Imagine a world where animals walked, talked, and lived like humans; where rats went boating, toads drove cars, and moles went on picnics. This is the reality in The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. The river, the forest, even the prison are all locations you'll get to visit in this tale revolving around the adventures of Rat, Mole, Toad, and Badger. Grahame's rich language and enjoyable characters are captivating, making you want to find out what happens next to these four friends. Despite being written over 100 years ago and originally existing as bedtime stories for Grahame's son, The Wind in the Willows can teach valuable lessons to readers today. The hospitality, forgiveness, and humbleness displayed by the characters match up
In the novel “Windflower” by Gabrielle Roy, we are introduced to Elsa Kumachuck, a young First Nations girl living in a small town characterized by its bare, inhospitable environment and a community divided between the Inuit people and the Caucasians. As the plot unveils we are given a graphic scene where our protagonist is raped by an American man. The pregnancy, which is the result of the sexual assault, produces a child who becomes the focal point of the novel as well a source of marvel for many of the inhabitants of the town. As Elsa tries to raise the child alone she finds it difficult to resist the influence of the community they are stuck in: from the boy’s ethnicity, to her own heritage but most significantly her setting. Whenever Elsa
There is a serene moment when reading John Muir “A Windstorm in the forests,” that rushed through me. Which can only be described as a rush of emotions that one might face when returning home after traveling for so long. I feel that this response is so far harder to write than I could have imagined it to be because the forest Muir is describing within his story, within the Sierra Nevada is one that I grew up with. The same ones that I spent my summers and winter breaks at, I feel a slight struggle when trying to describe my response because I didn’t realize how much I miss all of that and how many of my memories are surrounded by that forest. Reading Muir story brought back the images of seeing stretches of land covered in an endless amount
Spending forever with the love of your life sounds great, but would you kill them first and then yourself? It sounds very unrealistic to kill someone you love, but leaving the earth with them could leave you at a different perspective in the end. “The Cranes,” by Peter Meinke, illustrates a story that tragically shows love, but the kind none of us want to live in. The last line, “At the shot, the two cranes plunged upward, their great wings beating the air and their long slender necks pointed like arrows toward the sun,” expresses the different meaning such as the old couple killing themselves. Not only did the couple watch cranes relax in the tall, marsh grass, they were the cranes. Mr. and Mrs. Crane.
As the audience already knows that there are many tales that are told in the story. These stories are the base for what has to come later in the sections. These stories have lessons and hidden meanings that will show through the mothers and daughters. For example, the first part of the book is “Feathers from a Thousand Li Away” is intended to teach the reader about hope, which is symbolized by the swan. One of the mothers in the story has a feather from the swan and in hopes, one day give it to her daughter and tell her the struggles that the family had to go through to have a better life. This wish is a very difficult one to come true because of a
While many stories take the initiative to tell the story more innocently for children, there is a limit on how much innocence is utilized. The poems A Barred Owl and The History Teacher are two completely different poems giving off the same message, containing innocence, but not too extreme. Each poem has the adults teaching the children what is good and bad in the world without giving them fear. The literary devices utilized in each poem portray different intentions. In A Barred Owl, Richard Wilbur utilizes personification, imagery, and irony to portray the innocence being seen throughout the poem, while in The History Teacher, Billy Collins utilizes syntax, tone and theme.
"The Great Gatsby" and "The Kite Runner" are two stories from different periods of time, parts of the world , and social situations . At first glance , these two novels are completely different but with a closer look, one would find more similarities then what holds the eye. Both "The Kite Runner" and "The Great Gatsby" depicts bias and unfaithful behaviours such as racism, adultery and the idea of social class superiority which is still in our current society. Tom Bunchan from "The Great Gatsby", Baba and Assef from "The Kite Runner" are examples of how bias and unfaithful behaviors are still socially accepted.
