Hello
classmates, I have a confession. Reading texts for English classes have always
been something that I struggled with. Although I may have an interesting
imagination, I just can never relate to fictional characters. However,
considering the fact that in life we have to step out of our comfort zones.
With that being said, here is my attempt to write a response to the assigned
reading.
Before reading the text, my first
thoughts were “why does Dr. Mitchell-Buck want us to read Sherlock Holmes?” This was not a sarcastic question that I asked
myself, but rather a reality. Dr. Mitchell-Buck does not seem like the type to
assign a text that has no purpose. With that being said, as I was reading, my
goal was to dissect the true relevance of the stories of Sherlock Holmes. So
let’s first begin with the characteristics of Sherlock Holmes. He is apparently
a forensic scientist who is well known for implementing methods to solve cases.
(At least that is what I go from it) Also, I am getting the sense that the story
often shifts narrators. I assumed that the narrator would be Sherlock Holmes
since that is the name of the chapter. However, on page 19 it states, “ ‘You
don’t know Sherlock Holmes yet,’ he said.” That indicated he was not the
narrator all long. As I continued reading, I learned that Holmes was a
respected investigator and has an excellent educational background. To be
honest, A study in scarlet was not
appealing to me at all. However, when I began to read A Scandal in Bohemia, it was exciting to read about Irene Adler and
the role that she played in Holmes’s life. After reading this section, it was
still a little unclear on what the purpose of the story was. However, in the
afterword on page 53, it states that “Irene Adler is the first of Holmes’s
opponents to know her antagonist by reputation.” This quote provided me with a
little bit more insight about Adler.
Despite
my struggles in understanding and relating to this text, I hope to eventually
realize the purpose and true meaning of this text. Hopefully in class student’s
commentary on the text will help me to better relate to the text. Does anyone
else miss Romeo and Juliet? I mean who can’t relate to a classic love story?
I pledge that I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment,
christiana morris
I do miss Romeo and Juliet a little, but so far Sherlock Homes is a bit interesting. Homes seems the kind of person that is very knowledgeable about scientific methods of solving cases. From what I could gather, he is a little strange. There was one quote in the "The Study in Scarlet" on page 25, when Homes explains that anything in terms of information that isn't relevant or useful in his profession, is best to be forgotten. He views the brain like an attic to be filled with carefully selected things and not useless stuff. Seems a bit strange way of thinking, then again, what isn't strange about Homes?
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