Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

Story Notes:

The Turtle and the King by Ellen C. Babbitt 

Characters:

Princes:

• Don't know much about the world
• Isolated
• Scared of things they don't understand/ recognize (the turtle) 
• Want to kill it 
• Villains
• I'm pretty interested in these characters, they are sheltered by their father. They are excited by fish (they've seen them), but scared of the turtles. How do they feel about being kept in the courtyard? I think they come off as bratty, but maybe there is more to the story.  

King:

• Over protective
• Evil 
• Likes cruel punishments
• Foolish!
• Does he think the turtle is a demon? Or is he just doing this for his sons? 

Turtle:

• What happens after he leaves? 
• How did he get captured?
• Clever/Smart/Trickster 
• Could there be other animals involved? Maybe the fishes?

Plot: 

 The most important part of the plot (for me) is the victory for the turtle. He is only a brief character in the story, but he is the focus. The story gives the most detail about the "villains" of the story that try to kill the turtle (old men, king, princes) I think it would be fun to see the background of the turtle (how did such a clever creature get caught?) or see more of what happens after he is released. 

Changes to the animals:

+What if the turtle was a person instead? Maybe some type of servant trying to escape from the king?

+What if the boys had other motives for being scared of the turtle? What if the turtle was actually evil/a trickster. 

Setting notes:

This is a short story. It is a bit lacking on the setting. There's a courtyard and then a lake- i think this could be expanded on or changed. Why must the boys be enclosed? Is there a reason? Is the courtyard magical? (It does have a talking turtle!)

Image Info: 

Buddah Shakyamuni and Scenes of His Previous Lives

Found on Wikimedia