Literary EssaysTips from Mr. Hagen

Introduction  Paragraph  Example

  “A  Pet”  is  about  a  girl  who  desperately  wants  a  dog  as  a  pet,  but  then  receives  a  gold>ish  from  her  parents.    Both  of  her  parents  are  lawyers  and  they  thought  a  gold>ish  would  be  just  as  good  or  better  than  a  dog.    At  >irst,  Emma  disliked  the  >ish,  but  after  5  months,  she  grew  to  love  him.    She  noticed  and  appreciated  so  many  things  about  the  >ish.    When  the  >ish  tragically  died,  the  girl  was  devastated.        Although  many  people  think  “A  Pet”  is  about  a  girl  getting  a  >ish,  it’s  really  about  learning  not  to  judge  something  by  how  it  looks.    Not  judging  something  by  how  it  looks  is  important  because  judgments  can  sometimes  be  wrong,  amazing  opportunities  can  be  missed,  feelings  can  be  hurt,  and  important  inner  qualities  can  go  unnoticed.        

 Summary  Paragraph  Example

  “A  Pet”  is  really  about  learning  not  to  judge  something  by  how  it  looks  because  if  you  do,  you  will  not  see  or  experience  the  inner  qualities  of  something.    This  story  shows  Emma  learning  about  and  becoming  very  fond  of  Joshua’s  inner  qualities.    At  >irst  Emma  was  unexcited  about  getting  a  >ish,  but  after  observing  Joshua  and  taking  care  of  him,  she  noticed  many  inner  qualities  she  learned  to  love.    She  loved  how  Joshua  seemed  to  have  purpose  in  his  life  by  “boldly”  dashing  around  his  tank.    Emma  loved  his  lazy  days  where  he  >loated  and  didn’t  seem  to  care  about  much.    She  appreciated  his  personality  when  he  would  come  to  the  surface  when  she  opened  the  lid  of  the  >ish  tank  to  feed  him.    She  thought  he  was  just  like  a  cat  or  dog!    Emma  even  enjoyed  what  she  thought  was  a  sense  of  humor  that  Joshua  had.    She  was  entertained  by  how  he  had  to  gulp  water  into  his  mouth  to  get  the  food  he  couldn’t  see.    When  Emma  noticed  these  inner  qualities  and  appreciated  them,  she  showed  that  her  judgment  about  gold>ish  proved  to  be  wrong.    She  didn’t  see  the  inner  qualities  of  the  >ish  until  she  took  care  of  him  for  >ive  months.    This  story  is  really  about  not  judging  something  by  how  it  looks  or  what  you  already  know  about  it.    You  will  not  see  or  enjoy  the  inner  qualities  of  something  if  you  pass  judgment  and  don’t  give  something  a  chance.    

List  Paragraph  Example

 “A  Pet”  is  really  about  learning  not  to  judge  something  by  how  it  looks.    Learning  to  not  judge  something  by  how  it  looks  is  important  because  your  judgment  might  be  wrong.    The  girl  in  the  story,  “  A  Pet,”  thought  that  her  new  gold>ish  was  going  to  be  a  boring  and  not  very  cool  pet,  but  at  the  end  of  the  story,  she  was  devastated  that  the  >ish  died.    She  had  made  a  judgment  based  on  how  the  >ish  looked  and  was  wrong  in  the  end.    There  were  several  times  in  the  story  where  Emma  judged  and  there  were  several  times  in  the  story  that  showed  me  that  in  the  end,  her  judgment  was  incorrect.      First,  Emma  judged  the  >ish  as  not  being  a  good  pet  when  she  thought,  “The  word  >ish  was  so  far  away  from  the  word  pet.”    This  meant  that  Emma  thought  that  >ish  shouldn’t  even  be  considered  pets!    She  thought  the  >ish  wouldn’t  be  a  good  pet.    Next,  when  Emma  thought  that,  “her  parents  >inally  relented  and  gave  her  the  next  best  thing;  a  gold>ish,”  she  was  showing  that  she  believed  that  >ish  are  not  as  good  as  other  pets.    Again,  she  judged.      Also,  when  Emma  >inally  excepted  that,  “it  would  be  >ish  or  nothing,”  she  showed  readers  that  she  really  didn’t  have  a  very  good  attitude  about  getting  a  >ish.    Later  in  the  story,  Emma’s  feelings  about  having  a  >ish  changed.    She  showed  this  when,  “she  watched  him  and  felt  she  knew  him.”    Last,  she  showed  that  she  loved  having  a  >ish  as  a  pet  when  she  whispered,  “Please…Please,”  twice  when  the  >ish  was  sick.    She  wouldn’t  have  done  this  unless  she  liked  having  the  >ish  as  a  pet.    These  examples  show  how  Emma  judged  the  >ish  as  not  being  a  good  or  worthy  pet  and  how  in  the  end,  she  grew  to  love  the  >ish.    Emma’s  experience  is  an  example  of  how  not  judging  something  is  an  important  lesson  to  

