DESCRIPTION:
Vashti believes that she cannot draw, but her art teacher's encouragement leads
her to change her mind.
TRANSCRIPT:
The Dot by Peter H Reynold. Art class was over, but Vashti sat glued to her chair.
Her paper was empty. Vashti's teacher leaned over the blank paper.
"Ah! A polar bear in a snow storm," she said. "Very funny," said Vashti.
"I just can't draw!" Her teacher smiled. "Just make a mark and see where
it takes you." Vashti grabbed a marker and gave the paper a good, strong jab.
"There!" Her teacher picked up the paper and studied it carefully. "Hmmmmm.
" She pushed the paper toward Vashti and quietly said, "Now sign it."
Vashti thought for a moment. "Well, maybe I can't draw, but I can sign my name."
The next week, when Vashti walked into art class, she was surprised to see
what was hanging above her teacher's desk. It was the little dot she had
drawn - her dot!All framed in swirly gold! "Hmmph! I can make it better dot than
that!" She opened her never-before-used set of watercolors and set to work.
Vashti painted and painted. A red dot. A purple dot. A yellow dot. A blue dot.
The blue mixed with the yellow. She discovered that she could make a green
dot. Vashti kept experimenting. Lots of little dots in many colors. "If I can make
little dots, I can make big dots, too." Vashti splashed her colors with a bigger
brush on a bigger paper to make bigger dots. Vashti even made a dot by not
painting a dot. At the school art show a few weeks later, Vashti's many dots
were quite a splash. Vashti noticed a little boy gazing up at her. "You're a really
great artist. I wish I could draw," he said. "I bet you can," said Vashti. "Me?
No, not me. I can't draw a straight line with the ruler." Vashti smiled.
She handed the boy a blank sheet of paper. "Show me."
The boy's pencil shook as he drew his line. Vashti stared at the boys squiggle.
And then she said... "Sign it." The end!
QUESTIONS:
1. Who is Vashti? Can she draw? Explain your answer.
2. Are you good at drawing? Explain further.
3. In your opinion: If you drew every day, would you get better? Why or why not?