Tutorial 1- My Favourite Childhood Story

                In today’s lesson, I was assigned to select a story that I love most during my childhood time. I choose The Fox and The Grapes by Aesop.

1.       The reason/s you choose the story

I decide on choosing this story because it reminds me of my father. He is the one who introduces this story to me. Once, I did not get the thing I really wanted and felt so stressed. Then he said to me ‘Never mind Midah, that’s just sour grape. Look for another thing..’ It triggers me to ask him what that ‘Sour Grape’ means. Then he told me about this story.

I found it is relevant to our daily lives. Day by day, live becomes more competitive. We cannot guarantee that everything we long for will eventually be ours. Therefore, despite feeling angry and depressed, we ought to handle our feeling over the failure.

2.       What element(s) in the story that make you think that the story is interesting

I think sense of suspense is the obvious element that makes the story pretty interesting. The fox jumped thrice and in each trial, he jumped even higher than the previous. Yet still, he could not reach the bunch of grapes. When I was first told the story, I guessed that probably the third jump would succeed but it turned otherwise. This aroused my curiosity to see what happened next; either the fox kept on jumping, think of another way and so on.

3.       The portrayal of characters in the story

The only main character in the story is definitely the fox. He is seen as a determined character at first, as he really works hard for the bunch of grapes. However in the end, the fox gives up and in order to cover up his grief, he claims that they are just sour grape; not as ripening and tempting as what he thought at first. Moreover, I also see his strength from the way he console his feeling over her failure. Despite his famished tummy, he is strength enough to be optimist that the grapes are not meant for him by claiming as such. I can imagine his facial expression when he said ‘they are just sour grapes’; like he couldn’t care less about the grape while deep inside his heart, he does not want anything but the grape!

4.       The plot of the story

The plot of the story is simple and easy to understand. The climax is when the fox jumped thrice as higher as he could to reach the grapes. The resolution is not a happy ending like most of children stories and this makes it unique.

5.       The suitability of the story as children story

I personally think that this story is suitable for children. At such young age, they always act capriciously when they do not get what they really want. Thus, this story teaches them to handle their emotion and accept the fate. However, it is crucial to try their best first.If you still can't get it, maybe it's not meant to be yours and just leave it to God.:)