We are working on an important piece of creative writing that involves explaining memories in terms of symbols. The students are asked to choose an object that can be said to represent a memory, and describe it in such a way that it becomes both a jumping off point for autobiography and also a symbol of who they are as a person. It's a challenging task and one that they've been struggling to wrap their heads around for a few days now.
Today we focussed on how to describe these objects in detail using sensory descriptions and specific, varied adjectives. They warmed up with a paragraph detailing an object using their senses of smell, touch, taste, hearing, etc. I asked them to pick an object that they plan on using for this particular creative writing assignment. Most struggled to pin down their thoughts. I heard a lot of comments like, "how would you describe..." and, "so I just write down the memory or event as it happened?" Frustrated with the group-approach to something that is essentially an individual task (one person, one brain/memory, one pen, one piece of paper), I pulled out the big guns.
And made a young man shed tears.
I opened a jar of pickled jalapenos and a bag of after dinner mints. Upon the recommendation of a fellow teacher these foods were chosen for their ability to dig strong reactions out of kids. I told each student that they HAD to eat one of each; if they chickened out they would have to stay in at lunch and eat ALL of the leftover jalapenos. Never ones to back down from a challenge the boys rushed forward and dug in. After some coughing and groaning and one instance of choking (on jalapeno juice gone down the wrong pipe), they boys actually got down to writing how the foods affected their body. While they wrote I congratulated the them on their bravery. After all, not many people have the guts to each a plain chilli pepper. Some of the boys then took the liberty to finger one student who didn't actually join the rush on the jalapeno jar. He's a good student, and since he was steadily writing away I figured that he had wolfed down his sample and had just gotten on with the task. After some ribbing from the other boys this kid decided that he was not only going to eat one, but two of the largest slices he could find.
He came up to the front of the class, fished them out of the jar and then returned to his seat to the sound of applause. After a few minutes we went on to compare their descriptions of their memory objects to their descriptions of the food. A motion from one student distracted me from the discussion: out of the corner of my eye I notice this singularly brave student crying. Big crocodile tears fell down his face as he sniffed and wiped at his cheeks with one hand, the other hand still writing quickly. My pause caused the other students to take note of this crying boy. A classmates tried to give him crap for crying but the others defended him, mentioning that the he ate more than anyone else in the class.
After sympathising that "those pack a punch", and his assurance that he loves spicy food, we got on with the task. Wouldn't you know it, their descriptions of their food experience were much more detailed and vivid than their earlier attempts at descriptive writing.
The kids asked if they could have a few more peppers on their way out of class at the end of the period. I consented and turned my back to gather my things. Two minutes later I was alone in the room with two jalapeno slices bobbing in a jar of brine. I think the lesson went over well.
