Writing Homework Help

The Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin make an interesting pair of stories to contrast. Realizing that Peter and Nutkin are surrogates for young children, we deduce that the stories are about a child’s response to commands from adults. Mrs. Rabbit forbids Peter to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden, and Old Brown orders Nutkin to stop teasing him. Neither young animal obeys the adult’s commands and both suffer for their disobedience. Peter is sent to bed without dessert and Nutkin loses his beautiful bushy tail.

Is the disobedience of Peter and Nutkin of the same seriousness? Are their punishments equivalent or is one more serious than the other? Think about these tales as stories that address the perennial question, “How should adults respond to a child’s disobedience?” Decide whether you judge there are any differences between Peter and Nutkin in their naughtiness. Both stories are cautionary tales for children to be good, but what do the tales suggest about adult response? Include in your thinking the color palette of each story? Do the contrasting palettes create different tones that reinforce the story lines?

One last topic: in each story which is your favorite picture? Try to articulate why you like it.