The Smallest Dragonboy Essay
Bill Cheng
January 15, 2015
Language Arts 7
Period ⅞
The Feeling and Emotions of a Dragonboy Have you ever wanted to prove to someone that you are worthy of being something so amazing it became desperate? Many people have a goal, but few people have the patience and the perseverance to achieve them. In Anne McCaffrey’s short story,
The Smallest Dragonboy
, a young boy, Keevan, is just like that. The story takes place in a magical land named Pern.
According to custom, dragons hatch and choose a rider, a life long companion, through telepathic communication called Impression. These dragons burn the evil Thread that falls from the sky every two hundred years or so. Keevan aspires to become a dragon rider, but he faces many challenges. Many boys bully him because of his size and age, calling him “babe” and telling him he’s too young and too small to be a dragon rider. However, Keevan exhibits courage, humility, and determination, revealing to the reader that he will make a great dragon rider. Firstly, Keevan exhibits humility. He doesn’t act like the other boys, bragging about getting a bronze dragon which is more prestigious than other dragons. Instead, Keevan is fine with just a mere green dragon. For example, McCaffrey writes, “He’d even settle for a green dragon. They were small, but so was he.” (122) By the same token, Keevan didn’t rat on a bully
named Beterli, despite Beterli bullying him and getting him severely injured. Usually, a selfish person would tattle right away, but Keevan thinks to himself, “Much as he hated Beterli, he couldn’t bring it upon himself to tattle on Beterli and force him out of the candidacy.” (126)
Keevan remained silent when questioned about how he got injured. Next, Keevan shows a great deal of courage. One day in the rock bunker, Beterli took
Keevan’s shovel. However, Keevan stood up to Beterli, demanding his shovel back. He still did this even when he knew Beterli was the bigger
January 15, 2015
Language Arts 7
Period ⅞
The Feeling and Emotions of a Dragonboy Have you ever wanted to prove to someone that you are worthy of being something so amazing it became desperate? Many people have a goal, but few people have the patience and the perseverance to achieve them. In Anne McCaffrey’s short story,
The Smallest Dragonboy
, a young boy, Keevan, is just like that. The story takes place in a magical land named Pern.
According to custom, dragons hatch and choose a rider, a life long companion, through telepathic communication called Impression. These dragons burn the evil Thread that falls from the sky every two hundred years or so. Keevan aspires to become a dragon rider, but he faces many challenges. Many boys bully him because of his size and age, calling him “babe” and telling him he’s too young and too small to be a dragon rider. However, Keevan exhibits courage, humility, and determination, revealing to the reader that he will make a great dragon rider. Firstly, Keevan exhibits humility. He doesn’t act like the other boys, bragging about getting a bronze dragon which is more prestigious than other dragons. Instead, Keevan is fine with just a mere green dragon. For example, McCaffrey writes, “He’d even settle for a green dragon. They were small, but so was he.” (122) By the same token, Keevan didn’t rat on a bully
named Beterli, despite Beterli bullying him and getting him severely injured. Usually, a selfish person would tattle right away, but Keevan thinks to himself, “Much as he hated Beterli, he couldn’t bring it upon himself to tattle on Beterli and force him out of the candidacy.” (126)
Keevan remained silent when questioned about how he got injured. Next, Keevan shows a great deal of courage. One day in the rock bunker, Beterli took
Keevan’s shovel. However, Keevan stood up to Beterli, demanding his shovel back. He still did this even when he knew Beterli was the bigger