Question

One fine day in winter some Ants were busy drying their store of corn, which had got rather damp during a long spell of rain. Presently up came a Grasshopper and begged them to spare her a few grains. The Ants stopped work for a moment, though this was against their principles. They asked what the grasshopper was doing with himself all last summer. The Grasshopper replied, "I was so busy singing that I hadn't the time." "If you spent the summer singing," replied the Ants, "you can't do better than spend the winter dancing." And they chuckled and went on with their work.
Recall the second step in the process to determine theme. In two to three sentences, explain why these events happened in the fable.

the events i chose where, the ants were drying their corn, a grasshopper came up and begged them to spare her a few grains, the ants asked what the grasshopper had been doing all last summer, and the ants didn't give the grasshopper any grains, laughed and continued working

Answer 1

So you would say that the second step in the process was that the grasshopper came up to the ants, correct?

Answer 2

The second step in the process to determine theme is explaining why the events of the story happened. Therefore, you need to explain why the events occurred, not what the events were.

We know that the events are that the grasshopper was cold in winter, and asked for a few grains. We also know that the ants refused to help him. Why was this the case? The reason why these events happened is that the ants worked all summer in order to prepare themselves for winter. On the other hand, the grasshopper spent his time singing, and now has no grain to eat.

Therefore, the theme will look something like this: "It is important to plan for the future." Not doing this is what led the grasshopper to his situation.