Week 13 Storytelling: The Foolish Student

Authors Note:  This week for my reading diary I focused on the Europe Unit.  Elizur Write wrote the Fables of La Fonraine.  This is a book of cute little nursery rhyme type stories.  Most of these stories are made for a child’s audience.   There are many stories in this book that are labeled under the category of foolish animals.  While reading the stories I ran into the story of The Tortoise and the Two Ducks.  The tortoise in this story is very foolish.  The ducks offer to help the turtle get to his destination by flying him there.  The ducks told the turtle to not let go of the stick while flying though the sky; the turtle ended up talking and crashed into the ground. Talking while the ducks were flying the turtle was a very foolish act on the turtle that resulted in him dying.  Here in my story Ben is a very foolish student when it comes to his schoolwork.  Read my story here to see where Ben’s foolishness ends him up. 

The Foolish Student

            Ben Wellington is one of the richest students to attend Murry Case High School.  Ben’s parents own the only department store located in Tulip County.  Tulip County has a population of about 25,000.  Since this is the only department store everyone uses it.  You can buy food, clothes, tools, and pretty much anything you would ever need to live life day to day.  This department store is where the Wellington’s get their wealth.  Ben is the youngest Wellington and has three older sisters and two older brothers. The Wellington family is well known in their community.  Not only are they one of the wealthiest families, but also they are known for their academic status.   You see, all of Ben’s brothers and sisters were valedictorian of their high school class.  Ben was never nervous about not making top of his class until it came down to his senior year.  School came easy to Ben.  Every year he put in little effort and always came out on top.  He never felt at competition with anyone for his spot.  Ben’s mother always tried to tell him that school isn’t always that easy, and that he should study more.  She would tell him that there would be a point of time where he will need to put forth more effort to achieve at a high standard.  When Ben’s senior year rolled around he still had no fear that someone would beat him out of his spot.  He knew that this year is time that really mattered at being first, but he still gave little effort.  After two months of being a senior Ben and his fellow classmates received a new student.  His name was Matthew.  Even though Matthew was placed in all the same classes as Ben, Ben still didn't fret that he would get his spot taken.  It came down to be two months before graduation and Ben still wasn’t worried that is until his teacher informed him that he had moved down a spot by half a point.  Ben was angry and knew there had to be a mistake. But his teacher told him that it was because Matthew did 10 points higher than him on the last exam.   When Ben’s mom found out about him dropping a spot she was furious and told him he better get is act together for the last two months.   Ben didn’t take it seriously and instead of studying after school he would play basketball all night.  The shot for his spot back depended on the last test of the semester.  All Ben had to do was get 10 points higher than Mathew on this test.  When the results came out Mathew ended up doing 12 points higher than Ben.  Ben then realized that it was all his fault by not working harder when he should have.  His family will always be upset with him for ruining the family tradition. 

(photo source)

Bibliography:  “TheTortoise and the Two Ducks”  This story is apart of the La Fontaine unit.  The Fables of la Fontanie translated by Elizur Wright (1882)