Journal #2 - Story That Teaches Manners

Pavel the Giraffe Throws a Party!

-A Sequel to "How the Giraffe Got Its Long Neck"-

It had been only a few weeks since the giraffes of the savannah were changed for the better. The additional length to their necks made it easier for the once short creatures to reach the tastiest leaves of the trees.

Being the first long-necked giraffe in existance, Pavel's neck still lingered above the rest of his herd's heads. Until his death, his neck would serve as a reminder to everyone that he was the giraffe who made a difference.

Overcome with joy at his herd's transformation, Pavel wanted to a throw a party for everyone. He gathered the sweetest, most flavor-filled leaves of the tallest trees and tossed them into a large pile that was almost as big as him. The location of the pile was right next to a small spring filled with the sweetest water in the area. Pavel cleared the small area of its tall grasses and formed a nice, flat, socializing area. Everything was ready.

He giddily gallopped to the rest of his herd, excitedly telling them about the party he had planned and set up earlier in the day.

"A party, you say?" One of the older members of the herd spoke, "Well, I'd love to come!"

The rest of the giraffes chimed in and with Pavel leading the way, the party began.

Everyone loved the taste of the leaves Pavel had gathered. They had never been able to reach such sweet leaves, not even with their extended necks. They slurped up the springwater, ate, and had a grand time. When the sun began to set, fireflies made their way out of the grasses and lit up the area, inviting the giraffes to dance around them.

The night went on, the giraffes dancing their hooves off, and all too soon it was over.

Pavel thanked everyone for coming and bid them a good night, glad that they all enjoyed themselves so much.

The next day, Pavel woke up to the sound of three young giraffes galloping towards him. He yawned and stood up, smiling to greet them. They appeared to be about the same age as him.

"Are you having another party tonight, Pavel? That was so much fun! And the food was amazing!" One of the giraffes exclaimed.

Pavel hesitated, "Well, I wasn't planning on it." He considered it, smiled and said, "I guess I could. One more couldn't hurt. It was a lot of fun."

"Great!" They cheered and ran back to their other friends.

Pavel sighed and went to collect more of the sweet upper-tree leaves. If he was going to have a party, the food might as well be as good as before!

So, he spent the day plucking off branch after branch of leaves until he accumulated the same size of a pile as he had before. The sweet water from the spring still flowed in a gentle pattern, so there would still be enough to drink. He trampled down a larger area for socializing, having greatly underestimated the quantity of his herd that would be there. By late afternoon, everything was organized. The giraffes of the herd galloped towards him and immediately started to eat the food provided.

As the night before, everything was going smoothly. The moon came out, luminating the makeshift dance floor as the fireflies waltzed out of the nearby tall grass. The giraffes danced into the night until they could not dance any longer. Then, thoroughly exhausted, they quietly thanked Pavel and headed home.

Once the area had cleared, Pavel sighed and will a small smile he said, "Well, at least everyone had a good time." He quietly cleaned up the pile of twigs and branches that were left behind from his now-deceased pile of sweet leaves. Thoroughly tired himself, Pavel then headed to bed.

In the morning, Pavel awoke to the bright glare of the sun in his eyes. He must have overslept. Normally, he was up by dawn, but the sun was well into the sky then. He stretched and attempted to rid his mouth of that awful morning taste --- unsuccessfully.

He walked to a nearby tree and ate a few sweet leaves from the top for breakfast.

A few members of his herd noticed him and smiled, walking over to him. Pavel swallowed his leaf and smiled at his herd members. "How are you today?" He asked them.

"We're good. We are rather sore though. We danced the night away!"

Pavel laughed, "Yes, yes. Many of you did, including myself."

"You are having another party tonight, right?" They asked, hope gleaming in their eyes.

Pavel's eyes widened, "I...was not planning on it, bu-."

"Oh, come on, Pavel! Lighten up! Everyone has a great time at your parties! Don't you want everyone to have a good time?"

