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Activity

The Elephants, the People, and the Can

Writing
A 3D collage made with magazine clippings shows a large, rust-colored, realistic looking elephant with two large tusks facing the viewer. Under this elephant is an illustration of a red elephant with two white tusks. The trunk of the red elephant transforms into a red pathway that black silhouettes of people are traveling on for miles into the distance. About halfway through the trunk-path is a silhouette of another elephant that is about 5 times taller than each person. Obscuring the view of the path is a large black, striped trunk holding a red can. Darkness surrounds the path in the foreground, but the environment is lighter and greener the further away from the elephants the people travel. The skies are gray and cloudy.
Collage by Elizabeth Lokon

How To Do It

  • Together, use your imaginations to create an original story based on this picture. 
  • Write down your ideas in response to the questions below.
  • Give the story a title and read aloud with emotions the story you just created. 
  • The last question asks you to connect the picture to your own stories.

Questions

  1. What is going on in this image?
  2. What is the mood of this picture? How would you describe it in just a few words?
  3. Where do you think the figures that are lined up are going?
  4. What do you think the elephants would say to one another? What would the elephants say to the people who lined up?
  5. There is a third elephant that is outside the picture and only his striped trunk is visible. At the end of his trunk, he is holding a red can. What do you think is in that red can?
  6. What do you think will happen next?
  7. Do you think it’s true that an elephant never forgets? What is one memory that you hope you’ll never forget?
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