Tuesday, November 15, 2016

"Anthem" And Self A Fishbowl Reflection?

Based upon our hybrid Fishbowl discussion concerning Anthem, what are you thinking now? Did your peers raise any issues that are important? What is essential regarding the novel? Please respond during and after the fishbowl discussion when it occurs. Due by Wed., Nov. 16th at 2:30p.m.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I think that Anthem could also be called "Different", or "The Secret One's" or something like that because Equality is different from everyone else because they are curious and want to discover things, and talk to women. They could also be called the "The Secret One's" because they were making light and doing experiments and all that kinda stuff without the council finding out for a long time, even though they told the council in the end.

Anonymous said...

Something that I am wondering about, even though we didn’t discuss it, is whether or not Equality inspired others to express their own opinions or if they just thought it was like the others that went into the Uncharted Forest. A big idea of what we discussed in the “fishbowl” was being able to express your individuality and how some rules, both in Anthem and in our society limit us.

Anonymous said...

important issues is that it shows that everyone in the society can stay the same nothing new would pop up that why inventing electricity in the story anthem was so important. In the beginning of the book the text was saying everyone should stay the same but in the end everyone should be different which shows how much equality tried to discover himself and using the quality of individualism. Also this story is very significant because in today society everyone wants to fit in with other groups instead of finding themselves and finding who they truly are as an individual. In this story it violates that you can't really think with your own mind which is why it makes no since why the story encourages you to be different in the story.

Anonymous said...

They brought up how egoism plays a big role in the book. How it changed their involvement. The next group talked about how the book has changed and how the book kind of contradicts itself at the end. The next group talked about what Anthem is really about. Like how we judge other people and how the book is about ego and if it was written today than it would be different and more about fitting in rather than ego. We have saw what people would do if they were Equality and how hard it would be to decide to tell the council or not to. One idea about the writer's feelings about this book is because maybe the author felt left out and so maybe she was kind of like Equality and it may have contributed to the story which is what made it so creative. One thing that is essential to the novel if how much ego plays a part in this. Beauty, love, friends all become from egoism and to be different you have to have an ego. That is in my opinion one of the most important things in the book. T

Anonymous said...

In the book “Anthem”, some conclusions drawn from the text are that being equal isn’t as efficient as individualism. Many people that generate their own ideas can help influence their society like Equality did. Yet, people didn’t really like that because they were so used to the rules. At the beginning of the book, the author was trying to show that everyone was told to be the same but towards the end she hints that individualism is okay and that it’s good to be different. It doesn’t matter what people think because that way people can be free. If this was written in today’s time, it’d probably be more modern day. Instead of inventing light, which already exists, Equality could invent time travel. And the boys and girls probably wouldn’t be that segregated and be mixed together. Finally, the theme would probably finding yourself within a group. For example, finding who you really are, and not just trying to be like someone else because that seems to be a problem in today’s society, which is pretty important. If I were Equality in this story, I would slowly start telling people about the discoveries. Start persuading a huge group of people to go against the Council, so that they have no choice but to accept the changes. Overall, I think that this book has many controversial topics that can be debated, however it teaches many themes and lesson throughout it.

Anonymous said...

Conclusions draw can include that there is no change in society and how ego isn’t allowed in the society in Anthem. Ego is actually important though. You can’t always be yourself because you want to be like everyone else. It is okay to be selfish sometimes because in the story because there isn’t any selfishness in Anthem. This book would be different if it were written today because it could be made more modern. It might have ideas about being judged and less about ego. If written today, there might be less about one individual and more about a group of people who are similar. Some other titles for this book could be Outsiders because Equality and Liberty are considered “outsiders”. It could be called Egoism because it contradicts the society in Anthem. It might also be called Individuality/Being Different because it also contradicts the society’s beliefs and practices. If the people in the center were Equality they would not tell the council about the invention because he was basically put himself in a trap because he knew his society didn’t like differences and he broke the Council’s laws by working alone. In today’s society there aren’t many rules but in Anthem the rules keep people aligned. With such strict rules, however, people like Equality will rebel. The people in Anthem who try to show who they really are end up in a lot of trouble. It is a part of human race to “just keep trying”. The writer makes the reader assume that less people would run away. Maybe the author was kind of an outcast in her society growing up which may have inspired the characters Equality and Liberty.

