Serendipity: 聽the act of finding something valuable or delightful when one is not looking for it.
Dr. Berkman – English
My 聽9H2 and 9H3 read Brave New World and immediately after saw and discussed the film, Gattaca. 聽Gattaca is set in the not-too-distant future. 聽A less-than-perfect man, Vincent Freeman, 聽wants to travel to the stars; however, society 聽has categorized him as less than suitable given his imperfect genetic make-up. 聽He has become one of the underclass of humans that is useful only for menial jobs. To move ahead, Vincent assumes the identity of Jerome Morrow, a perfect genetic specimen who is a paraplegic as a result of a car accident. With professional advice, Vincent learns to deceive DNA and urine sample testing. 聽Because a stolen birthright is a major motif in Gattaca, a comparison and contrast paper comparing and contrasting the film to the story of Yaakov and Esav from Chumash was assigned. 聽(Not only is the ability to construct a tightly structured comparison and contrast a valuable skill, 聽but the ability to apply knowledge of 聽Chumash to secular studies in high school and on into college can be an advantageous one.) 聽So when my students asked me if I knew that they were currently studying the story of Yaakov and 贰蝉别惫听in their Chumash class: Serendipity
Mrs. Goldfisher – Chumash
Esav cries out to his father immediately after discovering that his brother Yaakov received the blessing that was intended for him and says: ‘Is not he rightly named Yaakov (root 注拽讘) ? for he has supplanted (讜讬注拽讘谞讬) me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing.’ (Genesis 37:36)
Is Esav correct? Did 驰补补办辞惫听trick him twice?
Esav is correct in that there were two separate stories where 驰补补办辞惫听comes out a winner: the sale of the birthright and the blessing narrative. 聽Students in 91影视 studied both these narratives. 聽Here is a peek at what we learned about the first story, namely the sale of the birthright:
Students first analyzed the text carefully to develop 贰蝉补惫鈥檚 character and study the various methods of characterization at play in Genesis chapter 25. 聽After the textual analysis we asked essential questions to discover whether or not 驰补补办辞惫听acted unjust. 聽First and foremost can a birthright be bought and sold? 聽Did Esav desire to be the firstborn with all the responsibility it entailed? Was he willing to wait to reap the benefits of the birthright or did he only appreciate immediate physical gratification? We studied medieval commentators such as Rashi, Rashbam and Chizkuni and evaluated their approaches. 聽In addition, we placed the biblical story in its historical context, within the Ancient Near East, and looked to the Nuzi Tablets for historical and legal support. 聽If one can argue that 驰补补办辞惫听purchased the birthright from someone who did not value the birthright and that he paid a fair amount for this honor than certainly 驰补补办辞惫听cannot be called a trickster.
The narrator has the last word 鈥渁nd Esav despised his birthright (35:34).鈥 聽Esav聽might claim he was deceived with the sale of the birthright but we cannot take all his words at face value.
Ben Moskowitz – 91影视 ninth grader
…The stealing of the birthright also gives the viewer a new perspective of Anton鈥檚 character. In the beginning, Esav didn’t care about his birthright and gave it up for lentil soup. However, Anton always cared about his birthright, and he always tried to prove to Vincent that he was the superior brother and deserved the birthright. This gives the viewer the initial reaction that Anton is good. Although Anton 聽tries putting Vincent down, he cares and appreciates his birthright. However, later when 驰补补办辞惫听gets the blessing instead of Esav and when 驰补补办辞惫听used 贰蝉补惫鈥檚 birthright, only then does Esav聽get angry. In fact, he gets so angry he attempts to kill his brother, which is why people who know the story view Esav as such an evil person. When Anton knew that his brother obtained his birthright, he got very angry, and he threatened to make Vincent鈥檚 聽deception public and ruin his dreams, which is almost like killing Vincent. By seeing that Anton鈥檚 and 贰蝉补惫鈥檚 reacted in very similar ways when learning that the other person took their birthright shows the viewer how evil Anton was. Anton acts in a very similar way to Esav, while even though Anton probably didn鈥檛 go through with his threat, just making it allowed us to compare him to Esav letting the viewer view him as an evil person. By comparing Anton and Esav, the viewer gains a clearer perspective on Anton鈥檚 character.