1. Write an
analytical paragraph about the following quote: “Ignorance is bliss.”
You must address three sources: Flowers for Algernon, "Homr," and "Patrick Smartpants.""Patrick Smartpants" can be found on You Tube.
"Homr" can be found online if you know how to look for it. There is also a Wiki or summary found online.
**7Eleven and SK8 due Tuesday (technical difficulties Thursday).
"Ignorance is bliss" originated from Thomas Gray's poem "Ode to a Distant Prospect of Eton College." Typically when someone thinks of this quote, they would rather not know certain information that would result in bad news or a negative outcome. The quote means that it is better to not know something that is bad. For example, in Flowers for Algernon Charlie does not know he is being made fun of. His ignorance, or lack of knowledge, saves him from the negative emotions he would have if he understood that his coworkers were being mean and making fun of him. The fact that Charlie doesnt understand is what allows him to stay happy and positive. Another example where "ignorance is bliss" can be applied is in Homer's situation. Just like Charlie, Homer got surgery that would make him smarter too. Before the surgery, Homer and Charlie would both be unaware of any negative events occuring which would keep them "at bliss." For this reason, Charlie and Homer are very similiar. A final example where "ignorance is bliss" can be applied is for "Patrick Smartpants." Patrick's lack of knowledge prevents him from understanding the painful events he endures such as, falling off a cliff, and losing his head. After this happens, Spongebob thinks he finds Patricks head but in reality it is coral. The coral makes Patrick intelligent which leads him to now understand Spongebob's lack of intelligence and other rather negative things. When Patrick was "stupid" he had a great best friend and lived life very positively all due to his ignorance. It is clear that for all three sources each character can live by Gray's quote "ignorance is bliss."
ReplyDeleteDeanna Javer
ReplyDeleteMrs. Drosdick/Mrs. Kline
Period 4
5/29/14
“Ignorance is bliss,” and when a person transforms from mentally challenged to intelligent, the quote starts to affect them badly. For example in Patrick SmartPants, Patrick Star fell off a cliff and that led to him becoming smart shortly afterward. The price of smarts led to serious relationship issues with his friends such as preferring to study rather than play with SpongeBob. This caused a break in their friendship. Outsmarting Sandy Cheeks revealed that both friends would rather have Patrick as an idiot than a genius. Flowers for Algernon showed that Charlie getting surgery on his brain to become a smart man led to achievements that only he can see. Becoming a genius caused him to lose his job at the bakery and to find out that his own family doesn’t accept him as a genius but only as his mentally retarded self. Finally in Homr, after removing the crayon from his brain, Homer began to realize what Lisa (his daughter) has to deal with because of being smart for her age. It caused his workmates to lose their jobs, making them his enemies and not seeing the funny side of something so obvious. In the end, Patrick, Charlie and Homer all changed back to their former selves and find out that they all would rather be their dumb selves and happy rather than a smart genius and unlikeable.
We don’t know what the word starving means. We may not get to eat at a good time in school or work, and complain to our friends that we are starving; but a child in Africa made of brittle bones may not see lunch for a week. However bad the situation is with world hunger we continue to moan about being hungry the second our stomachs rumble. Our ignorance about starving families lets us eat whatever we want without being consumed by guilt. Ignorance is bliss because if you don’t know something, you never have to worry about it. For example, Homer and Patrick never thought about the perils of being smart before they became smart. Once they gained intelligence, they both started to see undesirable traits in their friends and themselves. Patrick and Homer lost friends because they acted better and more advanced even though it was unintentional. Also in Flowers for Algernon Charlie started acting superior to his friends at the bakery, and he realized that his friends used to make fun of him. Before these three characters became smart, they were much happier and content with their lives. This is because before they were ignorant to the problems around them and being made fun of. Ignorance is also bliss in schools today, with bullying, since children do not realize that words and actions hurt others, as can be seen in the clip “To This Day.”
ReplyDeleteQuote Analysis
ReplyDeleteGianni Spinella
Miss Drosdick
Language Arts/ Period 7
#seveneleven16
5/30/14
“Ignorance is bliss”
Intelligence is a wonderful thing. It is what allows us to breathe, blink, sleep, walk, talk, think, feel, and practically everything you are capable of doing. It all comes from your brain; your intellect is what controls it all. However intelligence is more than what your body can do but what your brain is capable to think, comprehend, and solve. Not being able to be intellectually aware is nothing but unhappiness, and pain to Charlie Gordon. That is why he had the procedure done to him. He knew he was unaware and unintelligent and he wanted to change that. He had this motivation, this drive to become smart. “After the operashun Im gonna try to be smart. Im gonna try awful hard.” This is an excerpt from before Charlie got his operation. His ignorance was not bliss, instead it was like the life of the prisoner in the cave. For some ignorance is bliss. In the episode “Patrick Smartpants” Patrick discovered that his unexplainable intelligence caused anguish to SpongeBob because there diversity split the two best friends apart. Eventually, Patrick “Smartpants” returns to the scene of his decapitation with the help of his old pal SpongeBob and swaps his brain coral for his real head and Patrick returns to his normal “stupid” self. He is immediately becomes as joyous as SpongeBob. This story demonstrated how Patrick’s stupidity only made him happy relating to the quote above. Another connection I can make to the topic of how Homer in “HOMR” gets the crayon removed from his brain and he becomes dramatically more intelligent, similar to Charlie and Patrick. Then he becomes closer to his wife Lisa but stretches his relationships with his friends. Patrick and Homer went through the same struggle. Realizing that he is growing further from his friends he realizes that he does not wish his intelligence, instead he wishes for his stupidity. These examples clearly prove that “Ignorance is bliss.”
