Games where you pass and fold paper to make crazy poems and stories are favorites at Frog Hollow. One of the classics is Exquisite Corpse (we didn’t name it — the Surrealists did — but we like it a lot). Here are a couple recent results by the Friday class that we particularly enjoyed.
I think one reason they worked so well was that I emphasized the idea of continuity. Each line needed to belong with the line before, whether that meant it continued the story or just sounded right. I also encouraged people to write more than a word or two, which they mostly did — and you can see how weird it gets when they didn’t. Anyhow, here they are. Enjoy! Better yet, try this game yourself.
Because of the Oak
I feel good when I run to the park
I also feel good when I play video games
me moo!!!
moo me!!!
And I was mooed, oh I was mooed
I shook my hands and stomped my feet
You don’t know anything! she yelled
“Yes I do” he yelled back
and he kissed the bride
on Wednesday.
I fell
down, down.
Into the pit
of cold winter snakes
“I want to bite you”
he screamed with bared fangs
and ran away
The boom.
boom went the car
stereo so loud it shook the baby
“all the single ladies all the single ladies”
ugh he moaned I hate this song
but he played the song anyway
because he felt like it
he jumped
and he fell
who fell? a owl.
a cat?
No! A rocket ship made of pizza boxes
It’s Harry Potter
Silence is a Verb
I hate silence
he yelled with relish
he sang like a bird
yes, a crow
a crow with dark blue eyes
a cow with dark red eyes
Moo! Moo! Moo!
Ow! Ow! Ow! said the human
but the mountain only grumbled
and shoke and exploded
lava then ash then nothing
it burned on
the flames reaching up
for the sky
for the stars
Yay!
Stop it!!!!!
no I won’t. no no no
I cried to the stars, but they did not believe me
Frog Hollow School 