劉語涵Violet Liu - Fairy_Folk Tale & Rationale Final Assessment Project-3

Liu 1 A Little Giant Dragon “All dragons light up the sky. We are strong and unbeatable.” This is carved on the marble and filled with glitter glue at the gate of Dragon community No. 28. The little dragon was ready for her fifteenth year in this community. She made a strident sound when her palm clicked-clacking the tile floor since she did not have time to cut her sharp nail in the morning. Everyday and everynight, whenever and wherever, she is busy practicing for her speech contest coming up next week. This contest belongs to the fire element. Each dragon community is divided into three elements: Water, Fire, and the Earth. Water is where dragons test based on their academic knowledge. Most dragons favor this element because being smart can bring them a stable job in the future. It is like water, which continuously flows forever and can be shaped in various forms. Having a good grade in Water promises a dragon there is no worry on finding jobs. On the other hand, there is Fire. Most dragons determine Fire as the most dangerous element because of its uncertainties. It tests the multi interests of each individual dragon. Some examples would be becoming a flamboyant

Liu 2 DragonTuber, turning into a professional cook, or attending a speech contest like the little dragon. Fire has been called the most dangerous element because a dragon could either shine and astonish others at one moment, or be nothing like ashes permanently. Last but not least, there is the Earth element. The Earth grades on how well a dragon can deal with another dragon. In short words, it competes on relationships. Nor Water or Fire cares about interaction with other dragons as much as the Earth does. Having a good performance in the Earth is difficult for dragons that don't like socializing. Today was sunny, also the day of the ceremony of Stars for three elements. Every dragon walked into the theater, wishing to be honored by the president. The little dragon saw three giant sculptures for last month's stars on the stage. She wished one day she could stand on the stage confidently, listen to the emcee introducing her name, and receive big applause from every dragon in the Dragon community No. 28. While the little dragon was dreaming about her ceremony, the president picked up the microphone. “Uhh...Hello? You hear me?” The president tap-taped the microphone, testing if everyone hears him, “The most esteemed guests and my cute dragons, it’s time for this mouth’s Stars.” The theater was in complete silence, even needle drops can be heard. The president slowly opened the letter with the Stars’ names inside. “Congratulations to Wisdom for Water Star; Fatima for Fire Star; Emily for Earth Star this month!” the president announced. Not a surprise for the little dragon. She is not smart enough to be the Water Star, which is what the dragon has the highest score in every month crowded for. Same for Fire Star and Earth Star, she is neither the most famous dragon, nor the dragon has most friends. The little dragon did just fine on three elements.

Liu 3 “I will surprise everyone at the speaking contest. At that moment, every dragon will know who I am,” murmured by the little dragon sitting under the stage. In fact, the little dragon is proved to have the biggest chance of being the best delegate in this year’s speech contest by all of the professores in No. 28. For the little dragon, it doesn’t matter if there is a Water project due the next day, she always puts the practice for the speech contest in her priority. Including the community professores, nearly every dragon in No. 28 is looking forward to the little dragon winning the first prize. The ceremony ended. The little dragon walked out of the theater while still training her introduction in the speech contest in whisper, in case any dragons find her weird of speaking to herself. She saw the sky got dark with clouds cluttering together and hiding the Sun. Someone knocked the little dragon’s back. “Hey! Yeah, it’s you! You are the one I was looking for. I am the Fire Star. You definitely know me. I am here just to tell you that Mr. Burn wants to talk to you. You can find him in the principal of the Fire office,” said Fatima unabashedly. “Thanks for noticing. By the way, congratulations for being this month’s star,” the little dragon replied politely even though she knows Fatima just wants to show off her title. The little dragon walked into the Fire Office and saw Mr. Burn cleansing his teeth. This is the first time a little dragon entered the Fire Office. She was afraid of Mr. Burn before but now not quite anymore. Mr. Burn pointed to the chair, signaling the little dragon to sit down. “I am sorry to inform you of this. Your delegation of this year’s speech contest has been canceled because the community forgot to sign up for you. The community is too busy working on this month's stars ceremony. As the representative of Fire, I apologize to you sincerely, ” said Mr. Burn.

Liu 4 The little dragon stayed in silence. She didn’t understand what she just heard. She seemed to understand what Mr. Burn meant, but she refused to understand. The silence continued for the next five minutes, again, even needle drops can be heard like in the ceremony. But the silence was not to honor the little dragon as the Fire Star, instead, burnt all her hard work into ashes in just a blink of an eye. Mr. Burn broke the ice and said, “Are you okay? I know it’s hard to accept this. Community will find a way to compensate for your hard work.” “How?” the little dragon asked with tears swirling in her eyes, and tried her best to not let them fall. The speech contest is her only chance at becoming a Fire Star. She only does this particular contest better than others. She won’t feel sad if she did not get full credit in Water’s research paper, or her friends leaving her in Earth. This is because she knows she can prove herself in this contest as a Fire Star. However, everything was gone like a breeze blowing an ephemeral dandelion. “Umm…, this is still in discussion. We will inform you after we make the final decision,” Mr. Burn said. The little dragon walked out the office. She remembered today should be a sunny day, but the weather was cloudy and windy now. Every wind blows, thousands of icy blades stabbed in the little dragon’s heart. Fatima came in the little dragon’s way and called the little dragon, “Hey! How's the conversation with Mr. Burn? You look sad, my kitty. You want to see my sculpture in the theater? It’s beautiful.”

