Creative Writing: Who's Telling the Story?

In class, we're reading a pretty ridiculous story by Woody Allen, written from the perspective of a very intelligent cow. You'll play with perspective this week with a weekly write that tells an animal's side of the story.

Here are a few different animal stories you might use to inspire your own animal-voiced story:

A coyote is pulled from the Charles River, after initially eluding capture: read it here!

A turkey attacks a mailtruck on Cape Cod...does it belong to the Kennedy family? Ethel Kennedy says yes; a farmer says no. Click here!

A snake slithers away from her owner on a Red Line T train in Boston, and hides in the train for over a month. She was eventually discovered and returned to her owner. Check it out!

Last year, you may have watched the Super Bowl, but did you catch any of the Puppy Bowl? Complete with a kitten half-time show, a blimp "manned" by hamsters, and chicken cheerleaders...and no, I'm not making this up. Read about it here!

Do you have another idea for an animal story? Check in with me! It must be based on an original article or event.

As a reminder, your job for your weekly write is to tell a story from the perspective of one of the animal protagonists. Was the coyote purposefully avoiding capture? What's that turkey really up to? What did the snake do for a month on the train? Does that chicken really like being a cheerleader?

In your weekly write, tell the animal's perspective, by creating a narrative voice and a storyline. Think of "Udder Madness"--the story of the diabolical, know-it-all, clumsy-but-clever cow who plotted murder. Your coyote, turkey, snake or puppy/kitten/hamster/chicken won't have the same voice or story as that cow...what will its story be?