Sunday, July 22, 2012
Connection to History in "Dark Tide" and Disagreement with Freakonomics
Dark Tide
Like others, I also made connections with the writing style of Stephen Puleo in Dark Tide to other books I've read. But I found a connection with the story itself, too. It reminded me of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in the 1911 that we learned about in history last year. In Dark Tide, Jell was in charge of the building and upkeep of the molasses tank. It was a rushed and somewhat careless build and the necessary precautions weren't taken. This resulted in leaks in the tank which Jell knew about but didn't bother fixing. This is much like what happened at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The bosses neglected the safety and health of their workplace. There were many fire hazards and few exits in case of an emergency. In both instances, the people in charge didn't pay attention to possible danger and were more concerned with money than safety, so both ended in disaster.
Freakonomics
Overall, I like this book. The connections made are interesting, but some don't make too much sense to me. One thing that I didn't fully agree with was the connection made between schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers. They were only alike in regards to cheating, but not all teachers cheat for their students and not all sumo wrestlers cheat. The authors kind of generalized both groups so it felt like they were trying too hard to make a connection.
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Great connection Erica! I hadn't even noticed the connection between the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the collapse of the tank.I also share your point about Freakonomics because you're right not everyone cheats, but that is the way they made it appear in the story ; when in reality they are simply referring to a small group.
ReplyDeleteI disagree on some levels with Erica and Leighann on the Teacher and Sumo Wrestler example, because one of the themes of the novel is question conventional reasoning, which in this case may be that our teachers never cheat to help us, but they might to help us, help them. It is also evident that this is a small group of teachers that do this, but the fact that it occurs at all challenges incentives in education which is often highly praised.
ReplyDeleteI thought about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory too! But not for those same reasons, it just popped up in my head. I agree that the two events are similar though. Jell did not care about the workers. When the guy fell into the tank during construction, he could care less. He was mad that the rest of the workers were being extra cautious for a couple of days after the incident.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the authors were trying to say that all teachers and sumo wrestlers cheat, they were just saying that some of them do to get ahead, although you're right in saying that the fact that some teachers and sumo wrestlers cheat was really the only connection between the two groups.
ReplyDeleteGreat connection to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory! I also agree that the authors seemed to be trying too hard to find two unrelated topics and connect them to each other. The sumo wrestling didn't seem to have any connection with the teachers other than cheating, and was only one example the authors used that had the same problem.
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