Anonymous said...

In Anthem by Ayn Rand, an important conclusion that can be drawn is how everyone is equal and cannot do anything without permission from the Council. This relates to our society now because the world expects us to be someone we are not. It's so horrible nowadays to be different, you have to fit in and be just like the others. The text in the beginning teaches us about Equality and how their society teaches them some cruel things. In the end, Equality learns about the word "I" and realizes he can be whomever he wants to be and do whatever he wants without permission. Being different should be normal and people should not have to worry about the world judging them. If I were Equality, I would not have found the tunnel in the first place! I am such a goodie two shoes that I would never break the law and venture out to find the hole.

Anonymous said...

One important conclusion that can be drawn is how important individualism is, because when everybody is thinking the same and doing things as a group than it is harder to advance and nothing new could come up. Being different can be progressive but if everybody is super different nothing would get accomplished either. So their is a balance needed within societies groups and individuals. If Anthem was written today I think that boys and girls wouldn’t be separated and Equality would’ve rather found himself and done his experiments within a group of people, rather than go off by himself. There are also more outspoken and rebellious people in today's society so I think there would be more men like Equality. If I was Equality I wouldn't've showed my invention of electricity to the council. He knew he would get in huge trouble but he did it anyway, I would not want to deal with the punishments or the disapproval that came with it. The more rules you have the more people are going to want to break those rules. Although rules are needed in society, people are individuals and they want to be free and be themselves. So the more you try and oppress all these people the more they are going to push up against it. Equality and Liberty show this desire to live as they please, and a independent mindset within the text Anthem.

Anonymous said...

Individuality creates a colorful society and helps society to progress. The society tries to make everybody equal but at the same time separates people based on their abilities. All of society can't function without people playing different parts and although the society wants everybody to feel the same they contradict themselves in trying to create a perfect society where everybody has individual jobs. As equality, I would have told the council about my invention and risked my life to bring the invention into the open. I would have don't anything and taken as many punishments to prove to the people that its not my invention that truly makes a difference in society, its my actions. The deliberate act of inventing something forbidden to society proves that people shouldn't be afraid to come into the open and push their boundaries.

Anonymous said...

An important conclusion that can be drawn from the fishbowl discussion is that you have to be unique to grow but in order to fit in and live you have to be the same. In a way, there needs to be a balance of individuality and being ordinary. People want to fit in and they don’t focus on being themselves which hurts society because no new ideas are being thought and there can be no progress but if everyone was different it would be hard to connect to people and build off each other’s ideas. This activity brought to my attention that society isn’t perfect and a lot of people struggle to fit in when in fact, we should be embracing our differences. My peers discussed that if they were in Equality’s place they wouldn’t have told the Council of Scholars about the discovery of electricity because they would just shoot his idea down and be angry, but I feel like if he didn’t tell them, he wouldn’t have closure and always wonder if he could’ve changed the world. Although he had selfish intentions when he was making it, he is a good person and wanted to help his brothers. When reading this novel, you think it’s just a story but if you dig deeper, some of the ideas displayed are present in our society too. The writer maybe wrote this book because she wanted to display the ideas in our society in a more extreme manner to bring to the attention how corrupt things are and that we need to be individual to flourish.

Anonymous said...

Based upon our hybrid Fishbowl discussion concerning Anthem, what are you thinking now? Did your peers raise any issues that are important? What is essential regarding the novel?

