Metaphor challenge

In the spirit of the season, you can win this charming fellow if you participate in the following challenge:

• re-read chapter 3 of On Chesil Beach (the really embarrassing one) and try to find as many metaphors as possible
• compile them in a list*, as quotes and with page numbers
• the person with the longest list wins Father Christmas

Don’t quite remember what a metaphor is? 

Look it up!

 

*just a hint: even the longest list isn’t going to be very long.

Have fun!

Unfamiliar Colours Extra: Describe this tulip

I’ve been trying to think of a clever way in which I can show off the beautiful stuff growing in my garden on this blog without being completely off topic. So when the lovely Tulip ‘Prinses Irene’ suddenly flushed with colour this week, thanks to the rising temperatures, I had the idea to ask my readers to name all the colours that this amazing plant sports.

Your prize, if you live anywhere near me, is a tulip, of course! If you don’t live near me, I’ll send you a postcard of the picture.

Oh, and googling ‘Prinses Irene’ doesn’t count. Plant people and garden designers and flower arrangers fall over themselves with praise for her…

Edit: Anyone is welcome to take up this challenge!

Banksy’s Rat

The second entry by J.

Banksy’s Rat

Thank you, Banksy

The first of the Rat challenge essays, by F.

Thank you, Banksy

Story challenge No. 3 // Final essay for this term

The story challenge I am posting today doubles up as the final essay for this term – so this time, not only can you fulfil your course requirements, you can also win a fabulous (well…) prize doing so.

Here’s your inspiration:

I strongly recommend having a look at the original version by  Trois Têtes on Flickr, as ir is much more detailed. The artwork was created by Banksy, the famous guerrilla street artist, who’s known for smuggling his artwork into famous museums to see how long they can hang next to the other masterpieces before someone notices, as well as for his clever and mildly subversive graffiti art*.

Write whatever comes to your mind, only do it well. The deadline is Wednesday, February 13th. Sorry, only my students may enter.

More free rice – with a challenge!

A while ago, I linked to the Free Rice page, where you’ll find a game that will help you improve your vocabulary and at the same time fight world hunger.

Now, National Public Radio has found out about it, too – you can listen to the story as well as read it.

“I myself can’t get much above level 45, and it is rare to get above level 48. But there are some people who cruise right up to level 50. So for them we are going to add some super, really ultra, tough words,” Breen said.

I challenge all of you to post your results here. How far did you get? In the higher levels, it’s mostly Latin, anyway.

We have a winner!

It’s rather unforgiveable of me to have taken this long to make up my mind about the winner of the recent challenge, isn’t it? Especially when there wasn’t much choice to begin with. It appears that all of you were too busy studying for the test to take part in the challenge. Anyway, here’s the winning story from the Mistress of Spook, Ch. , who has once more managed to sneak up on the poor unsuspecting reader from behind with a horrific revelation.

Click for : The Football Match

Story challenge No. 2 – Green Monster Seats!

I went to a very exciting football match yesterday, and in the spirit of both that and Halloween, here’s a new challenge:

Write a story of about 250 words about this picture:

You can find the original picture on Flickr.

I’m sorry, only members of my class can enter.

The deadline is Friday, November 9th, 8 pm.

Aaaaand the winner is…..

Oh, this is really tough. I got some completely different entries for the seagull challenge and they were all a lot of fun to read. What am I to do? How can I not award the first prize to  C., who wrote a quasi-Dostoyevskian story about the inner turmoil of a Dorito-addicted seagull? Or how is a story a passage like this to not to be considered the best?

… On Monday I was taken out of my warm bed, but a friendly woman took me in her hands and washed all the dirt off my skin. I was peeled and cut into thin slices. (It wasn’t as uncomfortable as it sounds.) Treated like this, I took a refreshing bath in boiling oil. I don’t know what happened to the rest of me, but I think I am all right.

I don’t know what happened to the rest of me, but I think I am all right? Isn’t that how you feel after the final night of the Oktoberfest? This is from Ch.’s story, who wrote it from the point of view of the Dorito. Let me just say that I am very impressed with Ch.’s penchant for horror stories. Honorable mention for the inadvertent flight of the Dorito!

I still haven’t mentioned the winner, though. Click for more…. (drumroll!!!)

Story challenge!

I spent this weekend correcting your essays, and when I came across this very funny mini-video during one of my breaks, I thought I’d set you a writing challenge. And here it goes:

Write a short short story (no more than 300 words) about this Dorito-stealing seagull.

There’s a short clip from tv show about the seagull on Youtube, but don’t let yourselves be influenced by it too much.

Entries to be handed in by Monday, 8th of October, via e-mail. Sorry, only people from my Leistungskurs are allowed to enter. There will be a prize, too, but I don’t quite know what it’s going be. Probably something edible.