1) What kind of impact does “the
temp” have on the office? What ends up happening to the employees?
2) How is the lighter symbolic of her effect on the office? (Think about
the function of a lighter)
3) How does the
ending of the story change how the temp is viewed? What does it reveal about
her?
4) What does
this story say about an individual’s appearance and how it can influence others?
5)
What
similar effects did both the drowned man and the temp have on the people in
their stories?
“The way we’re working isn’t working. Even if you’re lucky
enough to have a job, you’re probably not very excited to get to the office in
the morning, you don’t feel much appreciated while you’re there, you find it
difficult to get your most important work accomplished, amid all the
distractions, and you don’t believe that what you’re doing makes much of a
difference anyway. By the time you get home, you’re pretty much running on
empty, and yet still answering emails until you fall asleep” (
But many social
scientists and others who study the science of stereotyping say there are
reasons we quickly size people up based on how they look. Snap judgments about
people are crucial to the way we function, they say — even when those judgments
are very wrong” (Belluck).
All three of the stories we will
look at this week have “Magical Strangers” changed these new environments.
Their appearance played a major
role in their acceptance and elevation in these stories:
The drowned man ---------------à The Village
The Temp ---------------àThe Office
Edward Scissorhands
--------------àThe Suburban Town
_______________ _________________________
_________________________ _________________________
_________________________ _________________________
1)
Does the drowned man create conflict in the
village, or bring the village together? (Your answer might change depending on
which part of the story you're examining.)
2)
Flowers are mentioned in the
beginning of the story and at the very end; what do the flowers represent to
the people of the village? How has that changed since the arrival of the
drowned man?
3)
How does the drowned man give the
villagers a stronger sense of identity? Why is this important to people?
This week we will look at “The
Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”, “The Temp” and Edward Scissorhands in class.
All three of these stories contain individuals that become part of a community
in some way and have profound effects of the people. In “The Handsomest
Drowned Man in the World” it is a corpse that washes ashore that gives the
townspeople a new way of looking at their lives, in “The Temp” it is a temp
hired in an office that changes the atmosphere of the work environment and
in Edward Scissorhands it
is a unique young man that forces a rather boring town to see how boring and
judgmental they really are. This week pay attention to what these “magical
strangers” force the people in the stories to look at it in their lives.
The Importance of Appearance
“In traditional
societies, clothing reflected ones rank and place in society, and identified
one. Its function was not merely to clothe a naked person but also to
beautify him or her. While it always reflected ones outward place it also
reveals something on ones internal character. Thus clothing was both protection
from the elements and an expression of spiritual and cultural identity”
“Just like one can
determine the ripeness or rottenness of a fruit based on its appearance, one
can usually draw conclusions on one’s inner character from how they present
themselves” Agree?
“But recent research suggests that we may need
to adopt a more cynical attitude. It turns out that a candidate’s appearance —
not beauty, but a look of competence — can generate a far greater vote swing
than we previously thought. Furthermore, this effect is not only powerful but
also subliminal. Few of us believe that appearance determines our vote, yet for
a significant number of us, it may” (Mlondinow).
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