#seveneleven16
Sometimes it may be better to have the bitter cruel truths of life gently hidden behind a wall of frosted glass that only filters through the good and kindness of the world, straining out the clouds and mud puddles of human kind. Ignorance is bliss for Charlie Gordon, Homer Simpson, and Patrick Star. When these characters are unaware, they are happy. Charlie from Flowers For Algernon is able to laugh at himself and make people like him before the operation. Alice tells Charlie, "'There was something about you that made us respect you - yes, even as you were'" (299). Charlie admits he was "incapable of making friends or thinking about other people and their problems" (253) after the operation. Charlie gains intelligence, but loses his innocence and becomes a lonely man. Charlie's ignorance benefits him in two ways. It makes some people like him and keeps him unaware of those who mock him. Charlie thinks people are laughing with him when they are really laughing at him. But this doesn't matter to Charlie because he doesn't know any better. Patrick Star from "SpongeBob SquarePants" faces a similar situation. Before Patrick becomes smart, his friends, specifically SpongeBob, find him more likable because he is fun to be around. A favorite activity of theirs is going jellyfishing; however, after Patrick becomes smart in the episode "Patrick SmartPants," he alienates his friends by bragging about his intelligence. Patrick learns, "Friendship is more valuable than knowledge" (Episode 68a). He was happier when he was ignorant and having fun with his friends. Homer Simpson from "The Simpsons" learns the same lesson that ignorance is bliss. Homer has below average intelligence until he undergoes surgery to remove a crayon from his brain in the episode "HOMR." Before the operation, Homer is not a smart man, but he is a happy man. His behavior is silly and child-like, but that changes when he becomes smart. He loses all his friends when a report he files about the unsafe working conditions at the power plant results in unemployment for all his friends. Homer is miserable when his friends shun him, so he has another surgery to put the crayon back into his brain. Homer prefers friendship over intelligence. When Charlie, Patrick and Homer don't have a clue, they have something more important: friendship, because friendship is magic.
ReplyDeleteIs ignorance bliss? Is it better to be ignorant about the world around you if you are already happy as you are? In Flowers for Algernon, readers could argue that life was better for Charlie before he underwent the surgery to make him more intelligent. For example, before the surgery, Charlie had “friends,” a job, and a home. The more intelligent Charlie becomes, the more he appears to irritate people. On page 153, Charlie notes, “Burt is annoyed with me. He finds me impatient and the others must feel the same.” When he contemplates this, he also wonders if being smarter is worth it. His boss fires him and kicks him out and his girlfriend is uncomfortable with him. And now, the scientists and doctors are afraid to even talk to him as a colleague. He goes on to say, “What is my place? Who and what am I now? Am I the sum of my life, or only of the past months?” Clearly, Charlie is wondering if ignorance is bliss. Would he have been better off if he didn’t have the surgery that made him understand the world around him that ultimately caused him a great deal of pain? The same thing happens to Homer in the Simpsons episode, HOMR. Homer learns the hard way that sometimes, facts should not be revealed. Like Charlie, he made his colleagues angry with him after he became more intelligent. The only person he is able to talk to is his smart daughter, Lisa. And even she supports the idea that intelligence doesn’t go hand and hand with happiness. When Homer asks his daughter, “Lisa, why didn't you warn me? Being a brain has alienated me from all my friends.” Lisa replies, “Dad, as intelligence goes up, happiness often goes down. In fact I made a graph...” In the end, Homer makes a decision to fail his experiment and go back to being ignorant. He prefers happiness to intelligence. Homer believes that ignorance is bliss. The last source, Patrick Smartpants, also supports the opinion that ignorance is bliss. When Patrick turns “smart”, he begins to lose his friends. Patrick makes them feel inferior to him. At the end of the episode, when Spongebob asks him, “Are you sure you want to give up being smart and sophisticated to be my friend again?” Patrick replies, “Knowledge can never replace friendship. I prefer to be an idiot!” According to these three sources, ignorance IS bliss. Each main character is happier being “dumb.”
ReplyDeleteTaylor Davis
ReplyDeleteMs. Drosdick
Period 4
6/2/14
The main characters in “Homr,” “Patrick Smartpants,” and Flowers for Algernon are Patrick, Homer, and Charlie. They all learn ignorance is bliss. All three of them were all mentally retarded and happy at some point. Only when they became intelligent were they unhappy, isolated and pompous. In the episode, “Homr,” from the Simpsons, one watches from the viewpoint of Homer Simpson as he becomes smarter after a crayon is dislodged from his brain. Homer becomes egotistical, begins to lose his friends, and quickly regrets being an intellectual. The only person Homer is able to relate to is Lisa Simpson because she’s the only other smart character. Even Lisa supports the idea that ignorance is bliss when her dad questions, “Lisa, why didn't you warn me? Being a brain has alienated me from all my friends.” Lisa quickly responds, “Dad, as intelligence goes up, happiness often goes down. In fact I made a graph...” Unlike his daughter, Homer chooses stupidity over intelligence. He wants his friends and his life back. Patrick from “Patrick Smartpants,” makes the same decision in this Spongebob episode. In all the other episodes of Spongebob, like Homer, Patrick was mentally retarded. Still, he was a sweet starfish and best friends with Spongebob. When he becomes massively intellectual, he becomes pompous and egotistical. He alienates Spongebob from his life and focuses on more intellectual activities, but he’s miserable. When he decides to “come back,” he says, “Knowledge can never replace friendship. I prefer to be an idiot!” He and Spongebob embrace in a true “ignorance is bliss” moment. The last character who supports the idea that “ignorance is bliss” is Charlie Gordon in Flowers for Algernon. Even though Charlie is smarter after the operation, he is always agitated and insecure. He loses his job at the bakery where his only “friends” were, he can’t get close to Alice, and he’s agitated with the doctors. He shows his discomfort when he says, “…But the deeper I get tangled up in this mass of dreams and memories the more I realize that emotional problems can’t be solved as intellectual problems are…” Statements like these leave the reader wondering if Charlie likes being smart. It appears he is already recognizing that some ignorance is blissful.
