Answer: The primary element that fits the quest archetype plot in “How the Animals Lost Their Tails and Got Them Back Traveling from Philadelphia to Medicine Hat” is the animals’ journey to get their tails back from the Head Spotter of the Weather Makers. The story focuses on the animals’ experiences during their journey from Philadelphia to Medicine Hat. The author describes the amusing train journey in detail; for example, a train that whimsically jumped on and off the tracks:
The train ran out of the train shed. It kept on the tracks and never left the rails. It came to the Horseshoe Curve near Altoona where the tracks bend like a big horseshoe. Instead of going around the long winding bend of the horseshoe tracks up and around the mountains, the train acted different. The train jumped off the tracks down into the valley and cut across in a straight line on a cut-off, jumped on the tracks again and went on toward Ohio.
As the story progresses, the animals have adventures such as “watching the big show of the snow ghosts” and “eating pink ice cream with an iron ax.” The story ends with the animals achieving their goal of getting their tails back and returning home:
. . . so they all went back home satisfied, the blue foxes each with a big wavy brush of a tail to help him when he runs, when he eats, when he walks . . .
Explanation:
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