talk to Jon

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

He's mostly here!

Re: Talk to Jon

[onlyajones]

Jo had noticed that Mr. Sims didn’t look all that well so she thought she’d check and see if he was okay especially because he’d been so nice to her last week, “um excuse me Mr.Sims?” she said as she approached him after class.

Re: Talk to Jon

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon looked up from his things as he was gathering them. "Jo. Hello. I wonder if there's anything I can do for you."

Re: Talk to Jon

[onlyajones]

“I….uh wanted to see if you were okay?” Jo said a little timidly because she wasn’t sure if she should ask or not, “you look…um…” her voice trailed off as she tried to find the right word for it, “tired?” she tried, that wasn’t considered too rude was it?

Re: Talk to Jon

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon looked at her, startled for a moment, then cleared his throat, embarrassed. "I-I'm fine, thank you. I apologise if today's lesson was a bit, um, light." He grimaced. "Thank you for your concern."

Re: Talk to Jon

[onlyajones]

“Oh that’s okay, I wasn’t sure … I thought I’d check,” she said and then paused and then added rather excitedly, “I also wanted to tell you that I handwavily got a job working at the library! I start on Friday!”

Re: Talk to Jon

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Oh? Oh, that's lovely!" Jon managed a smile. "If you haven't met the librarian yet, he's also English, so that's another of us. Mr. Constantine."

OOC

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Bleh, mornings.