Basic elements:
Characters: leopard, dog,
Setting: In the forest
Plot: Only dog has big, sharp teeth. Leopard has only small teeth and no claws at all.
Genre: folklore/ folk tale
The story How Leopard Got His Claws written by Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi, talks about the animals in the forest. First they live as friends and only dog has big and sharp teeth. The King Leopard thinks the rain is coming and he wants to build a shelter together. The dog has cave and walks away from the village. When his cave is flooded he comes into the shelter and drives the other animals away. He beats the leopard. The leopard gets back with sharp teeth and claws. He throws the dog out and becomes the king again but the animals are not peaceful anymore.
When we are in danger we are not supposed to be scared. We have to be brave instead of running away when we face danger. In the story, leopard wants to drive out the dog together with other animals. The animals are afraid of the dog so they think the dog is the king. The animals are stupid. They don't even try to fight. They may succeed if they try to fight together. We shall be brave and think of a solution when we meet danger.
Only stick to the end then we can get the reward. When we meet some difficulty, we give up halfway, we will miss the whole thing. In the story, the leopard loses but he doesn’t give up. He walks seven days and nights to find a blacksmith. Finally he beats the dog and becomes the king again. He gets all the way through to the end and is doing a great job. We will meet a lot of troubles in our life, we shall stick to the end and overcome all the difficulties.
We can’t always use force to solve problems. If we do everything by force, one day we will meet a stronger one and we will lose all we have. In the story, the dog beats the animals and leopard by the sharp teeth. When the leopard comes back and beats him, he can only ask for the hunter's help to keep killing animals. I think the force and violence is not good because they put everyone in danger. The forest is not peaceful anymore. They should talk and live together and have a peaceful life. Force is not the only way to solve problems and keep away the enemies.
In conclusion, the story tells me a lot of deep thoughts. When we are in danger, we shall not be afraid like the animals. We shall not give up when we have difficulties. We need to stick to the end just like the leopard. The force is not the only way to solve the problem. The author Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist, poet and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. He has a lot of famous books and this story is one of them. I recommend this book and hope you will like it too.
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