Reading Response Journal: The Little Prince

Nur Hasanah Binte Osman was a classmate of Yvone Koo. But I didn’t meet her in person until after four or five weeks into the semester. She was pregnant and was about to give birth when classes began in August 2009. So we made use of distance learning to the hilt.

When Hasanah did come to class in person to join her classmates, she blended easily and took part actively in group tasks. It seemed as if she had been there all the time because she had followed the course outline diligently and had done all the required readings and the learning tasks via our electronic learning platform.

I knew she was a competent student, but her sincerity and honesty were more admirable. In this reading response journal, she has a most intimate conversation with the little child in her.

“Something to Do, Something to Love,
Something to Hope For”

by Nur Hasanah Binte Osman


I discovered in this book that life is simple and the:
“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” – Joseph Addison

Truthfully, reading this book made me feel sad, disappointed and even made me question my actions in life. Am I like any of the characters that the prince mentioned? Is my love like that of the prince? Am I a good friend?

In this Reading Response Journal, I will illustrate the turmoil that I went through still searching for my answers and like the prince, I would “ . . . never in (my) whole life give up on a question once . . . I’ve asked it” and through this seeking journey, I discovered the “. . . secret, very simply: you can see things clearly with your heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Entry 1: In the Eyes of Grown-ups

“But the answer would always be: ‘That is a hat.’ In which case I would not talk to that person about boa constrictors, or virgin forests, or stars. I would place myself on their level. I would talk about bridge and gold, about politics and neckties. And the grown-up would be very pleased to have made the acquaintance of such a sensible fellow.”

Adulthood is a state of mind. Being an adult, most of us are trapped with our busy schedules and we become rather narrow-minded and single track-minded. I was taken aback when I first realized this. Nevertheless, when I looked back at my actions and reactions to my pupils and children, I had to agree.

There was an incident when I jumped in anger because a child had brought an empty can for his ‘show and tell’ activity. I did not want to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was only later that I realized there was a story behind the empty can.

As adults, we constantly make the mistake of rushing through our daily chores without stopping to think and see the beauty that children see. My little girl always points to a cloud to tell me stories of the animals formed in them. She always needs to explain to me in detail, as written in the Little Prince, “ Grown –ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children always and forever to be giving explanations” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, p6 ) .

I have to be more of a child.

Entry 2 : Looking with our Hearts

“If someone loves a flower, of which there is only one example among all the millions and millions of stars, that is enough to make him happy when he looks up at the night sky. He says to himself: “Somewhere out there is my flower.” But if a sheep eats the flower, it’s as though all the stars have suddenly gone out! But I suppose that, too, is of no importance!”(Antoine de Saint-Exupery, p 27)

I am often guilty of not loving with all my heart. At times, the selfish side wins over the better side of myself. I forget what is more important as I rush through my days. Only lately, with my newborn baby, have I discovered this love again. I realized the things that are more important in my life.

My family and friends are important to me. However, I have been taking them for granted. Work and daily tasks had seemed to overtake all that I truly love. I’d forgotten about my passion. As a teenager, I was an active community volunteer. It made me happy. Now, I suppose, this passion had taken a step back. It is sad, when our priorities have changed.

Life has to be simple as stated, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” (Confucius) If only we could see the beauty in the flower like how the prince had loved it.
If each one of us cared enough for the things that are truly important, this whole place would be different.

There would not be any concern for a dying planet. Children would not be abused. Hunger and poverty would be minimized. Humanitarian activities would be everybody’s job. Then we would be like the prince, “ . . .his loyalty to a flower, to the image of a rose, which shines inside him like the flame of a lamp . . .” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, p 77)

I have to love the simple things in life.

Entry 3: Time and Friendship

“One only ever understands what one tames. People no longer have the time to understand anything. They buy everything ready-made from the shops. But there is no shop where friends can be bought, so people no longer have friends.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, p 69)

This insight truly stood out for me. Friendship had been important as I was growing up. My friends were the ones I laughed with and confided in. I used to spend a lot of time with them. They were the ones who were always there by my side and were the ones who kept me warm on cold days that life has granted me.

I came from what most would say, a dysfunctional family. My father had two wives. My mother blamed us, her children, for her misery and arguments were a norm in my daily routine. It was then that friendship warmed me. It was also then I spent most of my time with friends.

It is disappointing that now I have to even check my schedule to meet up with those friends of mine. Talking about investing time on friendship? Perhaps, like what was mentioned by the fox, I no longer have friends.

I have to hope. . .

Reading Response Journal: The Little Prince

Who’s the most important entity in the author-text-reader triangle? The reader, according to the reader response theory. (Rosenblatt, 1938) It is the anonymous reader who makes a text come alive. Obviously, authors and texts will not survive without readers.

And so one of the requirements in my Children’s Literature class is that the students read a novel over an 8-week period while diligently keeping a weekly journal.

