Pumpkin Interviews!

      My classes had fun exploring the concept of personification as we learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin.  From seed, to leaves and vines, to flower and finally, the pumpkin, my students learned it all!  Their challenge was to take that scientific knowledge and turn it into questions they could ask a personified pumpkin.  What would a pumpkin think of its seed life?  How about when it sprouted out of the ground?  What would a pumpkin think pollination felt like?  And what about those clever tendrils that latch on to everything?  Of course... what would a pumpkin think about at the end of its life?  All of these questions and more can be found in these samples.  Enjoy!

Interview with Bella, by Julia (4th grade)

Julia: What were the first few things you remember?

Bella: The first thing I ever remembered was darkness. Then I heard voices, a girl I supposed and a boy. I felt like I was being lifted, then dropped into soft, brown stuff. Immediately I felt thirsty, and the girl seemed to shout, “Get water for the “pumpkin seed!” Then water dropped through the brown stuff and my thirst was quenched! Best part of life at that point!

Julia: Wow! What happened next?

Bella: After that I waited for about a week. Then I could feel my legs, pearly white and very wobbly and skinny. They continued to grow until I could actually stand up! Another achievement!

Julia: Great, not to be offensive, but you look young and not much like a pumpkin. I’m pretty sure pumpkins aren't green with a golden flower on top.

Bella: Not offensive at all! Actually, I’m in the so far BEST part of being alive. Though getting here took awhile. After I got my legs, I had the most perfect green hands ever! The girl apparently said they were “seed leaves”, and sounded super excited. Those “seed leaves” soaked up the warm stuff from where I couldn’t see. Sadly, those hands were replaced with other less perfect hands. A dark green one that was MUCH too big for my taste. There was good in it though, too. Those hands soaked up the warm stuff super fast. I began to grow.

Julia: Nice job, please continue.

Bella: Then a bunch of arm like thingies came climbing out, attaching themselves to a lot of stuff. Then the best thing that ever happened to me came in, I GOT A SUPER COOL FLOWER ON MY HAIR!! 

Julia: Ooh! That does sound super cool! What happened next? Though it sounds like we are getting to an end.

Bella: Then I could see. I was a small green bulb, with a golden flower. Right now, I’m exactly 12 hours from that change.

Julia: Ok then, this is as far from the beginning as you went. Now what do you want to be when you grow up?

Bella: Well, I hope to be either a perfect orange pumpkin or a white one. Another thing I forgot to tell, when I could see, I saw a bunch of other green bulbs and golden flowers that I thought were my siblings.

Julia Cai: Now that we covered your life span until now, I’ll move on to personal information.

Julia: What is your age right now? 

Bella: Around 70 days old.

Julia: What is your Birthday? 

Bella: August 22, 2020

Julia: Who were your siblings?

Bella: Some of them are: Beth, Sam, Luke, and Sophie.

Julia: It was great to meet you, Bella. See you later!

                                                  Interview with Mr. Pumpkin, by Bobby (5th grade)

Prof. B: Thank you for meeting with me today. You are looking quite good.

Mr. Pumpkin: That is very kind of you, but I don’t have a face.

P.B: Oh, uh I’m sorry well then let’s move onto our first question. What happened in your childhood?

M.P: That’s an interesting question. Well I guess I have to answer it. First, I started in a dark bag with all of my brothers and sisters. Then all of a sudden, someone started shaking the bag! Me and my siblings were being thrown out the bag! Luckily, I didn’t fall out, because if I did I wouldn’t be here.

P.B: Wow that sounds like a pretty traumatizing childhood. Please continue. This is very interesting.

M.P: Ok. I don’t remember that much after, but it was really dark and squishy. After about 1 week my legs and hair started to grow!

P.B: Wow! Only 1 week, that’s incredible! What happened to those seed leaves?

M.P: I was just about to tell you. They got replaced by vine leaves. As the days passed, I grew hands trying to find something to grab onto. I called them tendrils.

P.B: So that’s why vines swirl around when they grow?

M.P: Yes

P.B Cool! Carry on.

M.P Alright. The weirdest thing happened after that. A little yellow flower grew on my butt. I tried pretty hard, but I couldn’t get it off. Then a bunch of winged insects came fluttering around me! It was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me!

P.B: That does sound pretty scary, but what happened to your flower? 

M.P: Hold on, you’re missing a step. A little green ball grows. AKA me. And the flower shrivels up! I thought I was dying!

P.B: What are you planning to do after this?

M.P: Actually, my owner will gut me and roast my seeds for food!

P.B: Geeze! Well good luck!

Interview with Pumpers, by Jackie (6th grade)

Jackie: Welcome Mr. Pumpers! Er…. Mr. Puddle-kin. Anyways, how are you doing today?

Pumpers: I am not doing well at all. I really never had any hope for myself since the moment I came out of that dark cage. 

Jackie: Well, I was wondering how you got to this… umm… how do I put this nicely? “Slightly smashed” state. 

Pumpers: (Offended and rude) Wow, how nice of you to say. (More relaxed) Well, I’m actually glad you asked because my life was absolutely horrible! I started out super small, and in this dark cage. Never in my life have I ever felt more cramped! Wet, brown stuff packed me in, so I had no room to move. My neighbors were so close, and worse of all, they were super nosy! 

Jackie: Oh my, well it seems like you are still a bit cramped.

Pumpers: Yup! These flies are always buzzing about and being even more nosy than my neighbors! (Mutters) which is saying a lot. Anyways, I was even more angry when I sprouted this terribly ugly hairdo! It was green, and had two tiny little leaves on it. It was even worse than I ever thought it would be. I remember clearly how my neighbors bragged about how they were so much prettier than me. 

Jackie: Yikes! That seems super hard to live with. Do you have any more memories from when you were still a young pumpkin?

