Nonsense

* This session uses a Pollock picture. There is one downloadable at the bottom or find your own image that would work!

Looking

• Are there any objects in this painting?
• Are there emotions in this painting?
• Is there anything in this painting?

Thinking

Starter Question:

• Does this painting make sense?

Questions to take you further

• Is this painting nonsense?

• ‘It doesn’t make sense’. ‘It’s nonsense’. Do these two sentences mean the same thing?

Doing

• Write a sentence about something that happened this week. Make sure what you write doesn’t make sense?

What-Iffing

• What if the artist wanted it to make sense – does it make sense then?

• What if the artist didn’t want it to make sense – does it make sense then?

• If it makes sense to the artist then does that mean that we should be able to understand it too?

• What if all pictures were in this style, would it make sense then?

• What if no other picture on the planet was in this style, would No. 5 make sense?

• Why would somebody made something that they didn’t want you to understand?

Doing Question:

• Can you write a story about your breakfast that doesn’t make sense?

Take a student’s example, here is one from 8 year old Clara:

“Today I eat 5 bananas and 4 bananas and 5 but 6 but 7 slices with 9 jams on it.”

Q: Does Clara’s sentence succeed in not making sense?

Another example from Jane:

“I have krave breakfast with my brush after I left home 8:00 but I didn’t.”

Q: Does Jane’s sentence succeed in not making sense?

Try Reading

On Not Getting It, by Adam Philips
Death of the Author

Download Resource

Download Nonsense