In addition to the plot elements we spent time reviewing in class, fairy tales (like other pieces of short fiction, including fables and parables) also have messages or morals. What do you think your partner's tale is trying to teach us? Write an analytical paragraph in which you explore this question.
As always, be sure that you support your ideas with evidence from the text. Also, continue to practice varying your sentence structure. At this point, this includes simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex structures.
In Dylan’s fairytale, the message is to always look before you leap. This means that one must know the consequences before acting, and not make premature decisions. One example from the story is presented when the narrator says, “He decided he would set out to leave the island, but realized he would have to build something that would float in the water” (Biard 1). The boy makes the decision to leave the island after putting very little thought into how and what will happen once he gets into the water. Another example is when the boy reflects, “Everything seemed to be working great, but suddenly, a wave crashed down on the raft. The boy was thrown from the raft and tossed around in the surf” (Biard 2). He doesn’t take time to plan accordingly for the conditions of the ocean before jumping into it. Throughout Dylan’s fairytale, the boy experiences hardships due to his lack of precaution, demonstrating the need to understand the consequences of one’s actions.
ReplyDeleteThis is an effective use of evidence! How could the argument distinguish between the two different examples? Do they prove different ideas?
DeleteI believe Regan's fairytale is trying to convey the thought of finding something lost through curiosity. During the beginning of the story, a couple finds a baby in a cabin. The baby, all alone and abandoned is taken in by the family. The baby grows up to learn the habits of her parents. Later on into the story Clara(the baby's name) is awkwardly approached by old ragady women. Regan does an excellent job to build up suspense in order to get to the climax. The old women share information about Clara's true parent. Clara is beyond confused about her true identity. Regan includes many instances in which Clara gets closer and closer to finding out the truth. For Example, near the end of the fairy, tale, Clara's real father has a deep and meaningful conversation about who she actually is. All in all, Regan demonstrates Clara's Curiosity through alternate characters. Other characters offered Clara information in order to initiate her curiosity.
ReplyDeleteHow could the argument clarify how the examples it cites support its observations/ideas?
DeleteIn Aaron's fairytale, I think he is trying to teach us to always follow our instincts. Throughout the story, the main characters, Prince Henry describes his love for the beautiful servant girl. Toward the beginning, Henry is very hesitant to express his feelings for he would destroy his other's plans for him. Fortunately, Prince Henry decides he would rather follow his heart than to live in fear and secret for the rest of his life. So, he runs off with Melanie, the beautiful servant. This gives us a great example of how both following your instincts AND following your heart is always the best thing to do in any situation. In Aaron's story, Henry just takes a leap of faith and it was definitely the best thing for him to do.
ReplyDeleteHow could the argument clarify how the examples it cites support its observations/ideas?
DeleteIn Kylie's story, the end moral I think she is trying to communicate is that it is important to cherish everything you have, and to always count your blessings. I think it also conveys the message that even when challenges stand in your way, love (especially love in families) will always be most important, whether it wins the battle or not. One example of Kylie's story showing the importance of family and the the message to count your blessings is when the child's mother is trapped in the basement, the only thing she is worried about is her son and if he is okay. In the beginning of the story, Kylie also talked about how the family was 'perfect', with the mother and father being the most loving parents. Later in the story it is clear that their lovingness, carefulness, and appreciation for their family in raising their son was spread to him when he fought his parents' kidnappers to get back into their arms.
ReplyDeleteI think Zach’s fairy tale is trying to teach us to never underestimate the power of others. In the story, a princess’s power to free a prince is underestimated, as well as the strength of a thought to be dying king. The underestimation of the princess was shown when the narrator said, “The prince knew the only way to get free would be for his father’s armies to come and save him, so he told the princess to send a message to his father. The princess sent a messenger who began the long journey through the desert to the castle of wise King Edward.” No one thought the princess would be capable of contacting help for the prince. Therefore, her messenger went unnoticed until it was too late. When the dying king was underestimated, the narrator said, “King Edward wanted to publicly execute the king who had killed his son, so he took him up to the highest tower in the castle. On the way up, King Vladimir remembered the knife he had hidden in his robes. So, he stabbed King Edward….” King Edward underestimated King Vladimir, which cost him a glorious victory.
ReplyDeleteThis is an effective use of specific evidence. How could you rework to avoid the passive voice?
DeleteIn Mady's fairytale the moral of the story is that you should follow your dreams. This is shown by the quote "They found a humble home and jobs that allowed them to do what they loved". This quote comes at the end of the fairytale when the protagonist has followed her dreams of becoming a sword fighter, and fallen in love with the love of her life. This is the moral, because everything good that happened to her happened because she followed her dreams.
ReplyDeleteHow could the argument clarify how the examples it cites support its observations/ideas?
DeleteMichael's story was about a horse who refused to work for his farmer. Then, all of the animals, including the horse, start to starve. The moral of Michael's story is to not be selfish and to do the work that is assigned to you. The quote "He finally realized that the animals were starving as a result of his selfishness" really embraces the moral.
ReplyDeleteHow could the argument be more specific in its use of evidence, and how could it clarify how the examples it cites support its observations/ideas?
DeleteMarielle's story was about a girl who finds herself in an unfamiliar place, and everyone is telling her it is the "Lost Castle." A lot of suspicious activity is happening throughout the story, which makes the girl question the trustworthiness of the people at the so-called castle. Later, the seemingly kind maid reveals that she is a shapeshifter, and tries to steal not only the girl's memory, but her life as well. I would guess the moral of this story is trust your gut, because if the girl had trusted herself, she would have left the castle long before the shapeshifter tried to kill her. The moral was not completely clear to me.
ReplyDeleteHow could the argument be more specific in its use of evidence? And how could you restructure the paragraph so that it opens with the argument's main idea?
DeleteI believe that Maggie's fairytale is trying to convey that sometimes you have to prove yourself when nobody thinks you are capable. This begins show up when the princess has been captured by the witch, and the boy the boy might know where she is. When he tries to tell the police that he knows where she is, "they looked at him like he was crazy, and told him there was no way he found anything" (Jameson 2) Despite this, the boy went to find the princess because he knew where she was. When he found the lair where the girl locked up in, the witch sent a few monsters to kill him and then forgot about him. The boy, once again, was underestimated and killed all of the monsters. The witch was shocked when the boy was such a strong fighter and had completely underestimated him. Despite everyones lack of faith in the boy, he proved himself.
ReplyDeleteThis paragraph offers a strong summary of the fairy tale's plot. How could the argument do more to clarify how the examples it cites support its observations/ideas?
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