The book “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes and the Sponge Bob episode “Patrick Smartpants” are similar in many ways. In each of these stories, there is a key event that causes one of the characters to go through a drastic change. In “Flowers for Algernon”, the main character, Charlie Gordon, goes through a surgery. In “Patrick Smartpants”, Patrick the star falls off a cliff and loses his head. It is replaced with a piece of brain coral. Both of these changes cause the characters to gain oodles of knowledge. Backing up a little, before the surgery, Patrick and Charlie are not considered the sharpest tools in the shed. “I felt good when he said not everbody with an eye-Q of 68 had that thing like I had it.” p. 9. This shows that Charlie has a somewhat low IQ. Patrick is this way, too. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t have friends. Patrick has many friends, including Sponge Bob. In fact, these two best friends are so close, they are practically attached. Charlie has friends, as well, including his teacher, Miss Kinnian and his coworkers, Joe Carp and Gimpy. Unfortunately, the surgery and the accident don’t only cause increased intellect. These occurrences change the two characters. It changed them like a cocoon changes a caterpillar into a butterfly. Patrick and Charlie become condescending and pompous. ‘”No Russian, Chinese, Portuguese?”’ p. 150. This change in character causes Patrick and Charlie’s to become weary of them. ‘” There was something in you before. I don’t know… a warmth, an openness, a kindness that mad everyone like you and like to have you around. Now, with all your intelligence and knowledge, there are differences-“’. P. 133. This shows that the surgery and the accident causes strain on Patrick and Charlie’s relationships. In the end of both the novel and the show, the effects of the fall and the surgery are both reversed. In “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie’s brain just slowly deteriorates. In “Patrick Smartpants”, Patrick tries to reverse the change by falling off the cliff and screwing back on the correct head. When these two characters find themselves in their own life again, they find their friends as well. ”he said Charlie if anyone bothers you call me or Joe or Frank and we will set him strait.” A few differences with these stories are Charlie goes through the change voluntarily, while Patrick’s was an accident. Also, the changes happen right away with Patrick, while it takes some time for Charlie’s knowledge to set in. Lastly, Patrick chooses to go back to his old self while Charlie is crushed by the idea and the process of becoming his old self again.
ReplyDelete#oneinamillion
#oneinamillion6
In all three sources, it is shown that ignorance is bliss. First, the main character in every source bothers many people after the surgery. For example, in the episode of Spongebob, previous relationships such as the one between Patrick and Spongebob are torn apart, in addition to new relationships that are formed such as the one between Patrick and Sandy. This relationship fails because Patrick makes Sandy feel inferior with his new, intelligent self. This is similar to how in “Homr”, Homer annoys all of his friends by getting them all fired as a result of his intelligence. Also, in Flowers for Algernon, Charlie’s new relationship with Alice doesn’t work out after she tells him that his intelligence is even higher than hers now. Ignorance is bliss because once each character realizes how their intelligence is ruining their interactions with others, they all wish to go back to their previous, ignorant selves. For example, Homer asks them to put the crayon back into his brain, and Patrick asks to have his previous brain back because they are both more blissful when they’re ignorant.
ReplyDeleteThe thirst for knowledge has always plagued humanity from the beginning of time. From Socrates and the ancient Greek philosophers, to the modern inventors like Einstein and Edison, the quest for knowledge is never ending. As humans learn more and more, we have also learned that knowledge does not necessarily mean happiness. The quote, “Ignorance is bliss,” is often addressed, particularly by the works, “Homr”, “Patrick Smartpants”, and “Flowers for Algernon”. In “Homr”, Homer learns he has a crayon in his brain, and when removed, he becomes smart. In “Patrick Smartpants”, Patrick falls, and his head is replaced by a much smarter one. In “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie has a surgery to raise his IQ. These three works are all very similar in that they express the same theme. In every situation, a person lacking intelligence becomes smart. Afterwards, the characters grow apart from their friends, and begin to feel grief. They then lose their intelligence, and return to their original, happy lives. This can be explained by the quote, “Ignorance is bliss.” Intelligent individuals are commonly worriers. They feel that they need to solve problems, and their superior intellect makes it hard for them to connect with their friends. For instance, in “Patrick Smartpants”, Patrick and his parents make fun of SpongeBob because of his foolishness. When Patrick learns SpongeBob no longer likes him, Patrick is in anguish. The three works clearly depict that “Ignorance is bliss”. With this established, the question remains, “Is knowledge anguish?”
ReplyDeleteThe following quote of “Ignorance is bliss” can be defined as lots of ideas or meanings but the meaning in this case is that lack of knowledge can bring you perfect happiness. All of the three sources stress to you this quote so that you understand what ignorance can truly mean to you sometimes. As you watch or read the sources, throughout the plot of the story you’ll notice that a lack of knowledge could equal perfect happiness in life. In the book Flowers for Algernon, the main character, Charlie, was an adult with mental disabilities who had the option to go through a surgery that could risk his life or make him really intelligent. He ended up doing the surgery and it worked, it made his I.Q. sky rocket over 100 points. When he becomes smarter, he starts to realize all the problems around him unlike his old self, this caused a lot of stress for him. This shows that Charlie could’ve had perfect happiness if he was still ignorant, thus the quote “Ignorance is bliss.” In the episode “Patrick Smartpants” from the series of Spongebob Squarepants, it has character named Patrick Star who is very goofy and has a no common sense. Before he becomes smart, Patrick and his best friend, Spongebob, hang out together very often and that day they happened to be at jellyfish fields where they like to catch jellyfish. While they were goofy around, Patrick falls of a cliff and is stuck in the ground. While he is in the ground, Spongebob picks a piece of brain coral up and puts it on his head. Instantly, Patrick becomes really smart and says stuff about more mature things like beauty and nature. When Patrick finally realizes that he loves his old self, he decides to fall off the cliff again to see if he would change back. When spongebob and him got to the bottom they realized that he is still the same and nothing has changed, but that was until Patrick used calculations to find his head and they also noticed a brain coral field right next to it. Quicker than a cheetah, Patrick puts on his old head while saying that he missed his old life. This shows “Ignorance is bliss” because Patrick, when he was smart disliked not having a good friend like Spongebob and he had missed his old goofy life with a lack of knowledge and perfect happiness. The last source that shows this quote is the episode “Homr” from the series The Simpsons. The main character, Homer, isn’t the smartest tool in the shed. He watches very immature cartoons along with his passion to do anything. Right before his surgery to remove a crayon in his head the doctors told him this would be a risk, but Homer didn’t anyway without thinking. Right ever the surgery you can see that he got smarter because he even dressed differently and spoke in words he has never even heard before. The reason he wanted his lack of knowledge back and his happiness is because he was the primary reasons for putting his co-workers and his friends out of work at his job. Homer realized his ignorance is what made him and so he asked the doctors to insert the crayon back into his head which made him become unintelligent again. All three of these sources really tell you why “Ignorance is bliss.” “Ignorance is bliss” might be trying to tell us that we are as perfect as a no-hitter in baseball, just the way we are.
