Spring Writing Assessment

Imagine being stuck with your wicked but very rich stepmother. Her house was very large but hideous. Everything in it seemed to be ornamental. The iron fencing to the drawing room. But you have your own play room, there is nothing in it, not a toy, not even a chair. And your cloths are a scrappy old brown dress and a ripped pair of gym shoes. You do not go to school because your step mom needs to money to open and organize civic centers, bypasses and hospitals and other things. You eat your meals in the kitchen, boiled fish, bread and margarine, and prunes. But the worst thing of all, is that you have no friends, and nothing to do. This is what Esmeralda’s life is like, and what this super story, “The Rocking Donkey” by Joan Aiken, is about.
To begin with, I think that this story is a romance because it is unrealistic. It’s unrealistic because flying and talking rocking horses don’t happen in real life, and if your mother is rich, I think that you would be living pretty good, with a lot of toys and the newest clothes out there. Being unrealistic narrows the possibilities down to just romance and irony. It was hard deciding which one it was, but my final decision declares romance the winner. I chose romance over irony because Esmeralda is not struggling for life or sanity at all during the story, and she seems content with what she has. This proves for sure that this story is a romance. Another reason why “The Rocking Donkey” is a romance is because it’s not a nightmare of what the world would be like, and nobody dies or goes insane. This really proves that this story is a romance.
In addition, there is also some symbolism in “The Rocking Donkey.” The first symbolism is when the story says, “who was called Mrs. Mitching, was very rich and lived in a large but hideous house in a suburb with a dusty laurelly garden, and an area, and a lot of ornamental fencing,” Joan Aiken was symbolizing that Mrs. Mitching was a very rich person. The rocking donkey in this story symbolizes the poor, and with a little help can be converted to a magnificent person, or in this case, rocking donkey. Also, when Esmeralda floated with her donkey out of the museum window and into the night, it symbolized them riding to a new, and hopefully better life for the both of them.
To compare Esmeralda and Mrs. Mitching would be like comparing water to fire, they are almost total opposites. Esmeralda is the kind of person who will never take anything for granted and will always be happy with what she has. Mrs. Mitching on the other hand, has so much, and doesn’t have the time to enjoy it all, she is too busy doing other stuff. Esmeralda is the kind of person who sometimes slows down to collect herself and gather her thoughts before doing something, Mrs. Mitching is caught up with life and is scrambling around trying to get things organized and ready. Just like my mom during the holidays. Esmeralda and Mrs. Mitching are unquestionably different.
After reading “The Rocking Donkey,” by Joan Aiken, I’m not going to take anything for granted because I know that this is what some peoples lives are like, not having a rich step mom, but having almost nothing. And I think that it’s terrible. This story is something that people should always remember when they are being greedy or selfish. Remember that Esmeralda had almost nothing, and that she was the happy one in the end.