Editorial
The texts below were written by the members of the Pilgrims Creative Writing Course, July 2007. The course was taught by Mario Rinvolucri
Creative Writing: Flowers
submitted by Mario Rinvolucri, UK
Biodata: Simon Mumford teaches at the University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey, where he also works in the Academic Writing Centre. He enjoys designing language learning activities. Email: simon.mumford@ieu.edu.tr
Menu
Setting up the activity
Text 1 by DS
Text 2 Anon
Text 3 by M.V.
Text 4 by K.R.
Text 5 Anon
Text 6 by B.B.
Text 7 by Carolina Gonzalez ( CGK)
Text 8 by G.S.V.
Text 9 by M.I.Z
Text 10 by B.K.
Text 11 by Birgul Bayraktar
Text 12 by Danny
Text 13 by Ana B.S.
Text 14 by H.C.
Text 15 by M R
Flowers
- The teacher brings a vase and 5 flowers into class.
- She asks for a student volunteer to arrange the flowers in the vase.
- The teacher then says: "These flowers are a family. Please write three paragraphs about the family".
Note
In our experience this most simple of exercises works with folk of almost any level, any age and any level of sophistication)
We may have learnt this exercise from Paul Matthews book SING ME THE CREATION, 1994; technical memories sometimes fade.
These flowers are in old lady's house and the lady is sitting in front of the flowers. They represent the 3 ages of her life. The largest flower represents her early life, childhood and youth, when she was young, energetic, independent and maybe a little bit afraid of the future and the people but still looking forward to being an adult, but she was not so close to other people. She was a rebel and she insisted on her ideas and thoughts. They were all what they call "youth".
The biggest flower represents the old lady's adulthood, from 30's to 60's. It's the biggest one which symbolizes her experiences, memories, her inner resolution and her happy days. It's the biggest flower and the most lively one as well, she is living and experiencing the life.
The last flower represents, the later period of this lady's life. Now , the flower is a little bit old and tired which represents the old and tired woman. She can not follow the life easily now and she is recalling the memories and good old days. However, she is still happy because this period is also the most peaceful period of her lifetime, she's resting and she is on her own, alone, and she's looking back and smile what she had lived.
The flowers in a vase
3 women in different time,
The young one, looking for the future.
The middle-aged, looking for the present.
The old, looking for the past.
3 women and 3 flowers…
In the same life…
In the same vase…
The father has always been the idealistic type. He is a kind, gentle man who always avoids confrontation and who usually has a high opinion of his fellowmen.
The mother is strict and loving at the same time. She flourishes every time she gathers them in a bunch. The younger daughter is very attached to her and has always had her protecting arm around. She adds joy to every family affair and has learnt to laugh at failure. The elder son feels that too much has been expected from him and thinks that life is a hard journey to travel on your own. But now they are learning to keep each other's pace and let each other flourish.
This is a family composed of four members: father, mother, grandmother and son.
The elderly woman is the mother's mother. She is happy to be part of the family, though lately she is often feeling sick and tired. She loves her baby grandson most dearly.
The father is a successful professional, a bit younger than his wife, and very much centered in his job. However, his real roots rest among the rest of the family. He is lively and in his own way takes care of the rest of the family but in some ways he stays a bit apart.
The mother is a beautiful and caring woman in her late- thirties. She is supporting, though very independent. At the moment she is deeply dedicated to bringing up her baby son who resembles his father so much.
She is sometimes too absorbed by their son, and spend so much time in all aspects of the family that feels sometimes she needs a little more space and time, she also resents the fact that she and her husband don't have much time just for each other, she accepts this is due to present circumstances.
The baby is happy with all he's got around and is deeply attached to his mother.
A Family
The father is quite old and has had a sickness which weakened him heavily, nevertheless he manages quite well and loves the support of his family.
The mother in this family is the dominant one.
She is full of vigour and energy, a woman in the middle of her life full of bloom.
She protects her family, especially her children.
There are two children, a younger and an older one. The older one has become quite independent but does many things on his/ her own but still is deeply rooted in the family. The other is the baby of the family, has a very strong relationship to his/ her mother and enjoys being under the protection and love of his/ her mother.
The family has gathered on the sofa watching t v.
The father is tired after his long day at work.
He is leaning his head on the back of the sofa, his eyes are closed.
The mother has her two years old boy on her lap.
She looks proud. She's always happy at this time of the day. She smiles while she strokes her children's hair. She knows that she should give her daughter a bath. She's really dirty after playing in the garden. Her hair looks untidy. But she decides to wait. It's family time. She doesn't want to spoil the moment. The eyes of the kids fixed on the TV set, her husband lost in his thoughts, the rest of the house is quiet. She loves the moment.
They are a nice family of four people, dad, mum, Jimmy and Jane. Dad is a very busy man but he likes being with his family whenever he has the time and he really enjoys his family, he loves making models with Jimmy or reading books to Jane, not much time but the children fill daddy very near them. They usually have dinner together, what a nice moment everybody has so many things to say.
Mum is also a busy woman but she share a long time with her children. She helps Jimmy with homework and she's so caring with them! She sometimes follows him in his way, other times lets him go on his own, that makes him more confident. Jane is the youngest, she's a bit shy, she loves playing with her dolls, sometimes with her mum, but she loves playing with her friends. They are a nice family, they are different and independent but they like being together and enjoying the chats, games, walks, all these moments the family is together.
The children are at home. They give life and sound to the house. They, of course, need the support of their parents: Their father, sometimes absent but holding the family together, and the mother, with her wide selection of friends and relatives who come by very often.