“Tuck Everlasting”, written by Natalie Babbit, is a novel that young adults and children love to read. The novel features Winifred Foster and a family of four, the Tucks, who came across an adverse secret in the form of a spring some eighty-seven years ago. Miles Tuck is one of the main characters who represent the major themes in the story in an engaging, yet dignified manner. Focussing on the character Miles Tuck, who is the elder brother of the Tuck family, it will be clear that his demeanour and doings represent the main themes in the story of; immortality, family, friendships and the troubles of breaking rules and
Sipe highlights five different expressive engagements—dramatizing, talking back, inserting, and taking over—that children portray during story book read- alouds. He believes that teachers must encourage these behaviors in children because it shows participation and it inspires children to take over the story. Some of these expressive engagements are reasonable while some serve as a disfavor to children’s learning. On page 482, he gives instruction on how teachers can implement the expressive engagements in their classroom. Sipe claims, “the first type of expressive engagement, dramatizing, can be encouraged through dramatic reenactment” (481). This can be problematic for fairy tales such as “The Juniper Tree”. This story about a stepmother killing her stepson by beheading him then cooking him in a stew, and a little boy turned into a singing bird who then later kills his murderer by “…dropping a millstone on her head and crush[ing] her to death” (252) can be gruesome for children to dramatize. Another expressive engagement that Sipe mentions is “inserting”. Sipe claims that if children are encouraged to insert themselves or other people around them into the story that they are reading, they can exercise their power over the tales. Through this process, Sipe claims “children in process of becoming one with the story, to the extent of assuming their stance as fellow characters with equal agency and presence in the story” (478). The story of the little boy in “The Juniper Tree” suggest a different view about mechanically inserting characters in a story. The little boy must learn about what each of his family members did to contribute to his death. When the little boy died, he did not know anything about the causes of his death and the things that happened after. He had to learn that his “mother, she slew [him]”, his father
Have you ever dreamt of flying? Well these young kids are living the dream, but the only problem is that they are being hunted down by wolves. These two books give three good examples of life lessons that can be learned from the characters throughout the books. The three lessons being, family is a huge part of your life, giving your own time to help someone out even if they are a stranger, and to never give up on a situation.
Children’s folk stories are known for their intriguing storylines and captivating imagery. The simple language of the narratives makes the stories understandable for young adults. Although children tales are fun to read, there are oftentimes morals associated to them. Authors write the narratives in a kid friendly way, but there are usually deeper meanings associated to them. The hidden morals are deep in the narratives are subliminal, but have a way of teaching children what to do in certain situations. Along with children being taught to react to certain situations through child narratives, children are also taught how to sense danger. The ability of the children sensing danger causes them to react in most all children stories. In stories
The scene that introduces the audience to Matthew Harrison Brady, in Inherit the Wind, (Dir. Stanley Kramer. With Spencer Tracy, Frederic March, and Gene Kelly. MGM. 1960) uses dialogue, composition, camera work and music to develop Matthew Brady. Kramer reveals important information about the plot of the film in this scene. The scene opens with a bird's eye view shot of the town of Hillsboro, and focuses in on the movement of the parade below. The camera comes to rest on the convertible that transports Brady and his wife. The town of Hillsboro welcomes the well-known politician. He will serve the town by being the prosecutor in a trial about evolution, similar to that of the historical Scopes Trial. This scene, where we first meet Brady, reveals his strong character, and the role of savior that the town expects him to play. Through the development of Brady, Kramer also introduces us to the issues of religion and politics. Stanley Kramer, the director, introduces the audience to two key ideas in the very first shot of the scene. He does this through the use of background tools, like music and scenery. As the camera fades in from the previous scene, music begins to play, and a group of women sing a religious hymn, "Give me that old time religion." The extremely loud music continues for the duration of the parade. At first the audience doesn't know the source of the music, but as the parade comes to an end, the camera focuses on a group of militant looking women, who march and sing. This song draws the audience into the impending controversy over religion. It expresses the entire town's point of view on the issue. The audience can see that religion affects the soc...
“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” is about this young boy named William. William and his family have dealt with a lot of heart and pain in their life. However, through all of what he and his family has been through, William has learned that you must believe in yourself, and have faith that you can accomplish all of your dreams, if you just put your mind to it. William was born and raised in Malawi, Africa. His father was a farmer just like every other man in Malawi. Since William’s father was a farmer and his mother works around the house, his family didn't have a lot of money. William was always excited about school. School was one of his most cherished places to go. He attended Wimbe Primary School, where one mid-September, they took their
In this essay about the book ‘The boy who harnessed the wind’ written by Bryan Mealer & William Kamkwamba I will firstly describe William Kamkwamba and his early life in Malawi. Next discuss the challenges he faced and how he was able to build a windmill.
Though the evils of the world may discourage us from reaching our full potential, fairytales such as Little Snow-White by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm teach us that good will always triumph over evil. As many tales of its kind, Little Snow-White uses a number of literary devices to attract a younger audience and communicate to them a lesson or moral that will remain with them throughout their lives. Since children have such an abstract stream of thought, it is vital to use language and devices that will appeal to them as to keep them interested in the story.
..., Maria. “An Introduction to Fairy Tales.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 230-235. Print.