Page 92 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

animals as symbols
aCTIvITy 1.14
Learning Targets
• Analyze the symbolic use of animals in a fable.
• Apply the use of symbolism in an original way.
Preview
In this activity, you will read a fable and analyze its message and its use of animals as symbols.
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• As you read the fable, mark the text for evidence of symbolic characteristics of the animals in the story.
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
My Notes
AbouT The AuThor
Angel Vigil is an author, performer, storyteller, theatrical director, and educator. His many books and storytelling performances explore the traditional stories of the Hispanic Southwest and Mexico.
Fable
the burro
and
the fox
by Angel Vigil
1 Like many other animals in the animal kingdom, the burro is a beast of burden, spending his life toiling in the hot sun in order to make his master’s life a little easier. The burro knows no other existence and is destined to a life of service and loyalty to his master.
2 The worst fate for a burro, however, is to have a cruel master. Some masters love and care for their burro, respecting that their own life is dependent on this creature. Others take the burro for granted and just expect the burro to always be there to carry their heavy load. Others, the worst ones, take their own mean temperament out on the poor, defenseless burro by whipping, beating, and starving their burro. They have little or no concern for the burro’s well-being, and if the burro dies, no remorse or sense of loss is felt by the master.
3 It just so happens that in this story, our burro has one of these mean masters. This master would beat the burro if it walked too fast, walked too slowly, stopped too abruptly, or started too suddenly. He would beat the burro if it tripped on the steep, rocky mountain path or if it stopped for water by a mountain stream. Some days, he would beat the burro just for being in the way.
Word CoNNeCTIoNs
Roots and Affixes
Dependent comes from the Latin root root -pend-, which means “to hang,” and the affix de-, which means “down.” When someone is dependent, he or she hangs on to another for support. You can find also find the root -pend- in other words, such as independent, pending, and pendant.
Unit 1 • The Choices We Make 65
LearNING sTraTeGIes:
Shared Reading, Graphic Organizer, Think-Pair-Share
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