I am thinking that Everybody should be the same in the beginning and then towards the end of the book the text was saying to be selfish. The council try to take away there individuality. Understand that its okay to be different or that its okay to be structured. He tries to tell the council that he made an invention and they try to shut him down. What I also thought during them talking was more modern day and talking about the future and it was farther back in the past. Anthem was more about Ego and now today it would be more like fitting in and relating it to today's world and in the past. A good other title could be outsiders because they are learning how to be on there own. If I was equality I wouldn't have told the council because he knew he wouldn't have invented and he would have turned himself in.In Anthem it shows if you have rules things h=can only stay together for so long and then they will fall apart. "Shows that being different can raise a problem. No one could be selfishness was gone in there society."

Anonymous said...

Based upon our hybrid Fishbowl discussion concerning Anthem, what are you thinking now? Did your peers raise any issues that are important? What is essential regarding the novel?

Being different can be progressive but if everyone is different than no one can fit in and find people. They want everyone to be the same but they want everyone to be different and they are different in society but they just try to take it away.

The ideas in this text are. about society and they want people to be different and everything but they cant?

What might be some other big titles for this?
since it relates there are a lot of similarity from anthem so it could be called the outsiders because it relates to society in this book it could also be called surrounding ego or something like that because it contradicts what society is trying to show people.

Anonymous said...

Right now I am thinking many things. Hearing others people's opinions make me think and wonder about new topics and other ways that this story was portrayed. An important thing that can be drawn from this text is that everyone must be individual and have unique characteristics to make a society function. This relates to our world today because many teens want to fit in and be apart of the right friend group. Most teens try and change themselves to fit in and act like others but they can’t because society needs individuals and not one whole. Some things that could be different if this story was written today because it would be more modern and then their would be more of a future aspect in it. A larger theme might be how people judge you and you people must try and fit in and feel like they must discover others and not find themselves. Other good titles for this story could be the outsiders this is a book that is very similar to this and could have the same title. Another title could be something about being an individual or something about ego and how you must be selfless sometimes. If I were Equality I would have not told the council about my discovery of electricity but I would have kept discovering. I would have also left society and became my own independent person. This was a brave move but a move that should have happened and I would have followed in his footsteps. This text says that our society is very different from their society in the human race aspect. In both societies there are consequences for bad actions but what is considered bad actions is very different. The progress in our society is much more progressed than the Anthem society considering that in their society the use of candles was still present and electricity was just being discovered. The writer assumes that everyone in society would just go along with this idea of society but in real life most people wouldn’t be okay with this idea and would run away. We also assume this too and think that more people would want to run away but this is what the people in Anthem society are used too and don’t know any different. After hearing everyone’s opinions and speaking my own opinion I find all of these things important and essential issues.

Anonymous said...

Some things that were brought up was that we need to have some selfishness in the society or everything will be boring and the same. In the start of the book they tell the readers that everything needs to be the same and then at the end the book tells the reader that we should all be different. Talks about how people judge you and don't focus on themselves. Being different is bad in Equalitys society. Wouldn't have told the council about the light=no punishment. Would probably run away. Would want to tell people but not face the consequences. We are all going to realize that it is okay to be individual and be unique. Writer wrote the book because she wanted to express her feelings that she felt left out of society.

Anonymous said...

My peers made a really good point that everyone wants to be different and stand out but we also don’t like the attention and we do want to be weird. They said that some people could be considered strange because they do their own thing and they’re different. This relates to the book because at the beginning when Equality is in the community, he didn't want to be different and he thought that everything should be the same and everyone should follow the rules. He thought this because of the society he grew up in. But after he left the society he knew that it was okay to be different. He in fact wanted to be different. He finally knew that his society was holding others back from sharing ideas and it was not okay. Another thing that my peers talked about was that if they were in Equality's position they wouldn’t turn themselves into the council because he knew he was doing something wrong band he thought they would take it in a good way. Maybe if he didn’t turn himself in, he wouldn’t have gotten in trouble. Although, he did make a very big discovery that would impact society greatly so they would want to tell someone before the council to see how the person would react before they tell someone with more authority. One last thing that my peers said is that by what happened to Equality, a lot of others will be scared to try to be different and try something new so the society may be stuck like this for a while until a bunch of people realize it is okay to be different. Overall, I think that my peer have made some great points. It has made me think more about the book and putting myself in Equality’s position.