Liu 5 “What do you mean? Can’t you see I’m upset? Who gives you the Fire Star title? Get out of my way, FIRE STAR,” the little dragon shouts at Fatima aggressively with sarcasm. She really tried to hold back her tears and sad emotions. The little dragon ran back to her dormitory. She jumped on her bed and squished her head into the pillow. The little dragon collapsed, and exploded all her sadness without composing herself anymore. She felt useless for herself. She got bad grades on Water and rejected all the social activities on Earth because she spent too much time on practicing the contest. What she did was just wasting time on nothing. The pillow is completely wet after. In the next following week, the sky was grey without a light shining on the land, and the little dragon acted like a psycho. She sometimes believed she could still stand on the stage, hear her name introduced by the emcee, and receive applause. But when she pulled herself back in reality, she knew she failed as a dragon. She blamed everyone in the community for canceling her delegation, especially the Stars. One day morning, when the little dragon stared at her speech contest paper in her dormitory, Mrs. President knocked on the door and came in. The little dragon is surprised and scared by Mrs. President's arrival. Her first impression about having a private talk with the president is when a dragon needs to be dropped out of the community. “Hello little dragon, can you give me a minute to let me tell you something?” Mrs. President said. The little dragon nodded, and Mrs. President continued, “Cry hard whenever you feel you need to. You need to give yourself some time to accept this. Community manager will discuss with you privately until you reach a compromise. Sometimes things just went out of our expectations. You need a break. During this break, please eat and sleep well. Don’t care about the three elements and Stars. Don’t care about grades and winnings.

Liu 6 Remember, to breathe in and breathe out constantly.” Mrs. President comforted the little dragon, “The key is yourself. Only you can lock all the bad moods you experience these days, and unlock the happiness.” “Thanks Mrs. President, I will try.” the little dragon responded. Mrs. President left the little dragon’s dormitory, and the little dragon was alone. The little dragon stared at the window, watching the sun finally lighted up the land and paralleled the horizon. The sun was hidden by the cloud before, but now it was strong and unbeatable. “I hope one day I can light up the sky, ” the little dragon spoke.

Liu 7 Violet Liu Mrs. Scriven LT:10:S1:H1 (C2) Oct 28, 2021 Rationale: A Little Giant Dragon “A Little Giant Dragon” is a story of self-consciousness and coming of age that uses dragon personification to reflect human’s society, especially school for teenagers. The little dragon accidently lost her delegation on the speech contest, which she worked on really hard. The tragedy of losing pride and wasting time collapses the little dragon. The three vital elements; Water, Fire and Earth are symbols for everyone’s base livelihood, inspired by modern people's lives which can split into individuals’ achievement in academic, co-curricular and socialness respectively. Dragons in the community fight for Stars, which only the dragon performs the best can be honored as. Dragons compete the titles on each element, in the goal of getting happiness on how others might perceive the Star. Under this circumstance, arrogance, conceitedness and sarcasm appear in the community as what practically happens in humans’ world. At the end, the little dragon understands the possibility that not everything can be on the track she is expecting, and learns to overcome and accept the accident. “A Little Giant Dragon'' and “The Tale of the Shoe” transfer the moral to readers in the same way. In “The Tale of the Shoe”, the main character accepts her mother’s death and respondes “So then she took me home, or I took her home, or we were both somehow taken to the closet thing.” (Emma, 8). Similarly, while the little dragon depresses about can’t attending the contest, Mrs. President tries to power up the little dragon “the key is yourself. Only you can lock all the bad moods you experience these days, and unlock the happiness.” (Liu, 6). Both stories send an

Liu 8 instructive message to the readers that everyone should find the truth of life by themselves instead of relying on others. A clear disparity between these two stories are the main characters’ traits before the climax. While “The Tale of the Shoe” begins with the main character’s mom’s death, the little dragon starts with having full confidence in winning. By creating the main character's emotion opposite before and the after the climax, readers can create empathy for the main character. Therefore enhancing the story as a whole. Not only can a vivid character improve the reading, powerful words and phrases score up the experience of reading too. The little dragon practicing her speech contest in murmur would be one example. Instead of speaking out loud, the little dragon cares more about how other dragons think about her as whispering is less shameful than speaking. “However, everything was gone like a breeze blowing an ephemeral dandelion.” (Liu, 4) would be another example using simile. A dandelion has connotations of how prosperous it is by the thin petals surrounding the center, but how fragile it is when wind blows. It flawlessly reflects the little dragon’s internal feeling when all hard work is gone in a sudden. Last but not least, when the little dragon walks out Mr. Burn’s office, she feels “every wind blows, thousands of icy blades stabbed in the little dragon’s heart.” (Liu, 4). This is a metaphor that convinces readers how sad the little dragon is by using icy blades as a reference to her dream breaks. Overall, “A Little Giant Dragon” teaches readers a lesson as a general fairy tale. On the other hand, the fact of having no happy or bad ending is what distinguishes this story from other tales corresponding to real human’s life.

Liu 9 Work Cited Donoghue, Emma. “The Tale of the Shoe” Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins, New York: Joanna Cotler Books, 1997. Violet, Liu. “The Little Giant Dragon”, 2021.