BILLY BUCK CATEGORY
Judges’ Award for Connecting the Story to Self
7th Grade: Elizabeth Martinez, La Paz Middle School - SECOND PLACE
Have you ever read the story The Red Pony by John Steinbeck? If you have not, it is a great story.
In this essay I will talk about Jody, the main character and my personal life experiences related to
Jody’s.
First of all, Jody receives a pony which he names him Gabilan, a gift from his father. In the story,
Jody is given a responsibility of taking care of him. For example, Jody curries Gabilan. In my opinion
Jody takes care of him because if he does not his father would sell him. Jody also takes care of him
in difficult situations like when he was sick.
Secondly, in my personal life experience I have also learned responsibilities. Usually my parents
do not give me big responsibilities like taking care of a horse. They give me responsibilities more like
cleaning my room, feeding the dog, doing my homework, or washing the dishes. I do them but do you
really know what’s being responsible for? If you do not you are safe because I know. It is doing things
without being told to. For example I have experience responsibility by taking care of my dog.
Furthermore, my dog’s name was Margaret. Margaret was a Christmas present from my grandpa.
She was a small, black dog. She was smart. She showed it by playing with me. I would go to one end
of the field and told her to sit. After a while she would ran back to me. Unfortunately, I suffer a loss
like Jody. One day, I was doing my homework will she was played in the front yard and was trying to
catch a cat when she got ran over by a car. Which made me mad and sad like Jody felt when he saw
the vultures.
In addition Jody and I relate because I fed my dog and he feeds his horse. Another example is he
cleans the stable of Gabilan and I used to clean the little house of Margaret. Well, you get the picture.
The only three differences are Jody has a big, red horse and I have a little back dog.
In conclusion, the story The Red Pony by John Steinbeck. The main character Jody has a close
relationship with my personal life.
Elizabeth Martinez
La Paz Middle School
Coaches: Mary Rossi and Kaitlin O’Connor