This writing project explores the idea of captivity in many forms helping young authors think about different ways characters might not be free to do as they like. Introduction to this Stone Soup Writing Activity In this story by Nicholaus Curby, the eagle, locked in its cage, is obviously a captive. The eagle is a captive in the same way a person in prison is a captive. Most people, when they think of captivity, think first of this type of imprisonment—the kind where locked doors keep you in. But in life, and in Nicholaus’ story, being captive has more meanings than simply that of being locked in a small space. Sam, the man who owns the service station, is a captive of his selfishness. He can only think of himself and can’t think of the eagle and what is best for it. Will, who works for Sam, tries to see life from the eagle’s point of view and comes to the conclusion that the eagle should be freed. But Will is himself not really free to do what he thinks best for the eagle. You could think of him as captive of his position as a boy and employee. As a writer you will find that if you can show the ways your characters are held captive by their emotions, or by their role in life as parent, teacher, child, etc., your characters will come alive and seem more like real people. Project 1: Captive of an Emotion Sam seems like a nice man so you’d think he would feel in his heart that the eagle, once so strong, should be allowed to fly again. But during the first part of Nicholaus’ story Sam doesn’t seem able to spend any time thinking about what life might be like for the eagle in the cage. Why not? In my opinion the reason is this: Sam’s selfishness. Sam’s “likes” the eagle and that is why he keeps it. This selfish attitude makes Sam captive, keeping him from his better, more generous self. Using your own life and that of your family and friends as references, create a character or characters who are captives of their emotions and feelings. Create a character or characters who, because of how they feel—selfish, tired, lonely, happy, angry—can only see life from one perspective and thus can’t act exactly as they or we might wish they would. Project 2: Captive of a Social Situation Sometimes we are prevented from doing what we want to do by doors that are locked—like in prison. But most often we are kept captive by less obvious means than locked doors. Create a character like Will. Will could easily have let the eagle go. All he had to do was open the cage. No one used physical force to keep him away from it. But Will wasn’t really free to do as he liked. As a boy, and as an employee of Sam’s, Will wasn’t free to let the eagle go. As you create your character, try to keep clear in your mind the limits imposed on your character by his or her position. The Captive By Nicholaus Curby, 12, Vallejo, California Illustrated By Justine Minnis, 11, Santa Cruz, California First published in the November/December 1985 issue of Stone Soup Will Turner scrambled down the mountain trail from his house to the valley. He couldn’t be late for his first real job! Although early morning mist half hid the valley, he could see the big sign that marked his destination: SAM’S SERVICE STATION: FASTFOOD AND FUEL Then Will saw something move outside the building. It looks like an animal inside a cage, Will thought, as he started to run. But investigating had to wait. Sam Dickson was standing at the station door. “Hello. I’m glad you’re here!” Will’s new employer tapped the walking cast on his left leg. “This broken ankle makes working hard. I can use your help.” The morning was busy. Pumping gas, wiping windshields, fetching soda pop, Will forgot the movement he had seen in the fog until eleven o’clock. Then he ran around the building. In a cage, a large eagle ruffled his bronze feathers and cocked his head as Will approached. Mr. Dickson hobbled up. “Isn’t he a beauty? Found him hurt, but he’s well now.” “First one I’ve ever seen,” Will said. “How’d you like to take over feeding him?” “Yes sir! But keeping an eagle, isn’t it against the law? Why don’t you let him go?” “Let him go!” Mr. Dickson echoed. “Why, I saved his life, besides, I like him.” Later, Will carried out a tray of meat scraps. He slid it into the cage. “Here, old fellow.” The eagle’s strong beak tore the meat scraps, and soon the tray was empty. Will stared uncomfortably as the bird pushed fiercely against the cage. “If you were free,” Will declared, “you could find your own dinner.” Will loved his new job. Only one thing bothered him—the eagle. Somehow it seemed wrong for such a splendid creature to be trapped. “I’ve been reading about wild birds,” Will said one afternoon when Mr. Dickson was resting his leg. “Did you know eagles keep the same nest year after year?” He glanced at his employer. “Bet your eagle’s thinking about his home right now.” “Nonsense,” Sam Dickson said sharply. “That bird has a good home right here.” “I guess so,” Will murmured, afraid to say any more. When Will arrived early the next morning, heavy clouds were gathering overhead. He knew they signaled a big storm. “Maybe you should go tomorrow to go for supplies,” he said to Mr. Dickson who was writing a list. “Nope, I always go on Tuesdays. Don’t worry, son. I’ll be fine.” Sam Dickson climbed awkwardly into his red pickup truck. “Remember to buy ketchup,” Will called as the truck pulled away. Before it disappeared, thunder sounded, and a downpour began. Only one customer appeared all morning. “Roads are bad,” the driver
Teacher Resources
Writing Activity: biography, war, and the power of what is not said, with “My Story” by Yuthilcar Sokban, 12
Introduction to this Stone Soup Writing Activity Map showing Cambodia in relation to its neighbors Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Yuthilkar Sokban’s story, simply titled “My Story,” is about war. It starts in 1975, the year Yuthilkar was born and the year a group of people, the Khmer Rouge, led by a man named Pol Pot, came to power in Yuthikar’s country, Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot was one of the more murderous governments of the twentieth-century. Between 1975 and 1979 millions of Cambodians were forcibly displaced from their homes, including the family of Yuthilcar Sokban, the author of this story. Many people were tortured and between 1 and 3 million people (nobody knows the exact number) were murdered. Cambodia only had a population of 8 million. The murderous Pol Pot regime ended in 1978 when Vietnam invaded the country and put an end to the horror that had been visited on the country by the Khmer Rouge. This story was originally published in Stone Soup in 1985. Pol Pot had only been out of power a few years. Readers of Stone Soup at the time could ask their parents about Cambodia as memories were fresh and Cambodia was still in the news. Refugees, like Yuthikar and his family were still arriving in the United States. But as all this happened what is now a long time ago, in addition to asking your parents to tell you about what they may remember of the historic events that underpin this