Reading notes: Aesop's Fables, Part B

The Serpent and the File (Jacobs 26): I found this story particularly interesting because I’ve seen the moral being applied around me. One thing that came to my mind was how people sometimes tend to react in violent ways and always regret it or realize that it was useless. A prime example is losing while playing video games or watching a competitive sport. People tend to react emotionally and punch a wall or break something around them to later come and realize that this had no logical reason to be done. In the story, the snake reacted to the file without even considering the impact the file actually had. Therefore, the snake ended up more damaged just because of an emotional reaction. That is another point of view to the lesson learned from the story.

The Serpent and the File

The Bundle of Sticks (Jacobs 72): This story has great meaning and should be a principle of every society. Union does give strength as the author is trying to portray in the story. A prime example is the work ethic of ants. Ants when separated find difficulty to collect food, build their passages and survive. However, the nature of ants portrays how strong unity can make you. Ants are able to build deep sophisticated passages and gather enough food to feed the whole army. The father in the story was trying to show his children how if they work together after his pass, they will be able to break the strongest bundles that none of them can break by themselves. That is a valuable lesson to learn.

The Oak and the Reed (Crane 23): The author emphasized an important moral to the story which is to bend but not break. He used the Giant Oak as a symbol of strength but showed how even at its highest strength it can suffer through a storm. However, an important point is that the Giant Oak was strong enough to maintain its roots by staying put as opposed to a normal tree that would’ve been broken. This lesson can be applied to people who want to adapt a strong personality. If they are tested, they must not break but bend and stand their ground to be able to recover and grow even taller.

Reading notes: Aesop's Fables, Part A

The Lion and the Statue (Jacobs 35): The moral of a story is that we can easily represent things as we wish them to be. A man and a lion were trying to discuss their strength relative to each other. The man reasoned himself to be stronger than the lion due to his greater intelligence. After the lion saw the statue that portrayed Hercules overcoming a lion, the lion told him it proves nothing since the statue is manmade. I think there is a stronger morale to the story since the man thought that since he perceived himself to be of greater intelligence he would be able to fool the lion by what he is trying to portray.

The Lion and the Statue (Crane 30): This story is short but has a great lesson to be learned. The story depends on the teller is the moral of the story which portrays how subjectivity plays a role in storytelling. The story here was told through a form of art, a statue in specific. This shows how art is subjective from the author and the audiences side. The author can use art to display their own point of view on a specific matter. While the audience can also perceive the art using their own point of view. So the story depends on teller but also depends on what the listener chooses to take from it.

(Lion and the Statue)

The Ass in the Lion’s Skin (Crane 29): This story portrayed the typical clumsiness of the ass. The moral of the story is “Impostors generally forget something” which is true and something that I personally can relate to. In Lebanon, we have a saying that “the rope of lies short” which means that if you lie eventually you will get caught regardless of how sly you are. I feel the author portrayed the same thing in this story but made it more universal to be applicable on impostors also.

Feedback thoughts

The most interesting article to read was overcoming thefear of feedback because as I was growing I used to play football (Soccer in the U.S Booo) and I remember I would feel down when my older brother would give me feedback such as “You could have been quicker” or “You could have worked harder”. Unfortunately, at that stage in my life I did not know about the power of improvement you can achieve that this author mentions.  However, maturing I started learning that and adapting to receiving feedback and criticism. Unfortunately, I feel like in school the setting is created to focus on results rather than feedback. I recommend giving feedback in a constructive manner, to where the person giving feedback tries to not include their own opinion but focus more on facts. Negative feedback is not something anyone wants to hear, however the world is a cruel place and sometimes you need to fall down to get up stronger. So yes I have been affected by negative feedback but my approach of choice is always to try to be optimistic and view things as lessons learned and not mistakes made. My brother has always given me the best feedback and I have been blessed to have him as a mentor in different stages of my life. Although I disagree with the method he uses to give me feedback, I have learned to adjust and try to take the best out of what he says since I know he has the best intentions!

I chose this image just because I found it funny. On a serious note, many people tend to not take advantage of feedback by feeling offended or mocking it however in many cases feedback can definitely be helpful!