MISTRESS MARY, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With cockle-shells, and silver bells,
And pretty maids all a row.
(Original Nursery Rhyme)
Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in the country.
Her name was Mary and she was quite the Mistress. She was a very beautiful
woman. She would wear bonnets with a big bow every day. Her outfit would also
include a dress with puffy shoulders. Mary was a wonderful sweet
woman that was liked by many despite being contrary. She was actually quite
nice and very friendly. Everyone wanted to be just like her.
Everyone in the town would want to visit her wonderful
garden. Mary has been growing her garden since she was a child with the help of
her mom and brothers. Gardening was her favorite hobby. Mary really did not do
anything else besides keep up her garden. She checks on it at least three times
a day.
The main question that people would ask her was, "How
does your garden grow?"
Mary had a very unique garden. She would grow and raise
things that nobody ever has. It was a magical garden. Her garden was made up of
beautiful flowers. These flowers were in every color and grew in every height.
Next in line were the cockle-shells, these shells were one of a kind. She even
had a row that was a variety of all different sea shells combined. Some of the
shells were even colored. Some shells were blue, while others were pink. The
garden also had beautiful waterfalls and ponds with goldfish. On each end of a
row, there were gold and silver bells. The bells would ring in the wind. Even
Mary’s maids would stand in her garden to help make it beautiful.
Overall, the garden was something that nobody could ever
imagine. The End.
This story is based on the nursery rhyme "Mistress Mary, how does your garden grow?" which is at the beginning of the story at the top. The rhyme is short and sweet and makes it easy to add to. For my story, I decided to add a few things to her garden to make you imagine what it would look like. I also added details about her living in the country because that is what I think of when I hear this nursery rhyme. I also, added many colorful things throughout my story because as a kid, I would always get asked if I have heard this rhyme. Every time I would hear it, I would think of a colorful garden.
You may read the nursery rhyme "Mistress Mary, how does your garden grow?" in The Nursery Rhyme Book on page 50, edited by Andrew Lang (1897).
That is a very creative adaptation to the nursery rhyme, great job! You did a very good job of creating imagery throughout the entire story. I could visualize everything you were describing and thought the picture at the bottom matched your story very well. Nice touch including how Mary began gardening, too. It added depth to her character and makes more sense to why she enjoys gardening so much.
ReplyDeleteWell that was a funny take on the original poem, and I really liked that you took the poem so literally. It was cool that you included basically every line in the poem; cling her a mistress, asking how her garden grew, and the maids standing in a row at the end. Wow, that was funny. There are a few things that can be fixed on the technical side though. Your sentence, "Her name was Mary and she was quite the Mistress." should have a comma before the "and" because it's a compound sentence. There were a couple other places there should have been commas too. Also, your last sentence in the first paragraph starts with everyone, and your first sentence in the second paragraph starts with everyone. It would be good to use a different word to start one of these sentences to make your story sound better. Finally, there is a little bit of tense disagreement between your sentences. Some sentences are in the present, and the next is in the past. Overall, it was a great story!
ReplyDeleteHey Mary!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your story “Mary’s Garden.” I thought that it was a very cute take on the original nursery rhyme. The imagery in the story was really detailed and colorful. It really helped me visualize or imagine the setting. I believe that the imagery plays a vital role in this story especially since it is about a garden. And you took account of that.
I also liked how Mary kind of parallel the Garden. Like the garden, Mary was beautiful, nice, and colorful; she is always wearing bonnets and big bows. Like how the garden is decorative and colorful, Mary is always wearing decorative clothing.
Overall, your story was really good. The only thing I would suggest is that you include a conflict so that your story will have a beginning, middle, and ending. Some possible conflicts could be that rabbits ruin her garden by eating everything, she finds a snake in the garden, or her garden dies. These are just suggestions.