Cora Did Wrong - Debate on “Dear Mr. Winston”

Basic Elements:

Character: Cora, Mr. Winston

Setting: Cora’s home, school library

Plot: Cora gets her pet snake to the school library, Mr.Winston sees it and he faints from fear. Cora was writing an apology letter to him.

Perspective: First person point of view

Genre: Realistic Fiction

The story Dear Mr. Winston written by Ken Roberts, it talks about a girl named Cora who writes apology letters to the librarian of school Mr. Winston. She brought her pet snake to school. She wants to get a book about snakes and use it to help herself to raise the snake. She put the snake in a box in the grass. She wanted to get the book outside but Mr. Winston said no to her. She just got the box inside the library, when she came in the library, Mr. Winston saw her box and wanted to help her but she said no. Although Mr. Winston still opens the box and the snake runs out. Mr. Winston was very afraid of snakes so when he saw Cora’s pet, he fainted from fear. Cora can’t get back her pet snake and she needs to write an apology letter to Mr. Winston. Her parents said that she shouldn’t get the pet to school and this made her feel bad. But I think that Cora did wrong.

Cora getting her pet snake to school was a very bad behavior because she broke the school rule. The school has already said about no pets at school but she still gets the snake to school and it's a bad attitude. Neither in real life or in the story, we shouldn’t break the school rule, the school rule regulation was because the principals know the student may do something bad so they make the rule. They want the student to know the things they are not allowed to do. But Cora saw the school rule and she broke it, she got her pet to school. The things happen then can't be said it's Mr. Winston’s fault, he was doing the things that the school rule let them to do. In conclusion, I think the whole thing is Cora’s fault, through it all, if she hadn’t brought the snake, the things wouldn't have happened.

Respect is a traditional virtue, everyone wants others to respect them. But in the story Cora didn’t respect her parents. When she was arguing with her parents, she wanted to feel better but she didn't know what they were thinking. However, disagreements sometimes happen. What matters most is how they’re resolved. If Cora realizes she made a mistake, apologizing and discussing things calmly with her parents could help repair the situation. On the other hand, if she felt unheard, finding a respectful way to express her feelings later might prevent future clashes. Arguing was not a good way to defend yourself. On the other hand, it can make things bigger and bigger. In conclusion, I thought the whole thing was Cora's fault, if she just wrote the letter and did the things her parents let her do, the things then won't happen.

Cora’s actions were clearly inappropriate, and the school has every right to address the situation. To put it bluntly, in the end, whatever trouble Cora caused had to be solved by the school. How could she, who did nothing about the trouble, have the right to blame the school? She said that the school shouldn’t have a rule on pets in the library, but at first, the school already had a rule on pets the school, why she don’t think of it? WHy she broke the rule. She said it's Mr. Winston’s fault, but it's his obligation to check the things he doesn't know or can’t see. When a police wants to examine the things in your box, should you say that he touched your box without your permission? She can’t blame the school and she has no obligation to. She does nothing, her parents just let her write a letter. In conclusion, I thought the whole thing was Cora’s fault, it's the same when you know the law but you still break the law, no one listens to you talking about there shouldn’t be that law.  

In conclusion, the story talks about a girl named Cora who gets her pet snake to the school library, the librarian wants to help her but instead of help, he lets the snake run away and  he sees it and he faints from fear. Cora was writing an apology letter to him. I think it's all Cora’s fault, she broke the school rule, and argued with her parents and the school. In the story, if she doesn’t break the school rule, nothing will happen to her pets, her parents won’t let her write the letter, and no one will because of a snake scared in the school.