Spanish Essay Prize for Ananya

Huge congratulations to Ananya Vijay (5Sa) who has been judged the winner of the Year 11 (5th Form) category for Spanish for the ISMLA (Independent Schools´ Modern Languages Association) Original Writing Competition;  she has received a £50 iTunes voucher as a prize.

This competition was open to all Year 11 pupils in independent schools all over the UK. Pupils were given a choice of three titles and Ananya chose to respond to a work, The Flower Vendor,  by prominent mid-twentieth century Mexican artist, Diego Rivera.  The essay was entitled, “Diego Rivera expressed his personal views about social injustice through his art. Imagine you are the flower seller in the image. Tell us about yourself. Your essay should be set in the cultural context of this period.”

Ananya’s piece of writing entitled “Las flores de la esperanza” (Flowers of hope) demonstrated excellent creativity and imagination, engagement with the Hispanic culture and linguistic ability.  She  says,“I have always enjoyed creative writing and Spanish which is why I entered the competition. I was inspired firstly by the sheer beauty of the Diego Rivera painting I had to write about and secondly by the social criticism evident in the piece. I felt compelled to explore the injustice faced by the poor in Mexico in the early 1940s through writing from the viewpoint of a flower seller. It did push me out of my comfort zone as I have never written a short story in Spanish before. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the process very much, especially learning about the rich history and art of Mexico. Thank you to the Spanish Department for teaching and supporting me over the years.”