Running head: COMPARE AND CONTRAST 1

Comparing and contrasting The Ant and the Grasshopper and The Dog and the Shadow

Student’s Name:

Institutional Affiliation:
COMPARE AND CONTRAST 2

Comparing and contrasting The Ant and the Grasshopper and The Dog and the Shadow

Aesop’s story The Dog and the Shadow paints a picture of a dog that is overridden by

greed. The central idea that strongly came out is that we should not let greed overtake the best of

us, and that makes the work more special. The central theme is the power of contentment and the

remedy for greed. The fable is compared and contrasted to the fable The Ant and the

Grasshopper whose central idea is we should prepare today for future needs. The stories logically

come together to develop the main ideas.

Summary

Keywords:

Dog, meat, shadow, water

A story is told of a dog that carried a piece of meat in his mouth on the way home. While

walking over a plank of wood, it notices its shadow underneath the water and thought that it was

another dog carrying a piece of meat. The meat fell from his mouth and got into the water never

to be seen again (Cottrell, 2017).

Compare and Contrast

The thematic idea explored by the two stories narrows down to understanding the thin

line that exists between greed and optimism. In both stories, optimism is exhibited. In the story,

The Ant and the Grasshopper, the ant’s optimism is portrayed, and how works for its future. It

toils in summer and the fruits of its labor manifest in winter. At that time, the grasshopper suffers

in winter as the ant enjoys (McGovern, 1990). The dog is equally hopeful of getting the other

piece of meat from the shadowed dog. The two stories are contrasted on the technique they use to

achieve their agenda. The ant employs hard work and attains victory while the dog is

overwhelmed by greet and massive failure befalls it to the extent of losing what it already has.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST 3

References

Cottrell, S. (2017). Critical thinking skills. Macmillan Education.

McGovern, A. (1990). Aesop's fables. Scholastic Inc..