And so that was that. They had convinced him. And for the next five days, they continued to convince him. Day after day, Pavel woke up, gathered sweet leaves, trampled a dance floor, and hosted a party. On the final day that week, he woke up, his eyes crusted over from a lack of sleep, and dragged himself over to the nearby stream. He flicked his tongue out to drink the sweet waters, but there was nothing there. He stared with confusion at the stream. Why was there no water?

He looked around him, trying to bring moisture to his mouth in any way. He squinted his eyes and searched for any other source of water. None.

He slowly walked over to the rest of his herd and saw them in a group, chatting about him.

"The food was not good last night! The leaves had hardly any flavor!"

"By the time I went to get a drink, there was nothing there!"

Pavel looked sadly over at them. He only wanted to please his fellow herd members, but he had failed. They were anything but pleased.

One giraffe in the group noticed Pavel out of the corner of his eye and angrily stomped towards him, "What gives, Pavel? You used to throw the best parties!"

"I'm very sorry, friend. I have just been low on sweet leaves. I had to use leaves from the lower portions of the trees because the tops had been cleared. Also, the water from the spring has stopped flowing, so there is none left," It was then that he noticed his surroundings. Dry, waterless grasses. Bare, stripped trees. Nothing was left. "I have nothing more to give you."

The herd looked around them. They too noticed the state of their temporary home.

One elder of the herd spoke up, "We have been working this poor, young giraffe to the bone. We only wanted to enjoy ourselves, but we never thought of him."

The other members of the herd sadly agreed.

The elder continued, "He has stripped the trees to nothing, and used up all of our water just so that we could have a good time. We never stopped to help him or give him a break."

There was silence.

"I am disgraced with all of us, including myself."

Because of the state of the area, the giraffes were forced to move on to a new area. In half a day, they were able to find a nice, grassy area with a watering hole large enough to quench the thirsts of everyone in the herd. Despite everything being okay again, the members of the herd learned a valuable lesson about hospitality. They learned that it is okay to accept hospitality when it is given to them, but they must never use it to their advantage.

Since then, whenever the giraffes wanted to have a party, everyone helped.

To be potentially continued in a new journal... 

Puritan Reflections

Despite Mary Rowlandson and Anne Bradstreet not being typical writers of their time period, being women, their writings are still very typical of a Puritan of that time. Puritan writing often included interpretations of events such as works of God. It also had an unadorned writing style. Their writing also was about true events. Also, despite the plainness of the style, these women are still able to make their writings sort of touching.

When Mary Rowlandson talks about the small good things that came her way while she was a captive, she always credits God for them. For instance, when she recalls how her youngest child died and she was forced to spend the night beside it, she writes "I have thought since of the wonderful goodness of God to me, preserving me so in the use of my reason and senses in that distressed time" (Rowlandson 83). Even though something horrible had happened she still thanks God for that one small blessing. When Anne Bradstreet reflects on how her house was destroyed, she rebukes herself with the thought that God had given all of that to her, and it was his right to take it away if he wished (Bradstreet 16-19). Both women see events as acts of God, and because they are works of God the women always look to the bright side. After all, God only does things for the good of his people. Even though the writings are about sad things, they still seem to be slightly optimistic.

Reading through the two story, I do not believe that I read a single simile or metaphor. Even in descriptions that could use that kind of detail, like when Mary describes how much she worried about her children, the language is simple and to the point (Rowlandson 84-85). In Anne's work, the amount of flouring language is about the same. The closest she even comes to that kind of description is when she writes about all of the things that will never happen again in her house (Bradstreet 29-34). Even without all of the long descriptions that I am accustomed to, both works still make me upset because of the topic that they are about. The way the things are written makes me feel like all of the fancy words and long expressions would get in the way of the feelings behind the words. Puritans seem to get by just fine without using similes.

It seems to me that Puritans wrote about the things that happened in their lives because they believed those things were the real workings of God. That may have made them more special to the Puritans, thus inspiring them to write about them. Both Mary Rowlandson and Anne Bradstreet wrote about actual events in their lives instead of things they had imagined. because the things they wrote about were true, even though the language was plain they were still able to get across the way they felt about what happened very clearly. Because of this, I really liked reading these stories.

