Imagine you are one of your parents. Select a parable you (as the parent) want to share with your child (you). Write a three-sentence response that explains your choice.
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Renzo often thinks he is better off hiding failures than allowing others to see his imperfections, and the parable “Be Careful of What You Plant” will teach him better. The parable tells of a little boy named Ling who is the only one unable to grow a plant, later to find out that the other boys all were caught cheating and he was the only honest one, making him the emperor. I wish that Renzo would always be like Ling, instead of being dishonest to protect his reputation, since dishonesty hurts his reputation more than any failure would, and the trust gained from being honest will help him in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that for kids it is harder to admit our failures. Although this may be hard for us it alway turns out to be the better choice or smarter decision.
Delete“Be Careful of What You Plant” teaches a moral that my parents would want me to live by because my future is dependent on the choices I make during adolescence. In the story, the emperor gives all the children boiled seeds that won’t grow and tells the children to come back in a year with a plant, and when only one child, Ling, shows honesty and returns without a plant, the emperor declares Ling the emperor due to his honesty. Whether I choose to do my homework or not, choose to make good friends, or choose whether to steal or belittle others, those choices will determine the kind of life I live in the future, and as my parents they have tried to teach my my whole life to be hardworking, to be kind and loving, and to be an honorable person so that my future stays bright and that I live life to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteMy parents would also teach me this, to live an honest and kind life, and they remind me how this will affect my future. While reading this parable, I also got a sense of never give up, which is also a way my parents would want me to live.
DeleteWhile reading the many different parables for homework in our English class, one particular parable, “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover”, stood out to me because of how many times people discard it in today. As Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked onto campus, they appeared to have little money, and were judged due to their appearance, while the Harvard faculty practically tossed them aside just because of that. Today, whenever someone looks drab, people often throw them to the curb because they think they are above them, and could not possibly treat them equally.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that this was a true story really struck me, and made me think about how sometimes I judge people just off of how they look. I wish I didn't do it as much, but it is almost second nature for humans to make judgments on the fly. This story will make me think more before I draw conclusions, and for that I am thankful.
DeleteThe parable “Beautiful Gift” conveys the importance of graciousness and appreciation, and that a lack thereof will result in remorse and regret, which is an important lesson for children to learn, especially ones who live in a stable home, go to private school, and lead a comfortable life. This lack of graciousness and ultimate regret is shown in the story, when a young man scorns his father for giving him the very insufficient gift of a book, over a fancy car, not realizing that the car keys had been hidden inside the book. Without graciousness and appreciation for the little things, as insignificant as a book, the bonds between family could be broken, children could become spoiled and ungrateful, and amends cannot always be made.
ReplyDeleteThe ungrateful attitude not only hurts familial bonds, but can sometimes make us completely ignore some of the best gifts we will get in life, simply because we expected something different.
DeleteAs a kid, something that I had trouble with was being honest, as I lied a relatively fair amount, obviously annoying my parents and others that counted on me, which is an important reason why the parable “Words and Actions should be The Same” would be important to me, because keeping my actions consistent with my words would teach me to maintain trust in the community. A holy man in the parable breaks a habit he has to advise a child to stop the same habit, showing that he wants to foster a sense of honesty in the young boy, as the morals of what you do and the morals of what you say should be the same. Any lie or truth that you state could make or break your ability to connect with others in such a way that there is mutual trust between you and the other, which is the most important lesson in the parable since trust is paramount to hold people together.
ReplyDeleteThis parable also highlights the flaws of hypocrisy: that people will not listen to you if you contradict yourselves. If everyone was hypocritical, our world would be chaotic, and nobody would listen to each other, which is why we need carry through with our words.
Delete"Beautiful Gift" is an example of when people in our society miss what is truly important because of the way it is delivered and packaged. When the young man's father gave him a holy book for his college graduation, he was furious because all he desired was a new sports car that his father could obviously afford ; after never seeing his father again till he passed, he collected the book and the keys to the luxurious sports car he had wanted all along fell out of the pages. Children need to understand that we must delve deeper than the packaging because when we do not, we miss out on the true meaning of what may be on the inside literally and figuratively.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about the "Beautiful Gift". Why didn't the father tell the son about the keys in the holy book?
DeleteHonesty gets you farther in life then lying does. In the parable “Be Careful of What You Plant” Ling, a young boy from a Far East Kingdom, was given a seed from the Emperor to plant, but the seed could not be grown; he returned to the palace with an empty pot and became the air to the throne. If you are honest you will never be punished, but rewarded.
ReplyDeleteThe path of complete honesty, especially when reflecting failure, is often the more difficult one, although in the end, it is often rewarded, not punished. For example, Ling's ability to tell the truth, and admit that he failed to plant his seed, was rewarded when he became emperor.
