Professor Young
English Writing 1101
10 November 2016
The
characters in Rene Steinke’s novel Friendswood
face a crisis that centers on an inequality of reputation. Citizens condemn
those who seek positive change through their words and actions as purely,
“after some glory,” while they worship those who have knowingly caused crippling
harm to the health and livelihood of others (Steinke 47). The only effective solution for
balancing such a toxic social hierarchy is for the characters to act and
speak as if they do not care about their image to their family and peers.
The following video represents people who wanted to keep a positive reputation to their competitors, only to endure the most devastating consequence in their field.
1)
Why does Lee appear so uncaring about the
image she projects to the EPA?
2)
How many wrongdoings can someone commit
before he damages his reputation beyond repair?
3)
Why do the Friendswood citizens forgive
Hal’s wrongdoings more easily than Lee’s alleged wrongdoings?
4)
In what ways does reputation affect our
personal and professional relationships?
5)
How would your reputation with family
members and peers affect your use of blame?
6)
Why do people with poor reputations tend
to hold unusually high intelligence?
7)
Why does Lee feel the need to accept all
accountability for the social and economic effects of the chemical dumping,
even when she knows the EPA is to blame?
8)
Could it be that a bad reputation in the
public eye have more consequences than a poor reputation in the eyes of family?
9)
Why was it that an explosion changed Lee’s
reputation greater than any of her statements to city council?
10)
Why do words define your reputation in
society, yet your actions define your reputation with your family?
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteYour topic and questions appear to be very good complex questions that can make for a well written analysis paper. I think Enron is a fantastic example to use because they had a VERY good reputation for an ethics program; however, the entire company fell apart because of the corporations ethics. Most of your questions focus on the negative affects of reputation. What are some positive affects of a reputation? Though a positive reputation is highly focused upon in Friendswood, showing the opposite side of something can help enforce your choice. This seems like it can be a really good paper. Good luck.
-Henry Lockwood