Adieu - 27.04.08

The second Oxford Junior workshop started off ominously with absolutely no registrations! However, we were soon flooded with young children, eager to participate.
This workshop was based entirely on character development. So, after a brief introduction to the site by Megha, Richa began the session by talking about the importance of developing a character in a story. Her favourite example, and indeed a favourite for most children, Harry Potter of course, helped everyone understand the true need for making a character real to the reader.
It wasn't long before Richa was telling the participants a story of a girl, who meets with an accident, and when rushed to the hospital, the following are found in her pockets - a little toy doll, one earring, a couple of buttons, a pendant and a rose.The participants, who were sitting in pairs, were asked to describe the girl. They, then, took turns reading out their descriptions. And weren't they fascinating? Though everyone was given the same objects, the character was vastly different depending on the perception of the group that had developed the character.The next activity required all the participants to write the story of Paula, a woman who visited a certain place frequently. The place in question was contained in postcards that each group was given. No two postcards were the same. All the participants were asked to write about Paula, her life, and the reasons for her frequent visits to this particular place.
When the groups, now in new pairs than in the earlier activity, read out their stories, we were amazed at the diverse descriptions they had. Paula was sometimes rich, sometimes poor; for some she was a young teenager, for others, she was an old woman; some saw her as lonely, others, social and vivacious.The final activity required the participants to break off into age-groups but to work individually. Richa told them the story of a man, lost, disoriented, completely uncommunicative; found roaming on Park Street by a police officer who had no choice but to deduce the man's character by the contents of his bag - 3 business cards, a picture of a child, a torch, Kingfisher airline headphones, a key and a couple of parking tickets.The participants went about their task of "helping" the policeman identify the man very seriously. This activity took the longest amount of time, and Richa was generous with it, as well. Once everyone had finished writing, they took turns reading out their stories to each other.
The session was enthralling and exciting and was a wonderful farewell for Mon and myself, who will not be returning to WriteHereWriteNow after today.
We wish to thank Megha and Richa, for giving us this opportunity to write an Oscar speech. It has been a pleasure working in WHWN (as we like to call it).
To all our members, farewell, and thank you for the memories.
Best of luck for the future. Live long and prosper.