25 June 2022
Posted by Beth McKeeman
Juniors - 10 Young - 7
There’s a big saying in the writing world: write what you know. This is often misinterpreted as you can only write what you’ve experienced, when what it actually means is if you don’t know it, research it, the research you do will show.
We often research and learn in our sessions, which you can see throughout the blog, but sometimes we take it a step further. Today we went on a field trip to Southampton City Art Gallery to research the Greek myth of Perseus.
First things first, we had to get over the horror of classical artists painting naked people. They did it to show off just how skilled they were as the human body is really hard to draw.
There are 10 draft paintings in the Perseus exhibit by Sir Edward Coley Burnets-Jones, telling the entire myth from start to finish. How Perseus went on a quest to slay the gorgon Medusa, cursed to turn any who looked at her to stone. The only way to escape this fate was to look at her through her reflection. Fortunately Perseus was gifted a mirrored shield, along with winged shoes, helmet of invisibility, and a bag to put her severed head in.
On his return journey, Perseus uses Medusa’s head to turn the Titan Atlas to stone - which is how we get the myth of Atlas holding up the sky; the Atlas Mountains being the tallest point of the Greeks known world and thus needing an explanation to their existence.
He also falls in love at first sight with Andromeda, a woman about to be sacrificed and in need of rescuing. This earned some derisive snorts from our Young Writers, which turned into bigger laughs when he promptly uses her as bait so he can slay the sea monster she was being sacrificed to, tackling it head on and not using Medusa’s powers because then he wouldn’t look so impressive - would he?
Whilst agreeing amongst one another that Greek mythology is weird, we split up to look at different paintings and write from the perspective of one of the characters within. Describing the colours and scene, we would give the character a voice to what was happening - or maybe what we wished was happening in some cases.
We’ll be picking this up again next week back at MAST. Maybe you could take a trip to the Art Gallery and have a wonder around the Baring Room. If you do, let us know which your favourite is. Is it also the pegasus? Perhaps the final painting and its attention to detail. Or maybe just any that don’t have naked people in!
Looking at 'Doom Fulfilled', when Perseus uses Andromeda as bait.
Archive
Junior & Young Writers: Week 12 [Wild Words] - Stuff & Things
Junior & Young Writers: Week 11 [Wild Words] - World Building 2
Junior & Young Writers: Week 10 [Wild Words] - World Building
Junior & Young Writers: Week 9 [Wild Words] - Mystery & Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior & Young Writers: Week 8 [Wild Words] - Spooky Sequels & Potion Poems
Junior & Young Writers – Week 10 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Final Showcase
Junior & Young Writers – Week 9 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Editing & Performance Tips
Junior & Young Writers – Week 8 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Cuteness
Time goes on by Tavinder Kaur New
Junior & Young Writers – Week 7 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Natural Solutions
Junior & Young Writers – Week 6 (Writers’ Inspiration) – The Language of Fruit and Veg
Junior & Young Writers – Week 5 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Adventures In Space
Tinklebobs and Bedraggled Angles
Junior & Young Writers – Week 4 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Our Environment
Fortune Tellers & Future Letters
Junior & Young Writers – Week 3 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Home
Young Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Junior Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Young Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Young Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Junior Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Young Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Junior Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Young Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers – Week 5 (The Art of Writing) – Poetry
Young Writers - Week 5 (The Art of Writing) - Poetry Potions
Edward The Martyr - A Competition!
Mood Boards and Postcards from Space
Young Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Junior Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Moomin Stories and Hollywood Pitches
Young Writers - Week 2 (The Art of Writing) - Genre & Setting
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Prompts, Dialogues, and Cliché
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Young Writers - week 3 - Nature Writing [trees/plants/flowers]
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Young Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Junior Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Young Writers - week 1 - 'from deep inside a forest'
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WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #6
Making pillows in a house full of feathers
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #5
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Stories From Our Streets at the Abbeyfield Wessex Society Reminiscence Session at Poole Library
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