Of the four short stories from Adams' Tales from Watership Down, which did you find the most intriguing? Why? Please respond thoughtfully in at least seven thoughtful sentences.
Personally, the most intriguing story to me was "The Sense of Smell." The reason this one grabbed my attention was because it does something that I've never really notched before. Prince El-ahrairah is determined to obtain the sense of smell for his people. During this journey we are given night into his emotions, thoughts, and motivation. All of these things raise the question of whether, or not El-ahrairah is a round, or flat character. While we see his emotions and how he wants to be the savior of his people, we rarely see any weakness in his character. In most "great" stories, the main protagonist goes through some conflict and the audience is shown different sides of the character even if they are good, or bad. In the short story, we only encounter two instances in which El-ahrairah shows any sign of vulnerability. Once when he is traversing the darkness, and another when he is confronted with getting the king's attention. Throughout the story, we see the prince's courage and strength to prevail in the face of adversity. We also see him experience his heroic journey, or rather his Bildungsroman (coming of age) leading to him coming off as a round character. In closing, the most intriguing story to me was "The Sense of Smell," because it raised the question of whether, or not Prince El-ahrairah is portrayed as a round, or flat character, making you think beyond the surface of the story.
I though the most intriguing story was "The Sense of Smell". It's the classic story of a hero encountering ups and downs on a quest to achieve something for his people. I found it interesting that El-ahrairah desired a sense of smell because this is a sense I often overlook. Humans are not as dependent on their sense of smell as animals living in the wild are, so the fact that this whole quest took place out of desire for it stuck out to me. Another interesting aspect of this short story were the different kingdoms, tomorrow and yesterday. The it is nice to think that all extinct animals go to their own land to live peacefully, however this seems a bit romanticized to me. The main reason animals go extinct is humans. Due to this fact, it seems ironic to illustrate a world where extinct animals live happily, because humans are to blame for the extinction of these species. However, the damage is already done, and it is nice to think that the species we have wiped out are living in peace somewhere.
Although I really enjoyed all of the stories, the most intriguing one to me was "The Hole in the Sky." I feel like this naturally had to be the one I found most interesting since it's the one I can relate to the most. For some reason, I have the constant need to impress and please people to try and get them to accept me, which is the same problem that El-ahrairah runs into towards the end of the story. Also like El-ahrairah, I always seem to worry and think that things are going to be or turn out a certain way, and then they end up being completely different, proving that there is no need to worry or freak out about things that I can't do much about anyway. At the end of the story, after he sees the hole in the sky, El-ahrairah says that he has taken his experiences to heart and that he feels that they have made him wiser. I guess that the point I'm trying to make here when I say that I relate to El-ahrairah is that I also feel that I have become much more mature through my experiences both positive and negative when I've tried to please people or when I've worried about situations where I can't really do anything to help. Though I know that worrying and the need to please aren't really good things, they aren't things I necessarily plan on trying to change at the moment. I think that every time I over worry or every time I try to please someone, I end up learning something new about myself, which is what I feel helps me grow as a person. I think that the simple action of acknowledging and accepting that there is a problem of pleasing and over worry, without necessarily having an intent to do anything about it, is part of the growing process, which is what made El-ahrairah wiser and also has me on the same road.(as I'm reading earlier posts while uploading this, I think I might have given a more personal response than what was asked for...whoops!)
"The Hole in the Sky" seemed the most relevant story to me. It involved two parts: the first, in which Hallian and Thyken come across a disguised El-Ahrairah on their hike of sorts, shows that anyone could be anyone--that appearances are, well, not as they appear. When you look behind that dirty fur there sits a prince! As El-Ahrairah points out, "god is in everyone". In my own life, I try to remember that every single person goes through the same struggles, that neither good nor evil drive our motivations or behavior, so everyone deserves equal treatment. We're all in this together. Another aspect of our "mutual struggling", if you will, is that suffering comes with insight. "The Hole in the Sky" mentions this theme as well, as El-Ahrairah searches for. Only through suffering does one gain understanding--which is both something Thyroid and Hemmoroid need to remember! So I consider myself in the same boat as the characters: on that struggle.
