𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 (fable)

 

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The Ant and the Grasshopper, alternatively titled The Grasshopper and the Ant (or Ants), is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 373 in the Perry Index. The fable describes how a hungry grasshopper begs for food from an ant when winter comes and is refused. The situation sums up moral lessons about the virtues of hard work and planning for the future. From what I recall in my grade school days, we were asked to read fables and among the fables, I have read, this is the fable that struck me the most. But firstly, before we go on to the story, we must know what is the meaning of the fables. A fable is a very short story which promises to illustrate or teach us a lesson which is also called a moral. Usually, if not always, fables are stories having animal characters that talk like humans. Now, I'm going to recall some of the details in the fable so that some of you will understand the flow of the story, and perhaps you can recall it too. The fable concerns a grasshopper (in the original, a cicada) that has spent the summer singing while the ant (or ants in some versions) worked to store up food for winter. When that season arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and begs the ant for food. We can see that the grasshopper and the ant have a contrasting attitude in which results in fortune to one side and unfortunate to the other side. And because the Ant had worked hard to gather foods for the upcoming storm that when the storm came, he had food to eat. On the other hand, the grasshopper didn't work to gather foods that when the storm came he was left to starve to death. Now, the takeaway lesson is that "it is wise to worry about tomorrow to today". the aunt who works hard and plans for the future is rewarded, and the grasshopper, who wasted his time singing and dancing, is punished.

My overall learning experiences and reaction for finals:

The learning experiences I've had for finals are crucial in taking this course because from what I've experience learning from children's literature such as fable. I learned that Fables are timeless literary devices because of their ability to deliver moral messages in a simple way that can be understood and enjoyed by readers of all ages. In fact, the fable is one of the oldest and most lasting methods of both written and oral storytelling. Fables are very popular in children’s literature as it teaches children lessons while keeping them interested with the animal characters.