Essential Question #2

[jasper]

"The circumstances of birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life, that determines who you are". This effervescent quote from Mewtwo, though from a 2001 children's movie, describes astutely the contrast between nature and nurture. Nurture is without any shred of doubt the more important of the two, for upbringing instills the window with which one views the world. While nature, the predisposed characteristics one is born with can define a person, they can be overcome. Save mental it phisical disorders, natural predisposition has little effect on day to day life. Nurture, however, ones upbringing and tending to, defines your life. Your likes, your ideals, your religion, ever part of your personality is defined by how you are raised. You interact with the world as you have been taught, be it good or bad

[Ellie Farley]

You argue that nurture is the most important aspect of someone's character, but in "In Cold Blood" Capote depicts nature being more prominent than nurture through the character Dick Hickock. He, although raised with good beliefs and in a good household, still became a criminal. In this instance, his nature is overcoming the nurturing he received during his development. Capote's contrasting of nature and nurture shaping the two murders differently creates a controversial answer to whether nature or nurture is more important. As he demonstrates, it can vary from person to person which one is more relevant in who they become.

[ajguth]

I agree with Jasper to some extent. In my opinion, while the morals imposed on a person during childhood obviously greatly affects, as you said, "your likes, your ideals, your religion", every person is born with unique inherent qualities and intuitions that influence those personalitiy traits just as much, if not more so, than those beliefs impressed on people as they grow up and mature. The environment in which a person is brought up in is a key factor in their development. However, the fact that no two people think exactly alike proves our individuality as humans. Because of this individuality, just because a person is taught a certain way as a child, doesn't mean that they will continue to practice it throughout their entire life because ultimately, it is our behavior and beliefs due to our distinct combination of genes that define us.

[kaitlinhall]

I agree with Jasper because of the fact that nurture is what creates you, it's the way that you are shaped. The nurture part to life is the one that creates how you think and how you act and react towards something around you. When he talked about the nature side and said "While nature, the predisposed characteristics one is born with can define a person, they can be overcome" you showed the way that humans adapt and eventually go away from what they are taught to what they know as a person is growing up and learning from their own experiences as oppose to someone telling them that something is bad right from the start.

[kaylaashcraft]

I completely agree with Jasper. Nature vs nurture is clearly a reoccurring theme throughout the book so far and I'm sure it will be present in the other parts as well. The Clutter family had a pretty strict upbringing due to their Father's feelings about drinking. That fact that he didn't allow his employees to drink shows how strongly he felt on the issue and reflects how he would have surely enforced the same rule in his house. That is an example of how he nurtured his family and took care of them by enforcing a rule he thought would help his family be happy.

[kevonohanlon]

I agree with Jasper in some aspects, however I disagree in others. It is true that you can shape who you are, as MewTwo wisely stated in your example Jasper, however Capote shows us both side of the Nature versus Nurture debate in his novel. Dick had a fair childhood; he was raised in a solid family structure that supported him through out his youth. Through his own choice, he strays away from the modest, civilized lifestyle he was brought up in, to pursue the life of crime and felony. Perry, on the other hand, had a very rough childhood. His life has been hectic and filled with many things that shape who he is. Broken family, sudden deaths of loved ones, and a horrible motorbike mishap are just a few devastating things that affect Perry and may have caused him to partner with Dick and commit the murders. I think the author does a fine job in not only balancing the two sides of the debate, but also contrasting them for added effect on the reader when reading the novel.

[Ashley]

I agree with jasper somewhat. For example, Perry Smith; I do not believe that he was born to act how he does (killing people). I think that he developed that was from experiencing his traumatizing childhood and life in general- his siblings committing suicide, or his car accident. But I can also see where I could disagree due to characters such like Dick. He did not have a corrupted childhood experience, so I think that nature applied more to Dick and that is clearly seen through the book as Capote describes Dick and his background. Nature vs. Nurture is juxtaposed a lot throughout the book so I feel as if it is difficult to specifically choose nature or nurture. I personally think it depends more on the person to be able to identify if their development was more nature or nurture.