essay 1

Cameron Kramer 

English 203-03

Beth Mccoy

September 15,2022

       When looking at the epigraphs the suspicious pants really got me thinking about how people perceive things. The word perceived is defined as “become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand” The common theme we found in my group from looking at the suspicious pants as things are likely perceived in different ways. Oftentimes I will perceive things in different ways than another student might. Some might look at the pair of pants and say they are suspicious, others may say that the pants are looking at something else and are thinking that the other thing that the pants are looking at may be suspicious. But either could be right or some other perception could be correct, but we would never really know unless we asked the pants.

          Looking at the epigraph of the suspicious pants got me thinking about things that we have talked about in class. One thing that we talked about in class was good faith and bad faith. Sometimes we do not always know whether people are doing things in good faith or in bad faith. Oftentimes we could perceive that someone might be doing something in good faith, but they might have a suspicious interior motive. For example we talked about in class if you really have a valid reason to miss class you should not come, if you are feeling sick, have a family emergency, or if something comes up that is a big deal those could be all good reasons to miss class. But if you say you are sick we would perceive it to be good faith because you do not want to get anyone else sick, but there may be that suspicious interior motive that a student may have just to skip class because they do not want to go, that would be bad faith but sometimes we will never know because we perceived that the student was doing that in good faith to keep the class healthy. This is similar to the suspicious pants because we can perceive the suspicious pants in different ways just like we can perceive students’ faith to be good when it is not or vice versa.      

         Another thing that I read for class that got me thinking about the way things are perceived just like the suspicious pants did was when I was reading the Bacchae. This story is about a god named Dionysus that looked to be mortal and since he looked mortal all the rest of his royal family did not believe he was a god. But Dionysus was determined to show them that they were wrong. Dionysus was not perceived to be who he actually is based on the way he looked. When Dionysus was not perceived in the way that he wanted to be he raised madness on the palace. Just like Dionysus was perceived in different ways the suspicious pants can also be perceived in different ways.

          I learned that it is important to practice good faith while taking a course because you will only end up hurting yourself in the long run if you do not. If you are constantly lying and missing class then it will show with your grades. And if you practice good faith regularly your professor is going to be more willing to help you when you are struggling. If everyone practices good faith in the classroom it will run a lot more smoothly.  Also learning about perception can help you think about things more and become more aware. Being more aware can help you plan better which can help you get better grades throughout the course. 

       The suspicious pants was a great way for the class to learn about perception and it related to a lot of things we learn about in class but is also helpful in our day to day life. Without knowing we perceive things all the time whether you are just meeting someone, looking at something or just overhearing a conversation. Perception is a way that we become more aware of things, and it is important to be aware of what is around you. But it is important to keep in mind that our perceptions are not always accurate, and that not everything is as it is seen.