I really liked "The Sense of Smell" the most. When reading/before class discussion, I probably would have said that I liked "The Hole in the Sky" more, but after talking through the stories and possibly themes and discussion topics, I really started to see "The Sense of Smell" in a new way -- in a deeper way. As discussed in class, yes, it is sometimes hard to maybe find personal connections to these stories because they follow a group of rabbits and not humans; however, I found that it is the deeper discussion about these stories that help me, personally, find relatable aspects of the story to my life or just human life in general. I felt that "The Sense of Smell" did a great job depicting what a heroic journey would be: going through ups and downs to reach an end goal. Similarly to "The Hole in the Sky", El-harahahaha had to go through struggles in order to get what he wanted for the good of the people (or I guess the good of the rabbits). Also, we discussed the idea of the theme for this one possibly being that it's not necessarily about the end goal as much as it is about the journey or the process of REACHING that end goal. I feel that is a powerful idea and can apply to lives of all different types of beings.
I found the story "The Hole in the Sky" the most interesting to me because of its theme, which is that things are not really as they appear. I can relate to this theme because nowadays people (such as myself) don't really think before judging people by their appearance, or a book by its cover. In my life, I try not to let judgement control my actions and words too much, but in reality, I am similar to the characters Hallian and Thyken in that way. The part when El-ahrairah sees the Hole in the Sky for the first time is also really applicable to human life today in the idea of striving to find something and expecting it to be magnificent, only to face the ugly truth. El-ahrairah had high expectations for the Hole in the Sky, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he saw it for the gory image it really was.
I enjoyed "Sense of Smell" the most. I was interested in El's journey particularly because the story is a Pourquoi story. A Pourquoi story explains how a certain thing or thing s came into being or existence. This story explains how the English Rabbits got their sense of smell. It could also be said that this is a Pourquoi story because of the explamation of how some animals and habitats went extinct because of humans. I don't think this is why it's a Pourquoi story because this isn't an explamation but more of an attempt of the author to make the reader aware of the problem of us killing of organisms. The character El Armairah travels to the land of yesterday for a sense of smell, but instead is told that this power isn't in their possession by an orange Bison whom we almost practically killed off. He is told to go to the king of tommorow where the animals that are still alive exist. This is where he gets his species a sense of smell. In all though U enjoyed the adventure for the adventure.
Personally, the most intriguing story to me was "The Sense of Smell." The reason this one grabbed my attention was because it does something that I've never really notched before. Prince El-ahrairah is determined to obtain the sense of smell for his people. During this journey we are given night into his emotions, thoughts, and motivation. All of these things raise the question of whether, or not El-ahrairah is a round, or flat character. While we see his emotions and how he wants to be the savior of his people, we rarely see any weakness in his character. In most "great" stories, the main protagonist goes through some conflict and the audience is shown different sides of the character even if they are good, or bad. In the short story, we only encounter two instances in which El-ahrairah shows any sign of vulnerability. Once when he is traversing the darkness, and another when he is confronted with getting the king's attention. Throughout the story, we see the prince's courage and strength to prevail in the face of adversity. We also see him experience his heroic journey, or rather his Bildungsroman (coming of age) leading to him coming off as a round character. In closing, the most intriguing story to me was "The Sense of Smell," because it raised the question of whether, or not Prince El-ahrairah is portrayed as a round, or flat character, making you think beyond the surface of the story.
