Childhood Comparisons

Every so often, I have my 9th graders construct metaphors that compare themselves to something else. Then they take that metaphor and have others complete it and include a rationale or reason why the metaphor works. See my post about villains from a few years ago, where I explain the the process in more detail. Despite the protests when I first introduce the short project, they end up enjoying the creativity, as well as the insights they gain about themselves from others' responses.

This year I had my two honors classes come up with ideas for me to write about. Some of the runners-up included superheroes, foreign countries, and bread. They ended up choosing picture book protagonists. (It beat out bread by one vote.)

-          If Mr. Anson were a picture book protagonist, he would be Skippyjon Jones (from the Skippyjon Jones series by Judy Schachner) because he is very descriptivito and imaginativito with his words and storitos. (Ember Lee)

-          If Mr. Anson were a picture book protagonist, he would be Harold (from Harold and the Purple Crayon (by Crockett Johnson) because he sometimes gets lost in his own reality. (Jen Fong)

-          If Mr. Anson were a picture book protagonist, he would be Max (from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak) because​ he knows imagination can take you to some amazing places.​ (Rillene Nielsen)

-          If Mr. Anson were a picture book protagonist, he would be Ferdinand (from The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf) because he is so chill and he knows who he is and what he wants to be. (Alesha LeMmon and Abby Packard)

-          If I were a picture book protagonist, I would be the Very Hungry Caterpillar (from The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle) because I am always grazing, and if something gets me out of sorts, I hunker down and wait until a new opportunity presents itself.

Many other ideas were submitted, and it was difficult to narrow them down to the ones I shared; the others remain preserved in a spreadsheet...somewhere. Thanks to all who participated. I still learned something from your answers (about myself and about y'all). For those who didn't help, who would you compare me to? Who would you compare yourself to?