Year 8 Poetry Workshop – Breathing Life into Art!
On Friday 9th July, Year 8 students participated in a Poetry Workshop as part of their curriculum enrichment. The focus of the session was “Dramatic Monologues”. The afternoon began with a performance and exploration of “Not My Best Side”, a dramatic monologue by U.A. Fanthorpe, based on Uccello’s painting of George and the Dragon. Students were then challenged to write their own monologues based on a selection of classic art works. The English Department were hugely impressed with the students’ enthusiasm and creativity throughout the session which culminated in some excellent performances of the pupils’ own work.
Below is an example of one of the monologues, written by George Nex and based on American Gothic by Grant Wood.
I’m not quite sure why I gave into it.
I mean we’ve been farmers all our life. I grew up on a farm!
We’d heard rumours that the village was going to be destroyed for years!
We never thought anything of it until we heard the ever so loud knock on our oak door.
He told us to leave the house and farm by next week as apparently a new lake was to be built.
So we started plotting the deed as soon as we closed the door.
We would go under the thick blanket of darkness.
We had plenty of equipment such as our pitchfork from the farm so that wasn’t a problem.
But to see the red blood oozing from his stomach and to see the fork dripping with liquid,
Like something out of a horror play…….
I’m not sure why I agreed to it
and now I’ll pay the price.
