Equus Analysis: Day 2; A Clockwork Orange Discussion

Lab: Period 1

Please read the handout on the psychologists.

• Boris Cyrulnik: Our history does not determine our destiny
• Life sucks. Tragedy strikes. Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to bad people.
• Resilience is not inherent within a person; it is developed over one's lifetime, mainly through relationships. Humor and positive emotions build resilience.
• Some people have a greater ability to "bounce back" from problems or are able to manage or cope.
• Pain is determined often by how we react to it. The brain adjusts to pain or trauma (ventricles and the cortex shrinks), but it can recover in a well supported environment.
• Lawrence Kohlberg: Morality Develops in Six Stages
• Children develop a moral code and awareness of respect, empathy, and love through the interaction with others. 
• Preconventional stages (childhood): behavior is determined by conditioning (punishment, reward, and reciprocity).
• Conventional stages (adolescence-early adulthood): behaving as others would have us behave, upholding laws/rules, and maintaining social order...(i.e., school, church, family, etc.) 
• Postconventional stages (beyond conformity): the individual is the judge of moral behavior; development of the conscience and universal moral principles rather than social norms. Only a few ever reach this stage.
• Stanley Milgram: Humans are socialized to be obedient. Authority figures compel us to comply. Groups and peer pressure influence our moral thinking. Society demands obedience. See: The Miligram experiment.
• Paul Ekman: 6 basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise); emotions form in our unconscious and can override our fundamental drives: hunger, shelter, sex, self preservation or safety, etc.
• Alfred Adler: There is always someone superior to you, so you feel inferior around them. Inferiority motivates us to try new things or achieve. Balanced psyche leads to confidence. Imbalanced psyche leads to an inferiority complex and/or neurosis.

You should aim to use some of these theories, along with Freud, Anna Freud, Watson, Skinner, Pavlov, James, Janet, and the other psychologists we've studied to examine your chosen character:

• Dysart
• Alan
• Frank
• Dora
• Hesther
• Jill

Write a summary (1-2 pages approx. length) of how any of these theories help explain the motivation, objectives, conscious actions or words of that character in Act 2. Try to find reference to at least 3 different psychologists to examine your chosen character. Collect data by referencing the page or exact line that helps prove your analysis or case from Act 2.

If you finish before the end of the period, please do one of the following:

• Gather with at least one other student who has chosen the same character as you and compare notes. Did you find the same or similar examples? Help each other interpret the character you chose in Act 1 or 2.
• Work on any of the prompt ideas from your homework article on College Admissions. 
• Read and consult source material for A Clockwork Orange. We will have a discussion on the book next class.
• A Prophetic and Violent Masterpiece (scholarly journal article). This is an excellent example of how summary, analysis, critique, synthesis, and research can come together in a scholarly or academic article effectively. Please read this as a model, identifying where the article summarizes, where it analyzes, where it critiques, and how it uses synthesis and research from a variety of source material. Most of you will be expected to write similar articles later in this course, as well as in college.
• The Clockwork Condition (New Yorker) from the mouth of the author. This article, written by Burgess himself, helps explain what he attempted to accomplish with the book and provides excellent insight into the psychology of the author.
• A Clockwork Orange (film studies) - What it All Meant (video review of the film)
• And for fun: Thug Notes: A Clockwork Orange

Period 2:

We will conduct our Socratic seminar on A Clockwork Orange.

HOMEWORK: Your character analysis paper on Equus is due Wednesday, Nov. 15. The coffeehouse is Nov. 15 at 7:00. All are welcome to attend! If you want to be an emcee, please let me or Ms. Gamzon know ASAP.

Finally, please get your field trip forms signed and clear yourself with the Nurse's office for our field trip to MCC on the 16th of November. We will be leaving at 8:15 (period 2) from the Commons and will be gone until period 9. Lunch is provided by the college.