Anonymous said...

You need change and individualism in order for societies to function. This brings up the idea of the importance of being selfish and if it is necessarily a bad thing? In Anthem they don’t understand how important being different is. For just attempting to be different Equality was beat. If this story was wrote today it could possibly be more about how people are judged and constantly have to try to fit in. Equality could find a group of people to belong with easier. Another title for this book could be something to do with outsiders and how Equality is one. Egoism or Altruism would be another good title because of the distinct portrayal of this. If I was equality I would have made different choices and instead not of told the council about my invention. The human race often makes choices and sometimes we can not progress because of it. In Anthem the society fell backwards because they chose to get rid of egoism. The writer perhaps could have wrote this book because she felt left out of society. As an author she had very strong opinions. Most of the people in this society could have liked it because they didn’t have to make decisions for themselves.

Anonymous said...

What would I do? I wouldn't have told the council because of the consequences that apply in which he knew of what happened. What does the text say about the human race? Implies to not act selfishly.he tries to be selfish but yet still get punished. Does the writer assume or are you assuming? The writing assumes that everyone will go along with this. The writer writes this book because maybe she feels that she is left out in society and through her experience of writing the book she realizes that it's ok to be different and to come out of her “shell”

Anonymous said...



In Anthem, the society where everyone is the same, change and ego is bad, making the society a better place isn’t possible if people can’t have an individual thought, our society today people seem to be afraid of themselves. At the beginning it spread the idea of everyone being the same and equal but actually the society is eliminating equality by not allowing ego and having individual rights If the book was written in a more modern time I think it would be focused more about judgements being passed towards people instead of ego and individualism as much. If I were Equality maybe telling the Council wasn’t the best idea but I would also really want to impact and change the society that is following false rules. I think I would try my best to show society light and change but also it would be very hard to change. The Anthem also shows that rules can be good to have, but can lead to damaging freedom of people. In our world today, we have rules and laws to follow as citizens but we are still individuals with more freedom. The Anthem carries a deep idea about a society and maybe Ayn Rand was hinting something about the society at the time she wrote it for the audience. The Anthem by Ayn Rand is a novel based around a society shows a bigger picture of freedom, equality and ego. Hearing what my peers had to say, made me think about the novel in a whole new way.

Anonymous said...

In a society where everyone is the same, individuality is hard to find. You want to fit in, but if everyone was the same nothing new or exciting would ever occur. Being selfish is not necessarily a bad thing in our society because with no selfishness everybody would be the same. The text was contradictory; for example, in the beginning of the story the society was persuaded not be individual or different, but in the end the writer incorporated that it’s okay to be unique from one another. If writers were writing today that text would most likely be more modern day because the story was written awhile back. If it was written closer to today the text would most likely be more about how people judge you, how the outcasts want to fit in or how some don’t appreciate/accept themselves. Equality would probably try to find more people to rebel against the society if this was more present, instead of just bringing Liberty along. Some other titles for this story could be called, “The Outsiders,” “Egoism” or “Altruism,” “Individuality” because Equality is an individual from the rest of the society. What would you do or say if you were Equality? Wouldn’t of told the Council about his discovery because he wouldn’t have been punished. Equality knew he wasn’t allowed to work on his creation alone and he technically turned his invention in. What does the text say about human race? In our society we don’t have many rules and we are too selfish, but in Anthem the society has a tremendous amount of rules and are not selfish enough. People in both Anthem and the real world are scared of bringing out their colors and showing who they really are.

Anonymous said...

I think that the conversation that I had with my group raised some issues that were important because it made sense, what we were saying, because our question was: “What would you do or say if you were Equality?”. Everyone said that if they were equality they would have kept their invention a secret rather than experience the consequences. I think that an important part of reading or writing about a story is thinking about what you would do if you were that character.

