As I was making my way through the Carroll text this week, I couldn't help but notice that our very own Amy Ruopp was cited a number of times. Intrigued, I looked up her article "Narrative drawing: a study in personal histories" and have chosen it for my reflection. In this brief aritcle, she provides practical advice for drawing out meaningful narratives from our student's personal experiences and giving them the tools to express them visually. Through an exploration of Faith Ringgold's rich, illustrative quilt work and a series of scaffolded activities, students are guided through the process of translating large, possibly complicated ideas into one powerful and deeply personal image.
What really interested me about Amy's lesson plan are the carefully scaffolded activities which require students to translate their ideas through different symbols systems several times before they arrive at their final destination. Our text reiterates the value of this practice on p.72, suggesting that such movement across symbol systems helps deepen the richness of ideas as well as reaching both visual and verbal learners.
With this process in mind, I looked to Art21 featured artist Kiki Smith to potentially inspire a lesson steeped in the idea of narrative and myth. I am personally drawn to Smith and her work, as her repertoire of themes and images share similarities and relationships with my own present inspirations. In the section on Tapping into the Narrative Impulse, our text suggests "Inventing a story to explain a phenomenon...produc[ing] ideas for a legend or myth". (p. 71) In the past, deities and supernatural entities have been held responsible for all manner of natural phenomena, and although science has enlightened us greatly on these matters, we still refer to rings of mushrooms as "fairy circles" and associate Zeus with bolts of lightening. We take pleasure in thinking of the world in such magical and imaginative ways. I envision students creating a myth complete with supernatural characters to explain a meteorological phenomenon such as a tornado or tsunami. This might be especially effective if there has been a recent incident of extreme weather. I would guide students through a process similar to that which Amy presents in which students would first generate ideas, then write descriptively about them. They would translate these descriptions back into several planning sketches, working collaboratively with their classmates to ensure the effectiveness of their symbolism and proposed composition, before focusing on their final piece, which will be a sculptural statue; a memorial or icon of their "weather deity".
Students would need to consider how the characteristics and qualities of a certain type of weather might translate into features of characters. Perhaps the "See, Hear, Feel" exercise might be of use. One of the more challenging aspects of this project is that students will need to communicate a narrative through a sculptural piece, so they will need to be very thoughtful about their incorporation of action, emotion, and symbols in the form and surface treatment of the sculpture. To reinforce the connection between text and image and give the students an opportunity to actually include their writing, student's could creatively incorporate the words of their story, perhaps on a scroll held by the figure or on a banner or plaque at it's feet as we have seen with other commemorative sculptures of the past.
Ancient mythology and art history from cultures all across the world, of course, offer no shortage of stories and artistic examples to refer to as we explore this topic. (The story of the Norse god Thor comes prominently to mind, though the possibilities are practically limitless.) Mythological stories are often particularly fascinating to children and adolescents, and thoughtfully chosen examples can speak to their personal struggles and concerns in meaningful ways.
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