This is the assignment prompt:

1. Choose a children’s novel from the short list of literary selections.
2. Read 50 pages, more or less, every week. Write your personal response in your journal. You must have a weekly entry.
3. Choose your three best entries from Weeks 1 – 8. Synthesize them in one essay.

A reading journey is personal and unique to an individual. No two persons will respond in the same way to a literary selection. Feel free to respond to what grabs your attention, provokes your thoughts, or touches your heart . Then write down your observations, your thoughts, your feelings, and most of all, your insights.

This semester, it has been a joy to teach 24 senior and junior students from various disciplines of Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Let me share with you some of their reading response journals.

Right now, I’d like to focus the spotlight on Samuel Chew’s piece. He read The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery.

The Maturing Reflections of a Young Adult

by Samuel Chew

onpilgrimage.vox.com

This journey began the day I started to read The Little Prince. The book is about a pilot, who realizes that life’s events are too difficult to understand, succumbs to mysteries, and eventually learns what is important in life.

As a reader, I noted down my weekly reflections and responses in my diary, and at the end of eight weeks, I stepped back to appreciate the entries in my diary. It caught me by surprise that I am not quite the same person before and after the book-reading experience.

From a naïve, bitter, self-centred person, I grew to be more mature, proactive and appreciative towards my loved ones. Hence, this Reading Response Journal will illustrate the maturing reflections of a young adult

Entry 1: The Anatomy of Grown-Ups (Chapters 3 to 7)

Grown-ups are distrusting; they must see things for themselves before they believe a word children say.

They are so superficial. It’s like telling my parents “I’ve got a job that I really like, it allows me to hone my talents and pursue my interest, however it does not pay so well.” They will say “stop dreaming, it cannot earn you a living.

But if you were to tell them,”Hey Dad, I’ve got a job that pays me higher than average.” They will tell you, “Excellent!” Why are grown-ups like that?

I used to dread growing up. As a child, I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted. I could make silly comments and funny faces. The protection from my parents made me feel like a king. Yet, I hated adults since they are so inhumane and harsh in their language. I was bitter and could not tolerate adults who assert their authority over others.

Entry 2: The Life of an Accountant (Chapters 12 to 15)
There is a Businessman/Accountant in the story who has kept counting money all his life and claims he is a “serious man”, not wanting to be disturbed.

Will I be like him? Will I be only interested in working and counting money every day? To an extent that I don’t get enough exercise or time to even take strolls?

I have a rather outgoing personality and I enjoy sports. Soccer, running or whatsoever never fails to lift up my moods and make me feel happy during and after engaging in it. It is the adrenaline rush that I get from sports that keeps me going. Also, it is a form of therapy for me as it helps me de-stress during difficult times.

Being a final-year Accountancy student, I’d like to be able to balance my time to work hard and play hard when I join the working world in a few months’ time. Reviewing my entries, I realize that I am beginning to be more long-sighted about life and positive about myself.

I want to excel in my job without compromising time spent on sports and recreation. Perhaps, in the past, the over-protection from my parents had caused me to become a lazy person and not strive for improvement in the things I do.

The Accountant in the book chose to isolate himself from the outside world and that is one thing I do not want to happen to me. The past is gone and I cannot reverse it, but the future is in my hands. I want to be a good Accountant, able to balance my time well between work and play, amongst other things.

Entry 3: The Truth about Friendship (Chapter 22 to 24)
The fox explains the truth about friendship, “It’s the time you spend on your rose that makes your rose so important”, and yet people often forget this truth.

I agree with it because I believe it is the time you spend with your family/friends that builds up your relationships with them. A relationship cannot be fostered or strengthened without time spent together. The more time spent with a friend in whatever activities, the closer the bond and the stronger the bond. That way, the bond holds strongly together and nothing can break it apart.

I don’t believe I wrote this. After weeks of posting questions, I finally have an entry that contains a solution! I cannot describe my feeling when I re-read this entry. It is like “woo, I don’t sound like a kid anymore!”

I have a couple of good buddies I used to hang out with for 10 years or so, but we recently drifted apart because we went separate ways in our pursuit of education. I do not remember what sparked us off as friends in the beginning but I know we had many great times together.

This entry made me realize the importance of friendship. A friendship can be easily found, but it is not easy to maintain. A real friendship must go through the test of time. I have decided to treasure the friends and family members I currently have around me. They are God’s blessings to me, and only God knows when He is going to take them away and back into His arms.

In summary, my book-reading experience has been an extremely eventful one. When I started off with the book, I was naïve about life and felt bitter towards grown-ups. As I read on, I became more reflective about life and even set out targets for myself; wanting to balance work and personal time.

Eventually, I understood some difficulties about life and friendship and I have learnt to treasure my loved ones. Friends and family play indispensable roles in my life, and I will never sacrifice them for anything.

It has been a soul-searching and philosophical journey for me. I enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the journey, I enjoyed the provocation of thoughts, the mixture of my inner feelings, and the maturing reflections about myself. I wish this journey would never end.