The Sneetches review - Essay Example

 The Sneetches review Instructions: Directions: This essay is focused on "rewriting" the Dr. Seuss tale "The Sneetches." The childhood story was written in 1961 as a stance on intolerance and injustice against various groups of people in America. "Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars." This is the unforgettable tale of the unfortunate Sneetches, bamboozled by one Sylvester McMonkey McBean ("the Fix-it-up Chappie"), who teaches them that pointless prejudice can be costly. Fifty years later, how might your generation, void of a major "rights" movement, tell the story of "The Sneetches" now? Below, are a set of guidelines to assist you in completing this task, after you have viewed the segment:• Offer your general reaction to this short film segment.  • Revise the original story in your own words. For example, you can choose an aspect of the story to revise (i.e. the role of money or deceit in “The Sneetches”) or “retell” the story by updating it to the present year of 2011. (You may re-write the story, creatively, as Dr. Seuss did originally. The words are posted for this purpose.)  • Discuss how your revision differs from the original story. And also make mention of WHY your story has to be told differently. What are the circumstances that require this change? History? Political movements?  • Explain your intention(s) or moral(s) of the story. How do those intentions/morals compare with the original story?  • Remember, you are expected to make references to the readings in illustrating/explaining your story. When you make reference from the readings, make sure you acknowledge the sources. If you cite a quote directly, make sure you use quotation marks.  Link to the words from "The Sneetches:" http://tribes.tribe.net/star-belliedsneetches/thread/a1b7d512-9130-4680-8630-9cd9044728cc  The essay will be graded based on: 1) how well you have applied the readings to your story; 2) how insightful and/or creative you tell your story; (we’re looking for depth here, folks); 3) your response to all of the questions; and, 4) if the essay is clearly written. The length of the paper is 3-5 pages. (The paper is worth 10% of your final grade).  Revise the original story in your own words. For example, you can choose an aspect of the story to revise (i.e. the role of money or deceit in “The Sneetches”) or “retell” the story by updating it to the present year of 2011. (You may re-write the story, creatively, as Dr. Seuss did originally. The words are posted for this purpose.)  There was a planet on which aliens called the ‘Hulks’ lived. This planet had many volcanoes on it. One day many of those volcanoes erupted and they had no choice but to leave their land and to move to a neighboring one. The creatures living on this new planet were the ‘Brains’. They were quite similar in their appearance to the new ones except that they were smarter. They had brains and intelligence that they used to build machines and other useful gadgets. They also possessed a mysterious stone called the ‘phoenix stone’ that was the power source that run their machines and gadgets. They protected it at all costs. The ‘Hulks’ didn’t have that intelligence and knowledge to match with ‘Brains’, instead they were quite heavily built, they had very strong and great bodies. They had agility and tremendous muscle power. They could play any sport with ease and lift heavy objects 100 times their size and weight as if it were a tooth pick. The smart natives ‘Brains’ looked down upon the immigrants. They would make faces at them and try to avoid all kinds of communication with them. “And, whenever they met some, when they were out walking,  They’d hike right on past them without even talking.” (Dr. Seuss, 1961) There was never really any rivalry or threat or any genuine problem among the two creatures but there was this hatred that didn’t have any purpose. As a consequence, a great void created among the two races. Communication gap grew wider and wider everyday to the point where natives started growing and eating their own food without involving the ‘Hulks’. And the immigrants had to do the same. A wall was built just to keep the two races apart. There was no trade between the two. Even if some creatures from the opposite sides of the wall tried to befriend the other, they were sneered upon by their own kind. They were called names and were alienated from within their own families. The immigrants started feeling miserable, they actually had no real economic activity on their side of the planet. All the useful land sources were owned by the natives and immigrants were living on whatever they could get their hands on. Their misery reached a point where they started losing their powers and became beggars. They started working for the natives as laborers and fed on whatever they were paid. They had no rights that could protect them from the harsh treatment of the natives. Then one day a creature called the ‘Parasite’ from a third planet visited this planet and he saw that land was full of running machines and tall buildings. He thought to himself, “how to get that power source that runs those machines?” It was a problem for him, the phoenix stone was owned by the natives and they were not willing to let go of it at any cost. The Parasite realized that he can’t get the stone through bribe but he saw that the Hulks were in miserable condition and they really hated the Brains for their behavior and exploitation of their talents, so he made a plan to train them to destroy the natives. He said to them “And I’ve heard of Your troubles. I’ve heard you’re unhappy.  But I can fix that, I’m the Fix-It-Up Chappie” (Dr. Seuss, 1961 He gave them special powders that made the Brains do what the Parasite wanted them to do and in return he gave the Hulks some money. Hulks put the powder in their food and made them sign contracts that made the Parasite own the phoenix stone. When the Brains realized their mistake, it was too late. The Parasite had already taken the power source with him, the stone that gave the energy for the machines to run. Now they felt doomed. They were now as miserable and poor as the Hulks. They realized their mistake and felt bad that they mistreated the Hulks. They started mingling with them again. On one day two friends broke a small hole in the wall that separated them, others followed and soon the whole wall was brought down and the Hulks and the Brains started living together as one strong society. The Brains made construction maps and the Hulks used their muscle power and agility to make their blue prints into working machines and skyscrapers. Now the Brains didn’t need the phoenix-stone to run their machines, they had the Hulks. And the planet became prosperous again. Discuss how your revision differs from the original story. And also make mention of WHY your story has to be told differently. What are the circumstances that require this change? History? Political movements?  This revised story is different in the sense that it elaborates the idea of Dr. Seuss. He referred to the issue of racial discrimination in 1961, which is still prevalent but there are other issue related that make people alienated and they derive a sense of pride by considering them inferior. The story needs changing as it has observed that there is still racial discrimination in America but it is hidden. There are many schools and colleges that are labeled as all Hispanics or all Black schools. Despite the fact that they get the nationality, still they are kept and treated at a different, lower standard of care and teaching. And whenever, wherever there is a divide other people (scavengers) come to manipulate it. They see the weakness; they exploit it for their own advantage. The wall in the revised story represents the ‘Berlin Wall’. A huge number of people on both sides wanted to meet each other play and trade together live together and finally this sentiment gained roots and it brought the wall down in October 1990. There is also the touch of the misery that the immigrants have to endure. No one wants to leave their land but sometimes the circumstances force the people to leave their beloved possessions and move to another place to survive. Due to gang wars in Mexico, many people crossed the border into US and they still are crossing to get better living conditions and earn a livelihood. They didn’t actually want to leave their land but they had to. Explain your intention(s) or moral(s) of the story. How do those intentions/morals compare with the original story?  Intentions of the revised story are very similar to the Intentions of Dr. Seuss’s original story; a war against racial discrimination and to highlight the problems it creates. The moral is to try to ward off the discrimination and try to live united. The history gives evidence that wherever people are not united they collapse, societies and countries collapse. The best tactics used by the colonizers were to ‘divide and rule’. They saw weaknesses in the fabric of society and exploited it to serve their interests. It worked wonders. But the most important lesson in the revised story as well as the original story is that in the end when people realize their mistake (Sneetches in the original story) they can make things right, it’s Work Cited "The Story by Dr.Seuss... - Star-Bellied Sneetches - Tribe.net." Tribes - Tribe.net. 3 Dec. 2007. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. . Read More