Chicken (review)

Controversial and appealing, Chicken, taken from Canadian author Kathy Stinson’s book “101 ways to dance”, tells the story of a teenage girl who plays a daring body-contact game with a boy from church. With Stinson’s story, young adults will find an engaging story about sexual curiosity.

When the teenage girl finishes painting the church basement, she remains alone with Bram, the new guy from British Columbia. The boy had received a letter stating that he will be a father. She knows that involving with him means troubles. However, she accepts playing Chicken with him. What are the rules? They place one finger on each other’s foreheads and go down their bodies until one says stop. Bram stopped, but she wants the game to keep on going. Just like her mother said, she is asking for it.

In Chicken, Kathy Stinson introduces an interesting topic for adolescents, curiosity for sex. Thoughts are racing in the teenage girl’s mind. But who can blame her? The awakening of sexual curiosity is a common matter in adolescence.

In most of it, Chicken is written in a thought-provoking dialogue style. The length of the story is quite short, but it can’t help but being attractive for adolescents.

With a short-sized but captivating narrative and a topic more than interesting for teenagers, Chicken becomes a must-read short story for young adults.

Lookin' 4 My Place

1900 Mansilla street

Ituzaingó

Buenos Aires

Brooklyn Broadcast Company

New York

13 April 2015

Dear President Smith,

I am a member of a company called “Young future” who worked hard on a great project, and I am writing in order to present it. It is a soap opera named ‘Lookin' 4 My Place’ and it focuses on teenage students who attend their last year of secondary school.

This tv show is intended to last from March to December, and the topics to be developed are urban tribes, sexual experience, teenage pregnancy and homosexuality.

The plot centres on Matias, a boy who is the new one at school. He was brought up in a gay family and this is why his mates bully him most of the time. He finds shelter in Agustina, a beautiful girl who looks forward to being a mother to leave home. Agustina has a friend called Paola who is scared of experiencing sexuality due to her moral values, imposed by her parents. The most polemical character is Dylan. He is the oldest in the course since he has retaken it twice. He is a member of a dangerous skinhead gang in the school. Not only teachers but also students leave him aside of the school community.

As the story develops, Paola falls in love with Dylan. This is a conflict because this romantic relationship between these opposite characters will be more than rejected by Paola’s parents and commented among their classmates.

‘Lookin' 4 My Place’ will be appealing for the adolescent viewers since the tv show explores the relationships between the four main characters during their last school year. 

I enclose a sample of this magnificent plot for you to have a copy and I look forward to hearing from you shortIy.

Yours faithfully,

Young Future.

All Work and no Play Makes George a Submissive Monkey

by Evelyn Malaver

“I believe as long as man tortures and kill animals, he will torture and kill humans as well—and wars will be waged—for killing must be practiced and learned on a small scale.” Edgar Kupfer Koberwitz.

The previous significant extract was written by Edgar Kupfer Koberwitz. He was a Nazi prisoner and during his captivity he pretended to be not clever and got a clerk’s job. At that time, he wrote a journal describing his relevant experiences. Some of them, as the mentioned before, are related to his genuinely affection towards animals. Innumerable people were escaping from Nazi’s soldiers, one of them was Margaret Rey who was simultaneously writing a set of books, later called “Curious George.” The main character George is a curious monkey who lives in a big city and always tries to help his owner, a person who kidnapped him from the jungle and took him to civilization. This pitiful monkey is involved in highly unnatural situations for an animal. The books written by Margaret Rey naturalize animal’s slavery and portrait the alienation of its main character.

One point to highlight is the submission that the protagonist of the story, George, shows in the book titled “Curious George Rides a Bike”. This book seems to be didactic for children because it would give them a good message: to help others. In the text, a boy is delivering newspapers and suddenly sees George happily riding his new bike. After some flatter to the gorgeous bike, the young boy asks George if he could help him with his job. The monkey gently takes the boy’s bag full of periodicals, and the paperboy ends returning home without finishing his work. The book reads “George was very proud as he rode off with his bag”. Very proud?  Read the following definition: “a state of depersonalization or loss of identity in which the self seems unreal; the state or experience of being separated from a group or an activity to which one should belong or in which one should be involved.” That’s it! Alienation. Taking into account this concept, it can be appreciated the fact that George is alienated from his jungle life.

For the great majority of people, the most common term associated with animals is “freedom.” It is known that animals which live in their natural environment are supposed to be free. If we look up the word “freedom” in the dictionary, we will find the following: “the condition of being free from restraints;” or “liberty of the person from slavery, detention or oppression.”

