This is the first assignment of Marking Period 3 – it is due by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, December 4, and it is worth 50 points. For the original assignment – go here.
I really want us to dig into movies in this Senior Current Issues course. If that is the case then I would like you 
to look at the main characters and contemplate why they do what they do with more intensity, with more depth than we did on this assignment. Maybe in the process we will see the world in a different light as well. For the most part, while I believe you enjoyed The Cider House Rules, and while you may have thought about the issues brought forth in a reflective way, I don’t feel as though we really dug into these issues that pushed the movie to the edge. I got the feeling reading many of your posts that for the most part you wrote and wrote and at the end of it all you just stopped. However many words – that was it. A lot of the posts didn’t feel edited or reviewed. And many had no conclusion. You should always when you write for blogs, posts, assignments, or life – sum up your thoughts with some kind of a concluding insight.
You all listed actions of the characters (I guess that’s what I asked for – and its why everybody who did the assignment still got an A, B, or C) that anybody who watched the movie was well aware of. That in itself took up a large majority of most of the word counts. Many of the posts were merely a list of broken rules with no insight as to why those rules were broken in the first place. Human beings are complex things “Why?” is a very very grey place to go. Let’s take on these characters in grey – and let’s provide some substantive insight. Lets go past a word limit and think about the depth they bring to the screen.
No more 350 word posts for movies. 500 minimum and make that irrelevant as you write, review, and summarize your thoughts. When you take on a character, any character, think not only about him or her within the context of the movie…but also the world. …pay no attention what-so-ever to the word limit. Because if you do a thorough job, the word limit won’t matter.
So with this in mind let’s go back once again to The Cider House Rules and let’s look to two very complex individuals. Let’s look at Homer and Candy. Don’t give me a list of all the rules they broke. Pick and choose what you want to really dig into. I want to know why – why they broke rules – and what will be the result of those decisions. Is it OK what they did? Will their actions set things right in the end? Are they good people who made just made bad decisions? Or maybe not. And why, why, why…did they choose the route they walked. Talk to me three dimensionally…no more lists.
Don’t forget I saw the movie – don’t waste your time telling me what I already know. I want to know that your brain worked a little bit to create this post. Please think before you write, pay little attention to the word limit, provide a some kind of summary, review your post, and give me something to think about as I contemplate your insights into a very very good movie.
Answer the question once more…As Mr. Rose lies dying, he says…”sometimes you gotta break the rules in order to put things straight.” This film is filled with breaking rules and putting things straight. So many of the characters, for whatever reason, broke rules and set things straight. Talk to me about Candy and Homer, their actions, their decisions, the challenges they faced and the decisions that they made, the rules that each of them broke, the lives that they led, and what you think will become of those lives.
From Merle’s original post a pretty good look at Dr. Larch –
During the movie Dr. Larch broke the biggest rule in my opinion. He had to make a very hard decision after one of the orphan children died. His name was Fuzzy and he was very ill. After Homer left the Orphanage to work as an apple picker Fuzzy and Dr. Larch watched a movie together. During the movie Fuzzy died because his illness could not be cured. Dr. Larch and another boy buried him to death on a hill. The doctor told the other boy what he should say if somebody asks what happens to Fuzzy. He said to tell anyone that Fuzzy found a family and had to leave. He had no time to say goodbye and the other children should be thankful for him. Both of them knew it wasn’t the truth. Nevertheless they lied so the other orphans won’t get hurt. They have suffered enough in their lives because it’s very hard to grew up without the real family and to be an orphan. I’m not quite sure if it was the right decision not tell them the truth. On the one hand the children deserve the truth even it ‘s very painful. Sooner or later the truth will come out anyway and who knows how their reaction will be. On the other hand the children have a really sad life and have enough bad experiences. I guess it would break their hearts if they would know what happened. In conclusion I think Dr. Larch made the right decision because he just wanted to protect them from more pain. Sometimes it’s hard to decide what’s right or wrong and sometimes there is no other option than breaking a rule.
It’s totally human to break rules and most of the time we just do it to protect ourselves or the people we love.