DeleteIf I were my own parent, I would read to myself “The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard” because it enforces not expecting higher treatment even if I had put in more time or effort than others. The parable describes a landowner on a vineyard who hired many people to work throughout the day but when they all received an equal pay, the people who worked the longest amount of time showed dismay towards the landowner. I see this within my family as if I set the table for dinner one night, I would most likely expect to get food before my siblings, but that mindset does not support being humble when doing good deeds which defeats the whole purpose of performing actions that help others.
ReplyDeleteBeing the youngest child in the family, this is extremely common. Especially when doing a significant amount more than the other, it is expected to be praised or acknowledged, however children must learn, that this creates bad qualities, especially greed.
DeleteI must teach the moral of “Puppies for Sale”, that we all need to find someone who understands us, to my child because he cannot understand his brother very well. In “Puppies for Sale”, a boy decides to purchase a puppy who cannot walk normally because he himself possesses a synthetic leg and wishes for someone he can relate to. In my household, my son often experiences difficulty when trying to relate to the problems his brother faces, causing him to dismiss legitimate grievances as minor issues, a problem that I could mitigate by reading him this parable.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone has the same problems as each other, so this adds another dimension of complexity to this parable. People also should be free of pressure to relate to others because that creates a whole other level of grievances that go unaddressed.
Delete“Be Careful of What You Plant”
ReplyDeleteThis parable shows the power of honesty takes humility and courage, even if one may be ashamed it is always better to be honest. Even when the boy hears that all of his friends have big beautiful plants he does not succumb to lying but instead manages to become the new emperor by simply being honest. Being honest is the key to happiness and strength and just like Newton's law, “ every action has an equal and opposite reaction” , this law always seems to hold itself true.
I found that relating this parable to Newton's law is very interesting, especially since we are currently learning about it. The relation to the law also gives a whole new perspective on the parable and what message it is trying to get across to the reader.
Delete“Be Careful of What You Plant” characterizes the qualities of honesty, faithfulness, hope, and trust in one’s self which is extremely important for children to know and learn at a young age. Ling lost hope when his seed did not grow and wished not to present himself to the emperor due to his embarrassment and lack of growing a beautiful plant. However, he kept his faith and trust that presenting himself was for the best and even though the other children had grow beautiful plants, they were not being honest for the seeds had been cooked, allowing Ling to be rewarded for his honesty, displaying that always having faith, trust, and hope will reward you in the future.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by your thorough explanation of how important honesty can be since that has always connected with me on a personal level. I also never really thought hope would reward you in the future.
DeleteIf I were a parent and was to read a parable to myself as child, I would definitely chose to read the parable “Do Not Judge A Book By It’s Cover”, because it teaches the very important lessons of not making assumptions and always keeping an open mind towards people based on their appearance. This parable is about a couple who simply wanted to give to the school that their son once loved, but didn’t look like they could afford it based on their appearance, so they were mistreated and ignored. Always treating people with respect and listening to what they have to say, regardless of how they look or what they wear, is something that I believe is a very important lesson that everyone should learn as a child for it will earn a child the respect of others as he or she grows up.
ReplyDeleteI agree with how you said the child will gain respect throughout their life if they do not jump to conclusions based off of first impressions. The lesson taught in this parable definitely needs to be seen in not only young people, but anyone at all since it is natural for any human to have some sort of judgements.
DeletePuppies for Sale is the first parable I would read to Fionn because it is a good lesson about empathy and helping those in need. The parable, which tells the story of a slightly handicapped boy buying a handicapped puppy is supposed to shed light on the idea that everybody needs someone who understands them, but it is nearly impossible to get through the story without feeling some empathy to the boy or the dog. This story not only makes you feel for the boy and his dog, ut is also instills are want to help those who could use someone in their life to connect to.
ReplyDeleteI would agree this parable shares a good lesson because we need others who understand what we may be going through. The idea of support from these people is crucial because everyone needs someone to relate to.
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ReplyDeleteThe moral “We may not believe liars when they tell the truth” is very important since the simple act of lying can get individuals in more trouble than ever imaginable and it can ruin people’s lives. In the Parable The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a shepherd boy always messed around with other stating that there were wolves attacking sheep when there weren’t any wolves around which a constant problem for a while until one time, the boy was not lying about wolves attacking sheep and no villagers came to stop them since they thought it was another joke. This moral would be very important for my children since I believe lying is one of the worst actions a human can produce and when you will tell the truth, not only will people not believe you but also won’t ever take you seriously
I found it interesting that you interpreted the moral to only blame the boy, because I interpreted the moral to apply to both the boy and the villagers. Although it it wrong to lie, it is also wrong to refuse to listen to someone because of their previous actions.
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