October 13, 2025


ISAAC ZHANG

Jean Craighead George (1919-2012)

Prompt: Read from 74-85 and write about Bando entering Sam’s life. Quote dialogue, and track their meeting from their becoming comfortable with each other, to Bando’s expressing admiration for Sam, to their working together and enjoying the fruits of their labor together. Use quotes, and discuss the human connection in contrast to the many months Sam has ahead of him alone. 250-300 words

Sam and Bando become friends with each other when Bando randomly appears at Sam’s campfire, and as they slowly get to know each other, they share their past and deepen their bond. Sam originally believes that Bando is a bandit, but still shows kindness, “teaching him to live off the land”, (78). Sam is willing to take in an outlaw and help him escape because he wants Bando as a friend, a human that he can connect and live with. While Sam is sheltering Bando, Bando expresses his amazement at Sam’s skills, expressing shock at his abilities to make fire and live in the wild. He is confused by a teenager living all on his own in the forest, with no guardians. And as Bando teaches Sam some of his skills, the two childishly talk about books and relax, watching Frightful fly around. Sam greatly values these little interactions where he has someone to talk to. He forgets his past where his only companion was Frightful, who he couldn’t really talk to, having to communicate without words. He relishes in human interaction and when Bando leaves, he is devastated, even over someone he knew for such a short time, showing his deep care and kindness, and the bond they created over such a short time. “I was so lonely that I kept sewing on my moccasins to keep myself busy” (Pg. 84).  Over the few months that Sam is alone he has to make friends with either rodents or birds, not having anyone to really connect with. 

August 21, 2025


CHRISTOPHER TIAN

Spoiler Alert: do NOT read unless you have already read The Hobbit

After reading “Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire” I had a mixed of emotions consisting primarily of confusion, excitement, and shock. There were so many twists and turns in the chapter that you would think it would end after a climax but Tolkien just put another climax in. It just goes on and on, and I could talk about it all day. What better place to start off than the very beginning when “…Bilbo [stepped] down into the middle of [the company], and [slipped] off the ring”. Everyone was so intrigued on how this not-so-promising hobbit just magically appeared. Everyone was fooled; everyone except for Gandalf who had a thought of it but kept it to himself.

The next part which I loved was when they got captured by the evil wolves just when they thought their worst enemy was hunger. The wolves sent guards to surround the trees that the dwarves and Bilbo were on, “…while all the rest (hundreds and hundreds it seemed) went and sat in a great circle in the glade.” In the circle they discussed how they would wait for the goblins who at the time were their partner in crime would come down at dawn to cut or burn down the trees as goblins were immune to the fire.

Just as it seemed all hope was lost when the goblins came and were burning down the trees waiting for them to either jump down or perish even their leader Gandalf seemed to lose hope. He jumped down his tree but, “Just at that moment the Lord of the Eagles swept down from above, seized him in his talons, and was gone.” Soon the other eagles and they swooped in on the trees getting dwarf after dwarf until all who were left were Dori and Bilbo leaving Bilbo clinging onto Dori for his life while flying through the night sky. 

Now this final scare may seem to be kind of silly as it was so short and harmless, but at the time for me it seemed that they had lost it all. It was when one eagle commanded the others to bring their prisoners to the Great Shelf.” At the time I had believed that the eagles were taking them as prisoners of their own and to explain how they had set fire on the wolves. It just turned out that Gandalf had helped them sometime ago when their Chief Eagle was injured so they were just repaying the favor and only called them prisoners because they were the prisoners of the goblins. Overall, I truly enjoyed this chapter with all the twists and turns and mostly the cliff hangers which always kept me on edge.

August 7, 2025


ELIANA STOBAUGH

The Fishing Trap

Pa just finished building their new house and Laura feels very relieved to be living in an actual house again instead of the dugout. Once everything was back to how it was before, Pa and Ma started discussing Laura and Mary’s education, saying they should go to school because they live so close to town. Laura disagrees, feeling nervous about going to school for the first time. Together Pa and Laura build a fish trap. Later they go to the creek to test it out, and Laura begs Pa for the last time in this chapter not to go to school.

