An update from our thirteenth Writing Workshop with Conner Bassett A summary of the workshop held on Saturday September 18, plus some of the output published below For today’s workshop, Conner chose to focus on “ekphrasis,” meaning a creative interpretation, response, or translation of another work of art. Because ekphrasis has historically referred specifically to the transformation of visual art into poetry, we began class with this concept. First, we looked at Peter Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus followed by William Carlos Williams’ poem written in response, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.” Next, we turned to Keats’ classic poem “Ode to a Grecian Urn” in order to see clearer the benefits of ekphrasis. Then, having seen two examples of visual art being transformed into poetry, we looked at an example of the opposite in Charles Demuth’s painting of William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Great Figure,” and William Holman Hunt’s painted rendition of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s lyrical ballad “The Lady of Shalott.” To further illustrate ekphrasis’ power to transform and translate, we looked at painted examples of famous creation myths, one of biblical origin and the other of Japanese. Our final example was Michelangelo’s rendition of God giving life to Adam on the Sistene Chapel. By workshop’s end, we came to the conclusion that, in the words of student Olivia Rhee, ekphrasis “paints words into something new that lets the eyes see instead of imagine.” The Participants: Nova, Audrey, Simran, Emma, Josh, Clara, Penelope, Lina, Alice, Ethan, Ellie, Svitra, Sinan, Shilla, and Olivia The Challenge: Write a story or a poem based on Peter Bruegel’s painting The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Emma Hoff, 9(Bronx, NY) The Price of Free Will Emma Hoff, 9 People are foolish. While fighting, those great grey things climbed onto our heads and begged for air. Eyed from above, clouds were meaningless, wings that had sprouted from spines of swords. A magical thing went limp and floated. Eyed from above, claustrophobic screams and gasps and chokings, wide open mouths, slit open mouths, eyes appearing inside. Little soldiers, clockwork hearts that wish for nothing but blood, blood for new stained wood uniforms. Mussels find hiding in their own kind, they are the moth wings of fishtails. All the instrument plays is a march by Shostakovich or any kind of Tchaikovsky. I hope these composers did not mean to be programmed to the minds of battle, they only dreamed of battles like this one, a woman of candy, climbing up a tower of others. The court jester thought this would be a good place to try out his jokes, but all that is left of him is his hat, his precious hat. Baskets of fish and rice and things, and baby chicks are squishing people (and the baby chicks). The clouds released penguins or puffins, nobody’s sure, the sun has burned them too quickly. People that die look up, they see their last visions of a sunny day, and even that is clouded by fog and red and people blocking other people, and when you are lying on your back while people are stepping on your chest and ignoring you, it is hard to see anything but twisted feet, jumping women in dresses, aprons, you think you saw an apron, but it could have just been your warped point of view showing you the sky that lifts itself higher. You thought you also saw the sky puff its chest, but it was just a shape, like an egg, with eyes where the eyes of a hammer-head shark would be, with teeth and a grin, snatching wings, fairies were here, too. Audrey Tzeng, 12 (Rocklin, CA) The Box Opened Audrey Tzeng, 12 The Box Opened The box must have opened. What else could produce such things? Yes, there’s no better word for them, Some man and some animal. Some half-and-half And some neither at all. They cannot be ordered, cannot be named. Angels stabbing and hacking As man, that fiendish beast, serenely plays on. Who fights for who? They eat each other And yet they are each other. Now my head spins. For we may not even be sure of the supposed “moon” in the background. This painting turns day to night And night to day.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Writing Workshop #47: Character Descriptions
An update from our forty-seventh Writing Workshop A summary of the workshop held on Saturday September 18, plus some of the output published below At this writing workshop, we looked at some classic art: grotesques by Leonardo da Vinci and portraits by Vermeer and Rembrandt. With these art pieces in mind, William asked the participants to think about the concept of an outline or sketch for characters, and how we might flesh them out later in the writing process. William emphasized how the choices that authors make in describing characters impact the story as a whole and how the reader understands a character. The Challenge: Write a description of a character, beginning with an outline of their face. Then you can move on to other physical characteristics or clothing descriptions. Lastly, if you have time, you may build a story around this character. The Participants: Faiz, Peri, Aditi, Lena D, Nami, Jonathan L, Tilly M, Rachael L, Madeline K, Elbert P, Sierra E, Marissa L, Kate P, Kina S, Liam Peri Gordon, 11(Sherman Oaks, CA) Defined by Suffering by Peri Gordon, 11 What to do with such terrible eyes? They were wide, wet, bloodshot things that stood out even in a crowd of a hundred, and the right one was black and swollen. Below the eyes, the man’s nose, pale and slender, rose from his face, then dipped back down into it only a few centimeters below, unnoticed. The lips were cut up, chapped, and ruined, as the man felt like his heart was. The chin was small and pointed, and the rest of the face was only a bit wider. Around his shoulders was a tiny cloth, which had once been a large rag, which had once been a ripped coat, which had once been a fine coat. What were once smooth, silken pants had had a similar fate. The man was barefoot and gloveless, and his hands and feet were a deep shade of purple from the punishing cold of winter. His fingernails were reduced to nothing, for the man had bitten them anxiously day after day. A once successful businessman, now injured, rejected, and homeless, he thought about standing up straight but no longer had the will even to accomplish this simple task.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Reviewed by Daniel, 10
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson tells the story of a man with a split personality. Wanting to split the bad part of himself from the good, Jekyll develops a potion. However, when he drinks it, he is horrified to have taken the form of a monster named Edward Hyde. Luckily, he can switch between the two by drinking the potion again. Jekyll becomes almost addicted to using the potion, but one day, he goes to bed as Jekyll and wakes up as Hyde. Terrified, Jekyll stays away from the potion for a good two months, and all seems to be fine. However, Jekyll succumbs once again, and drinks the potion. From then on, Hyde would always pop out eventually, even when Jekyll didn’t drink the potion. Although many people seem to think Jekyll is the tragic victim of this book, Hyde is the true victim of all this mess. Firstly, Hyde has no choice but to commit atrocities, which cause him to be persecuted and eventually leads to the destruction of both him and Jekyll. Hyde is created by Jekyll as a monster, a being with no conscience. Because there is no part of him that holds himself accountable for committing crimes, the nature of humanity naturally tugs him towards said crimes. Although Hyde is the one who committed the crime, it was effectively Jekyll who “forces” Hyde to commit these crimes. As an analogy to Frankenstein, Jekyll plays the role of Frankenstein, and Hyde plays the role of Frankenstein’s monster in this book. It is quite clear in Frankenstein that the monster is the true victim, and thus in this story Hyde is the victim, because he is essentially forced by Jekyll to suffer punishment for committing crimes. In addition to this, Hyde is also not allowed to be free, as Jekyll keeps suppressing the Hyde inside of him. If Hyde is the victim, then quite obviously Jekyll is the corresponding culprit, for many reasons. Mainly, Hyde was born from Jekyll’s own moral faults and even a glint of greed. We have already established that the very existence of Hyde is a crime committed by Jekyll, and moreover, this crime is committed on the basis of moral faults and greed; Jekyll wants to be perfect, and thus wishes to separate his bad self from his good self. It’s easy to feel sympathetic for Jekyll, seeing as moral faults and greed are an integrated part of human nature, but the pain Hyde suffers is far worse. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Longman’s Green & Co., 1886. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