Bradstreet, Anne. "Upon the Burning of Our House." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

Rowlandson, Mary. "A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

Journal #1 - Creation Story

How the Giraffe Got Its Long Neck

Most people believe that the giraffe species has always had a long, proud neck atop its shoulders. Despite their beliefs, that is not the case. The start of its existence begins long before the creature was discovered by men.

The giraffes had always been part of a large, yet peaceful herd. They were able to eat their fill of leaves from the trees around them, but they were only able to reach the bottom of each tree's foliage. Nonetheless, there were plenty of trees to go around and everyone was happy.

Most of them, that is.

A young, short giraffe named Pavel pranced around the clump of trees that their herd had recently stopped by. He looked forward to filling his empty stomach on the dark green leaves of the trees. Running up to one, he happily lifted up on his hind legs and - using the tree to balance him - reached to bite one. To his dismay, the leaves were to high for him to reach. He sighed and looked around him. All of the trees in this patch were too high for him.

He walked with defeat in his steps towards a small, dry bush that sat a few feet from the tree. Realizing that this would probably be his only food for this stop, he reluctantly took a few bites. The leaves were not appalling, but compared to the sweet, fresh taste of the leaves from the trees, they were boring and tasteless.

After he had eaten his fill of the leaves from his bush, Pavel decided to walk around for a little while. His family and friends were talking amongst themselves, so he would have some time to himself.

"If only I could reach the leaves of the trees," Pavel thought, "Then, I would be able to eat like a king."

Deciding to hike up a tall hill nearby, Pavel decided that he would ask his god to be taller, so that he may eat the fresh leaves of the trees like the rest of his herd. 

-And so he did. Reaching the top of the hill, Pavel looked up to the heavens and pronounced, "My God, I ask that you make me taller so that I may eat the fresh green leaves  from the top of the trees! No taste could be sweeter than that!"

After moments of waiting, Pavel felt a spiritual presence overwhelm him.

"It shall be done," a deep voice sounded from above, "You may have your wish."

Suddenly, Pavel was knocked unconscious. When he awoke, he wobbled to his feet, noticing that it was harder than usual for him to keep his balance. He stood tall, looking about his surroundings, realizing that he could see farther than usual. Remembering his experience from before he was unconscious, he realized that his god had granted him his wish. He was tall. His legs had grown significantly, but his neck was where the biggest change had occurred. It stretched several feet into the air and would surely give him access to all of the trees of the area.

Giddy about his new features, Pavel galloped down the steep hill to greet his family and friends in his herd. They were silently eating from the bottom leaves of the trees, but Pavel ran straight to them, breaking their silence, happily explaining his experience.

They stared at the once small giraffe in disbelief, a few of them giggling at how ridiculous he appeared to them. Soon, they all chimed in, ridiculing him for his new look.

Angry about their reaction, Pavel snorted, "I can reach the freshest, most flavor-filled leaves of the trees. Whether I look different or not, this is a gift from God, and I am willing to use it to its full potential." He reached his neck far into the air and snatched the highest leaf of the tree, holding it in his mouth to let the flavor fill it. He happily munched at his meal.

Despite his achievements, Pavel continued to be insulted by whom he had believed to be his family and friends. It grew to the point where the young giraffe could no longer take it, so he left. He took off in the opposite direction that his herd was headed with the full intention of never seeing them again.

Tragedy struck the herd of giraffes a few months later. A great and terrible storm attacked the valley in which they were living temporarily. The winds and rains of the storm caused the leaves of the trees to be blown away, leaving only a few clusters of leaves behind at the very top of each tree. The ground was muddy and almost nothing green remained. The storm raged on for many days, until the herd became fragile from starvation. The members of the herd were too tired to move.

Pavel, who was passing by the area, noticed his old herd struggling. He saw the leaves at the top of the trees around them and felt pity towards them because they could not reach them. His mind became conflicted as he tried to decide whether or not to help them. In the end, he chose to help them. They were his family afterall, despite their mean comments towards him.