ReplyDelete"Ignorance is bliss" is represented in all three sources, Flowers for Algernon, "Homr" and "Patrick Smartpants". In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie becomes unhappy because he is starting to realize more things that are going on around him, that he never noticed before. Charlie says "I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me." Charlie becomes unhappy after realizing that his friends weren't his actual friends. A lot of new things are happening to Charlie, and he has to take them all in very fast. In "Patrick Smartpants", when Patrick was ignorant, he enjoyed life and having friends, such as SpongeBob. But, as soon as he falls off the cliff, he becomes smart. He loses all of his friends because they either feel inferior towards him or he gets annoyed with them. He misses them all, so he goes back to find his old head so that he can become his old self again, because he would rather be happy but not-so smart than really smart and be alone. In "Homr", Homer Simpson undergoes a surgery to remove a crayon from his brain. When the crayon is removed, he becomes a genius and loses his friends. He goes to work to report something and ends up getting everyone fired, so he lost all of his friends. Patrick goes back to get the crayon back in his brain, so that he can become happy again. They all have in common that when the characters become smarter than they were before, they also become unhappy. They were all mostly happy with they're lives before the incident/surgery that made them smarter. In Flowers for Algernon, "Homr" and "Patrick Smartpants", ignorance was bliss for the characters.
ReplyDeleteThe quote “ignorance is bliss” is a true quote. If you are ignorant, you are kinder, happier, and live a more positive life. For example, in Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordan is not happy after his surgery. After his brain surgery, Charlie had an I.Q of 185. He was miserable and mean. As the text says, “…you changed after the surgery…” Charlie was rude and inconsiderate. He had a negative attitude and made his friends feel bad about themselves. When you are ignorant you also have many friends. In “Homr”, he had many friends before the surgery. He was funny and kind. After his surgery and removed the crayon in his brain, he lost many of his good friends. Homr was rude and was inconsiderate. As well as being kind and friendly, you also make no big mistakes. If you’re ignorant, you don’t make intentional mistakes and problems. You live a non-regretful life. In “Patrick Smartpants” Patrick fell and grew intelligent. He was harsh and lost friends. He also had regret ever getting smart. Patrick had intentionally lost some of his good friends. Patrick had wanted to lose his intelligence. The quote “ignorance is bliss” is true because you are kinder, happier, and more friendly.
ReplyDelete4muskteers15
ReplyDelete“Ignorance is bliss” is what some say. Yet, it is very true. In the book, Flowers for Algernon, the main character (Charlie) is mentally handicapped. One day, he gets an offer to become a genius. He takes it, and he soon is. Upon becoming smart, he loses his friends, and has to fend for himself. He then becomes OCD, and begins to cry and have nightmares about his awful past. This shows that “Ignorance is bliss” is indeed a true statement, for if it wasn’t for Charlie becoming smart, he would be happy and not be suffering. One television show episode that also proves the point that “ignorance is bliss” is in the TV episode of SpongeBob Squarepants, “Patrick Smartpants”. In this, the co-star (Patrick) is a happy imbecile. He has a best friend, named SpongeBob. They are always happy, and full of joy. One day, Patrick falls off a cliff and becomes a genus. He soon secludes himself from the outside world, and nobody likes him. He hates it so much that he finds a way to become stupid again. After he removes his “Smartness”, he is once again happy and dumb. This also supports that “Ignorance is bliss” because it shows that when Patrick went from dumb to smart, he was suffering, and when he because dumb, he was happy again, proving that ignorance really is bliss. My third and final reason for supporting that “ignorance is bliss” is from the television episode HOMR on the TV show The Simpsons. In this episode, the stupid star (Homer) undergoes surgery to become smart. Prior to the surgery, he has a low IQ and is not smart at all. He does, however, have a lot of friends, and everyone loves him. After the surgery, he becomes as smart as Einstein compared to everyone else. He starts loosing friends, and before you know it, he gets many people fired, including what little friends he has left. Now, everyone hates him, and he can’t even leave his house without tomatoes being thrown at him. He is in such pain, that he undoes the surgery, becoming is old stupid, lovable self. In the end, all three sources prove that the statement “Ignorance is bliss” is very true.
4musketeers18
ReplyDeleteThe theme of knowledge and its disadvantages are clearly depicted in the novel Flowers for Algernon and its parodies: Patrick Smartpants and Homr (both of which are television episodes). The setup of the plots of all of the three works are similar. They all start with a likeable, but intellectually subpar males who experiences some sort of incident that dramatically increases their intelligence. Then the characters start to face changes in their environments. After the full impact from the incident sets in, the victim slowly becomes socially alienated by those around him. The victim begins to spend all his free time studying or preforming various experiments, while their ‘social’ calendar starts to become nonexistent. In Homr and Flowers for Algernon, Simpson and Charlie begin to form new kinds of relationships that are more three-dimensional compared to their pervious experiences. Homer begins to truly appreciate his daughter, and he is able to bond with her on a way that was not possible before his surgery. Charlie develops a not-so-platonic relationship with Alex Kinnian and Fay, his increase in intellect has caused him to yearn for certain emotions which push him to be attracted to others in a way he had never experienced before his surgery. In Patrick Smartpants and Flowers for Algernon, the protagonists, Patrick and Charlie, unintentionally create “haters” for themselves, because of the feeling of inferiority that starts to plague those that interact with them. In Patrick Smartpants and Homr, Patrick and Homer begin to regret their surgery, because it has caused them to become socially unaccepted. This causes them to create some sort of strategy that enables them to be restored to their original level of intellect. I believe that Patrick’s and Homer’s regret of becoming smarter foreshadows Charlie’s long term reaction to his surgery. I also believe that the regression in Patrick’s and Homer’s IQ foreshadows Charlie’s own intellectual regression as well. In Patrick Smartpants and Homr, there are two key morals that are learned. For Patrick, that lesson is that knowledge can never replace friendship. For Homer, that lesson is that as intelligence goes up, happiness often goes down. Homer’s revelation reflects the theme of “ignorance is Bliss”, that Daniel Keyes has incorporated into Flowers for Algernon.
