Going the extra Yard vs. The Elves and The Shoemaker

An essay relating the two stories "Going the extra yard" and "The elves and the shoe Maker"

Going the Extra Yard vs. The Elves and the Shoemaker

Going the Extra Yard is teaching the same lesson as the Elves and the Shoe- maker so the theme is pretty much the same, if you help somebody you might get something or get helped in return. The Characters in both stories are generous and use their time to help somebody in need, the difference however is the Elves and the Shoemaker is more of a mythological story and Going the Extra Yard could actually happen, it is more realistic. This is the events in the Elf and the Shoemaker starting in the beginning: The shoemaker is poor and he leaves out supplies before he goes to bed at night, later that night naked elves come and make the shoes with perfect stitches that sell for a lot of money, this plot continues until the shoemaker has enough money and makes clothing for the naked elves.  Going the Extra Yard tells the traditional story in more of a realistic form as mentioned above.  There are some things effective in the newer version, such as the newer version is a little easier to follow the details and plot  and it shows an example of what you could do to help out in your own neighborhood or community. Some uneffective things is it is sometimes more interesting  to read a make believe of folk tale than a story that seems it might of been taken out of a newspaper like an article or something.  The retelling could be made better if the boys were learning about helping out in school and it showed more ways that any student could help somebody in their own community.  Another modern story is Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox.  Paul was a giant man and Babe was a giant Blue ox so they fit perfectly together. They rough housed and never got hurt.  They traveled through what is now known as Minnesota and because Pauls feet were so big he made 10,000 lakes, this is how Minnesota got its nickname of the 10,000 lake state.  This story does not really work with the modern setting it is more of a tall tale or Folk tale, a super tall man and a giant blue ox making lakes really isn't that modern.  The author of Going the Extra Yard probably chose the elves and the shoemaker because the theme and lesson is pretty much the same just flip the plot around and you pretty much have the same story just modified. In the elves and the shoemaker the elves helped the guy then the guy helped the elves in going the extra yard the guy helped the kids then the kids helped the guy at the end of Going the Extra Yard the guy calls the kids his little elves so the stories both involve elfs in some way.  These are two great stories and I highly recommend that you read them.