Skip to main content

The Great Answer

                 
                                                                                                                                 Oursler
Literal Comprehension
The event took place during the Second World War. The German police were following the Nazi armies. The refugees were staying in boarding houses and they were thinking to go to America crossing the Spanish border. Among them, there were a young lady and her 4 years old daughter. A man from the underground came and told the lady to come to the appointed place because he was going to lead the refugees over the mountain, down to safety and freedom. When she came, she saw a group of people of different ages. The leader told all of them to trust in God. At the beginning of the journey, young and middle-aged helped to carry the lady’s child. While they were climbing higher and higher, the three old men, one after another gave up. And each time the leader asked them to use the last drop of energy to carry the child. The three old men reached Spain in the morning safely. They found new life, new strength and a new world of freedom. Surely here is the great answer for the riddle of life.
Interpretation:
The story is showing us that to help others is help to ourselves. The three old men were tired and they were in such condition that they were unable to go forward. But as they carried the child one by one in such condition, they reached in the place of safety. They found new life, new strength and the new world of freedom.
It is also showing us that life is full of problems. We should not run away from them. Instead, we should try to solve them. If we do so, we might get new strength and new life.
Critical Thinking:
The refugees, the Nazi armies and Gestapo are all real. But how can the weakest and oldest person carry the child when he himself can’t walk? This is the selfish world. So I don’t think that people believe in the help to others becomes a help to ourselves.
Assimilation:
The story has reminded me of my math’s problem that I had when I was reading in grade nine. I tried to solve the algebra problem the whole night but I couldn’t. My friend Tina come to me in the morning and asked to help her with the same problem. Although I didn’t know about it, I tried with her and the problem was solved. It was the help not only for her but also to myself.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Then and Now: Finding My Voice

                                                                                                                       Elaine H. Kim, Korea Literal Comprehension “Then and Now: Finding My Voice” is written by Korean writer Elaine H. Kim, Korea. As she has come from Korea, she believes on fortune telling. Once she visited a popular fortune-teller to interpret her saju (horoscope), the arrangement of year, month, day and hour of birth. He said that her saju suggested disaster. On the other hand, women fortune- tellers looked at her saju and said she must have lots of fun in her life. Once, the Korean community center in Oakland sponsored a fund-raising party. Some fortune-tellers were also...

The Stub Book

Pedro Antonio de Alarcon Literal Comprehension  The story has been written by 19th-century Spanish writer Pedro Antonio de Alarcon. Uncle Buscabeatas was a farmer of Rota, a small town of Spain famous for the production of fruits and vegetables. He was already sixty years old and had spent forty of them working in his garden. He had grown some enormous pumpkins that were already beginning to turn yellow. He knew them perfectly by color, shape, and even by name. In one afternoon, he decided to sell forty of the pumpkins. But when he went to his garden the next morning, he found his pumpkins had stolen. He guessed that the thief must have taken them to the market of Cadiz. So he went to the Cadiz. He stopped before a vendor. After recognizing his pumpkins, he asked the policeman to arrest the vendor. After a brief argument between the farmer and the vendor, the latter said that he bought them from Uncle Fulano of Rota. When the inspector of the market asked the farmer fo...

King John and the Abbot of Canterbury

Anonymous, England (before 1665) Literal Comprehension: This is a story about King John of England and the Abbot of Canterbury. The rule of the king was not good, but the abbot was highly respected. So the King was jealous of him. He feared that the abbot was plotting against him. So the king called the abbot in his palace He threatened the abbot that he would be killed if he could not answer his three questions. The questions were: what was the king worth? How quickly could the king ride the whole world? And what did the king think at the moment? The questions were very deep. So, he asked for 15 days to answer them. The abbot went to Oxford and Cambridge Universities but could not find any wise person to answer him. At last, he went to his shepherd. The shepherd, disguising as the abbot, went to the king and answered all the questions. He replied to the king that Christ was sold for 30 pence and that he was worth 29 pence because he was 1 penny worse than Christ. In answer ...