PERFORMANCE TASK IN ENGLISH

10

A Grain as Big as a Hen’s Egg

( Leo Tolstoy )

A CRITIQUE PAPER

SUBMITTED BY:
Keil David Gonzales Castillo
Grade 10 – Faraday

SUBMITTED TO:
Sir Nestor M. Idra
INTRODUCTION:
Leo Tolstoy, one of the greatest Russian authors of all time, wrote the parabolic short tale “A
Grain as Big as a Hen’s Egg.” Self-sufficiency and people adhering to a system resembling a very primitive
or basic version of socialism are the main themes of the short story. Early in human history, when we
had transitioned from being a nomadic hunter species to a grain-growing one, this type of socialism was
evident. Because everyone in the community shared ownership of the property at the time the barter
system was in place, there were no land conflicts or concerns. This short story was published in 1889.
(“Google”). Other than that, it is nicely written and entertaining to read, but it lacks realism.

BRIEF SUMMARY:
There are some children in a ravine who found a grain as big as a hen’s egg. A traveler passing by
saw it and bought the grain from the kids. He then went to the town and sold it to the king. The King
ordered his men to find out what it was, but they found nothing about it until a bird came and pecked at
it, and they saw that it was a grain of corn. The King is shocked and orders his men to find out where this
thing grew, but yet again they find nothing about it. So they call the farmer with two crutches and ask
him, but he can’t give an answer, so they call his father, who has one crutch, but still no answer, so they
finally call the grandfather with no crutches and who is healthy. The King asks him questions, and he
explains to him how that type of grain grew and how he has better conditions than his son and
grandson.

ANALYSIS:
In the beginning of the story, there is already a problem; it tells us how older people take
advantage of the innocence and childishness of the children by buying the grain from them for a small
price. This kind of thing is already happening in our present world. People tend to use their knowledge
on kids to lure them and make them believe in such stuff. It is because of the lack of knowledge we give
our children, and I also point out the poor education in some countries and the influence of the
environment upon kids.

In the story, the king is very dependent on his servants and makes them do everything, which is
a good thing because a king can’t do everything. A king will lead, but a king also needs help. By having a
wise man, the king’s decisions are made a lot better and a lot quicker. This type of regime happens
throughout history because having a king or a leader can make the environment or his country a lot
better by leading them to victories and making the lives of his people better.

I like how the author is attempting to convey that we have become dependent on others rather
than attempting to do it ourselves. Each of the three peasants represents hard work in their own way. It
teaches us to be more self-sufficient and to avoid relying on others. But such things do not exist in our
history; slavery is real and has existed for thousands of years. Perhaps others relied solely on themselves
at the time. “We are the labor of our own existence.”
 In the story, the author doesn’t specify a specific place and time when the story is happening. It
would have been a very interesting detail in the story, made the story more persuasive, and taken the
reader’s attention. Adding little details could improve the story you were telling. Detail is an important
aspect of writing a story because it gives little things meaning and makes the story more fun to read.
Putting a little detail in your story can help the reader relate and better understand the author’s point.

In the beginning of the story or exposition of the story, the writing is sped up and has a fast
pace, which looks like the author just rushed on writing the introduction. Like I said earlier, we readers
would appreciate it if the author put some effort into providing some backgrounds and details at the
beginning of the story. The introduction of a story is important because it will determine if the reader is
intrigued by the story and will continue to read it or not. Pulling the attention of others will be hard
because you don’t know what they like and dislike.

In rising action, the author delivers the suspense or problem perfectly, keeping it simple but
understandable, so that the reader can understand the problem the story is telling. Delivering a problem
can be a hard topic because you need to think about how you could fit the problem into the event that
is currently happening. Making the ring action shorter is probably a good idea because you don’t want
the reader to wait and just go straight to the climax. It makes the story more exciting and will satisfy the
reader’s desire to dig deep into the story, leading to a satisfying climax.

In the climax of the story, the author explains what the problem is and how it can be solved.
Climax is where the exciting events took place, and the author did great about that. He kept the
suspense going and continued to keep the composure and excitement in his story. It is the part of the
story where you question the characters’ ideologies and how they turn out. This is also the part of the
story where new characters show up and make an impact on the story. And the author also ends the
climax with a satisfying turn of events.

In the falling action of the story, the author just repeats what happened, but with questionable
events. In the story, the first peasant tells the king that his father might know something about the
grain. The second peasant shows up, but in better condition than his son, which makes the story
questionable on how the much older peasant is in a better place than his son which defeats the whole
realism thing that is going on in the story, but it lets you think for the possible reason on why it is
happening. Overall, the falling action is kind of simple.

The author explains the meaning of the issue and the course of action that our society takes In
the story’s conclusion, or resolution. The author included a lesson in the story’s conclusion to help the
reader understand the significance of the issue because it still exists in the modern world. Because that
is the truth and we can never change it, we made the decision to delegate rather than perform the tasks
ourselves. The author is attempting to convey it, and he does so flawlessly. He also tries to make it seem
like the reality we are living in at the moment.

The story “A Grain as Big as a Hen's Egg“ holds a lot of themes like coming of age, family,
mystery, loyalty, innocence, and morality. The theme is an important part of the story because it holds
the meaning of what the story is all about, which we can see all over the story. The theme of the story is
well developed, and the author did a great job picking themes that most people could relate to. Being
able to relate to a story is great because it keeps you entertained. Other than that, I like it because there
is a mystery to it.
 There are two conflicts in the story. First, when the king is trying to figure out what the grain is
made of and where it grew, that is the main problem the story is telling. The second is the problem our
world is facing, and it is laboring others instead of doing it ourselves. In the story, the grandfather
mentions “self-sustainability,” which means you do the work instead of relying on others to do it for
you. This type of thing is also happening in our present because other people choose to just do it on
their own to save some money.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, it’s entertaining to read and full of interesting things to happen. Because it depicts
our culture today and teaches us that we can stand on our own instead of depending on others, I
recommend this to my fellow classmates and to the kids out there who seek to learn a valuable lesson.