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Tuesday 4 March 2014

The Adventure of Discussion (And Apologia) -Week Four

To begin with- I apologize to my teachers and friends; getting sick and not being able to work was never my intent and I am sincerely sorry if it has hindered your work or made your lives any less easy. I will work my hardest to keep up and do what must be done.
In recompense, I award you this:
A baby Sherlock tries on his coat.

Now, apologies all in order- onto the real heart of the matter.

One of my favorite stories, A Study In Scarlet begins John Watson and Sherlock Holmes' time together, and what a wondrous beginning it is. Riddled with adventure and daring-do, this tale is a classic.

It not only establishes who our set of protagonists will be, but how they view each other.

Here are some questions I hope will metaphorically tickle your fancy and begin some discussion.

1) What is Watson's first impression of Holmes? How is it formed, and how (and by whom) is it influenced?
2) What is Holmes' first impression of Watson? 
3) Why do you think Watson agrees to letting himself get closer to Holmes?
4) What would you do in Watson's place? 

Have fun, all!
(And once again, I really am sorry. I love reading these stories and falling behind causes me as much woe as I'm sure it's caused you all.)

The dynamic duo that have captured our hearts all these many years.
-Katie

2 comments:

  1. Its okay Katie, you were sick, and we forgive you. That .gif is really cute by the way :D

    1) Watson's first impression of Holmes is "who-does-this-know-it-all-think-he-is?". Its formed by his take on Holmes' deductions of himself, as well as a little help from Sanford.

    2) Holmes is a little harder to read, especially because its not written from his point of view. I would say his impression was "Afghanistan or Iraq" but I wouldn't be completely accurate. While Holmes does deduce a lot about Watson, we're not really given an opinion. Although, we can probably assume its a good one, seeing as though he's willing to split a flat with him

    3) I think Watson lets himself become friends with Holmes because he's lonely and needs something to do. Honestly, I'm glad they became friends, I think Watson would have spiraled downward psychologically if he hadn't found some source of adrenaline and excitement.

    4) In Watson's place, I might go along with it for a while, see if i can actually tolerate Holmes. If yes, then I'd stay, if no, then I'd politely leave. (This is all coming from the analytic side of me, not the I-LOVE-THE-SHERLOCK-HOLMES-BOOKS side.) If it was from the fanatic standpoint, I'd say yes automatically, but of course, that involves me having previous knowledge of all the fun cases we would go on, so really, that viewpoint is meaningless.

    ~Claire

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  2. Yes, we do forgive you :)
    1.) Watson is at first intrigued by Holmes and his deduction skills, and sort of takes it upon himself to figure out who exactly Holmes is, what he does, and how he does it.

    2.) As Claire said, because the story is from Watson's perspective, it is difficult to see what Holmes' impression of Watson is. However, Watson seems trustworthy to him as he is practically immediately willing to room together.

    3.) Firstly, Watson gets closer to Holmes simply because they are living together because they both needed someone to room with. Then, after so long of doing nothing, Watson needs some mental stimulation, with he decides to get by studying Holmes, trying to figure out what it is exactly that he does.

    4.) In Watson's place i would have done the same thing, arrange to room with someone who is trustworthy enough, no matter how strange, where we could both afford to go half and half, then after so many monotonous days, decide to learn more about my roommate, especially if they were to invite me on an exciting crime solving quest.

    ~Jarod

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