Sunday, October 21, 2007
Small Town America
The authors created the town of Hillsboro to be representative of any small town in the midwestern U.S. in the 1920's. Think about NJ's Chester and Mendham today. In what ways are our little towns actually very similar to Hillsboro? In what ways are our little towns very different from Hillsboro? Write your responses and add any comments you have also.
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12 comments:
Mendham and Chester are actually pretty similar to Hillsboro, in a few different ways. Our towns do not revolve around God. We have many different religious views and nobody is looked down upon by their views. But in Mendham and Chester, everyone is expected to be the "preppy, good student, good child" stereotype. Im sure people who live outside of Hillsboro know that the town people are God fanatics. And when someone asks where I am from and i tell them Chester, they automatically assume that my parents are millionaires and that i'm spoiled.
Well i have not lived in chester very long but i assume that almost everyone knows each other. So that is one way that chester and Hillsboro are similar. If something happens the whole town would know because it is not terribly huge.
well from what weve read so far chester and mendham are nothing like hillsboro. people dont care about religion or evolution. no one in these towns would get so unsettled like the people of hillsboro if someone taught something that was considered taboo.
I think that Mendham and Chester are both similar and not similar. In the similar aspect, being that the towns are neighboring, more then half of each town knows someone in the other town. Getting along with neighboring towns is important for any town to be successful. So i agree with mark in that aspect. I would also say that they are not similar because not many families are extremely religious. If they were their children would go to a private religious school. Also no one is being charged with crimes of teaching evolution. Everyone has their own opinion but no one will be punished for it, unless its a teacher telling us that a democrat is better then a republican or vise versa. So they are both similar and not similar.
Hillsboro was made as a representative of any small town, and Chester and Mendham are small towns. Our religious views are all very differnt unlike the peoples of Hillsboro. Although here, there is a strict rule of what parents expect their childrens to be. Parents have such high expectations for their children here. It almost feels to me that if you don't graduate and go to Harvard, you are not good enough for Mendham.
I agree with Mark, no one would get all upset because of their kids being taught about evolution. You can not stop it, it is SCIENCE and there is the theory of the Big Bang. Many people believe that God created life and had nothing to do with science. No one is 100% sure about anything. People that believe in god will never know until they die. When that happens there is no way of coming from the dead to tell their family and others that heaven is or is not real.
Hillsboro in many ways is similar to Chester. Small group of peoples who know each other, farm like atmosphere, however there are many differences. In Chester there is no real strict interpretation about the bible among any majority. Its hard to compare the two towns seeing how I wasn't around chester in 1920 when this story takes place. In the south however the bible is much more important to peoples and because of it small towns are very much like churches.
I havent been to Chester a lot nor have i lived in Mendham long enough to know everything about it. But so far i think these two towns are both similar and different to Hillsboro. Some of the similarities are that these towns are pretty small and the information gets spread around pretty quick. The difference between them is that people in Mendham and Chester are not crazy concerned about religion or evolution like Hillsboro.
There are a couple ways in which Mendham is differnet and similer to Hillsbero. Hillsbero and Mendham are both very small towns where word spreads fast, and everybody knows each other. One big differnce is becuase of the time we live in, nobody is frowned upon for what they say, or what they believe in.
The town of Hillsboro is a very tight community and so is the community of Chester. Chester is not as small and not as close but there are similar relations between the many people of the community they do work together on occasions such as Memorial day and Oktoberfest. Chester is also very different from Hillsboro in regards to their unity in views and beliefs. The citizens of this community live and think on there own there are religious aspects but not as over baring and controlling as that of Hillsboro.
i dont feel that hillsboro and chester/mendham is alike. in hillsboro you are looked down on if you do not believe in religion while in mendham nobody cares what religion anyone else is. in hillsboro a teacher is on trial for teaching evolution while in mendham teachers are allowed to make their own scheduals.
Mendham and Chester do have a lot of similaritys and differences to the town of Hillsboro. Before comming to this school I did not know to many people in my town, but now I do and feel the same type of close enviroment as I picture Hillsboro. Chester and Mendham have different principles than Hillsboro are much more diverse and tollerant than I have pictured Hillsboro.
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