The Three Choices of Life

Bijoy Babu

Langauge Arts

3/3/10

The Three Wishes of Life

What would you do if you helped someone in trouble and they gave you the power to grant you 3 wishes? Would you use it for good or evil? Well, in the story “The third Wish” you are in the hands of a beloved character named Mr. Peters, who has to make some of the most hardest decisions in the world “The Third Wish” which is written by Joan Aiken is an outstanding book which teaches us and our children the moral lesson, which is you don’t always get what you wish for. So will Mr. Peter learn that you can’t get everything you want or will it be a tragic ending? Just remember that if you ask for to much, it could all affect your life and start causing great pain and bad luck. All this in the short story, “The Third Wish”

This story of course, doesn’t necessarily end in a tragic ending. The actual mode of this story is really a Romance. It does have the ideal setting and storyline that follows the 3 plot lines of the mode of Romance are: Mild conflict, mild conflict continues, and resolution. The mild conflict of the story is the beginning of the story when you find Mr. Peters driving in his car, slowly riding by the forest. That is when something catches Mr. Peter’s eye. It was a swan and it was in trouble. Mr. Peters is a very caring and responsible man; he can’t dare see an animal in trouble or pain. So, he saves the swan, puts it back in the river and the next thing you know, the swan has turned into this little green man with a beard and mustache that calls himself the “King of the Forest.” You might think that the King was going to give him a wish or reward because of his good deed, but this King was not ready yet. He wanted to see what Mr. Peters was going to say. As you can see, the king is a very arrogant and a little disappointed. Anyway, Mr. Peters asked for the three wishes before the King could. This King was pretty amused and satisfied about this behavior coming from an old man, but granted him the wishes. The King also warned about wasting the wishes and to use them wisely. The Mild Conflict continues when Mr. Peters uses his first wish on his new wife, “who should be as beautiful as the forest.” He said. As you know, he got his wish and a moment later his wife appeared, calling herself Leita. The years past by and Mr. Peters knew that his wife did not feel happy. One day when he saw Leita crying next to a swan in the river behind their house, he found a secret. That swan was actually Leita’s sister, so that means that Leita was once a swan. Mr. Peters grew more tension and stress from him and asked Leita if she was comfortable. You can tell that Leita was not comfortable at all. She knew that it was difficult to be a human being and that she wanted to be a swan. The Resolution of the story is the end when Mr. Peters makes the right wish and uses up his second wish on turning Leita into a swan again. Mr. Peters did the right thing for the safety and comfort of his family, for the goo of it. Years later, Mr. Peters grew knew diseases and pain all over his body. People have found out that he is dead. With the feather and the last wish on his heart.

The symbols in the story are very rare and are quite hard to find a lot of them, but, there are a few of the main and important symbols that you find in this story. One of the symbols that you find in the book is well, maybe the most important one yet. It is the three wishes. The three wishes, which are really dead leaves symbolizes the control of Mr. Peters, he gets t control them and they predict his future or whatever he wishes. The all come true, they are all real. The only bad thing is what you wish for and is it the right decision? The next wish in the short story is the forest. The forest is the home of all the creatures and especially where the King of the forest lives. Remember that the King of the forest is the swan that Mr. Peters saved in the beginning of the story. Also the other swans like Leita and her sister, along with many other animals that live in the forest. Another wish is the swan and their feathers. The swans symbolize beauty and hope to Mr. Peters of course. You could even imagine it as Mr. Peter only friends. He does live by himself and is a pretty old man. Anyway, he has a happy and normal life. This all ended right after he got his three wishes. The last wish that is probably in the story is the season of the story. Like what season it is taking place. If you didn’t know, it was actually taking place in spring. Spring, yes, is a beautiful season and time. It gives all soul and character to everything around it and gives them spirit.

There are about three main characters in the story. The first main character is Mr. Peters. Mr. Peters is an old peaceful and respectful person that does good deeds for his community but doesn’t really get rewarded. He is a true citizen in the place he lives in which is very close to the forest. He does lot’s of actions like helping the animals and serving his rights. He is a very wise person also. He has a good heart and always knows what to do right. Leita is our second main character and although she is a swan, she has some very unique characteristics. She has a very good heart and cares for everyone, especially Mr. Peters, her husband, or well, use to be. She is very nice and respectful, knows what’s right and wrong and speaks up when she is in great pain. She also knows how to express her feelings a lot, more to Mr. Peter, then to every other person. Well, because it is her first time becoming a human and she knows it is hard. She probably deserves to be a swan again. It was all for the good of it. The last main character is the King of the forest. Even thought that he is very arrogant and a little greedy in ways, he still has a good heart and has the power to grant wishes. He does have lots of power and you really don’t want to mess with him, even thought he is a small man. Who wears green and has a bushy mustache and beard. He is the one who actually started the story and without him, there wouldn’t be any wishes or Mr. Peters, so he has a very important role in this story.

