Monday, 27 September 2010

The Ant and the Grasshopper - work points etc.

Read the traditional fable from Aesop's fables:

http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/grasshopper/mstory.htm


What are the similarities between our version and the original?


Why does the author choose to use the old fable as a frame for his modern story?

11 comments:

  1. You are still allowed to comment on the "old" texts.

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  2. Dear Chanett and Sara
    I know this does not have anything to do with the above mentioned assignment. But could you put the dates on this web, when we have to meet at VUC? I haven't been able to find them.

    Kind regards
    Julie

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  3. George and the ant are similar to each other. They both believe that you can have no sweet without sweat. But the ant has no vanity, and would never give the grasshopper anything to eat. George gives his brother money, and lets him take advantage of him out of pure vanity. George is very concerned about the way people think of him. Tom and the grasshopper have a lot in common, but the grasshopper is only interested in living a happy and unworried life. So is Tom, but he is also an unscrupulous cheater, who would do anything to trick money out of both family and friends. In spite of this, the author has his sympathy with Tom, but I think it is indicating a dislike against George more than an approval of Tom. The author also disagrees with the old fable. He thinks that you should be allowed to enjoy life, and not just work your life away. That is why he laughs, when George tells him that Tom has inherited a fortune.

    Martin

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  4. What are the similarities between our version and the original?

    The similarities are that in the original story the grasshopper dosent thinks ahead like the ants does. The ants are storing food for winter time, but the grasshopper is just singing and having fun.
    In the new story we meet George and Tom. George is working hard and saves a third of his income so that he can retire at fifty-five, and enjoy his life in a little house on the country. Tom is just enjoying life and doing nothing. He dosent wants to work, but just do all the things that he wants to do.

    There is a time for work and a time for play!


    Why does the author choose to use the old fable as a frame for his modern story?

    I think that the author is using the old story as a frame to make a moral point.
    In the old time you had to work to survive. You couldent just lent money everywhere, and then survive like that.
    Now a days you can just lent money from your family, the bank or elsewhere, or just marry a very rich man/woman. :)
    So i think the author wants to say that you have to be allowed to enjoy yourself, and not just work all the time. You will also see this in the end of the new story, because he laughs at George, when he tells him that Tom has inherited a fortune of the old woman that he had married.

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  5. 1. What are the similarities between our version and the original?
    - Tom = Grasshopper
    - Gorge = Ants
    Tome : love to enjoying life and doing nothing. He trick money out of both family and friends, he don’t wont to work, because I can`t see what it should help him, when he love and enjoy live. The grass hoop enjoy live to, he sing and dance all day long. It summer so there is food inofe, when he meet the ants, he ask way they work so hard, they should sing and dance whit him.. he don’t thinks ahead like the ants does. The ants are storing food for winter time, and when the winter came, the ants cod enjoy the winter and relax. As we say on Danish “ Man må yde for at nyde “
    Gorge: George is working hard and saves some money so that he can retire at fifty five and enjoy his life in a little house. The ants store food for the winter, when the winter come they can relax, and survive troughed the winter. Both Gorge and ante, knew that hay need to work hard to enjoying live later.
    2: Why does the author choose to use the old fable as a frame for his modern story?
    I think that the author is using the old story as a frame to make a moral point. the author wants to say that you have to be allowed to enjoy yourself, and not just work all the time. You will also see this in the end of the new story, because he laughs at George when he tells him that Tom has inherited a fortune of the old woman that he had

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  6. I would like to know what you think of the story.


    How would you characterize the genre? Comedy, satire, moral fairy tale, other, drama??? Argue for your answer.

    Whose side is the author on?

    Comment on the narrator and the point of view of the text: What choices has the author made? Why? How does/doesn't this serve the purpose of the text?

    Ps. There will be no new questions next week since I'm in Amsterdam :)

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  7. I think that the story is good. It shows that sometimes you are just lucky, and sometimes you have to work very hard for your money. It is not always fair, but thats just the way it is. :)

    I would characterize the genre as a moral fairy tale. I think that the author wants to say that you should be allowed to have fun sometimes, and not just work all the time.

    I think that the author is a little bit on both sides, but in the end he is mostly on Toms side.

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  8. This is by far the most difficult story we have read so far. There is a lot of uncommom words for a normal danish person like myself. Eventhough it is modern story it is written in a way like a very old fairy tale. But i like the story, and i'm sure a lot of people can relate it to their own life or someone they know.

    I totally agree with Maria that this story is a moral fairy tale with a bit of satire in it. You should stop worrying so much about other people's life and be glad if they are doing alright, know matter how they are doing it.

    The author is pretty much neutral until the end when George gets so petty, that he doesn't want anything good to happen to his brother Tom.

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  9. I really like this story. It has a very transparent and straightforward moral. The readers already know the moral in the very beginning, which (I think) makes it easier to understand the rest of the story.
    I line 3-5 it says: “Amoung those (morals) I learnt was ‘the art and the Grasshopper’, which is devised to bring home to the young the useful lesson that in an imperfect world industry is rewarded and giddiness punished”.
    Also the way the author is telling the story makes is very real. He is using another author’s story and makes it a new modern story, which people easier can relate to.

    I agree with Tommy that it is a moral fairytale. The moral point is very important and the author really emphasizes it in the early beginning.

    At first the author sympathizes with George. On page 3, line 35 he says poor George as he sets down beside to. He suggests George to chuck Tom and says that Tom is quite hopeless.
    The way the author describes George as an honest, hardworking and blameless man contrasts Tom and makes him even more dishonourable.
    On page 4, line 18 it all turns, when George beats his clenched fist on the table, he becomes very petty. He has worked so hard to live up to everyones expectations and respect and now Tom (the black sheep) has more money than him.
    The author starts laughing so hard that he nearly fells on the floor because George is so petty and does not wish the best for his brother.

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  10. The two stories are similar in the characters. Tom is like the grasshopper, who is not worrying about anything.
    George is like the ant, who thinks ahead and knows what the right is. He knows how to be responsible.
    George saves up his money for later. The ant saves up food for later.
    Tom doesn't think about the future, which is the same with the grasshopper.

    I think the author used the old fable to show how to use old tales in new ways. When he used the fable he also shows the moral of his own story more easily.

    I don't really know what to think about this story. It is not really a story that I find interesting. But it helps a lot that the author uses a fable in his story, that makes it a little more fun.

    The author is on Tom's side. He is sort of impressed over how much Tom has done. He sympathises with George, because he is sad about what he has accomplised in comparresment to Tom.

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  11. Pretty much agree with all the comments. Tom = Grasshopper, George = Ant.
    Reminds me abit of the prodigal son fable from the bible & the brother's reaction at the end.
    George is so concerned about reaching 55 & settling down then, that he forgets to live for the moment, he is abit boring and predictable. Tom lives for the moment & really doesn't give a damn about the future, he is charming and exciting. We can compare these qualities with the ant & the grasshopper. If there was some middle ground between them, their lives would be more fulfilling. I think that this is the message in the story.
    At the begining of the story the author is more biased towards George but at the end he is biased towards Tom. Tom has luck on his side and charms his way through life to get what he wants. It is ironic that Tom ends up loaded at the end but you can understand why the author laughs at George's reaction. It is quite comical!
    The difference with these stories is the outcome at the end. In the ant & the grasshopper the grasshopper ends up worse off, whereas in the modern version Tom ends up better off.
    PS. There were some grammatical mistakes in the modern version.

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