I feel bad for Laura not wanting to go to school, but I think Pa and Ma are right. She deserves a good education even if she doesn’t want it. I was also rebellious when my parents made me go to school for the first time. Laura loves her freedom of being in the wilderness, and I feel like she’s afraid school will take that away from her. She feels like her free spirit is being put in a tight cage, feeling trapped.

I think Laura and Pa are very similar: they love being in the wild, they are adventurous, and they love fun. I feel like Laura and Pa share a lot of special moments together. In this chapter when they were catching fish, Laura wanted to catch enough fish for dinner hoping that she and Pa would have a little more fun. Of course, Pa didn’t turn down the offer to have more fun. When they came home from catching fish Pa showed Laura how to scale a fish. 

I think it is smart when Laura and Pa put the fish trap directly under the waterfall. I wonder how they made the fish trap. I also wonder how many fish they caught. 

Reflections

In the first book Little House in the Big Woods, Laura made me feel really jolly when Christmas came with all the presents and the candy. It felt so good to hear the family was coming together. I really noticed how happy Laura was. She was feeling pleasantness smoldered in joy dipped in care. You can really see how much fun she was having with her family. She was definitely feeling the Christmas spirit.

I felt really sad in book three, Little House on the Prairie, when Laura said Jack died when the creek rose. She described her pain and misery, so overwhelmingly that I felt it with her. I felt all her memories with Jack rush over me and slowly fade away into sadness. When I read the next chapter it turns out Jack is alive. When I heard that I thought “Seriously, I gave you my heart and soul you made me feel misery, then you say that was all for NOTHING!”, but I was glad Jack was alive.

My favorite thing about the books is that Laura really pulls her past to right now. She wrote how she felt and everything she remembers, every single detail adding more to the image she’s painting in our minds. For example: in the third book Little House on the Prairie, Laura and Mary came back from the Indian campsite with their hands full of beads. Mary decided to give baby Carrie her beads, so Laura felt pressured to give up her beads. She was mad at Mary for being so good. She felt that she could have enjoyed her beads, but instead Mary had to suck up to Ma and Pa, so then she joined Mary in donating beads and making a bracelet for baby Carrie. I felt that this part had so much detail, and I really felt how upset Laura was. I thought that she shouldn’t be mad at Mary, that Mary was just being generous, but then again, I know how Laura feels. 

These books make you feel a rush of emotion every time you read them. 

August 6, 2025


ISAAC ZHANG

Finally, can you write about the ending? How does the lineman’s poetry correspond with the poetic murmurings of the kids at the school, and how do these remind us of Margalo’s tender and lyrical style? What characterizes the ending? Meaning, what is the final essence of character that Stuart leaves us with as he presses the tiny little gas pedal down towards the creaking floorboards of his delicate and wee gas-powered micro machine? (250 words).

I think the ending of Stuart Little teaches us to appreciate the little things in life. The lineman’s poetry shows us that happiness comes from simplicity. The children’s small comments reflect to us that happiness and meaning comes from small and ordinary moments. “How many of you know what’s important?… ‘A shaft of sunlight at the end of a dark afternoon, a note in music, and the way the back of a baby’s neck smells if its mother keeps it tidy’”. The poetry of the children ties perfectly to Margalo’s tender and lyrical style which emphasizes small, meaningful actions and reminds us how, after just a few days, Stuart goes through those tiny moments (such as the tiny moment when he removed himself from bed and went and shot an arrow against Snowball, or the tiny moment when he confesses that his ice skates are threatening their lives) that move him so much that he decides to leave everything behind to pursue her. The final essence that Stuart leaves with us is to cherish every moment, no matter how insignificant they are. He shows us that even after abandoning everything he loves in search of something so unlikely, he doesn’t dwell on the past but finds happiness in the journey. Instead of chasing grand victories, he silently values each and every second. When he presses the gas pedal, he shows us all that even without guaranteed results, without a clear plan, without an idea of where he’s going, he isn’t afraid of the future, or regretting the past, because he knows the journey is half the prize. In the end, I think the name, Stuart Little, is actually pointing to Stuart’s way of life, rather than his size.

