please help Write a short narrative about a time when being slow and steady really pays off. Be sure that your response includes all of the elements of a strong narrative, including a well-developed plot, conflict, and interesting characters.

‘Look at me!’ said the Hare to the

other animals. ‘Just look how fast I

can run.’

The Hare ran across a field as fast

as he could. All the animals agreed

that yes the Hare was very fast.

The Hare ran back.

‘See,’ he shouted. ‘I’m not even out

of breath.’

‘Yeah, that was fast,’ said a Fox.

‘So who wants a race?’ said the

Hare. ‘Anybody think they could

beat me?’

None of the animals spoke.

‘See,’ said the Hare. ‘You’re all too

scared to even try.’

‘I’ll have a go,’ said the Tortoise.

The Hare laughed. ‘You? The slowest creature in the whole world?

I’m not wasting my time racing a

Tortoise.’

‘What’s the matter?’ said the

Tortoise. ‘Scared I might beat you?’

Some of the animals laughed at

that so the Hare said, ‘Alright then,

Tortoise. Let’s have a race...right

now...then we’ll see who’s laughing.’

‘Not today,’ said the Tortoise. ‘We’ll

race next week. Got to do a bit of

training first.’

Next morning the animals watched

the Tortoise do his ‘training’. First

he did some gentle stretching exercises to warm himself up...

...and then he started to run.

‘Has he started running yet?’ asked

the Fox.

‘Hard to tell with Tortoises,’ said the

Badger. ‘He’s definitely moving.’

‘Is he?’ said the Fox.

‘Tortoise, are you sure about this?’

said the Crow. ‘I mean the Hare IS

very fast and you…well…’

‘Don’t worry,’ said the Tortoise.

‘This is just day one. I’ll speed up.

You’ll see.’

On the day of the race crowds of

animals came to watch. The

Tortoise slowly made his way to

the starting line and then

suddenly...

...the Hare arrived at top speed

wearing a brand new track suit and

four expensive-looking trainers.

‘The race starts here.’ said the Fox

pointing to a line on the ground.

‘And ends at that tree on the other

side of the field. First one to touch

the tree is the winner.’

‘Right, let’s get on with it,’ said the

Hare. ‘Ready Tortoise? Ready to

see some real speed?’

‘I’m ready,’ said the Tortoise.

‘Ready, steady...go!’ said the

Fox and the race began.

The Hare roared off then stopped

and looked back. The Tortoise was

still crossing the starting line. The

Haso slowly I’m going to have a rest.

Might even have a little sleep. I’ll

finish the race when I wake up and

still beat you by miles.’

The Hare lay down in the sun and

fell asleep. The Tortoise kept going.

Slowly, steadily he moved across

the field and by evening time he

‘You know what? I think he might

win,’ said a Rabbit.

‘I can’t believe it,’ said the Badger.

‘The Tortoise might actually win.’

The animals started to get excited

and as the Tortoise got close to the

finishing tree they started to cheer.

‘Come on Tortoise,’ they shouted.

‘Nearly there. Keep going old

friend. Keep going.’

But the noise of the cheering crowd

woke up the Hare. He looked

across the field, saw the Tortoise

about to reach the tree and in a

flash he was running.

The Tortoise hear the Hare thundering up behind him but he kept

going...and going...and suddenly

he was there. Just in time the

Tortoise touched the tree with

his nose. He’d done it. The Tortoise

had beaten the Hare fair and

square.

‘There you go,’ said the Badger.

‘Slow and steady’s sometimes better than fast and flashy.’

‘Not fair,’ said the Hare. ‘I was

asleep. We have to run the race

again. It’s not fair.’

But no-one was listening to the

Hare.

what: when quoting a source, use the author’s words verbatim, or word-for-word. this means you shouldn’t change any grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. put quotations around the words to tell your reader where the quote begins and where it ends.

you also need to acknowledge the author. for example, if using mla format for your research paper, you should have in-text citations with the author’s name and page number listed at the end of each quote.

when: use quotations to provide concrete examples to support your claims. using direct quotations is a great way to build your credibility on the subject. it’s also a good idea to quote your source when the author states things in a powerful way. if you think he or she said it best, then use the exact words to share the ideas.

example: in the short story “a jury of her peers”, mrs. hale compares mrs. wright to her caged bird, saying “she—come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and—fluttery. how—she—did—change” (glaspell).

paraphrasing

what: paraphrasing differs from quoting because you restate the passage in your own words. since you don’t use the author’s words, you don’t need to use quotation marks. however, you still need to acknowledge the author for his or her ideas.

when paraphrasing a text, you should communicate the full meaning of the text; don’t change the meaning. it can be a condensed version of the text, or it could end up being longer than the source it’s paraphrasing.

when: you use paraphrasing when you take notes, or explain a chart or diagram to someone. paraphrasing highlight the important parts of a larger text. it also allows you to simplify the ideas for your readers.

example:

original: “it was no ordinary thing that called her away–it was probably further from ordinary than anything that had ever happened in dickson county. but what her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving: her bread all ready for mixing, half the flour sifted and half unsifted” (glaspell).

paraphrase: as mrs. hales walks around mrs. wright’s home, she notices that the kitchen is in disarray as if she was in the middle of baking bread (glaspell).

absolutism the political belief that one ruler should hold all of the power within the boundaries of a country.