story, you may have to do some of your own research. Yuthilcar’s story is largely about how his family was repeatedly moved from one place to another under Pol Pot, and about their final escape from Cambodia in 1979, after the Vietnamese overthrew the Pol Pot regime, and their subsequent move to the United States in 1981. This is not a story that is rich in detail about place or about character. It is a story that chronicles repeated displacements — including the several moves after arriving in America. As Yathilcar arrived in the United States in 1981 and this story was published in Stone Soup in 1985. The actual physical and mental pain of the hardships suffered is implied but never explicitly described. In this story, for years, the family is hungry, tired, and scared. Though it isn’t mentioned, we have to assume that they experienced and saw frightening things, including other people who are sick and dying or dead. But all of that is outside the scope of the story. This is a story by a survivor. It is a story about surviving from day to day. It is a story about finding life and a future by putting the bad things outside of oneself and just focusing on getting through the day, the week, the month, and finally the years to get to a better place in a better time. Yathilcar does write about his family’s suffering, but offers few details. For example, early on in the story he writes, “Our family life was harder than the first place because we ate only corn.” What he doesn’t say is that corn is not a complete food. If you only eat corn you will eventually get sick and it is even possible to die from a corn-only diet. As a reader, you need to imagine that Yathilcar’s family, and the others living with them, had too little eat and were also all weak from not eating a balanced diet. But, even hungry and weak, they still had to work because the army was telling them where to go and what to do. One way to think of it is that they were enslaved. As you read the story, try to imagine the context and what is not being said or described. For example, throughout the portion of the story that talks about their movements within Cambodia there is a “they” that is never described but is clearly all-powerful. For example, after a mosquito infested night with little food in their bellies Yathilcar writes, “In the morning, they told us to leave the place for a village about three days’ walk away.” This is not a friendly “they.” Bottled water and food are not provided. Nor are proper clothes and shoes or a place to sleep. Being tired or sick made no difference. An entire family, including very young children, is sent on forced moves in a tropical climate. The “they” are soldiers of the Khmer Rouge. You can imagine them armed and brutal. For Yuthilcar’s family, peace comes to them when, with good luck, the arrive in a refugee camp on the border of Cambodia and Thailand, and then are able to move into a United Nations refugee camp inside of Thailand, and then are finally allowed to come to the United States. During the period this story was written the United States was taking in tens of thousands of refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos–countries that had been upended by years of war in which the United States was a participant. As I write this today (in 2016), there are again millions of families on the move escaping war–but this time the families are from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Few of these refugees are allowed to come to the United States. Project: Make a Screen Play There is a way that you can think of this story as an outline for a screen play. It offers a plot outline, some characters, and general settings. The opening scene takes place when the author, Yuthilcar, is three-years-old. The Khmer Rouge army captures Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and then forcibly empties it of all the people living there. In this opening scene Yuthilcar’s family is forced to walk for 15 days in the tropical April heat carrying little more than the clothing on their backs. Imagine the chaos! The fear! The crying! The shouting! The soldiers, the families, the old people, the toddlers like Yuthilcar. What does his mother say to her family? What do the soldiers say to them? What do the adults say to each other? There are
Art Activity: Making pictures of your community, with ‘Local Houses’, by Khaled Abdulaziz Ateeg, 12
Introduction to this Stone Soup Art Activity This city in Yemen, Saana, is similar in architecture with the painting, below, of a town in Saudi Arabia. This photograph is of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. The buildings are made of brick or mud brick with white decorations made of white paint. This architecture is similar to that depicted in the painting of Al Aflaj, Saudi Arabia made by Khaled Abdulaziz Ateeg, 12. Khaled’s painting was made in the 1970s. Judging by images that I find online I think that this is not what the Al Aflaj looks like today. In the painting, the town is still a city of traditional buildings. They will have been smaller than the ones you see in the photograph of Sanaa. And they will have been of adobe–of mud bricks. What is remarkable about Khaled’s painting is that the architectural style is clear–and at the same time he has had the courage of an artist to present the town as richly colored. Realistic. But also imaginative. Project: Make pictures of the part of town where you live, and pictures of the part of town where you shop. Include in each drawing the important details that make your community recognizably unique. Some of these details are the different shapes of the buildings, the spaces between the buildings, and the patterns the windows make. Also important might be the type and placement of trees and gardens, telephone poles, street signs, advertisements, traffic lights, street lamps and parked cars. Notice in the drawing of Al Aflaj the distinct shape of the minaret tower. If your town has a church or other distinctively shaped building or landmark you might want to include it in your drawing. You don’t have to finish your work in one day. In fact, you probably can’t. So take your time to make a picture you can be very proud of. Like Khaled, allow yourself to be free of the constraints of your community’s real colors. Saudi Arabia is a very hot place. If Aflaj had painted the buildings their authentic brown color the image would have looked drab. What the color achieves is giving the place a sense of brightness–and a desert town is bright even if it is brown. The colors also make the town look welcoming which a brown town might not have seemed. In other words, Khaled used color that wasn’t really there to convey impressions and feelings that he felt looking at his town. As you think of your own town, think of how you might change how it actually looks to get at a deeper feeling about how it looks or feels to you, that is then conveyed to the people looking at your picture. From the January/February 1985 issue of Stone Soup Local Houses, by Khaled Abdulaziz Ateeg, 12, Saudi Arabia
