The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 218–220 · Part 1: Part First
65. The Giant: a parable
Goal: Your child explains what a parable teaches and writes a practical conversation.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)
What's in the book
Section 218 is Charles Mackay's poem "The Giant": a fierce giant shrinks to nothing when the speaker looks him in the face. Section 219 asks what the change means and explains that a story told to teach a truth is a parable. Section 220 asks for a written conversation hiring a man to work in the garden.
The lesson, step by step
Read the poem
Read "The Giant" aloud, with your child reading the speaker's brave words.
At length I looked him in the face
And cried, "Who cares for you?"
Then your child tells the story in their own words.
Talk it over (Section 219)
Ask the book's questions: How did the Giant look at first? Later? What caused the change? Is this a true story? Why was it written?
The book says a story told to teach a truth is a parable. What truth? (Fears and troubles shrink when we face them bravely.)
Ask: What "giants" have you faced? (A dark room, a hard lesson, a new place.)
Plan the conversation (Section 220)
You want a man to come Thursday morning to work in your garden, and you have no spade or hoe. Act it out: What will you ask? What will he ask? What about tools and pay?
Write it
Your child writes the conversation, 6 to 10 lines, with quotation marks.
Check it gently
Does the conversation settle everything (day, time, tools, pay)? If not, add a line. Then check quotation marks.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
"Can you come on Thursday morning to dig my garden?" I asked.
"Yes," said Mr. Hill. "What time would you like me?"
"Eight o'clock, please. I have no spade or hoe."
"Then I will bring my own," he said.