You may know Sherlock Holmes as the observant, flawed detective genius, the brainchild of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But, take a second, change your perspective. Who is Sherlock Holmes?
Ask the Chef:
"Sherlock Holmes is a Baked Alaska. Baked Alaska is an amazing desert, for its flavor, but more so, for its paradox. Hidden within the harden baked meringue lies a decadent layering of sweet ice cream and spongy cake. You wouldn't think such a cold and tasty dessert could hide inside such a hardened/cooked exterior, but that is the beauty and mystery of the Baked Alaska. Sherlock Holmes is a Baked Alaska."
Ask the Parent:
"Sherlock Holmes is a temper tantrum. Lovely, yes? Not really. Nothing has the power to turn your sweet angel child into a raging, kicking lunatic faster than an irrational temper tantrum. With the flick of an emotional switch, the temper tantrum launches, full force. But, (and here's the rub), as much as we parents all say temper tantrums don't work, that we don't change our mind because of them- we all have lost a battle or two to the terrible t.t. Temper tantrums are persistent, irrational, loud, powerful and explosive. A temper tantrum is Sherlock Holmes."
Ask the English Professor:
"Sherlock Holmes is Moby Dick. The epic novel of passionate pursuit and brazen focus, Moby Dick stands the test of time. Yes, Herman Melville's writing style is overly wordy, tangential and paradoxical, but, that's the point, isn't it? Life, especially life driven by monomaniac drive is not one straight line. Yes, you do get from A to B, but the slow and deliberate details along the way are what make the journey real. Moby Dick is Sherlock Holmes."
Ask the Comedian:
"Sherlock Holmes is an anti-joke. An anti-joke like this: What did the ninja find in his mailbox? Mail. Sherlock Holmes is an anti-joke."
Ask the Mathematician:
"Sherlock Holmes is algebra. Algebra came about to give meaning to the patterns of life. Algebra is the language of patterns. Patterns follow rules and rules create order. A future event can be predicted and interpreted before it even happens, through the logic of algebra. Nothing in the universe is immune to algebra. Sherlock Holmes is algebra."
Ask the Teacher:
"Sherlock Holmes is Common Core. Common Core's heart lies in the synergy between critical thought, collaboration, creativity and communication. Sure, Common Core may ask teachers to throw out old ways and traditional thought, but better teaching should be the result. 'Should' being the operative word, as Common Core may have been a better theory than actual implementation. Sherlock Holmes is Common Core."
Ask the Scientist:
"Sherlock Holmes is Uranium. Uranium, the second heaviest metal on Earth, has the unique property of radioactivity. This radioactivity can be exploited in nuclear fission which releases massive amounts of energy. Therefore uranium is used in both noble and nefarious ways. The power to do great good and terrible trouble is uranium. Sherlock Holmes is Uranium."
Ask the Musician:
"Sherlock Holmes is Louis Armstrong. A musician with a heart of joy and sorrow, Armstrong paved the path of jazz for future future musicians with his tactful and lively improvisations. More than the music itself, Armstrong lived with the passion and strength of jazz. A character larger than life, a founder of a music genre and a man with his heart on his sleeve, Armstrong will live forever. Louis Armstrong is Sherlock Holmes."
Ask the Artist:
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| "The Persistence of Memory" by Image taken from About.com. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Persistence_of_Memory.jpg#mediaviewer/File:The_Persistence_of_Memory.jpg |
"Sherlock Holmes is Salvador Dali's 'The Persistence of Memory'. With the melting of clocks, Dali introduced the importance of the duality of the 'hardness' and 'softness' of time and space. Often meaning different things to different individuals, 'The Persistence of Memory' can show the reality of altered states of reality, as the clocks melting is a novel perspective on time. Through this novelty, we can see the very constructs we base our lives on may not be as solid and fixed as once imagined. 'The Persistence of Memory' is Sherlock Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes is:
a detective
Baked Alaska
a temper tantrum
Moby Dick
an anti-joke
Algebra
Common Core
Uranium
Louis Armstrong
"The Persistence of Time"
Who/what is Sherlock Holmes to you?
