The Ant and the Tree

I trust we've all heard the one about the tortoise and the hare- well, how about the ant and the tree? Don't worry, of course, because we're here to define that story for you. But we needed a little help from our friends.

We wanted to tell, basically, one story, so we gave our friends one small direction; write about a summer day from the perspective of an ant or the perspective of a tree. That was our only note. We had the students choose their sides; luckily, half chose ant and half chose tree. When we went around and asked the young authors what they felt about sharing their stories with the rest of the group, each was scared to do so and said that they "just weren't that great" or "couldn't come up with the right words" to describe, accurately, the best way to respond to the prompt we gave them. But when we decided to share anyways, everyone gathered around and paying close attention to the spotlighted reader, everyone soon realized that there was no right way to tell the story. Some of the ants were bigger, or braver, or more whimsical than others, and there were all kinds of trees in all kinds of settings. The basic idea was that at any rate, we'd be able to show the students that perspective is fascinating when we think about things through another person's (or tree's) viewpoint. But in letting the kids' imaginations run freely and providing them the opportnity to interpret the prompt as best they saw it, we were able to find variations in the kids' wriitng styles and characterization of either the ant or the tree. So that's the beauty of it- there really is no right answer. The magic of creativity is exactly the freedom it provides, and the idea that no one person's interpretation is any less valuable than another's. The phrase "no right answer" was thrown around to the point of amusement for the kids, so they were able to grasp that idea pretty well by the end of the reading. Everyone was lined up, eager to share their works with each other and enjoy gaining the insight of their peers- it was a bit of a celebration of creativity rather than a nervous reading.

So this month, we want to celebrate the freedom and individuality that perspective provides to our stories, regardless of "technical mastery" or exactly what way we feel most comfortable expressing them. We don't have to write these ideas down, and we don't have to all retell the same story. But we should share. The hope is that our words can add something unique to the hodgepodge of stories that already light up our minds with interest and keep us reading. Like few things in our lives, creative expression has a bona fide, no catch guarantee of validity and value no matter who you are or what your perspective actually is. So as our brave pioneers share their stories this month, we ask you to consider putting your own stories out there and making the world perspective better for it. While we support their ventures into the world of creative writing, we can get our own notebooks out and scrawl some notes on there to share our own perspectives- and that is exactly what this month is all about.

Keep posted for our friends' works as we explore the Ant and the Tree: A Tale of Two Perspectives on a Summer Day!

PC: Anika Sridhar