Pattern Of Behavior In Charles Baxter's 'Gryphon'

One of the first memory moments is about him and his dad practicing at the park. They then were talking about football and then Tommy’s father said “Everyone wanted to play offence…” He was talking about how all of his friends and pretty much everyone else who wants to play offence instead of defence. But Tommy and his dad play defence I feel like that brings a connection from Tommy’s dad to Tommy. It adds a person vs. person conflict. Tommy is sad since, he and his father won't have that connection ever again because he is gone.

In the poems “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur and “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins, each poet illustrates adults who are providing explanations for children to protect them from the harsher realities of life. In “A Barred Owl”, Wilbur conveys his point that children should be shielded from these harsh realities, through the use of personification and understatements. However, in “The History Teacher”, Collins conveys his point that protecting the students’ innocence is a lost cause, through his use of metaphors as well as understatements. Both poets use similar and different devices to convey their respective points.

Thomas did not have a very good teacher at school. His teacher was not willing to answer his questions and

In the story Gryphon (fictional) by Charles Baxter, There are two main question that are important to the whole entire story. Why does Tommy defend Miss Ferenczi? And What do you learn about Tommy from this pattern of behavior? There are some evidence to actually solve the answers.

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” As many have heard this before, it stands very true. Which means you shouldn’t prejudge. However, that didn’t stop Miss Lebowitz from pre judging her new juvenile delinquency neighbors Gecko, Terence, and Arjay. It’s understandable why however, they gave her no reason to speculate. Eventually she grew close to them as she defended them against a group of teens in a gang. Pouring water down on them saying, “I’ve dialed nine-one-one and I’m about to push the send button! You get out of here and leave my buys

Thomas introduced himself by saying, “I’m half magician on my mother’s side and half clown on my father’s” (Alexie, “This Is What” 286). Many people laughed at that joke and Cathy thought it was funny also, so they continue to have a conversation. Even though Victor is embarrassed at Thomas’s attempts to continue to talk with her, they realize that Cathy is friendly and they all enjoy talking to each other. Another example is Thomas says “Sounds like you all got a lot in common with Indians” (Alexie, “This Is what 286”). This joke made the situation awkward because nobody thought was funny. That shows that not everything is a joke and could get the people around him offended or mad. When the plane lands, Victor felt the need to say sorry and get the feeling out of his chest so he apologizes for beating up Thomas. Soon later they arrive at Victor’s father’s trailer. Victor’s father’s body was not found for a week, so the trailer smelled really bad and it is really hard for Thomas and Victor to go in to sort through the man's things. While they are looking and going through the trailer they both are telling stories about how they helped one another and how they will have each other’s

This part of the story also makes a connection between Tommy and Plinio which that is that they both felt as if there dignity was humiliated in front of Mavis and they tried to out do each other but it all got out of hand causing them both to loose all of the respect that they had. For example Tommy's friends all left and Mavis was bewildered at Plinio.

There are many events in the book that moved me emotionally, some of which made me very angry as I read them. On his book tour Johnathan traveled around speaking to many about his book and his ability to learn to fit in to main stream sociality, but on one of his trips he had to speak at a school in which his audience was a group of special education students. As the children arrived and prepared for his talk, a teacher said to the group of children will introducing him “Mr. Mooney used to be like you, Be respectful of Mr. Mooney. Try to act normal, OK?” (Mooney,2007,7). Of all people, how can a teacher tell a group of special education students to act normal? They are normal. It bothered me to my core. So many special education students are judged and bullied for being different. The world can be a harsh place; however, school is supposed to be an institution in which children of all back grounds should fill safe and at home. For an educator to tell her students to “Act normal “is telling a group of students to not be themselves. Many Special Ed students have enough of life pulling at their self-esteem, for teachers to teach them this way is unacceptable.

Miss Ferenczi’s tutelage represents a breath of fresh air and a new experience for her students. Everything about her is foreign to the students yet not inaccessible. Hope and truth are connected within Miss Ferenzci; her style of dress, lunch choices, and forthright speech are prime examples. Miss Ferenczi has found her own truth, herself, as evidenced by her nonconformist attitude, elaborate dress, delightful stories, and a touch of humility. She exemplifies that all adults are not like those the children are accustomed in their community. Miss Ferenczi’s symbolism of truth is foreshadowed by Tommy when he notices his substitute’s peculiar marionette lines reminding him of Pinocchio. Pinocchio is a wooden boy who wants to be real and is a liar. Miss Ferenczi may be a real, in the flesh, person, but she is very surreal to Tommy and his classmates; they’ve never seen anything like her. Also, Miss Ferenczi bends the truth and tells stories of myths in order to provoke the students’ sense of thought, imagination, and wonder. The truths the children seek are far beyond spelling and arithmetic, but constitute the character the students will eventually mesh with and emit.

In “Gryphon”, we are quickly introduced to Miss Ferenczi, she is a never before seen, well traveled substitute teacher in Five Oaks, Massachusetts. Miss Ferenczi immediately began to draw a tree onto the blackboard saying that the room needed a tree. After she finished her drawing she turned to the class where are main character Tommy notices something odd about Miss Ferenczi's face, “...her face had two prominent lines, descending vertically from the sides of her mouth to her chin. I knew where I had seen those lines before: Pinocchio. They were marionette lines.” This subtle physical detail of Miss Ferenzi foreshadows an important personality trait of Miss Ferenczi. Just like the famous liar Pinocchio, Miss Ferenczi lies, yet unlike Pinocchio, Miss Ferenczi lies are always with good intentions. Miss Ferenczi gives up her honesty, and trustworthiness for excitement and engagement for her students. She lies to gain the attention of her students so they pay attention and in turn learn more

Beth and Tommy, in the middle of the darkness, have found each other, and all they want is to be together. But when they get caught making out at school, it puts everyone in danger. Tommy is used to the beatings from their foster father, but when Beth is singled out for punishment, Tommy can’t sit back and let it happen.

Miss Caroline is a brand new teacher and has been trained to teach in a certain way. When she finds that Scout’s premature reading ability disrupts her teaching plan she has no idea what to do with her, and tells Scout not to read at home anymore. ‘Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me anymore, it would interfere with my reading.’ This shows how society is oblivious to individual situations and this can cause achievements to be frowned upon.

Young Edison would allow his mind to wonder inattentively during class. His instructors grew very impatient with his overactive brain. His first teacher, Reverend Engle, was well known for his low tolerance of insubordination and high expectation for discipline. Because of the disciplinary environment enforced by Engle, Alva would frequently feel frightened during class (Conot 6). One day after school, Alva stood unnoticed observing a conversation between Engle and a fellow teacher. He overheard Engle calling him “addled” (Egan 11). Instantly frustrated, Alva ran away from the school, with no intention of returning, and eventually became a student at home where he would be educated by his mother (Conot 6). It was during this time his mother gave him a book called “R. G. Parker’s School of Natural Philosophy and it changed Tom’s life” (Egan 14). Even though the book slightly provided a temporary remedy for his seemingly chaotic mind, he continued to act mischievously throughout homeschool and into public school. Now in public school, it would frustrate Alva when he had to share a book with another student. He read very quickly and couldn’t find patience for other children when their reading capabilities were inferior to his. Although Alva read swiftly, his teachers focused more on his disruptive behavior. One time during class, Alva and a younger girl, used a baited hook to catch a chicken from the second story of the public school! (Conot 7). Young Edison continued

that he only did it to get revenge for what her grandfather did to his

We can see that he does not understand why his boy cannot shoot a silly weasel. And he gets mad at Tommy.