ReplyDeleteI though the most intriguing story was "The Sense of Smell". It's the classic story of a hero encountering ups and downs on a quest to achieve something for his people. I found it interesting that El-ahrairah desired a sense of smell because this is a sense I often overlook. Humans are not as dependent on their sense of smell as animals living in the wild are, so the fact that this whole quest took place out of desire for it stuck out to me. Another interesting aspect of this short story were the different kingdoms, tomorrow and yesterday. The it is nice to think that all extinct animals go to their own land to live peacefully, however this seems a bit romanticized to me. The main reason animals go extinct is humans. Due to this fact, it seems ironic to illustrate a world where extinct animals live happily, because humans are to blame for the extinction of these species. However, the damage is already done, and it is nice to think that the species we have wiped out are living in peace somewhere.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I really enjoyed all of the stories, the most intriguing one to me was "The Hole in the Sky." I feel like this naturally had to be the one I found most interesting since it's the one I can relate to the most. For some reason, I have the constant need to impress and please people to try and get them to accept me, which is the same problem that El-ahrairah runs into towards the end of the story. Also like El-ahrairah, I always seem to worry and think that things are going to be or turn out a certain way, and then they end up being completely different, proving that there is no need to worry or freak out about things that I can't do much about anyway. At the end of the story, after he sees the hole in the sky, El-ahrairah says that he has taken his experiences to heart and that he feels that they have made him wiser. I guess that the point I'm trying to make here when I say that I relate to El-ahrairah is that I also feel that I have become much more mature through my experiences both positive and negative when I've tried to please people or when I've worried about situations where I can't really do anything to help. Though I know that worrying and the need to please aren't really good things, they aren't things I necessarily plan on trying to change at the moment. I think that every time I over worry or every time I try to please someone, I end up learning something new about myself, which is what I feel helps me grow as a person. I think that the simple action of acknowledging and accepting that there is a problem of pleasing and over worry, without necessarily having an intent to do anything about it, is part of the growing process, which is what made El-ahrairah wiser and also has me on the same road.(as I'm reading earlier posts while uploading this, I think I might have given a more personal response than what was asked for...whoops!)
ReplyDelete"The Hole in the Sky" seemed the most relevant story to me. It involved two parts: the first, in which Hallian and Thyken come across a disguised El-Ahrairah on their hike of sorts, shows that anyone could be anyone--that appearances are, well, not as they appear. When you look behind that dirty fur there sits a prince! As El-Ahrairah points out, "god is in everyone". In my own life, I try to remember that every single person goes through the same struggles, that neither good nor evil drive our motivations or behavior, so everyone deserves equal treatment. We're all in this together. Another aspect of our "mutual struggling", if you will, is that suffering comes with insight. "The Hole in the Sky" mentions this theme as well, as El-Ahrairah searches for. Only through suffering does one gain understanding--which is both something Thyroid and Hemmoroid need to remember! So I consider myself in the same boat as the characters: on that struggle.
ReplyDeleteI really liked "The Sense of Smell" the most. When reading/before class discussion, I probably would have said that I liked "The Hole in the Sky" more, but after talking through the stories and possibly themes and discussion topics, I really started to see "The Sense of Smell" in a new way -- in a deeper way. As discussed in class, yes, it is sometimes hard to maybe find personal connections to these stories because they follow a group of rabbits and not humans; however, I found that it is the deeper discussion about these stories that help me, personally, find relatable aspects of the story to my life or just human life in general. I felt that "The Sense of Smell" did a great job depicting what a heroic journey would be: going through ups and downs to reach an end goal. Similarly to "The Hole in the Sky", El-harahahaha had to go through struggles in order to get what he wanted for the good of the people (or I guess the good of the rabbits). Also, we discussed the idea of the theme for this one possibly being that it's not necessarily about the end goal as much as it is about the journey or the process of REACHING that end goal. I feel that is a powerful idea and can apply to lives of all different types of beings.
ReplyDeleteI found the story "The Hole in the Sky" the most interesting to me because of its theme, which is that things are not really as they appear. I can relate to this theme because nowadays people (such as myself) don't really think before judging people by their appearance, or a book by its cover. In my life, I try not to let judgement control my actions and words too much, but in reality, I am similar to the characters Hallian and Thyken in that way. The part when El-ahrairah sees the Hole in the Sky for the first time is also really applicable to human life today in the idea of striving to find something and expecting it to be magnificent, only to face the ugly truth. El-ahrairah had high expectations for the Hole in the Sky, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he saw it for the gory image it really was.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed "Sense of Smell" the most. I was interested in El's journey particularly because the story is a Pourquoi story. A Pourquoi story explains how a certain thing or thing s came into being or existence. This story explains how the English Rabbits got their sense of smell. It could also be said that this is a Pourquoi story because of the explamation of how some animals and habitats went extinct because of humans. I don't think this is why it's a Pourquoi story because this isn't an explamation but more of an attempt of the author to make the reader aware of the problem of us killing of organisms. The character El Armairah travels to the land of yesterday for a sense of smell, but instead is told that this power isn't in their possession by an orange Bison whom we almost practically killed off. He is told to go to the king of tommorow where the animals that are still alive exist. This is where he gets his species a sense of smell. In all though U enjoyed the adventure for the adventure.
ReplyDelete