Playing With Power Dynamics In Writing

I recently took an instagram live writing class with poet Rupi Kaur.  One of the prompts that she gave us was to imagine ourselves as a house, then describe that house in detail.  What would you look like as a house from the outside?  Stately?  Squat? Handsome? Ornate? Comfortable?  Cozy?  I loved this activity, both for the self-reflection that it evoked and for the potential to develop setting as character.  It reminds me of an activity that we did at a Super Saturday at San Jose State this fall in which we asked students to imagine an exchange between two animals, and then write the exchange as though the animals are people.  This allows students to begin to think through power dynamics and how they influence communication that is spoken as well as acted out in non-verbal cues.  How would a lion speak and act toward a gazelle and vice versa?  What about a shark to an octopus?  A bunny to a wolf?  How about two creatures vying for power who assert themselves in different ways?  What would a tiger say to a snake?  What wouldn't a snake say to a tiger? For lower grades this could simply be played as a fun imaginative game in which two animals have a quick conversation.  As students get older the power dynamics can and should be brought into the conversation.  This is an activity that is engaging for all age levels, but definitely becomes a more rich experience for older writers who can begin to think of each exchange in terms of power and how this yields conflict both on and under the surface.

Animal Writing for All Grades
Objective: Students will be able to craft scenes in which animals interact, then re-write these scenes with human characters who embody the qualities of the original animals interacting.
 
Purpose: This activity is similar to a popular acting game by which people have to play characters who embody the qualities of specific animals.  So students will think about how a snake-like person might interact with a person who is like a caged bird.  This is designed to get students thinking about power dynamics in human interactions as they write.
 
Animal List:
​Jellyfish
Octopus
Whale
Shark
Dolphin
Penguin
Swan
Hamster
Poodle
Bull Dog
House Cat
Caged Bird
Eagle
Vulture
Deer
Sloth
Skunk
Turtle
Bull
Pig
Stallion
Lion
Leopard
Elephant
Snake
Wolf
Chameleon
Alligator
Gorilla
 
DIRECTIONS FOR GRADES K-12
Step 1: Students Write Animal Interaction Scenes - 10 Minutes
Students will pick 2 animals who exert their power (or lack thereof) in different ways.  Explain that students are going to write a scene in which the two animals that they pick are interacting.  As they write they might think about which animal in the scene has more power and how they will show this power through their bodies and movements.  For instance, they may choose to write an interaction between a snake and tiger hunting one another.  Or they might choose to write about a house cat's encounter with a mouse.  The choice is theirs, but they should have two DIFFERENT animals in their scene.
Step 2: Students Re-write the Scene To Turn Animals Into Humans – 10 Minutes
Students are going to re-write the scene so that their characters are now human.  However, each character should embody the qualities of the original animals (so they will now have a person with snake-like qualities and person with cat-like qualities hunting one another).  For younger writers you might instead use this time for students to illustrate their work.
Step 3: Students share their stories
Encourage students to share their work with others.  Ask them to read it to their parents or give an opportunity for an open mic at the end of your class period.