Story  Paragraph  Example

    “A  Pet”  is  really  about  learning  not  to  judge  

something  by  how  it  looks  because  when  this  practice  is  used,  a  person’s  feelings  can  get  hurt.    When  Emma,  “understood  ruefully  that  it  would  be  >ish  or  nothing,”  after  her  parents  bought  her  a  gold>ish,  she  was  expressing  her  disappointment.  She  was  judging  the  gold>ish  as  unworthy  of  being  a  good  pet.    By  doing  this  she  may  have  hurt  her  parents’  feelings.    I  had  a  very  similar  experience.    When  I  was  ten  years  old,  my  grandma  bought  me  a  watch  for  my  birthday.    After  she  gave  me  a  giant  orange  babyish  looking  Swatch  watch,  I  said  thank  you,  but  the  expression  on  my  face  could  not  hide  my  dislike  or  my  disappointment.    My  grandma  was  upset;  I  hurt  her  feelings  by  making  a  quick  judgment  of  her  gift.    Later  on,  I  grew  to  love  the  watch.    This  experience  showed  that  judging  something  by  how  it  looks  can  lead  to  someone’s  feelings  

Outside  Sources  Paragraph  Example

Although  many  people  think  “A  Pet”  is  about  a  girl  getting  a  >ish,  it’s  really  about  learning  not  to  judge  something  by  how  it  looks.    Learning  to  not  judge  something  by  how  it  looks  is  important  because  you  might  end  up  missing  an  amazing  opportunity.    The  girl  in  the  story,  “  A  Pet,”  thought  that  her  new  gold>ish  was  going  to  be  a  boring  and  not  very  cool  pet,  but  at  the  end  of  the  story,  she  was  devastated  that  the  >ish  died.    She  had  really  grown  to  love  something  that  she  thought  she  disliked.      Many  other  people  agree  with  my  viewpoint  about  “A  Pet.”      I  surveyed  my  classmates  by  asking  them  this  question:    Do  you  think  it’s  important  to  learn  to  not  judge  things  by  how  they  look?    23  out  of  24  kids  in  my  class  answered  yes.    Many  of  the  kids  I  surveyed  even  offered  to  share  a  story  about  judging  something  or  someone  and  being  wrong.    I  interviewed  my  classmate,  Mrs.  Krause.    She  shared  a  story  about  a  time  when  she  judged  a  person.    One  time  she  came  to  school  and  saw  Mrs.  Echols  wearing  sweat  pants  and  a  t-­‐shirt.    She  thought  to  herself,  “what  kind  of  a  teacher  wears  that  kind  of  stuff  to  school?”      “She  must  not  be  a  very  good  teacher  or  a  very  caring  teacher!”    Mrs.  Krause  later  found  out  that  Mrs.  Echols  was  wearing  the  sports  clothing  because  she  is  in  charge  of  Girls  on  the  Run,  a  program  to  help  elementary  girls  stay  >it  and  run  in  a  real  race.      Mrs.  Krause  was  just  like  the  girl  in  “A  Pet.”    At  >irst,  she  made  a  judgment  about  someone  or  something  and  in  the  end  that  judgment  ended  up  being  very  wrong  and  untrue.    This  is  why  learning  to  not  judge  something  by  how  it  looks  is  so  important.    The  story,  “A  Pet”  was  really  about  this.    

Conclusion  Paragraph

Learning  to  not  judge  something  by  how  it  looks  is  important  because  inner  qualities  can  go  unnoticed,  feelings  can  be  hurt,  opportunities  can  be  missed  and  quick  judgments  can  often  be  incorrect.    Although  some  people  may  think  “A  Pet”  is  about  a  girl  getting  a  >ish,  it’s  really  a  story  that  teaches  the  importance  of  not  judging  something  by  how  it  looks.    Learning  to  not  form  judgments  quickly  is  important  for  all  people  because  no  matter  who  you  are,  you  will  always  be  faced  with  new  things,  people,  and  experiences.  These  experiences  shape  who  we  are  and  cannot  be  missed  because  of  a  quick  judgment.