Aasiya Tori

Writing Steps Three Assignment

Part One
Excerpt:
Now for the monkeys.
The four monkeys in the cage in the garden were all one family. They were
Muggle-Wump and his wife and their two small children.
But what on earth were Mr. and Mrs. Twit doing with monkeys in their garden?
Well, in the old days, they had both worked as monkey trainers. They used to
teach monkeys to do tricks and to dress up in human clothes and to smoke pipes and all
the rest of that nonsense.
Today, although they were retired, Mr. Twit still wanted to train monkeys. It was
his dream that one day he would own the first Great Upside-Down Monkey Circus in the
world.
That meant that the monkeys had to do everything upside down. They had to
dance upside down (on their hands with their feet in the air). They had to play football
upside down. They had to balance on top of the other upside down, with Muggle-Wump
at the bottom and the smallest baby monkey at the very top. They even had to eat and
drink upside down and that is not an easy thing to do because the food and water has to
go up your throat instead of down it. In fact, it was almost impossible, but the monkeys
simply had to do it otherwise they got nothing.

This excerpt is taken from The Twits, written by Roald Dahl.

Little Red Riding Hoods mother wrapped a bright red cape around her daughter and waved
goodbye as Little Red Riding Hood disappeared into the forest with a basket full of freshlybaked berry muffins. She smiled proudly to see her daughter walk all by herself like a grown-up.
Little Red Riding Hood didnt feel like a grown-up. She didnt want to be a grown-up
yet. All grown-ups did were tiresome things, like washing clothes or chopping firewood. Little
Red Riding Hood wanted to jump in the leaves and play spies with her friends.
And suddenly, Little Red felt lonely.
At least Little Red had her cape to keep her company. It was bright red and kept her
warm, and smelled like Grannys house.
Why was Little Red going to her grannys house? Well, in the old days, they used to live
together in the same house. But then Little Reds granny had to move away, so they didnt see
each other as often.
For grown-up reasons, Granny had said. And thats why Little Red Riding Hood didnt
want to become a grown-up either. They made uncanny important decisions, as they called
them.
A bush rustled behind Little Red Riding Hood. Shuddering, she pulled up the hood of her
cape so she could only remember good things, like Grannys homemade hazelnut cookies and the
vrum-vrum sound of her sewing machine.
Soon Little Red forgot all her fears. She watched the orange and red leaves flutter off the
trees like butterflies until they landed softly on the soft moss on top of the roots. She wondered
what happened to the pretty leaves after they stayed there on the ground. Did they become
butterflies? Little Red picked one up from the ground to inspect it.

Oh, do stop your dilly-dallying and hurry on to wherever youre going, said a voice
from behind Little Red Riding Hood.
Well, hello, who are you? she asked a tall man with a hat that was too small for him.
Little Red thought he looked quite hideous in that hat. You look quite funny.
The stranger laughed. Never mind who I am or what I look like. Where are you headed,
my dear? And do you mind if I have a bit of your raspberry muffin?

Explanation: The excerpt above was taken from The Twits, by Roald Dahl. When I was
in early grade school, Roald Dahl was one of my favorite authors because of his ability to
understand the innocence in children and focus on random points for which grown-ups
wouldnt have a care in the world. His stance, I felt and still feel is unique in its own way
because it still pertains to the points of view of children.
I rewrote a little beginning of Little Red Riding Hood because usually when it is written,
it is done with a pointing finger at Little Reds immaturity when walking alone in the woods.
This excerpt brings out the child in Little Red Riding Hood, such as her innocence and
forgetfulness as a mere nine year-old.

Part Two
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, written by Mark Haddon,
is quite cleverly written. The main characters knack for mathematics and animals are not only
proven by the written examples, but even the layout of the book that pertains to Christophers
interests, such as the chapter names, spontaneous pictures and chapter length. The manner in

which the information was told to the reader added to the thrill of events so far, and other
character personalities fit the story and happenings as smoothly as a puzzle.
The science and math that Christopher uses (often metaphorically) throughout his
narration supplements the story with a new view and also alludes to his skill and love for the
subjects. It also puts into light the fact that this is the unique way Christopher thinks about
occurrences in his life and is not wholly unintelligent because of his minor disability.
Over the past few years, because I am still a high-school student, I have had a recent taste
of chemistry, biology, algebra and geometry. All of the above subjects (except geometry) have
been very fun and captivating subjects for me to learn. It is right below my passion for the
written word.

Works Cited
Dahl, Roald. The Twits. New York: Scholastic, Inc, 1980. Print.