Define the colour red without using the words ‘colour’ or ‘red’ in your answer, and without making reference to any other colours.
The Life of Brian (Or Lack Thereof), Maree Spratt
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The first line stopped me momentarily from reading the second line. My mind filled with words in easy obedience to the command; red is my favourite.
I found it at the beginning of a short story in Award Winning Australian Writing 2009, a story I’ve used several times to provoke teenagers needing to write something creative. Brian, the protagonist, competes with contributors on Yahoo Answers, waking one morning to read this challenge.
The author, Maree Spratt, won a Young Writers Award for it; when I get my students to read this story out loud, they don’t have to act to get the tone right.
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