Jasper, third grade, is reading The Great Brain series, by John D. Fitzgerald. Here, he accurately and feelingly defines an important part of being human.
Essay Prompt for More Adventures of the Great Brain, Chapter 5 “The Death of Old Butch”:
On page 113, JD shows resistance to allowing Old Butch to lie in state, until the Great Brain changes his thinking. The Brain changes JD’s thinking by forcing him to feel something. What is it that the Brain forces JD to feel? And how does this change JD? In a short essay, please write about how our heart informs our mind. What is the heart? Is it only the physical organ? Or is it something deeper and more powerful? How can we learn to allow our heart to direct our thinking?
JD does not think that a dog should lie in state at first. Tom makes JD change his mind after he asks what he would want for Brownie, his own dog. JD realizes that he would want Brownie to lie in state. He feels empathy for the other kids who loved Old Butch like he loves Brownie. JD writes, “There were at least seven or eight kids in the barn right then who felt about Old Butch the same way I did about Brownie.” JD changed his mind because of his heart.
The heart is not only an organ. It can do very good things for our thinking. The heart teaches us to care about others. Tom’s mind is very smart and often thinks about money. However, his heart makes him use his mind to do kind things. If he only listened to his Great Brain, he would not have done the amazing funeral for Old Butch. JD was listening to his mind when it said that only people lie in state. But when he felt love and empathy in his heart, his mind changed. The heart tells us what is right or wrong. Sweyn was not listening to his heart and only to his mind when he did not want to be part of Old Butch’s funeral.
Sometimes my brain wants me to focus just on myself and my plans. My heart tells me to be less selfish and care about others’ feelings. To listen to my heart, I have to slow down and think about other people’s feelings. It helps to imagine yourself like others, like JD did. The more you listen to your heart the stronger it gets. When the heart and brain work together, we can do great things like the Great Brain does.