How do you know the color of the shirt you are wearing? Can you be sure that blue is really blue? Our knowledge comes from many years of schooling and facts taught to us by our parents, teachers, and what we saw in books and media. We regurgitate these facts in our daily lives. When something different comes along, we may get uncomfortable and resist it. In the short story Gryphon by Charles Baxter, a group of 4th graders faced this challenge when their regular teacher was temporarily replaced by Miss Ferenczi, the substitute teacher. During that time, Miss Ferenczi tells many strange tales to the children that caused them to question whether she is crazy and a liar. People tend to conform to the opinions of authority and society, which discourages
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People who follows certain sets of rule and routine may find others who do not abnormal. Miss Ferenczi is a non-conformist. She is very different than the other substitute teachers in Five Oaks. She is so different that Harold Knardahl jokingly says she is from Mars (246). Tommy notices Miss Ferenczi unusual from the get go. She carries a purple purse and checkerboard lunchbox (246). Her hairstyle is something he has never seen before and she wears tinted eyeglasses (246). This is much different than his mom who people described as a Betty Crocker lookalike (252). Tommy finds it strange that Miss Ferenczi does not eat lunch with the other staff. She tells him that she would rather eat in the classroom with the children then with the other teachers who talks mindlessly, “there was a great rattling of the words for the fewness of ideas” (249). What makes her even stranger to the students is the stories that she tells. Her stories are somewhat disjointed. She mixes facts with tales that leaves the kids wondering if she is lying or crazy. She tells the children “six times eleven can be considered to be sixty-eight” in higher mathematics. While higher math is true to be existent, six times eleven is never sixty-eight. When talking about the pyramids, Miss Ferenczi tells the children why they are important to the Egyptians. She tells of the truth that we know, “the bodies of the pharaohs . . . and their attendant …show more content…
We go about our days doing the same things in the same way every day. Over time, it becomes monotonous. The children knows it quite well. Tommy feels disappointed when Miss Ferenczi gives “an ordinary lesson, complete with vocabulary word drills, comprehension questions, and recitation (247)”. During lunch, Carol Peterson asks Miss Ferenczi what they will be doing in the afternoon. Carol moans when Miss Ferenczi says she will be following Mr. Hibler’s lesson plan and they will be discussing about the Egyptians (250). The children are obviously bored with the strict classroom routine. Even though they find her stories strange and unbelievable, they are fascinated by what she has to say. When she talks, “no one tries to stop her” (251), and “no one even [goes] to the bathroom.” (253). Miss Ferenczi is a breath of fresh air to the children because she encourages the children to think different. “You are free to think what you like. When Mr. Hibler returns, six times eleven will be sixty-six again” (248). Miss Ferenczi wants the children to spend less times in things that they know well and spend more time on exploring new ideas. In the beginning of class, she did not do the Pledge of Allegiance which she thinks is a waste of time since they know it so well already (247). When John says six times eight is sixty-eight, instead of correcting him, she asks the class to think of it in a
People who follows certain sets of rule and routine may find others who do not abnormal. Miss Ferenczi is a non-conformist. She is very different than the other substitute teachers in Five Oaks. She is so different that Harold Knardahl jokingly says she is from Mars (246). Tommy notices Miss Ferenczi unusual from the get go. She carries a purple purse and checkerboard lunchbox (246). Her hairstyle is something he has never seen before and she wears tinted eyeglasses (246). This is much different than his mom who people described as a Betty Crocker lookalike (252). Tommy finds it strange that Miss Ferenczi does not eat lunch with the other staff. She tells him that she would rather eat in the classroom with the children then with the other teachers who talks mindlessly, “there was a great rattling of the words for the fewness of ideas” (249). What makes her even stranger to the students is the stories that she tells. Her stories are somewhat disjointed. She mixes facts with tales that leaves the kids wondering if she is lying or crazy. She tells the children “six times eleven can be considered to be sixty-eight” in higher mathematics. While higher math is true to be existent, six times eleven is never sixty-eight. When talking about the pyramids, Miss Ferenczi tells the children why they are important to the Egyptians. She tells of the truth that we know, “the bodies of the pharaohs . . . and their attendant …show more content…
We go about our days doing the same things in the same way every day. Over time, it becomes monotonous. The children knows it quite well. Tommy feels disappointed when Miss Ferenczi gives “an ordinary lesson, complete with vocabulary word drills, comprehension questions, and recitation (247)”. During lunch, Carol Peterson asks Miss Ferenczi what they will be doing in the afternoon. Carol moans when Miss Ferenczi says she will be following Mr. Hibler’s lesson plan and they will be discussing about the Egyptians (250). The children are obviously bored with the strict classroom routine. Even though they find her stories strange and unbelievable, they are fascinated by what she has to say. When she talks, “no one tries to stop her” (251), and “no one even [goes] to the bathroom.” (253). Miss Ferenczi is a breath of fresh air to the children because she encourages the children to think different. “You are free to think what you like. When Mr. Hibler returns, six times eleven will be sixty-six again” (248). Miss Ferenczi wants the children to spend less times in things that they know well and spend more time on exploring new ideas. In the beginning of class, she did not do the Pledge of Allegiance which she thinks is a waste of time since they know it so well already (247). When John says six times eight is sixty-eight, instead of correcting him, she asks the class to think of it in a