Hybernating Bear Call Out Box

Spencer was given as assignment to write his own "call out box" for an article entitled, "Close Encounters of the Bear kind". The article is about what scientists have to do to safely learn about and follow hibernating bears. I loved that he chose to write from the bears perspective. His writing is short- but it is supposed to be. Here it is.

I was sleeping peacefully, when I awoke to a serious pain in my stomach. I knew that meat two things: 1) I was hungry and 2) hibernation must be over. I got up and looked around. But I may as well have looked around with my eyes shut because there was no light in my den. That was strange to me because I was certain I had poked an air hole through the snow before I fell asleep. I was confused. The only thing I could figure was that I didn’t eat enough before falling asleep and even though I was hungry it was not time to wake up yet. I started to go back to sleep but a blinding light shot through the den and hit me in the face. I looked up and saw a man standing in front of me holding a spear. I was frightened. I felt a pain in my shoulder and a tugging around my neck. But suddenly I was sleepy again despite the hunger and the pain and I fell asleep. I don’t remember anything after that.

The Magic Prison

As you read this, keep in mind that this is an assignment and I wouldn’t be doing it if it weren’t. But I guess I have to. So here it is.

In the story “The Magic Prison” Prince Herweda learns an important lesson. He learns this: selfishness leads to sadness, service leads to happiness and they can’t coexist. Think of this, in the story the mirrors represent selfishness because when you look in them you only see yourself. The windows represent service because when you look through a window you see others. The more time you spend looking in mirrors, the less service you do and the less happiness you can have. So, the moral of this story is that focusing only on yourself will never lead to happiness.