4musketeers18
Because my answer is so long, I have to split it up into 2 separate posts because the blog will not accept entries over 4000 charecters
ReplyDeleteMatthew Baker
We all understand the quote “ignorance is bliss,” or the fact that not knowing about something is a good thing because then we don’t worry about it. Ignorance can prevent people from understanding or exposing themselves to horrors. Or the pain that a kept secret that is meant to be hidden can cause. In the television series “SpongeBob Squarepants,” the character Patrick Seastar is very ignorant. He is unaware of his surroundings and, in other words, dumb. He might be dumb, but he is still very happy just being SpongeBob’s friend. In episode 8 of season 4, entitled “Patrick Smartpants,” the viewer is shown a different kind of Patrick Seastar. This episode reveals the true, harsh reality of when his ignorance goes away. In the beginning of the episode, when Patrick falls off of a cliff in Jellyfish Fields and is met with his new knowledge, he becomes increasingly smarter and begins to shut out his friends by dissing them and making them feel inferior. As the episode progresses, Patrick begins to realize and he notices that his best friend SpongeBob was the “hamster that kept his wheel turning.” The fun they had kept them going. It was their purpose for living. Patrick is then on the hunt to rediscover “fun” and in the end with Patrick’s new and improved knowledge, discovers his old head, and SpongeBob asks the final question: “Are you sure you want to give up being smart and sophisticated?” Patrick responds with one of the best quotes that can be related to the next two sources “Knowledge can never replace friendship.” Clearly, Patrick believes that “Ignorance is bliss.” Knowledge also replaces friendship in two other major sources, “Flowers for Algernon,” and the episode “Homr” in the Simpsons. Both sources show what will happen when a person with a disability or a crayon shoved up their nose can do when they want to get smart. Both Charlie Gordon and Homer Simpson are “dumb” and are offered the opportunity to become more intelligent.
This is part 2 of 2
ReplyDeleteMatthew Baker
In the episode “Homr,” Homer decides to become a test subject at a scientific research facility, in the hopes of making more money. One of the doctors then stumbles across the fact that Homer has a crayon shoved up his nose from when he was an infant. Homer has the surgery to have the crayon removed, and he becomes increasingly smarter. His friends begin to notice his increased knowledge and along with this, a know-it-all attitude. They start to leave him, and almost try to kill him because he gets most of them fired from their jobs. He later discovers that he was perfect the way he was before: dumb with lots of friends, and happy. He even says to his bright daughter, Lisa, “Lisa, why didn't you warn me? Being a brain has alienated me from all my friends?” Lisa responds, “Dad, as intelligence goes up, happiness often goes down.” Homer then has one of his old friends shove a crayon back up his nose and Homer becomes “dumb” and happy again. Homer, like Patrick found bliss in his ignorance. In “Flowers for Algernon,” Charlie Gordon agrees to the opportunity to become smart. He has to go through a number of different medical treatments in order to do so. After Charlie has the surgery done, he faces the cold, harsh reality of what he has been missing—knowledge. He also learns that people have been making fun of him for most of his life. This doesn’t make him very happy. He can also now recall that his family has become a mess and his life is completely turned upside-down. It seems the smarter Charlie becomes, the more miserable he is. He can no longer maintain relationships. In one of his last encounters with the doctors who made him “smart,” Charlie sums his experience up with this statement: “Intelligence is often one of the greatest human gifts. But all too often a search for knowledge drives out the search for love.” Unlike Homer and Patrick, Charlie doesn’t make his own decision to become “dumber.” His is a failed experiment that he is forced to accept. Still, it leaves the reader wondering if Charlie maybe should have accepted who he was in the first place when he was better off not knowing what his life was like before. Like Homer and Patrick, he finds some truth in the statement, “Ignorance is Bliss.” All of these characters learned that they were happier when they were ignorant.
"Flowers for Algernon", "Homr", and "Patrick Smartpants" are all related because at first the character isn't smart but after their surgery or incident they become extremely smart. The effects right after the surgeries are that they become smarter and use larger vocab words. In "Patrick Smartpants" Patrick becomes smart and no longer is friends with Spongebob. In "Homr" he becomes closer with his daughter because she likes that he is smart but he also loses all of his friends at work becasue he has become a "braniac". In both "Patrick Smartpants" and "Homr" they regret not having their friends around anymore. Charlie from "Flowers for Algernon", Patrick, and Homr all learn that being smart isn't the greatest because they have lost their closest friends.
ReplyDelete#7eleven8
The quote "ignorance is bliss" is shown in several different ways in all three sources. In source A, Flowers for Algernon, Charlie is numb and ignorant to the world. When Charlie has surgery and becomes smarter, he discovers some things that are painful, such as his newly recalled memories. This is showing that ignorance is bliss for Charlie since he was not dealing with the agonies of the real world while he was ignorant. In source B, Homr, Homer is not very smart but he is still very happy with everyone and everything in his life. When the crayon is removed from his brain, he becomes smarter. Now that Homer is smarter, he does not value his family and friends as much anymore. This also proves that ignorance is bliss for Homer because he enjoyed life more when he was unintelligent. In source C, Patrick Smartypants, Patrick falls of a cliff and becomes extremely intelligent. Normally, Patrick is not very smart and neither is his best friend, Spongebob. When Patrick gets smarter, it causes him to drift away from Spongebob. Patrick decides that his friendship with Spongebob was more important than being intelligent and keeps trying to get dumb again. This shows that ignorance is bliss for Patrick since he would rather be dumb than lose his friendship with Spongebob. These sources prove that ignorance is in fact bliss, when some who are ignorant to the world, find out what it would be like to know everything, the goods and the bads, about life and discover that life was better when they knew less.
