Amazing Animals in Art LANGUAGE ARTS ACTIVITIES A "Bear" Chance (image) Write an advertisement to go along with this image, for use in a magazine or on television. Use clues from the painting for your ad. Consider: How does the bear feel? Do you think it likes Cream of Wheat? How can you tell? How does this image sell the product? Start brainstorming for your advertisement by writing a list of words that describe how the bear feels about its meal.   Benin Bronze Leopard (image) This bronze leopard symbolizes the status and power of the Benin king, called the oba. A. Write about an animal you might use as a symbol for yourself. Explain your choice in your essay. Consider: How does this animal represent you? What qualities do you share with the animal? B. Write a praise poem. Praise poems grew out of the West African oral tradition of praise songs, which raise someone to a place of honor by making the community aware of what that person accomplished for family and community. Although their form varies, praise poems usually include the following: The person's ancestry The person's physical or social endowments, including those of ancestors Many references to nature Metaphors Write a praise poem for the leopard or for the ruler it symbolizes. Combine your observations of physical characteristics with praise for qualities such as grace and power. 1. Begin by reading examples of praise poems. Leopard (1) and Leopard (2) 2. Look at the leopard and write a list of words and phrases that describe it. 3. A simile is a comparison using like or as : Her eyes shone like stars. Write a few similes based on your list of words and phrases; these will be used in the poem. 4. Praise poems often contain metaphors. A metaphor likens one thing to another by pretending they are the same: His eyes were two shining stars. Write three metaphors for the leopard. 5. Now use your similes and metaphors in a praise poem commemorating the leopard or the ruler symbolized by the leopard.   Untitled Photograph by Jane Tuckerman (image) Write a mystery story about the place pictured in this photograph, using things you see in the photograph as clues. Consider: What do you think this place is like? List the sights, sounds, and smells of this place and include them in your story. What mysterious event might occur here?   Teacups with Scenes from "The Fox and the Stork" (image) Write a fable about another animal in this unit. Consider: What qualities does the artist suggest this animal has? Is it quick or slow? clever? strong? Make a list of the animal's qualities. Will your fable teach a lesson? Will the animals act like humans? Your fable might explain how the animal came to possess its qualities, or it might illustrate how the animal uses the qualities. Read Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories or Aesop's Fables for examples.   Thematic Activity Consider the animals represented in this unit and discuss what it is that makes them amazing. Write a story about an "amazing animal" in your life. The animal can be real or imaginary. Consider: What makes this animal amazing? Why is the animal important to you?