Question

One fine day in winter some Ants were busy drying their store of corn, which had got rather damp during a long spell of rain. Presently up came a Grasshopper and begged them to spare her a few grains. The Ants stopped work for a moment, though this was against their principles. They asked what the grasshopper was doing with himself all last summer. The Grasshopper replied, "I was so busy singing that I hadn't the time." "If you spent the summer singing," replied the Ants, "you can't do better than spend the winter dancing." And they chuckled and went on with their work.

Recall the second step in the process to determine theme. In two to three sentences, explain why these events happened in the fable.

Answer 1

Try this:

"These events happened in the fable to show theme, or the message. In the passage above, the Ants spent all summer working hard, while the Grasshopper wasted his time. The message sent by this is that it is better to get work done first and then play, rather than find yourself in trouble later."