The mother and the children share a lot of time together. And the mother protects her offspring in that lovely Mediterranean style: She makes sure they are neither cold, hungry nor uncomfortable, and to the extent she can she also protects them from any danger or possible unhappiness.
The father lives in his own world. They are his family, he loves them, but somehow there is a distance. Maybe he is looking the other way and in some way they sense this and resent it.
Father is a large pink flower. He married mother, also a pink flower, and they made love one wet summer evening on the campus at the University. I was born shortly after.
One day, we were picked up by the expert hands of a gardener, then brought into a strange dark space we overheard was called H-O-U-S-E and then trimmed and pampered by some delicate hands and arranged into a vase.
All three of us make now a living by posing for Pilgrims Teachers Trainers courses.
Looking at my mother, I wonder how many more days will elapse before we get fired.
Browns are the typical English family.
John, the father, is a very kind man. He is tall and slim with a small face. He gets up at 6 o'clock in the morning, has something light for the breakfast and takes
6:30 am train to London.
Mary, the mother is a little bit fatter than John, gets up at 6 o'clock too. She prepares something for her husband to eat and then she starts doing the housework till the children wake up. When the children wake up, she makes sure that they have their breakfast and take their bus to school. Then she goes back her daily routine which is cleaning, cooking and doing the washing up.
They have four children 3 of them are girls and they are triplets! Jane, Cary, Kathy. The youngest one is a boy called Kane. The girls are thin. They are usually miserable because they have to get up and go to school which they find very hard. But Kane is a happy boy because he doesn't have to school. The only thing he has to do is playing with his toys.
Browns can be considered a happy, typical English family.
This family is composed of four members. The mother, father and their two daughters. They live in a small, semi-attached house. They spend most of their time in the sitting-room so it's a very cosy room with cushions and comfy coaches.
The father is at work until 6pm during the week days. He's a business-man who loves his job but also adores his family. He likes coming home from work and spending time with the girls, talking about their days at school and sometimes he's playing with them. One of the girls is 7years old whereas the other is a 10year old girl.
The mother is an independent working woman. She works until 2pm every day except for the weekends and likes to cook, take care of the girls after school and be responsible for the housework during the rest of her time. She also likes going out for a drink with her friends or visiting one of them once a week when possible. She didn't want to find someone to baby-sit the girls so she started working only after they were ready to go to school and she made sure to be at home from work when they came home from school.
At the weekends, they like to spend their time as a family. If the weather permits, they go for a picnic to a park or do something their daughters like to. Sometimes, they stay at home invite friends, sometimes, they watch a movie at home or go to the cinema altogether. The couple goes out to have dinner and spend time together without the children in some weekends if the grandparents agree on babysitting.
All in all, they seem to be a strong, happy family who are attached closely.
The father was upset that evening. He had heard that one of his colleagues had been hospitalised and undergone a serious surgery. The mother tried to soothe him saying his friend would be fine as the operation was successful. The children were happily playing with the cat oblivious to what their parents were talking about. Suddenly the father got up and walked out of the room without saying a word. The children were silent for a brief moment but then went on playing again. The mother, hesitantly followed the father out of the room until she saw him putting on his coat. She waited hoping to hear an explanation. But the father was still silent hastily preparing to go out of the house. He came back two hours later, forcing a smile. He had been to the hospital and the news was good. His friend was out of intensive care. The mother, relieved, called out to the children, "bedtime, kids".
This family consists of 4 people. There is the old wise man, widowed, but having a very interesting relationship with a woman, 50 years his junior. His days may be numbered, but at least he'll enjoy them. There is the large and dominant figure of his daughter, who is in fact, older than his new partner, but like traditional women, performs her duties meticulously. She is the centre of the household. Her husband ran off with a younger woman a few years ago. And then, there is the tall, upright figure of her son, in reasonable health, but still quite immature and with a lot to learn. In this family, there are 3 generations, all at different stages of their life cycles.
The grandfather hadn't been feeling well lately. Everyday he seemed to shrink a little more, to wither a little more, to die a little more. His grandson looked at him the way grandchildren look at his grandparents: some disbelief ( that will never happen to me, I will never get to that state), Some disgust ( how can he look so terribly miserable?), some love ( it's amazing all the things he's been and gone through in his life). Of course, it was hard to imagine for the grandson, now tall and blooming that the day would come when he'd shed his leaves and he'd lose his colour and fragrance. The mother was a middle age woman, blushing in her maturity, with just the right size, colour, shape, everything was so dignified in her. She simply looked awesome. The three of them had so much in common, they'd gone through so much together: the loss of father, different pots, new leaves, spring, summer, a lot. They were a real family.
There're 4 people in this family, a father, a mother, a son and a daughter. The father has got the bigger blossom, the mother is the tallest of the 4. The son seems to be repressed by his father's dominant presence. The daughter, the younger of all, is to be pitied, her vital energy has faded, before her life has fully started. Father and mother are dominating their 2 children. The real outstanding figure is the mother with her green leaves full of health and wellbeing. The children give us the impression of being captives, not being allowed to live their own life.
This is a Greek family and granny lives with her son who runs a flourishing Mercedes Benz dealership. He has recently married Kaliope who is a tall elegant woman, a former customer of his; she is full of life and is entirely her own woman, a choreographer with the Athens ballet. His friends admire his daring in taking her on. Crouching in his father's shadow is 8 year old Yannis who deeply regrets the divorce. He longs for his mum to come back to before. He mistrusts his step mother Kaliope. He calls himself . " O Yannis apo prin " (John from before.)
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