Lesson #27: SCENE: "Abuelos, Apples & Me"- Luna Azcurrain

It’s Storytelling School with The Moth! As we all try to find our new normal, we hope we can bring you a bit of joy, intrigue, and empathy. For this week’s blog, we’re taking a look at a story about finding comfort and strength in a tradition, during a scary and unknown time.

This week’s Storytelling School story is:

“Abuelos, Apples & Me” by Luna Azcurrain

You can read the transcript of Luna’s story here.

1. Talk to each other about Luna’s story.

For each post, we’ll highlight a different crafting strategy for how to make your story compelling. For this post, we’ll focus on *SCENE.  In a five minute Moth story, you have limited real estate, but Luna manages to move us through three distinct scenes! She drops us into the action and describes the characters, setting, and emotions very clearly so that we can experience them with her like a scene in a movie.

• What are the three scenes in Luna’s story? What details does she include that help us picture those moments vividly?

• What did you notice about how Luna transitions between scenes? 

• How much time passes over the course of this story? How does Luna help the audience understand how time is passing?

*See previous posts highlighting SCENE and SCENE AND SUMMARY to see how we talk about scene and summary with different story examples.

2. Let’s Play “Have You Ever”

Raise your hand if …

• You’ve ever brought comfort to your family in a difficult time
• You’ve ever made a friend or family member smile unexpectedly
• You’ve ever doubted your ability to repeat a success
• You’ve ever felt responsible for upholding a tradition
• You’ve ever not been able to be there for a friend or family member like you used to be
• You’ve ever gone from being the student to the teacher (or vice versa)
• You’ve ever gotten a round of applause for something you made
• You’ve ever had a strong emotional connection to a specific food or recipe
• You’ve ever used time in the kitchen to get to know someone
• You’ve ever looked forward to a certain food all year
• You’ve ever had a special family holiday food

Did you raise your hand? If you raised your hand even once, that’s a story you could tell! Find someone to tell it to and try out a draft!

3. Activities

• What’s your favorite family tradition? Can you reenact it (or a mini version of it) right now, even if you don’t usually do it this time of year? If your family can’t be together, try doing it over a video call!
• Is there a food that reminds you of a specific person, place, or time? Can you make it and share it with those around you? Or post it on your social media? We could all use a bit of comfort right now so go ahead and revel in that comfort food!

4. Share this post with a friend!

And check back Tuesday for another story.

Be sure to check out All Together Now, Fridays with The Moth, wherever you listen to your podcasts, new every Friday!

Luna Azcurrain will be a senior at East Side Community HS. She was born and raised in the Lower East Side, but loves to go all over the city to try new foods and restaurants. Like a true New Yorker, she loves taking the subway. It is the perfect place to listen to music while discreetly people watching. The Moth first met Luna at ESCHS in Manhattan in 2019.

The Moth Education Program works with young people and educators to build community through storytelling workshops, performances and innovative resources. To learn more, visit themoth.org/education

The Moth Education Program is made possible by generous support from The Kresge Foundation, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Charitable Trust, the Kate Spade New York Foundation, and Alice Gottesman. 

Additional program support is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the New York State Council on the Arts, ConEdison, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.