Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Picture of Dorian Gray, CH I

Basil says to Lord Henry on page 7, "I don't agree with a single word that you have said, and, what is more, Harry, I feel sure you don't either." 

Is Lord Henry sincere when he speaks?  Choose a statement by Lord Henry such as, "I chose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects," and explain its meaning and whether or not you think Lord Henry is sincere.  YOU MAY NOT CHOOSE A QUOTE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DISCUSSED IN A PREVIOUS RESPONSE!

22 comments:

  1. "Every day. I couldnt't be happy if i didn't see him every day. He is absolutely necessary to me.
    - This means that every time Lord Henry seen Dorian Grey he was so excited that he felt like Dorian Grey's apperance had made his day. I also think he is being sarcastic in a way to express his complete admiration for Dorian Grey. If he went a day without seeing him, he probably would be anxious to see him again.

    Shaneal Simpson Prd. 1

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  2. "Now, the value of an idea has nothing whatsoever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it. Indeed, the probabilities are that the more insincere the man is, the more purely intellectual will the idea be..."
    -This quote shows textual evidence that Lord Henry may not be sincere. The text shows him making many intellegent remarks, in my opinion. In his quote, he says the remarks made by a man has nothing to do with his sincerity.

    Mykala Jones
    Period 1

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  3. Shaneal,
    Basil said this. Check again for a quote by Lord Henry.

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  4. Mykala,
    Excellent! What is a purely intellectual idea? Is it different from a sincere idea?

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  5. "There is only in the world worse than being talked, and that is not being talked about."
    -I think this quote is being sincere because he is being real with Basil.He is saying that if you are not talked about you are a nobody in society.If you are being talked about people know you,that better being talked about then not to be talked about.

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  6. Alphonzo,
    Good point! Negative attention is still attention, right? Think of all the celebrities that are famous for all of the gossip and rumors surrounding them.

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  7. Magistra,
    - A purely intellectual idea deals with rational ideas rather than emotional ones, basically telling it like it is no matter how it may make the person feel.
    -A sincere idea deals with it being honest,true and genuine.
    In conclusion, no, a sincere idea is not much different from a intellectual idea because they both deal with being true and honest, not dealing with emotions

    -Mykala Jones

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  8. -The probabilities are that the more insincere the man is, the more purely intellectual will the idea be, as in that case it will not be colouredby either his wants, his desires, or his prejudices.

    In these quotes Lord Henry states that he believes that for an ideal to be accurate or valuable it must not be affected by your feelings or emotions. From this i believe that Lord Henry is sincere when he speaks to Basil because as a friend he only wants to be helpful towards Basil by telling him, on the real tip, his logical point of view of the situation. And personally i think Basil needs logical advice from Lord Henry because Basil is very naive and does not see things for what they are, but for what they can be.

    -Courtney Jenkins

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  9. "How extra ordinary I thought you would never cxare for anything but your art"

    I feel lord henry is being sarcastic to basil about him always caring about his art work Because basil said "everyday I couldnt be happy if I didnt see him everday he is Absolutly necessary to me" so lord henrey wants to meet dorian gray since he is so much of an influence to basil

    Devonta Streetman PD 1

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  10. "Perhaps you will tire sooner than he will. It is a sad thing to think of, but there is no doubt that Genius last longer than beauty. That acounts for the fact that we all take such pains to over-educate ourselves."

    Harry mentions that perhaps basil will tire before he does, basically stating that basil's affection wont last long, it will wear out itself as time passes eventually. Genius does last longer than beauty. A person's outside appearence wears off with old, but intellegence sticks to the brain, everytime you learn something new it stays in your long term memory. They always say the older you get the wiser you are. He also states that we tend to "over-educate" ourselves & some people overwork themselves just to be smart than the next man. Lord Henry seems like a very sincere man, he speaks what is seen to be a sincere idea, very honest & true in his somewhat sarcastic remarks toward basil & his love interest.

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  11. Devonta, i dont think to me, since lord henry is a very sarcastic man he wants to meet Mr. Gray because of basil's unique interest in him, he wants to meet him cause of that reason, he make want to "mock" basil or make dorian gray feel less than what he is with his constant remarks of sincerity.

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  12. To Courtney, I don't believe he is 100% sincere! For an idea to be accurate, it doesn't mean its valuable, it can simply just be FACT!

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  13. Last comment Symeerah's!

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  14. "because you have the most marvelous youth, and youth is the thing worth having"

    Lord henry was telling mr. gray that everybody wants to be young,so he better treasure it while he still is because once he gets old he will never be able to be young again.

    Corinthians Brown
    PD.1

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  15. "Ah, my dear Basil, that is exactly why i can feel it. Those who are faithful know only the trivial side of love; its is the faithless who knoe love's tragedies"

    By this lord henry means the people who love by faith never had there heart broken and people who are faithless have been through heart break and still love's other people

    Corinthians Brown
    PD.1
    Chapter one

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  16. Mykala,
    You have explained your views on intellectual and sincere ideas well. You defined both and came to a reasonable conclusion.

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  17. Courtney,

    Think about how this statement could be ironic. Lord Henry says that that the more insincere a man is, the more purely intellectual the idea. If this statement itself is to be "purely intellectual" the man who said it (Lord Henry) must be insincere!

    So... is this statement itself "purely intellectual" and Lord Henry is then insincere?

    Or... is this statement NOT purely intellectual and Lord Henry sincere?

    Or is it something else entirely?

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  18. Devonta,
    Good job recognizing sarcasm. Sarcasm can be hard to pick up on in written language. It's best understood with tones and facial expressions!

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  19. Ashley,

    You did a nice job finding a comment by Lord Henry that truly is sincere.

    However, you may want to consider whether or not Lord Henry is a sincere person IN GENERAL. Take a closer look at most of the things he says. Does Lord Henry REALLY value being truthful and honest?

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  21. Corinthians,

    Do you think these quotes help us understand whether or not Lord Henry is a sincere man? What does it mean to be a sincere person? How could these quotes relate to that?

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  22. With Lord Henry telling Basil, " How extra ordinary I thought you would never care for anything but your art," I agree with Devonte because I see Lord Henry as being sarcastic and picking at Basil because art is Basil's life and now some man by the name of Dorian Gray catches his attention. Lord Henry is not being sincere at all.

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