Isaac, I loved reading your essay of Stuart Little where you share your opinion about a lot of the things he says. I agree with both the sentiments Stuart proclaims as well as the things that you highlight about them. 

 To be honest, I really liked when you highlighted Stuart’s comments that some of the happiest things are the simple ones; these things could be, “A shaft of sunlight at the end of a dark afternoon, a note in music, and the way the back of a baby’s neck smells if its mother keeps it tidy”. I also like how these small and tiny things affect Stuart as it shows us that everything with a cause will have an effect; you just may not know who it is on. This reveals Stuart’s sensitivity and his ability to connect to universal themes with his students (they know him not). I also like how Stuart goes after Margalo even though it seems to be impossible as she fled and could be anywhere in the world and he could even drive past her and not notice. I especially liked when you said “…the journey is half the prize” as I believe that in a good success the journey is half the prize if not more, as that is where your hard work, dedication, and more things lie. Stuart knows that his chances of finding Margalo are near impossible and he knows that going after her he will lose it all, but he still chooses to risk it for a chance to find her which I find both stupid but also heroic. Overall, I think your final essay answer was very well-written with a lot of quotes that I believe really fit your topic and also your themes of the small things in life were quite meaningful and relatable which made me really enjoy both reading it. I also enjoyed writing this Student Feedback, and I hope you enjoy reading it.~Chris Tian

June 17, 2025


HARRISON WANG

In chapter 3 of More Adventure of the Great Brain J.D., his brother, T.D. (the Great Brain) and S.D., and their father, Papa, decide to go on their annual camping trip. When they get to their spot where they always camped and fished, it is crowded because Papa told everyone it was the best place to fish. But then Papa makes a horrible decision to go to an unexplored part of the mountain. While they hike to the unknown part of the mountain, Papa decides to make a shortcut that can endanger all of them because anything could happen: a bear attack, they could get lost, or they could get injured. As they hike along, following the camp wagon and horses, no one notices (but J.D.) that Tom was carving his initials into the trees, so he can prove they were the first ones there. Like T.D states: “Someday they might build a road up this canyon, and I can prove we were the first ones who ever went up here.” This is a very smart idea by the Great Brain because that move could save their lives. To carry all their stuff they brought a few horses but while going uphill it became too steep and the horses are dragged down. While one of the horses, Bess, was okay, the other horse, Dick, broke his leg so they had to shoot him to end the pain. I think their father started getting really nervous and thought it was all his fault when they try making camp after the mess. I think instead of him helping build the camp and think about surviving he sits on a log and almost cries because he thought they were doomed. He believes even if he survived, his wife, J.D’s mom, will kill him for getting the kids lost: “Your mother will never forgive me for trying to take a shortcut and endangering all our lives”. He calms down after hearing that T.D. marked the trails so someone could find the path they took and then find him. “The look of despair on Papa’s face gave way to one of hope.”

After two days, Uncle Mark shows up, but Papa seems to be mad at him. “What in the name of Jupiter took you so long?” After a while though, they both calm down.

Papa’s decision endangered his children and took shortcuts that were also dangerous and led them to being lost, but T.D was smart because even though he marked the trees, (and though he doesn’t say it – was his only motivation for marking the trail to earn his fame for blazing it? Or did he do it out of a sensible maturity and care?) it saved them. If T.D. wasn’t with them they could’ve been lost and maybe have all perished. Because of the Brain, J.D. and his family were saved from being lost in unmarked territory.