Comparing these definitions to George’s attitude, we realize that the main character of “Curious George” breaks the rules of freedom because of the way he is portrayed. A clear example of this can be observed by the manner in which the little monkey is dragged by two policemen on “Curious George” book’s cover. They create the impression to be very proud and decided. However, George seems to be having fun, since a big smile is drawn on his face. This illustration anticipates readers the main problematical issue of this book, that is to say, George is not free and he is alienated. 

When reading “Race Day”, another “Curious George's” book, we can find that the protagonist of the story, the monkey, suffers from animal abuse. This issue is extremely connected to the fact that the monkey is a prisoner and that his owner does whatever he wants to him. A clear example is shown when the man of the yellow hat, his owner, orders George to train professor Wiseman for a race. George asks his boss for some pedagogical ideas as regards Professor Wiseman’s training, after perceiving her disinterest about running. A picture in that page, portrays him recalling his venerable moments when he used to run and play freely in the jungle. His sorrowful remembering is compensated with a visit to the zoo offered by the professor, where he meets his convict buddy, the elephant. As a result of his alienation, George seems to have forgotten his past, and he is really happy to visit the place where he used to live in the first book published.

Despite the fact that “Curious George” seems to be a didactic and enjoyable book for children, it can be affirmed that another message is hidden. George reflects an example of cruel treatment, animal abuse, submission and lack of freedom. These negative issues are frequently seen in zoos and in circus. It is surprising that a person that was about to be a prisoner, wrote a set of books where a monkey is kidnapped and enslaved. It is clear that her experiences were reflected in her writings. “Curious George” shows us that freedom is a submission state, in opposition to the idea that being free is the natural condition that animals need to live their lives. 

The functional crew

Students: Evelyn M. and Daniela U.

“Nothing in the world is particularly impossible if it is divided into tasks”, said by Henry Ford, this famous phrase summarizes the essence of the well-known manufacturing system called Fordism. Developed by this significant businessman during the 1940s and 1960s, Fordism was based on industrialized and standardized form of mass production. It was designed to make productivity more efficient. Certainly, hierarchical control, mechanization, specialization and fragmentation of work seemed to be the most relevant characteristics of this economical model. But... Do you have a minute? Have you ever thought that this popular economical method could be applied not only in factory workers, but also in animated trains in a TV show for children?

Division of labour is one of the particularities of Fordism that can be mainly appreciated in “Thomas and friends”. This is an animated children television series that deals with a group of trains and humans working on the railways of the island of Sodor. The tv show first appeared on the IVT network in October 1984. The series displays the tank engines´ adventures. All of them are managed and every member of the group is in charge of one specialized task. Without doubts,” Thomas and friends” reproduces the Fordist philosophy to its young audience.

“Wake up lazy bones! Do some hard work for a change!” This is the sweet way in which Thomas, the train engine leads on his partners when it is time to take on journeys and start work. He exposes leadership over the crew and, as one of the innocent songs affirms, he is the number one. Many times the sweet train is the one who organizes the teamwork. One clear example of this can be seen in one chapter called “Thomas, the manager”. Here, Thomas convinces his mates to push wagons of coal because the railway inspector is supervising their assignments. The devoted tank thinks that if the inspector sees locomotives working hard, then the crew will be consider as useful and efficient. Through this clear sample of Thomas´ attitude, one can notice that hierarchical roles are present behind the useful crew´s performance as it was in the industrial method, Fordism. Top managers, division managers, headquarters, short run coordinators, and longer run coordination were some of the roles executed in the factories in order to operate in the organizational structure of labour. In this case, Thomas would clearly represent a manager.

Take, for example, the figure of Sr Topham Hatt, the fat controller. The locomotives work under his strict and firm control. While we move our heads and sing along we will realize that “Sr Topham keeps an eye on every engine passing by” and that “every tank has to be useful and take care of his supervision”.This is another clue that allows us to recognize the controlling system in the TV programme that was implemented in the Fordist technical revolution. Strict control and discipline were the elements that led to an increment in the productivity. Unfortunately, the song is extremely fun and captivating to let us stop and reflect upon its real meaning.

What is more, catchy and entertaining, the following extract of a Thomas´s song make us enjoy it letting its chorus going round and round in our minds along the day. “All with different roles to play, round Tidmouth sheds or far away, Percy pulls the mail on time, Gordon thunders down the line. Emily really knows her stuff, Henry toots and huffs and puffs. Edward wants to help and share” In this way, the different characters’ roles are stated and so everyone is able to know the precise task that each employed locomotive is in charge of. For sure, this extract of the popular TV show soundtrack resembles functional division of labour and decomposition of tasks that took place in Fordism in order to transform the condition of production.