He galloped to his herd and they noticed him immediately.

"Stand tall everyone. I will help you reach the food," Pavel spoke, his voice showing no sign of weakness, indicating that he had been well fed and healthy this entire time.

He reached for the top of one tall tree and grabbed ahold of its flimsy upper branches. After getting a decent hold on the branch, he pulled and pulled until it snapped off. He dropped the leafy bundle on the ground before his fellow giraffes and they happily ate from it. Pavel continued to break off branches of leaves for his family and friends until they were well fed and happy again.

They thanked him for his help and apologized sincerely about the horrible things they had said.

Realizing that their apology was sincere, Pavel accepted it and rejoined his herd.

Up in the heavens, God looked upon the herd of giraffes with a smile. He was amazed by how much Pavel's long neck was able to help that one group of giraffes. Deciding that it was time for a change, God transformed all of the giraffes in the world to look like Pavel. Since then, the giraffes of the world have been tall and strong, allowing them to reach the tallest, most tasty leaves of any tree.

The End.

The Moon is Down - According to History...

Does this novel accurately reflect events in history??? Yes. Doing a mental recap of all the books I have read in my life, I can pick no other novel that reflects certain events in history better than this one. As I have stated in a few other blogs, this novel was written as propaganda during World War II to help inspire people in conquered countries and towns across Western Europe to fight back. Looking back in history, this novel accurately reflected events that took place as the Nazi's invaded Norway during World War II. This novel represents the Norwegian resistance that actually took place during the war.

As for how well Steinbeck understands certain relationships, I believe that he got them pretty spot on. One of the most noticeable kind of relationships I noticed during this novel was the relationship between a soldier and his commanding officer. Growing up, I was told that in the army they break you down so that they can build you up again as not a man or woman, but a soldier. This is obviously true, because there are so many points in this novel in which Colonel Lanser refers to a member of his army as not even being a man anymore. "You're not a man anymore. You are a soldier. Your comfort is of no importance and, Lieutenant, your life isn't of much importance. (Steinbeck 99). Hearing this, we can see how life really is in the army. In the end, you are just taking orders, and you had better respect those orders.

The other main relationship that I noticed Steinbeck trying to show us was the relationship between a political official and his people. The readers can see that the author strongly believes that politicians should be dedicated to the people they serve, and represent them to the very best of their ability. "When the town makes up its mind what it wants to do, I'll probably do that." (Steinbeck 19). The Mayor believes that his decisions can only be what the people want, or else everything would fall apart. There is obviously a lot of respect on either side of this relationship. The people respect the Mayor and his final decisions, but the Mayor respects his people enough to take their thoughts into consideration. It really seems that Steinbeck described these relationships well. He was able to accurately capture the time period during the war and incorporate it into his novel.

Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down. New York: Penguin Classics, 1942. Print.

The Moon is Down - Writing Techniques?

Because I look at these questions before reading the book, I find myself constantly searching for answers. I felt myself scanning the pages, asking myself, "What is this author doing?" The most consistent technique I noticed that Steinbeck used was suspense. It is only fitting, seeing as though this is war novel, and war tends to be a suspenseful topic. As I read, I could never tell what was going to happen next. That made it a lot easier to read because I found myself wanting to continue to read, something that unfortunately does not happen much with the summer reading we do for Honors English. One second I was on page 15 and the next I was at 100.

One of the most notable forms of suspense were during the parts where the book talked about the Anders Brothers' plan to spread word of the villagers' situation (Steinbeck 80-84). We knew that the Mayor was planning on getting weapons into the city that could help the villagers rebel, but we did not know if their plan was going to work. What if they were caught? What if they were able to drive the soldiers out of the city? What if the soldiers just confiscated the weapons and punished the villagers for it? There was an endless amount of possibilities and the reader was glued to the book trying to figure out which one would happen.

