The Good Earth – Book Report

 

The Good Earth – Book Report

Book : The Good Earth

Auther : Pearl S. Buck

Publisher : Collins Publication

First Published : 1932 A.D.

Genre : Fiction, Drama

 

“The Good Earth” written by Pearl S. Buck, is an American Classic novel based on the struggles and hardships of the mid twentieth Chinese society. The story shows the misery and melancholy of the rural yet developing Chinese society.

Plots:

Wang Lung, a farmer of a rural province of China lives through poverty. Just like other farmers of his time he lives with uncertainty and dependence on the natural rain and nature. He is a simple minded farmer, who contains traits like perseverance, dedication and optimistic feelings. Days after days he toils in his field and through his extreme hardship and unexpected luck, Wang Lung attains wealth, which was unimaginable to him before. The story continues with a change in Wang Lung’s characters from a simple and kind person to an arrogant and greedy figure. As the proverb, “Money is the root of all evil” , Wang Lung gets himself in luxury and lavish life. He also gets involved in immoral activities and gets involved with concubines/ prostitutes. As the story continues we can see his family slowly falling apart. This brews mistrust among the family members and Wang Lund looses his peace of mind. Wang Lung longs for peace in the family but as the family breaks there is only quarrel in the family. Over time as there grows greed in Wang Lung’s sons, it is seen that they slowly weaken his wealth and lead to their down fall.

 

The book “The Good Earth” provides readers an essence of the traditional community, class hierarchy and many more. The writer has minutely and more carefully elaborated …………. and every insight of the story. Having lived in China, Pearl S. Buck has managed to beautifully express the small incidents that went in the Chinese society.

I really like how all the plots are connected. One incident such as the communist revolution affects the life of the family drastically. The book shows the tragedy of wealth and the change in psychology over time with respect to situation that arise. One can learn to value the simple life and understand the dangers of wealth.

I really recommend this book to all the teenagers. Contemporary readers should take a step back from modern fiction, and experience the pain of hardship, joy, betrayal, misery, this Chinese drama presents. I would definitely consider this book “a book to read and re-read” – as the knowledge in it is vast and essential.

A Visit to the Zoo – Animal Feeding Program - by Shuvanjali

 

A Visit to the Zoo – Animal Feeding Program

Introduction

A zoo is a place where different animals are collected from different places and exhibited for all to see and enjoy. In Nepal’s Kathmandu, the Rana Prime Minister Juddha Sumsher Rana established the Central zoo in 1932, at Jawalakhel, Lalitpur. Presently the zoo is managed by NTNC ( National Trust for Nature Conservation ). The zoo has a large area with a large central pond, believed to be constructed by King Siddhi Narsingh Malla.

Currently the zoo has different sections for different types of animals. They are :

1.      Ruminant Animal Section : (Spotted Deer, Krishnasar, Swamp Deer, Samber Deer, Goral, Barking Deer, Blue Sheep, Blue Bull )

2.      Cats and Feline Animal Section : (Royal Bengal Tiger, Common Leopard)

3.      Rino and Hippo Section : (One-horned Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus )

4.      Primates Animal Section : (Assamese Macaque, Siamung, Common Langur, Chimpanzee)

5.      Birds Section : (Emu, White Storck, Pelican, Parrots, Cacatuwa, Love Birds, Dhaphe, Munal, Peacock)

6.      Reptile Section : (Crocodile, Alligator, Snakes, King Cobra, Python)

7.      Fish Section : (Piranha, White Tiger Shark, Aquarium fish)

8.      Other Animals : Elephant, Buffulo/Arna, Sloth Bear, Gunnia Pig, Porcupine, Jackel, Hyena

In front of the animal cages, the zoo has provided an Information Board to inform the visitors about the nature of the animals. The following information are provided by the board:

1.      Common Name in English and Nepali

2.      Scientific Names (World-wide names given by scientists)

3.      Habitat ( What kind of land the animals prefer to live in )

4.      Weight (Average weight of an adult animal )

5.      Diet ( What they generally prefer to eat )

6.      Gestation ( How many days pregnant to give birth and how many kids are born at one time)

7.      Life span ( Average life of an animal)

I learnt a lot of things about the animals, from the given information.

 

Feeding the Animals

It was a cloudy day on September 7, 2022, Wednesday. We hoped it would not rain and program to visit the zoo would not be cancelled. We the students of St. Mary’s School’s “Friends of Zoo (FOZ)” were going for an “Animal Feeding Program”, organized by the zoo.

All the students of the “Fiends of Zoo” were gathered in the assembly ground at 9.45 am. All of us were carrying our aprons, gloves, mask, sanitizer and our lunch and were ready to go to the zoo. Since our school was very near to the Central zoo, we went there by walking, with our friends.

When we reached the zoo, we were warmly welcomed by the zoo’s staff. Then, we were led to a small hall were we learned about the animal’s diet, weight, age etc. We also learned about the dos and don’ts about the zoo. After that, we wore our aprons and groves. We were divided into four groups. All four groups were led to the zoo’s kitchen. In the kitchen, we saw different food being washed, chopped and weighed and kept in buckets. A pelican was also being hand-fed. I had a chance to feed a fish to the pelican. Each group had to transport the food bucket to the animals’ cages.

Our group was feeding the deers. We learned about their habitats, diet, weight and lifespan. We also observed other animals like the hippo, rhino, tiger and jackal and many birds like parrots, peacock, cacatuwa and emu. We enjoyed and had a good time to see all the animals.

At 12.30 pm, we gathered by the pond to have our lunch. We say a lot of people boating also. After our lunch, we played some games with our friends. We also say some other students from different schools. We also saw the zoo’s elephant – ‘Pawankali’ – walking around the pond.

We also went to see the Chimpanzees. I heard that the two chimps were smuggled into Nepal from Nigeria in 2017. They were then kept in the zoo and Mr. Ramkaji was responsible in taking care of them. The two chimps were named “Champa and Chimpu”.

After finished our lunch, we were called to the hall again. The group leaders had to tell what they saw and did to all other students. We thanks Ms. Rachana Shah, the Incharge of the zoo, for giving us this opportunity to visit and feed the animals.

Ms. Rachana also informed about the various programs that are held by the zoo. “Adopt an Animal” Program was very impressive and I was excited about this idea of adopting an animal. I hope that one day, I will be able to adopt an animal when I get my own salary.

Thank you once again to the zoon family and SMS FOZ family.

 

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Shuvanjali Manandhar

St. Mary’s High School, Grade 6 B