ReplyDelete“Ignorance is bliss” means that if you don't know about something bad that may be going on in your life or in the world around you, then you can carry on your own merry little way happily and if can't affect your view of the world. In Homr, Patrick Smartpants, and Flowers For Algernon, the main characters; Homr, Patrick, and Charlie aren’t very aware of the situations that people around them deal with. They are all just in their own little bubble of happiness. But, as soon as they got smart their bubbles were popped because they knew all the ups and downs of life that others didn’t know. They also seemed to have lost the people they care about. Homr lost all his friends and his job by using his intelligence. Patrick lost SpongeBob, his bestfriend and Sandy, his other friend because he thought they weren’t smart enough. And Charlie lost Alice, his friend, his mentor, his lover. This is because his intelligence changed him for the worst. He started acting like he was better than everyone just because his IQ was higher. Unfortunately, people who believe that the world is nothing but butterflies and rainbows are so up in the clouds they don’t know the ugly truths. Ernest Hemingway was once quoted as saying that smart people are often never happy, the reason being that they know much more about the world, the good and the bad. People who were brought up believing in only beautiful things, are blind of the horrific parts of the world.
ReplyDeleteCould ignorance actually be bliss? Is better to be too ignorant to not know of the dangers in life? In Flowers for Algernon, “Patrick Smartpants”, and “Homr”, the theme of “ignorance is bliss” is portrayed throughout. In the sources, the main characters have something happen to them that increases their IQ. Prior to the incidents, the characters are ignorant, immature, and very random. Post-incident, however, they are mature and very intelligent. In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie’s “friends” at the bakery don’t like him anymore because he is a know-it-all, and thus, very intimidating. Also, when Charlie discovers Gimpy’s secret, Gimpy turns against him for knowing too much. Gimpy says to Charlie, “’I can tell you, you’ll be sorry you stuck your nose in.’” This shows that when people know more than they should, it may have a negative effect. Events are similar in “Patrick Smartpants” and “Homr” because both Patrick Star and Homer Simpson loose friends due to their intelligence and maturity. These represent how ignorance is bliss because having friends is blissful and if you know too much, you could lose them. In the end, the characters regret losing their ignorance. Homer gets the crayon shoved back into his brain in order to decrease his IQ, and Patrick jumps off the cliff to find where his real brain landed (turned out, the head he had on was brain coral). With these sources in mind, the theme of “ignorance is bliss” can be justified.
ReplyDeleteone thing that happens in all the sources is that all the character lose their friends. in Charlies case the people who he thought were friends ended up not being his friends because he realized that they werent laughing with him they were laughing at him. With Homr he becomes smart and says to the boss of the nuke plant that he doesnt need to pay workers when he could just have robots do all the work so then all his friends get made and never talk to him. if homr never became smart and took the crayon out of his nose everyone wouldnt have lost their jobs to robots. with Patrick he becomes too smart for his best friend and then ends up being alone because he became too smart and too mean to talk to other people. then his best friend sponge bob ends up being the one who saves him and thats true friend ship. In the long run all these people lost their friends because they became too smart. im not saying that being smart is bad im saying that you have to balance freinds and education equally. If not good luck in life. ignorance is bliss in only some cases and balancing friends is one of them.
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ReplyDelete“Ignorance is bliss.” Is very evident throughout each source. In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon has an operation done to increase his knowledge capacity. He does this to fulfil a long need of wanting to be accepted by society and the thirst for being smart. But, by increasing his IQ, he experiences new things and endures the cruel reality of the world and all that it beholds. He loses friends, realizes his awful past, goes through new embarrassing experiences, and meets a cruel fate in the end. Ignorance was truly bliss for Charlie. If he had stayed ignorant, he wouldn’t have seen such hardships, heartbreaks, and wouldn’t have met his sufferable ending. Not knowing would have kept his bliss and happiness. Not knowing protected him from a life of isolation. All Charlie wanted was to be smart to be accepted, but now that he is smart and isolated, he now realizes his ignorance was his saving grace. “Intelligence and knowledge had changed me…” Charlie holds regrets and knows he is now a different person. Ignorance was his bubble of protection, guarding him from knowing how cruel the world and people can be. Similar to Charlie Gordon from Flowers for Algernon, Homr from the Simpsons experiences a similar situation to Charlie. Homr goes through tests and an operation like Charlie to increase his knowledge. And according to the episode, after becoming smarter he loses many friends and sees how being smart can affect him. Before the surgery, Homr had a loving family and great friends. After the surgery, Homr outsmarts everyone, isolates himself because of his knowledge capacity and is an even bigger outcast in society than when he was ignorant. Like Charlie, Homr finds himself regretting his intelligence. In Homr’s story, his regrets are so overwhelming, he gets another surgery to return himself to his ignorant state of mind. By getting this surgery, he finds himself happier and finds his peace. His bliss came from his ignorance. In the episode, Patrick Smartpants, from Spongebob, Patrick realizes his ignorance was his bliss as well. When Patrick accidently falls off a cliff, and has his head replaced with brain coral, he suddenly becomes extremely cultured and intelligent. At first, Patrick loves his abilities, but soon realizes his smartness pushed away his best friends. Spongebob, being his closest friend was the most heartbroken of their separation. Patrick sees this and tries to have happy times and fun with Spongebob like they used to have. Despite all his efforts of reconnecting, he was still unhappy and miserable with his newfound intelligence. He is so determined to bring his ignorance back that he redoes his accident of falling off the cliff, to hopefully bring his ignorant ways back. In the end, he finds his old head and returns to his knowledge deprived self. Even though he lost his intelligence and smartness, he finds himself happy and blissful again. Ignorance was more than just bliss for Patrick, it was friendships, fun, and cherished memories. All three stories of Charlie, Homr, and Patrick, show how ignorance can protect one from the harsh realities of life and its ever willing ways of disappointment.
#7eleven 3
The similarities in the three pieces of literature that we read are so similar that I almost feel like “Homr” and “Patrick Smartpants” are parodies of Flowers for Algernon. First of all, there is the obvious “first they weren’t smart then they became smart but lost all of their friends” that seems to be the general summary of the three pieces. However, the selections go far deeper than that. Each of the characters had something to do with their counterpart in another character in one of the other selections.
