The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Allsburg, USA (1949)
Chris Van Allsburg is an American children's book
author and illustrator who was born on June 18, 1949.
He has received two Caldecott Medals, given to the
best American picture book for children, for his works The Polar Express (1985)
and Jumanji (1981), both of which were later turned into popular movies.
He was also a Caldecott runner-up, the award for the most
distinguished American picture book for children, in 1980 for The Garden of
Abdul Gasazi.
He was nominated by the United States in 1986 for
the biennial International Hans Christian Andersen Award, the top honor given
to authors of children's books, for his contribution as a children's
illustrator.
Literal comprehension
Ø A
big cargo ship, Rita Anne, started her Voyage in a fine environment.
Ø All the crews are enjoying by reading books,
storytelling, and so on.
Ø After four weeks, they reach in an island
which is very strange because there are no fruits in the plants, and there is no
sign of human life.
Ø The air smells bad and the water
is bitter falling from fountains.
Ø They find a strange stone shining on one
side, giving light from there.
Ø They keep the stone in the ship and start
their further journey.
Ø When
crews are free, they watch it and all sailors forget their duties and rarely
speak to one another.
Ø They
always sit in front of the stone. They start walking like an animal and do not
understand the language spoken by the captain.
Ø The
captain makes a plan to throw the stone into the sea.
Ø Soon
a storm occurs where the captain alone controls the ship, while other crews are busy watching the TV.
Ø Later the captain changes them by playing
music, reading books, and telling stories, and eventually, they are rescued with the
help of another ship.
Interpretation
Ø The
story is metaphorical that may be told many things in which the stone, ape
means modern non-creative people. Because of watching TV, people are careless about their responsibilities and duties which are not productive and
creative tasks.
Ø There
can be other ways to get entertainment like reading, singing, storytelling, et
cetera. We must be dutiful and punctual to get success in our life. Again the
story may also try to tell us that we give less focus to our important work due to watching TV.
Ø Though TV is the cause of change in our good manners and attitudes but the writer says that the wretched Stone, TV, gives much tension and problem. It means people get more problems than the pros of watching TV.
As one reads this tale.
I don't quite concur with the author because
v Can
we discount how much information and knowledge we receive through TV?
v How
do we quickly access news from throughout the world?
v How
can watching TV turn someone into an ape?
v Can
watching TV cause us to become thoughtless and duty-free?
Assimilation
This tale got me
thinking about how much TV interferes with learning because my daughter watches
TV a lot and frequently forgets to do her assignments. She refuses my
suggestion that she watches the artistic program. As a result, I chose not to pay
the money, and she has since diligently studied and earned high grades.