Anonymous said...

During the discussion they talked about how people in the book can't be them self and in life kids in our society can't be them self or they wont't fit in. I agree with this because it shows how people are seen in the real life and in the story. In the story each kid probably want's to show who they are but they aren't allowed to and they get it taken away. In real life people might have to hide who they are to fit in. Another thing that I learned was that in the story everyone isn't he same and they way kids are placed isn't who they are. For example, when equality was trying to show who he was he was beat by the counsel.

Anonymous said...

Based on the fishbowl discussions, I've reflected a few things. Of the few, one idea is that individuality is needed within a society. Individuality is one of the main and key factors along with egoism, that help a society thrive strongly socially. Along with the idea that our own qualities are needed. They are needed to push and pull others in a way. Nothing new would ever happen or evolve within a society if everything and everyone were the same. There were be no originality or challenges between individuals. Some other good titles for this book, could be anything concerning individuality and differences. There are many things to be reflected from the book Anthem, and the idea of individuality is the most important.

Anonymous said...

The discussion makes me think about individuality and trying to be different. It makes me think that even though Equality's society didn't allow differentiality, that didn't stop Equality from trying to be different. Most people had said that they wouldn't have told the government about the new invention. If he hadn’t told the government about his invention, Equality wouldn’t have discovered the Uncharted Forest or the house. He would have stayed down in the tunnel. This book tells that in a society, where everyone is the same, nothing will get done. I found that is can be hard to be different, when you want to fit in with the others. At the beginning of the story, the text talked about everyone being the same and selfish, but at the end of the story, it stated you should try to be different. If the story was written during a more modern time, it would probably, be about fitting in instead of standing out. I think Ayn Rand wrote Anthem because she felt left out in her own society. In conclusion, Ayn Rand’s story talks about being different from others in your own society.

Anonymous said...



I understand that it is about the Greek people. It also was recording events that may have happened in 1200 B.C. Odysseys was bold, human, old, and a liar. He also wants to return home to his wife and become a ruler. On his way home he has to face challenges to get home. A trip that should have took 2 weeks then took 10 years.This was also had to do with ego because of his need to let the giant to know who he was. The gods are a way of seeing the world around us nature and human. All that’s human is in the gods. We all have the same thing but we have suffering which makes us better. In each one of the challenges on his way home he is offered not to go home and stop living in a way. But he always chooses to go home despite the challenges and to find the good things to live for.

Anonymous said...

The fishbowl activity definitely helped me understand and think about the text more thoroughly. The group discussed that when everyone is the same, nothing gets done. They suggested that this might even be present in our society today. After all, everyone is urged to be smart, pretty, athletic, artistic, etc. The end of the book said that there is a healthy amount of pride and selfishness in everyone. In order to make a difference, these things must be present. The group said that the book seems contradictory when we look at how everyone should be the same and yet are expected to perform different tasks and think differently. If this had taken place today, more futuristic technology would have been involved in this piece. The theme might also change to one of judgment and individuality. The theme might touch on how it is important to be yourself instead of caving to others ideas and stereotypes. To continue, males and females might have been treated more equally and have been mixed. If this book could be titled something else, it might be titled The Outsiders because Equality and The Golden One are different and apart. The title could also be related to individuality or secrets because of how Equality views and thinks about his community. If I were Equality, I might be inclined to run away a lot sooner. If I had stayed, I wouldn't have shared my discovery of the light bulb. I would find a way for the council to discover it without it being liked to me. I would have also run away the moment I was caught out of place instead of waiting until after I was beaten. In our society today, we are encouraged to be creative, however in anthem, creativity is punishable. The book does not allow people to see their face. Perhaps this is because it gave people a firmer sense of individuality and of being one person. Anthem might have been born from the authors personal life. She lived in a time when women were still considered to be less than men and she was also creative and making a name for herself. She may have been pressured to do things that society thought she should instead of being who she is and following her own desires.