ReplyDeleteFor example, Charlie is a lot like Homer and Patrick. Not only are the three far below average as far as intelligence goes, but they are all extremely loyal to their friends, but they all just seem like nice people to be around. They seemed fun and easygoing, which is probably why they all had so many companions (or in Charlie’s case, people whom he THOUGHT were his friends). The effects after the surgery or incident are the next note-worthy plot points applicable to all of these. Not only did all of them get suddenly smart, but I feel like they did not fully know how to react to this sudden knowledge. Their social and emotional intelligence could not keep up with their mental intelligence, and they therefore found it hard to make and hold friendships, which held true in all three pieces. The final significant part is the regrets of the characters. This is the only part in which the three pieces differ. Charlie appears to not have any regrets; he wants to use his new smarts to his advantage. Patrick and Homer want their old life back, they just want to be liked and accepted again. As Lisa’s graph showed us, as intelligence goes up, happiness goes down. Ignorance truly is bliss.
We live a life where many people are very intelligent. Almost everyone wants to know everything, whether it be a conversation you had with another person, or your grades. We are a gereration of ignorant individuals. Yet "ignorance is bliss." The whole theory of understanding can be avoided by not knowing. In the book Flowers for Algernon Charlie grew up ignorant he was judged for his lack of knowledge yet he was content and happy with his life. When his IQ increased he realized what had been happening his whole life and he was unhappy with the outcome. He felt isolated in his life because he was more advanced then those around him. This is also like Patrick Smartpants from Spongebob he was not very smart but he was content with life he had fun and had friends and was judged but accepted at the same time. Then when his intelligence increased he became unhappy because he was like Charlie Gordon, isolated and alone. Society can be so cruel and judgemental to those who are seen as social outcasts. Whether you have a lot of intelligence or you have less then the so called "normal" people. This is also shown by Homr Simpson He was always laughed at by fellow people around him but he never understood or felt the cruelty behind the jokes. Which I see as being a good thing because he was more at peace with life then when he became smart. Therefore the overall theme shown throughout these three characters is that ignorance is bliss, and that acceptance is key. That can be involving your life or others. Ignorance gives you bliss and lack of knowledge can be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteIgnorance is another term for lack of knowledge. And bliss means happiness. I’m sure we’ve all heard Ignorance is bliss from somewhere or someone. I personally accept this quote. The lack of knowledge makes a life more uplifting. Like May for instance. Her knowledge of pain being felt throughout the world. In the end she left everyone that was dear to her. Knowledge holds people back from social relationships. And it seems that the symbolism of this quote and what it means is spotted throughout the episode of SpongeBob called “Patrick Smartpants” and a Simpson’s episode called “Homr” but also in The Flowers for Algernon. In “Patrick Smartpants”, Patrick was best friends with SpongeBob and he had a fun life until he fell off a cliff and his brain was rewired. He became intelligent, gained a large vocabulary and frankly, became boring. When he was around others like Sandy and Squidward, they at first liked the new him, but he became to intelligent for them and they are annoyed with him to. In the end he regrets becoming smart and he decides to become normal once again to reunite with his friends again. It was similar to “Homr” except the only differences is that Homer went through tests like reflex test and that if he got rid of the crayon in his brain he would become intelligent. And so he did. Only a little later he made a lot of people who were his friends lose their jobs. And in turn they all hate him. And both Patrick and Homer learned that friendship is better than knowing everything and intelligence. Charlie faces the same problem. Before his surgery he had friends like Alice Kinnian and Fanny but after his surgery when he thought it would be better he lost his job at the bakery and Alice stated on page 122 “You’re different. You’ve changed. And I’m not talking about your I.Q. It’s your attitude toward people – you’re not the same kind of human being-” And it wasn’t until later Charlie understood her. And the symbolism of “Ignorance is bliss” in all three sources is friends are more important than knowledge.
ReplyDelete#sk8-14
Imagine floating in a big bubblegum bubble; blocked out from the rest of the world. The mere idea of pain, of torment, would immediately cease to exist. Without a single morsel of stress, life would be tranquil. Now, imagine that perfect pink bubble popping, leaving you to wake up into a world held by knowledge. For Charlie Gordon, Patrick Star, and Homer Simpson, the change was drastic. In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie’s life prior to the surgery had been simple but enjoyable. After all, Charlie had great friends, a permanent job, and a cheerful life. However, after the surgery, the bubble bursted, leaving Charlie to realize what his life was actually like. The “friends” were actually bullies, the job was only a debt, and his life was just a joke for others. Although ignorant, Charlie had a complacent life only before the surgery. Additionally, in the Patrick Smartpants episode, Patrick had an easy-going life. With a best buddy and no enemies, Patrick had a problem free life. When his brain switched with coral, on the other hand, everything he knew was gone. Friends such as Sandy drifted away due to his vast intellect. Being ignorant was not only blissful for him, but to others. Furthermore, in the Simpsons, Homer extracted a crayon from his brain, raising his IQ by 50 points. Once his intelligence had risen, the effects were instantaneous. Homer had ended up closing the entire job place and losing his friends in the process. All three examples support the statement that “ignorance is bliss.” Although the characters were blind to the real world, they each were happy and content.
ReplyDelete“Flowers for Algernon”, “Patrick Smartpants”, and “Homr” all show in some way the theme of ignorance is bliss. Homer Simpson, Patrick Star, and Charlie Gordon all had loyal friends with whom they had memorable experiences. Homer and Charlie were both offered a surgery by neurosurgeons, who claimed that the two would become smarter than ever before. The two accepted, showing the viewer/ reader that they were not satisfied with the life that they already had. They were ignorant of the negative medical effects of the surgery; another disadvantage to seeking intellect without natural growth. Their eagerness is shown by the way that they rush through to get the operation complete as soon as possible. For example, Charlie makes the clear statement “I want to be smart” to show his determination. Homer did not as much purpose to his surgery, possibly due to the comedic nature of the cartoon. Contrary to the two, Patrick Star’s intelligence is not spawned by a surgical procedure, but a mistake made by his fellow friend Spongebob Squarepants. Patrick grows out of his former self, similar to the other two, unintentionally making his friends feel inferior to him and becoming socially unacceptable. Charlie cannot even be with Alice Kinnian without making her feel intellectually smaller than he is. The three characters had lost the support that they had prior to this. Because of their regrets, Patrick and Homer are able to revert back to their original selves, while Charlie experiences a slow deterioration of capability. Their ecstasy had finally been restored, and they have realized that ignorance is indeed bliss to especially them and their friends.