Another technique I found in this novel was the author making the people of the town grow. I do not mean that they physically grew, though I'm sure some of them did. I mean that the characters started out weak and unaware, but they grew in strength and courage. The villagers were not ready to rebel at the beginning of the novel, not at all. But at the end, we knew that they could handle it. The mayor had utmost confidence in them. He even showed confidence in them in the beginning, "My people don't like to have others think for them. Maybe they are different from your people. I am confused, but that I am sure of." (Steinbeck 17). When the readers noticed that the villagers were growing in this way, they realized that they could grow in the same way as well. This could have drawn people to read this book.

Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down. New York: Penguin Classics, 1942. Print.

The Moon is Down - Why do we STILL read this book?

I believe that we still read this book because of its lasting theme of never giving up. Almost everyone can relate to this goal because almost everyone has something that they are trying to achieve. They could be trying to achieve anything from running a marathon to winning a talent show to beating the world record in the Olympics. In the end, the book can still inspire these people as they witness a town that started off weak and helpless grow in strength and determination that could one day help them succeed.

It could also still be popular because of its historical impact on the world. Written during World War II, The Moon is Down was used as war propaganda to spread word of the resistance movement in Western Europe. Where according to John Steinbeck, it did not meet that goal in Western Europe as much as he wanted it to, it still had a lasting impact on the rest of society. The book was passed around secretly, spreading the message to the world that you have to keep trying, no matter the circumstances. The rest of the world revelled in this war propaganda book. Many people still read it so that they can experience what the people of that time experienced. They might even try to envision themselves in the same situation so that they can think about how the people of the time may have taken it. Altogether, the book just has had a lasting impact on history in Western Europe so it became popular for that.

Going back to the theme, we can see how much the town grew in strength and determination. We saw how they responded when they realized their food was being rationed and their freedom was questioned. "The cold hatred grew with the winter, the silent, sullen hatred, the waiting hatred. The food supply was controlled - issued to the obedient and withheld from the disobedient - so that the whole population turned coldly obedient." (Steinbeck 57). Reading through that passage, we can see how the town is realizing what is going on. The people of the town did not understand the reality of war in the beginning of the book, but they were slowly beginning to understand as the book progressed. One person, Alexander Morgen, gets so mad that he attacks one of the soldiers, though he hits the wrong one (Steinbeck 38). Knowing that the town was able to fight back, the people who read this novel will be inspired. They will realize that if actions speak louder than words, so if you do not take action, you will not succeed.

Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down. New York: Penguin Classics, 1942. Print.

The Moon is Down - According to the Time Period...

The strange thing about The Moon is Down is that it does not have a very descriptive setting. We, the readers, do not know when or where this book is taking place. It is one of those stories that is literally about a town in a country that is being conquered by people in a war from another country who are lead by one "Leader". Everything about it is very vague.

The readers can only assume that this novel takes place during the time that it was written. When it was first written, John Steinbeck was writing this novel as propaganda for World War II. Seeing as though this novel is about a war, I believe it takes place during World War II and their "Leader" is Hitler. This novel reflects the time period because many towns were being taken over during the war. I am sure that many of said towns were as afraid as the townsfolk in the book were. From reading this, the readers gain a better understanding of what happened during World War II in Western Europe.

The novel is very symbolic because it was written to give the people from captured towns in Europe a little bit of hope. In the book, we witness how a small, peaceful town is able to finally rebel. By writing this novel, Steinbeck hoped that he would get the message across to captured towns in Europe that they did not have to be afraid to fight back. Even now, while the war is over, people can still look to this novel and be inspired by the theme of it.

Steinbeck really captured the essence of war through this novel, so the readers were able to learn a lot about that time period. "Lanser had been in Belgium and France twenty years before and he tried not to think what he knew—that war is treachery and hatred, the muddling of incompetent generals, the torture and killing and sickness and tiredness, until at last it is over and nothing has changed except for new weariness and new hatreds." (Steinbeck 23). From this section, we get a summary about how war is to the average soldier. We got info from both sides of the war.

Overall, the novel really explained how life was like during World War II. It gave a lot of subtle hints about the time period, that when noticed, can give a lot of infortmation.

Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down. New York: Penguin Classics, 1942. Print.