The last part is the conclusion. My conclusion as you know is that Mr. Peters had a happy ending. Mr. Peters has died and he did not use any of the wishes for evil or bad things. He knew that he had messed up the first time by asking for a wife, that was actually a swan. That was a hard thing to do for Mr. Peters, using his second wish on transforming back Leita into a swan. It was a great story and Mr. Peters wasn’t greedy and used up his third wish. The story was nicely crafted and great use of descriptive words. It was a wonderful story with a moral lesson that you can’t wish for everything. I think Mr. Peters and everyone else would have been happy just the way it use to be.

The Golden Moon

Bijoy Babu

Language Arts

2/5/10

The Golden Moon

There are many enchanting books out there. One of them is a book called "Many Moons", which is written by James Thurber is a story of a marvelous castle and in that castle lives the Princess Lenore, a very ill Princess Lenore. Here in the castle also lives the father of the princess, the king, who is doing everything in his power to make his daughter better again. "Many Moons" is a simple Romance and as you read through the story you understand what romance is and how important it is to care for others. Imagine if you were the king. You would have lots of trouble in your hands, especially if your daughter wanted the moon!

So, if you were really the King, what would you do? Well, you can tell that the story is a romance you know that it will end o.k. at the end. You know that every romance nce upon a time" phrase in the beginning. There are many types of features that make Many Moons a romance. First of all the mild Conflict is in the beginning where the Princess is sick and the king is in great sorrow. The Mild conflict continues when the King is still worried and starts calling the Royals of the castle. The King is still worried and sees if he can find a cure for the princess from the Royals after his daughter finally says: "I want the moon." What kind of answer is this? We don't know why she really adores the moon but maybe she has a real passion for the moon. The mild conflict keeps going on until finally the King is getting to depressed. You know what happens there, here comes the Hero, the Court Jester. He is the one who saves the Princess at the end but we are not there yet. The court jester, if you didn't know yet, is supposed to do everything possible to cheer up the King and his family. No while the king is sad, he is playing his flute to cheer him up. They have to make complete fools out of themselves but they are very wise indeed. It is true that they learn all the secrets of the castle and not only the castle but the King and his family as well! It sounds like an easy job, but it is harder than you think. The conflicts finally end when the Princess gave the Court jester a very brilliant idea when she said that the moon was a small gold thing floating in the sky. So, the Court jester goes to the goldsmith, makes a little golden coin and gives it to the Princess. She is so thrilled and so is the King, but he faces yet another challenge. The moon isn't really the gold coin and she will see the moon again this night. After the king and the royals are finally done arguing just like how the did when they were trying to figure out how to get the moon. The Court Jester is peeking inside the room of the Princess and finds out she is crying. The Court Jester can have different feelings and he is very sad now. He can fell the emotions of the Princess and is worried. You soon discover that the Princess knows that you can never take away the moon from the sky, because it always comes back.

The characters are very wise in the story, and each have their own role to make the story true. They are very rare people in the story and are of high ranks. In fairy tales you don't really here about the Royals or the Court Jester that much, but in "Many moons", every character has the equal part to show off their role. We start of with the main character that you could say is the Court Jester. He is very wise and like what it said on the top, he knows the secrets of the kingdom and the King's family. He really knows almost everything. Even though you think he makes a complete fool out of himself, he is wise, smart and knows what to do. The Next person is the Princess. Very ill in the story but you could tell that she is very cheerful, pleasant and intelligent. Even though she is only about 8 years old she has a lot of emotion and heart. She knows that you can take the moon out of the sky and that is absolutely right. The King is our third main character and also has lots of soul for his daughter. Now that the princess is sick, he is very sad and gloomy, always in an uncomfortable position. He always trusts the Court Jester to make him happy and also to make his daughter happy as well. The last main characters that we look at today are the Royals, who include the Royal mathematician, wizard, and chamberlain. All these characters have something in common. The are all smart. The king calls all these Royals to the thron and tries to figure out how to get the moon to the princess. All of them let the King down, but they tried their best. These are all the characters in the story.

There are a lot of symbols in the story, one of the symbols is the rasberry tarts that the Princess eats in the beginnning and that is how she gets sick. That is one symbol, the next symbol you would already know. This one is the golden moon that the Court Jester makes. This symbolizes the passion of the moon from the Princess. Why do you think she loves it so much? We don't know, but she truley loves it a lot and it makes hwer happy. The court jester made it special and even made it into a necklace for her. The last symbol is the King, he is a big symbol in the story and has lots of devoetion and care for the Princess. He should think that everybody else should help him try to figure out how to fix the problem but we think he is worrying too much. Anyway, they solve it at the end and it ends happily. There are other symbols in the story but these are just a few of the main ones.

The last part in our story is the conclusion, that is what we are in now. The whole story rapps up into the main moral. To help others in need and to never give up or let them down even if they ask for the impossible. He is a very caring father and has lots of support but being a King is hard work. Thier is lots of love in this book and heart. This book can really touch someone and is brillaintly detailed, you would think it is some kind of baby childrens book but it is much more than that. Just think about the story. Little children love their parents jusst as parents love their children. Just believe if you could help someone in need. You would feel glad in the the end. Just like how the Court jester felt as he looked out the window and saw the moon wink at him.