ReplyDelete“Ignorance is bliss” is a reoccurring theme in all three sources, Patrick Smartpants, Homer Simpson, and Flowers for Algernon. In Patrick Smartpants, and Flowers for Algernon the main characters, Patrick and Charlie both at the beginning are not the brightest crayons in the box and have emotional levels that compare to 5 year olds while they are both grown men. Homer is the same way, however his lack of intelligence stems from a self-caused problem, he stuck a crayon into his brain. The other two had no control over their smarts but, they all enjoyed their life better when they were not as intelligent. All three characters lost close friends because of their smarts. The three however did finally get to feel like what it was to be smart and they seemed to enjoy it at first, but by the end they hated it. In my opinion ignorance is bliss because all three characters enjoyed their life and were happy more when they had low IQ’s and more friends.
ReplyDelete“Ignorance is bliss” is a reoccurring theme in all three sources, Patrick Smartpants, Homer Simpson, and Flowers for Algernon. In Patrick Smartpants, and Flowers for Algernon the main characters, Patrick and Charlie both at the beginning are not the brightest crayons in the box and have emotional levels that compare to 5 year olds while they are both grown men. Homer is the same way, however his lack of intelligence stems from a self-caused problem, he stuck a crayon into his brain. The other two had no control over their smarts but, they all enjoyed their life better when they were not as intelligent. All three characters lost close friends because of their smarts. The three however did finally get to feel like what it was to be smart and they seemed to enjoy it at first, but by the end they hated it. In my opinion ignorance is bliss because all three characters enjoyed their life and were happy more when they had low IQ’s and more friends.
ReplyDeleteIs ignorance bliss for Charlie? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Before his operation Charlie Gordon was ignorant to everything around him and after the surgery he became extremely intelligent. Due to Charlie’s massive intellectual capacity made his friends angry at him because they felt inferior compared to him. This is similar to The SpongeBob Square pants episode “Patrick Smartpants” and the Simpsons episode “Homr”. In “Patrick Smartpants” Patrick was dumb and somewhat enjoyable. There then was an incident that made Patrick smart and a little egoistical. Eventually he realized that being smart isn’t always the best thing in life. Homer Simpson in “Homr” had surgery to take a crayon out of his brain with was the cause for him being dumb. He then became intelligent (like Charlie) and his friends felt hostile towards him and in the end he wanted to be dumb again because being smart cost him his friends.
ReplyDeleteIgnorance is bliss is shown in Flowers for Algernon by Charlie turning smart and that starts to destroy his relationships with others. He has questions now because he has lost friends and damaged the relationship between Alice and him. He also starts to have bad memories of his childhood. If he had not of had the surgery then he would not have ever had his bad memories. Ignorance is bliss is shown in Spongebob by Patrick accidentally hitting his head and turning smart. His high intelligence makes others around him feel inferior to him. He later feels that he wants his best friend back so he makes the change and becomes ignorant again. In the Simpsons ignorance is bliss is shown by Homr. When the crayon in his brain is removed his intelligence increases greatly. His intelligence makes his friends dislike him. Going back to being ignorant was his choice that made him a happier person. All three of these sources show how being smart is not always the best thing.
ReplyDeleteI found ignorance to be bliss in many cases. What this means is that sometimes it’s better not knowing (ignorance) to be a happier person (bliss). I found this quote to be true in many cases such as in Flowers for Algernon. When Charlie had surgery to become less ignorant to the environment around him, he thought that everyone would become friendlier toward him. Also, when he received this type of knowledge it allowed him to remember the past, as in his childhood. This wasn’t the best feeling for Charlie, because his past was filled with hatred and terrible memories that he would have been happier not knowing and remembering. This also occurred in a SpongeBob Square Pants episode where Patrick swapped his old self with a more intelligent mind. This was a negative experience for Patrick because when he developed this knowledge he had many loses between himself and his friends. SpongeBob started to lose interest in this new Patrick and felt more comfortable around the original Patrick. When Patrick met up with Sandy another time, Sandy felt inferior to Patrick, and she didn’t feel good about herself because Patrick knew much more than she did. This also led to Sandy losing interest in Patrick as well. Another example is from a Simpson’s episode where Homer has surgery to remove a crayon lodged in his brain. Once the crayon was removed Homer becomes a genius, an intelligence that is unwanted by others. He came to the conclusion that he was much happier(bliss) being a moron(ignorant) than being too smart. So when Charlie, Patrick, and Homer were more ignorant they had more friends, a healthier social life and they were happy not knowing things and being ignorant than being miserable and knowing much more than needed.
ReplyDeleteThere are quotes that attack the ignorance of humanity (such as “Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil,” as stated by Pluto). However, there is a quote that reveals the bright side to the ignorance of human: “Ignorance is bliss.” This means that ignorance is happiness. The three sources I will use to prove the bright side of ignorance are the episodes “Homr” and “Patrick Smartpants” from The Simpsons and Spongebob Squarepants respectively, and the book, Flowers for Algernon. These three are generally about how an unintelligent person becomes smarter. When the main characters in the three sources were unintelligent they were ignorant and blind to the real world. For instance, in “Patrick Smartpants” Patrick tries to catch jellyfishes like one would for butterflies, however, after the incident, he realizes the importance of life and therefore, respects the jellyfish instead of catching it. This reveals Patrick was ignorant to the importance of life, but after he became intelligent, his eyes were open to the beauties of the world. After the main characters became intelligent, they realized that intelligence does not bring bliss. For example, in Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon wanted to be smart to be accepted, however, the opposite happened. Charlie says, “When I was retarded I had lots of friends. Now I have no one.” This demonstrates that the life Charlie lives is very lonely and unhappy. Moreover, in “Homr” Lisa, the main character, Homer’s intelligent daughter, made a graph that showed the relationship of happiness and intelligence: as intelligence increases happiness decreases. This reveals that the unintelligent form of the main character was much happier. In the two episodes, the unintelligent people realize the cons of intelligence and to be happy again, they try to redo the steps to become blissful again. Like all things, there is a light that shines brilliantly on an once thought evil and terrible objects. Ignorance is no exception.
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