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The Ants and the GrasshopperTHE ANTS were spending a fine winter's day drying grain collected in the summertime. A Grasshopper, perishing with famine, passed by and earnestly begged for a little food. The Ants inquired of him, "Why did you not treasure up food during the summer?' He replied, "I had not leisure enough. I passed the days in singing." They then said in derision: "If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supper less to bed in the winter." Theme: It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow
What are some examples from the fable that point to the theme? • It tells us that the ants were drying grain collected in the summertime. • The ants asked the grasshopper if he had stored up food for the winter, after he asked them for food. • When the grasshopper said no, they called him a fool.
The Dove and the Ant An Ant, going to a river to drink, fell in, and was carried along in the stream. A Dove pitied her condition, and threw into the river a small bough, by means of which the Ant gained the shore. The Ant afterward, seeing a man with a fowling-piece aiming at the Dove, stung him in the foot sharply, and made him miss his aim, and so saved the Dove's life. • Theme: "Little friends may prove great friends."
What are some examples from the fable that point to the theme? • The dove helped the ant. • When the ant saw that the dove was going to be killed, the ant saved her. On our own, let’s come up with a final thought: It didn’t matter that the ant was smaller. It was still able to help the dove.
How can we turn these examples and thoughts into a paragraph? • A topic sentence with the title, the author, and the theme. • In Aesop’s fable, “The Dove and the Ant”, the theme is that little friends may prove to be great friends. • Add two to three sentences WITH SPECIFIC EXAMPLES from the fable to support the theme. • The dove helped the ant out of the water. The ant was able to help the dove when a hunter was going to kill her. • Then add your final thought. • It didn’t matter that the ant was smaller. It was still able to help the dove.
So we have a paragraph that looks like this: In Aesop’s fable, “The Dove and the Ant”, the theme is that little friends may prove to be great friends. The dove helped the ant out of the water. The ant was able to help the dove when a hunter was going to kill her. It didn’t matter that the ant was smaller. It was still able to help the dove.
The Fox and the Mask A Fox had by some means got into the store-room of a theatre. Suddenly he observed a face glaring down on him and began to be very frightened; but looking more closely he found it was only a Mask such as actors use to put over their face. "Ah," said the Fox, "you look very fine; it is a pity you have not got any brains." • Theme: It is more important what is on the inside, instead of what is on the outside
Let’s make a paragraph: • Topic Sentence: In Aesop’s fable, “The Fox and the Mask”, the theme is that you should be more concerned with what is on the inside than what is on the outside. • Examples • The fox was scared of a mask because he didn’t see what was behind it. • He realized there was nothing behind the mask. • The fox said, “You don’t have any brains.” So, he realized that there was no substance behind the mask. Final Thought: So we should be more concerned with what is on the inside.
The Father and His Two Daughters • A man had two daughters, the one married to a gardener, and the other to a tile-maker. After a time he went to the daughter who had married the gardener, and inquired how she was and how all things went with her. She said, "All things are prospering with me, and I have only one wish, that there may be a heavy fall of rain, in order that the plants may be well watered." Not long after, he went to the daughter who had married the tile maker, and likewise inquired of her how she fared; she replied, "I want for nothing, and have only one wish, that the dry weather may continue, and the sun shine hot and bright, so that the bricks might be dried." He said to her, "If your sister wishes for rain, and you for dry weather, with which of the two am I to join my wishes?'
With a partner close to you: 1. Come up with the theme. 2. Come up with examples from the story to support the theme. 3. Come up with a final thought to end the paragraph. 4. Write the paragraph
Your paragraph may look like this: • In Aesop’s fable “The Man and his Daughters”, the theme is that you can not please every one. Each daughter wanted for nothing, but had one wish. The one daughter was married to a gardener wanted rain. Her sister was married to a tile maker and wanted everything to stay dry. He realized that if wished for what one daughter wanted, that he would make the other angry. He could not please both daughters at once. We can not please all the people in our lives. We need to do what makes up happy.
On your own: • Write a paragraph explaining the theme of the fable “The Eagle and the Fox”. You must have a topic sentence, examples from the fable, and a concluding thought.
The Eagle and the Fox AN EAGLE and a Fox formed a friendship and decided to live near each other. The Eagle built her nest in the branches of a tall tree, while the Fox crept into the underwood and there produced her young. Not long after they had agreed upon this plan, the Eagle, being in want of provision for her young ones, swooped down while the Fox was out, seized upon one of the little cubs, and feasted herself and her brood. The Fox on her return, discovered what had happened, but was less grieved for the death of her young than for her inability to avenge them. A just retribution, however, quickly fell upon the Eagle. While hovering near an altar, on which some villagers were sacrificing a goat, she suddenly seized a piece of the flesh, and carried it, along with a burning cinder, to her nest. A strong breeze soon fanned the spark into a flame, and the eaglets, as yet unfledged and helpless, were roasted in their nest and dropped down dead at the bottom of the tree. There, in the sight of the Eagle, the Fox gobbled them up.