Pumpers: Actually, I do! When I was in this wet , dark stuff, I recall that it was unreasonably hot! I only got a teeny tiny bit of water every day. I was living in harsh conditions so I always wonder how I even got grown!

Jackie: I remember learning about a pumpkin’s life cycle, so what was it like with one of those beautiful yellow flowers?

Pumpers: Ugh. Don’t even get me started on HER. She was the worst mom flower in the whole patch! She always told me I was not big enough, and I had to grow more and eat my veggies and my fruit. Little did she know that she was forcing me to be a cannibal! I disliked her very much. She was so commanding, and she always had the upper leaf! Until she wilted, HA! Take that, Mom! 

Jackie: Well, did you really live with her for that long? 

Pumpers: Yes! I had her for weeks! I actually kind of wish she hadn’t wilted, because then, I wouldn’t have been bullied. She also just became one giant, dry, flower on my head. I had to wait ages until she finally fell off. 

Jackie: That sounds very interesting! Can you tell me about the bullying part? What had happened?

Pumpers: Well, one of the vines that had grown up next to me was telling all of the other vines to use their tendrils to take all of the possible holds in the pumpkin patch, so me and my vine couldn’t find any spots. It was disastrous. When I asked about why they were doing this, the bully vines just said, “You can’t boss us around! You're still green, Watermelon!” I was so angry! Everyone in the patch knew that I was under-average so I hadn’t gotten the orange-yellow color yet. 

Jackie: That sounds very frustrating. How did you become orange?

Pumpers: I got pollinated by bees. When my mom was still around, she opened her arms out big and wide, for the bees to go into. I couldn’t see much, but I heard a lot about it from the bully vines. 

Jackie: That sounds nice. So, we pretty much covered most of your life, right?

Pumpers: pretty much, but there is still some of my life getting to this (mockingly) “Slightly smashed state”. 

Jackie: umm… okay. Carry on Mister!

Pumpers: One night, while everyone in the patch was settling down for sleep, I noticed my vine was growing very rapidly. I was scared out of my mind! I had just grown into a big orange pumpkin, and I had overheard from one of those humans like you, I would be cut from the vine soon! I knew something was off, because I started racing towards the fence gate. I saw a large truck pull over in front of me, and I knew what was coming for me next. 

Jackie: This is getting very suspenseful! 

Pumpers: I suddenly stopped, and realized that the angry mailman was coming. He came to the gate, and opened the door. No, not opened it. HE SLAMMED IT IN MY FACE! I got cracked, and smushed, and flew across the patch into the other fence! It was the worst time of my life! I was super mad at that mailman. I was so close to getting picked!

Jackie: Well, it looks like we have run out of time for today. Thank you for doing this with me, Mr. Pumpers. It has been a delightful time!

Pumpers: Thank you for interviewing me, Jackie. I had a somewhat good time. Bye!

Pumpkin Interview

With Julia (7th grade) and Mr. P-Pie

Me: Hello sir, how are you doing today?

Mr. P-pie: I’ve been better. Why are you asking me? No one has ever been kind to me.

Me: Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. I hope this interview will make your day better.

Mr. P-pie: Let’s hope so.

Me: So, what was it like when you were a little pumpkin? Do you remember most of your childhood?

Mr. P-pie: Well, I’m getting a bit teary even thinking about it. I remember every single, little, detail about my life as a little seed, all the way to what I am today. I remember when I was dropped into some soft fertile soil in the month of May. It was like I was dressed in a nice warm sweatshirt. I got water when I was thirsty, and I was really happy and grateful. I remember that after about a week or so, I grew these two little leaves. Now I know they were my seed leaves, but back then I had many theories about those leaves. I thought they were my legs, then I thought they were my arms, then hair, but now I know they were my seed leaves.

Me: That sounds really nice. I’m glad you have some nice memories of your baby years. What about when you grew up a little more?

Mr. P-pie: My next few years flew by in a flash. I sprouted out of the ground, and I started growing these long, beautiful, healthy, vines. I grabbed all my friends and anything I could with them. It was quite amusing to grab everything in my reach. Then I grew this beautiful yellow flower. Mine was the healthiest in the patch, and I had attracted almost all the bees because they liked my flower the best. I even remember one of the bees telling me that I had the most gorgeous flower he had seen in a very long time. I was so proud. Sadly, because my flower was so nice, the bees focused all of their attention to me. So a few days later, all my brothers, sisters, and friends became very ill.

Me: I’m so sorry to hear that.

Mr. P-pie: It’s not your fault. But, anyway, that was a difficult time. After that, I was grateful for everything and anything that happened to me. I grew up really healthy my whole life. After my flower bloomed, I became a little green ball. I grew, and grew, and grew. I began to turn a little more orange every day until I was a big, beautiful, orange, and round pumpkin. I could tell that my harvester was overjoyed when he saw me.

Me: That sounds wonderful, I’m so happy for you. What happened after that?

Mr. P-pie: I was cut from my vine and sold for quite the lot. I went to a local store where I was sold to a nice-looking family. But looks can be deceiving. They cut me, and took out all my organs. I have mere days left to live with big scars on me, and a candle where all my insides should be. If I could have one thing back, it would be my childhood. That is why I’m so grateful for the life I had. I just wish I could have had a happier, more peaceful ending.

Me: That is a very inspirational story. I am sorry you couldn't have the ending you were hoping for, but it sounds like you will bring joy to the owners of the doorstep where you sit!  I hear a certain holiday is coming up where you will be the star! If you ever need a friend to talk to, I’m always here.

Mr. P-pie: Thank you for letting me share my story.

Me: Not a problem, I enjoyed it myself. 

Me: Now, next on JNN Live News, we will be speaking with Ms. Melón the watermelon.