So, why is it that young children are exposed to this economical system and its characteristics in a TV show that is supposed to entertain? Not all the TV programmes should be consumed as innocent or harmless amusement for our kids. “Thomas and friends” is a reflection of a way of production. Really attractive and by using beautiful colours and charming trains , it goes straight to our children´s minds. This show, full of different characters, inculcates not only how to work always on the same task, but also to be cautious about whom our superiors are. The whole series is a clear example of this, and behind the trains, engineers of their own world, there are many steady and severe ideas that not all parents would want their children to learn, yet.

The rain’s power

It was about to rain and it was a dark and cold evening. A group of ants called ‘The Red Army’ was afraid of the huge drops which were a threat for its anthill. In order to go through the tempest, they strengthened their enormous shelter with branches and leaves.

When the neighbour communities saw how safe their shelter was, they immediately wanted to join the Red Army. The old Queen Margaret totally refused the idea. But the King ordered to remove some extra supplies out of the anthill: ‘-That’s craziness! We will not help them’, said Margaret furiously. Surprisingly, a defiant and rebellious voice was heard. ‘What’s wrong with that?’ said little Red ant. ‘It makes new room for new people’. When the Queen was about to reply the little daring girl a sudden shower broke out. It was in that moment that the King allowed the other communities to come in.

Even though the Queen was against that decision, all the communities worked together to undergo the deadly weather.

Exquisite cadaver

Love was you and me together. We used to be one soul. Even though, I didn’t want this to change, our fate was already written. I assume the pen was held by her. I would have never figured out that she used to visit me and her eyes were not upon me but on my grandmother. It was a pleasant breezy evening, I opened the door and I found them not drinking tea, not talking, not cooking but kissing. The passion in their lips was extreme. Her wrinkled hands held her skinny face that used to be mine. The disgusting scene made me feel shocked and I was only able to close the door. The noise let them know that they were not alone. As I left, I realized that my reality was not what I thought. It was a dark day and there was smog everywhere. Anxiousness was running through Dan´s veins. He felt nervous about his first experience piloting, and the weather was not helping.

He turned off the engineer, got off the car and went to the instructor´s office. There was music on, but no one answered when he knocked the door.  Raindrops began to fall on his head while he paced the landing track, his opportunity vanishing as the hours passed.

Dan decided to walk towards his car. But suddenly he heard a noise on the sky and turned his head up. It was his instructor in the plane he had been waiting for all day long. It was late anyway. The plane arrived late, so the pilot returned home.  The passengers had been waiting at the airport for ten hours and started to complain. As I was the check-in receptionist, everybody shouted at me angrily. The situation got worst when people destroyed the airport hall. All the employees were evacuated by the police. I decided to quit my work, because it wasn´t the first time that such dangerous disorder took place. The only person I would miss was my boss, William. I was in love with him, though I wasn´t sure if he felt the same.   That day, when I was at home he called me and I decided to start again.

It had been two years without seeing each other. He had gone to study abroad and I didn't want to follow him. At that time our relationship wasn't as good as the beginning of it. He had changed pretty much the last years. He priorized his carrer more than our relationship. I still was with him but I felt lonely. During these two years I went out, met new people even I got a new job. My life was normal, stable. I almost believed that I had forgotten him but last week he called me and we met each other. As soon as I saw him my heart exploded in happiness. All my feelings woke up again.He stared at me and at that moment he said: " Love was you and me together."

Flash fictions

Ice-cram rain and me on diet.
(whole class)

I´ll miss you pencil. The sharpener.

Troubles in the sky. Batman frowns.

Brains off, we are on Earth.

(Nahir P., Amílcar F., Mariana F.)


Pill forgotten. Baby's born. Game over.

New house. Single bed. Who´s out?.

Young lover. Discovered. Rest in peace.

(Lorena B., María Paula Ch., Patricia A.)



Joyful weekend gone; lifeless Monday on.

Freedom of thought? Vote for me!

Never mind. My coffee’s already cold.

Smoking… pencil with its top on.

Just a sheep following the herd.

(Gabriel C., Evelyn M., Daniela U., Jessica V.)


No money=no marriage=no boyfriend

No money=no marriage=avoid divorce

No boyfriend=no marriage=no money.


(Melina A., Carina C., Fedra DB., Florencia P.)