Assignment #1

1. Children may have difficulty sharing the perspective of another person.
2. The psychological reality of children and adults is a deep well within themselves that they cannot see into.
3. Within groups, people may engage in conduct that is wilder, stranger, or more uncivilized than their usual    behavior when alone.
4. When dealing with an adult, even a helpless one, children may have in their minds images of parental authority that affect how they treat the person.
5. Even in their later years, people may have trouble forgiving themselves for bad things they did when they were young.
6. People project their fears or suspicions onto others, even those who do not actually pose a threat to them.
7. Children are capable of conspiring with one another against the adult world.
8. People need to see one another's faces if they are to trust one another.
9. We should be more compassionate toward people who are trapped.
10. Children may fail to understand when an adult is in danger.

       Placing theses ten statements in order by which I felt related to the story they best began with some thinking and got easier after I decided the first four. However once I chose that "Children may have difficulty sharing the perspective of another person" I was decided. From memories as a child, as well as the examples given in The Man in the Well, children do have difficulty sharing the perspective of another. They could not imagine how it would be to be trapped in a well with their lives in the hands of a group of children who refused to help them.
           "The psychological reality of children and adults is a deep well within themselves that they cannot see into". This theme undoubtedly makes a connection with the story. The children cannot see the adult in the well, or the adult that they will eventually become. They are unaware of what they will look like, or sound like. 
       "Within groups, people may engage in conduct that is wilder, stranger, or more uncivilized than their usual behavior when alone". This social conduct can be observed in multiple situations where people are with a group of their piers. It is also evident in the children of the story. Rather then one child stand up and tell the authorities or their parents, they all bring food, and speak to the man trapped in the well. Not one acting independently of the other.
       "When dealing with an adult, even a helpless one, children may have in their minds images of parental authority that affect how they treat the person" I feel that people, especially those that are younger can relate to this theme. Through out high school even now in college, those who are adults seem to have an authority over me.
       I can say that in my life time I have most defiantly done some things that I regret, and even though time has passed I do have trouble forgiving my self, even if those who I have wronged have forgiven me. "Even in their later years, people may have trouble forgiving themselves for bad things they did when they were young" brought to mind almost instantly of events in my past that I was not to proud of allowing me to connect with this story on a personal level.
       "People project their fears or suspicions onto others, even those who do not actually pose a threat to them". This is shown directly when the man in the well calls out everyone's name individually. This stranger knows exactly who they are, by name, with out barley seeing their faces if seeing them at all. One by one their names were called out, their friend next to them terrified that their name was going to be called.
        Hollywood has done an excellent job of portraying the next theme "Children are capable of conspiring with one another against the adult world". Many times I have seen movies where the children are being oppressed by an authority power and they revolt; or they are just being outright disrespectful to their authority figures. However in literature I have never really read anything that would demonstrate this and that is why this is at a six on the theme scale.
      I do not necessarily agree with the statement "People need to see one another's faces if they are to trust one another". Perhaps that this is true for the children of the story, but certainly does not apply to all situations. Especially with the every expanding popularity of the internet, people are trusting one another without even knowing their real name. Pen pals, strangers in chat rooms, and money schemes. The children in the story are untrustworthy of the man in the well because they cannot see him, however this is not a universal theme.
       "We should be more compassionate toward people who are trapped" made me think for a moment. People who are trapped, especially in a situation where their life may be in danger, deserve some compassion. Yet it all depends on why they are in that situation, to decide how much compassion. If the man in the story had been a pedophile, that's how he would have known all the children's names, or a criminal of some sort, and used the well as a place to hide then compassion would be scarce if any were given at all. However if the incident was an accident and he was in desperate need of help, then yes he should have been shown a greater level of compassion.
       There is a certain age for everybody when we become aware of the world around us. Watching my baby sisters grow up I feel that that age is roughly 4 or 5 years. At this age, while you still have your innocence, you begin to understand how your actions affect the people around you. You can feel the anger in their voice and the sadness in their cry's. You now limited vocabulary now knows the definition of the word "help". Surly children are able to know when an adult is in danger, being the aid that saves them may be a bit difficult for them but recognizing they need for assistance should not be.

What I want to accomplish this semester

College is a new an exciting place. A whole new chapter in my life filled with so many new faces and plenty of familiar ones as well. People tell me that while I am here I will find myself, well I don't necessarily believe that I need to be found. I plan to do exactly as I have been doing because it has gotten me this far and I can honestly say that I have very little to complain about. Yet goals are a must in everyone's life and I do have some I wish to obtain. I want to get myself back into the shape I was prior to my broken ankle, back to running sub 51's in the quarter mile, and being on top.I also wish to accomplish a high grade point average and maintain it regardless of sports, a job and extra curricular activities. I may not want to accomplish much but I know that these few will test my ability to cope with the necessary changes in my life.