• Home
  • About
    • Our Supporters
    • Corporate Support
    • The Hub
    • Why This Site?
    • Our Philosophy
    • The Challenges
    • Missed a Post?
  • The Basics
    • Historical Tradition >
      • Cave of Altamira
      • Tutankhamun's Tomb
      • The Bayeux Tapestry
      • Stations of the Cross
      • A Rake's Progress
    • Terminology >
      • Defining the Form
      • The Language of Comics
      • Filmic Language, Part 1
      • Filmic Language, Part 2
      • Language of the Gaze
    • A Rationale for Comics
    • Next Steps
    • Glen's Portfolio >
      • Boldprint
      • Timeline
      • The 10
      • Graphic Poetry
      • Boldprint Kids Graphic Readers
      • Boldprint Graphic Novels
      • Interface and ILit
      • Remix
      • Issues 21
      • Other Books
  • Graphica
    • Scholarship
    • Happening Now
    • Graphic Novels
    • About the Form
    • For Educators
  • Classroom
    • Activities >
      • Exemplars
    • Curriculum Connections >
      • Videos
      • PowerPoints
    • FAQ
    • Links
    • Support
  • Store
    • Codes
    • Go for the Pin!
  • Contact
Comics in Education
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Supporters
    • Corporate Support
    • The Hub
    • Why This Site?
    • Our Philosophy
    • The Challenges
    • Missed a Post?
  • The Basics
    • Historical Tradition >
      • Cave of Altamira
      • Tutankhamun's Tomb
      • The Bayeux Tapestry
      • Stations of the Cross
      • A Rake's Progress
    • Terminology >
      • Defining the Form
      • The Language of Comics
      • Filmic Language, Part 1
      • Filmic Language, Part 2
      • Language of the Gaze
    • A Rationale for Comics
    • Next Steps
    • Glen's Portfolio >
      • Boldprint
      • Timeline
      • The 10
      • Graphic Poetry
      • Boldprint Kids Graphic Readers
      • Boldprint Graphic Novels
      • Interface and ILit
      • Remix
      • Issues 21
      • Other Books
  • Graphica
    • Scholarship
    • Happening Now
    • Graphic Novels
    • About the Form
    • For Educators
  • Classroom
    • Activities >
      • Exemplars
    • Curriculum Connections >
      • Videos
      • PowerPoints
    • FAQ
    • Links
    • Support
  • Store
    • Codes
    • Go for the Pin!
  • Contact
Comics in Education
What's new?

Margaret Atwood, Comics, and the Awakened Imagination

4/19/2014
by Glen Downey, Comics in Education, www.comicsineducation.com
Picture
OPENING SEQUENCE TO "THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF ME," BY MARGARET ATWOOD, G. DOWNEY, ed, GRAPHIC POETRY, SCHOLASTIC

Picture
Of all the series I have worked on, I have a special place in my heart for the 21 volumes of Graphic Poetry. Published by Rubicon / Scholastic, the series went on to win two major awards, including the 2010 Textbook Excellence Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association and the 2011 Teachers' Choice Award from Learning Magazine.

I'm especially fond of one title in the series: Margaret Atwood's "This is a Photograph of Me" and "Girl and Horse, 1928," probably because I teach a unit on Atwood's poetry to Grade 11 students in the IB program at The York School in Toronto.

For the Atwood unit, we study recurring motifs and themes in her poetry, with a culminating assessment that involves students creating a visual piece that speaks to the same motifs and themes we explore in her poetry.


When my student, Kersti, got up to do her presentation, I was exceptionally impressed by how she was able to capture the spirit of "Girl and Horse, 1928" in a wonderful painting she did. Her explanation of the choices she made in putting the piece together were equally impressive.

Picture
(c) 2014, Kersti Muzzafar, All rights reserved. Published with permission of the author.

I have to admit that I was a wee bit pleased with myself for having shown the class the adaptations of Atwood's poetry in the above volume from the Graphic Poetry series. The projects they produced, like Kersti's, were so excellently done and I figured that they were inspired in part by seeing how poetry can be successfully married with visual art.

However, what happened on a subsequent assignment absolutely floored me. Kersti chose to interpret Atwood's "Flying Inside Your Own Body," a poem that discusses the freedom a woman enjoys when she dreams and the rather terrifying reality she inhabits when she awakens. When Kersti stood up, this is what she showed us

Picture
(c) 2014, Kersti Muzzafar, All rights reserved. Published with permission of the author.

"Okay," I thought. "She's managed to capture something of the final part of the poem. The restrictive, claustrophobic, isolating world that women can experience when they wake to discover the dream of flying inside your own body is illusory. "But what about the dream? What about the freedom and the joy that's described at the start of the poem? Where are they?"

Then, to the surprise of everyone, she opened the painting...

Picture
(c) 2014, Kersti Muzzafar, All rights reserved. Published with permission of the author.

That's right... She opened it. And there, inside, was the speaker of Atwood's poem. Kersti's explanation of the choices she made in her interpretation were brilliant--the tattoo, the necklace, the symbolic touches in the background--and students couldn't stop complimenting her on her work.

So, this is why we teach visual narrative in the classroom. This is why we celebrate it...

...And this is why I started a website called Comics in Education.
2 Comments
Garth link
4/21/2014 12:56:00 am

Thanks for sharing this great example of learning and inventiveness. I think you've captured an important part of the learning process - how students can innovate to demonstrate their insights, interpretations and their own learning.

Thanks

Reply
Denise link
6/17/2014 02:33:41 am

Love your work- I also highlight literacy and art education on my site- here is so much for children to learn!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Follow @teachingcomics
    Follow @GlenDowney


    our  store
    our codes
    navigation
    contact us

    Picture

    Glen Downey

    Dr. Glen Downey is an award-winning children's author, educator, and academic from Oakville, Ontario. He works as a children's writer for Rubicon Publishing, a reviewer for PW Comics World, an editor for the Sequart Organization, and serves as the Chair of English and Drama at The York School in Toronto.


    Picture

    If you've found this site useful and would like to donate to Comics in Education, we'd really appreciate the support!

    Picture

    Comics in Education

    Archives

    February 2019
    September 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    April 2017
    November 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014


    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

(C) 2014-20
​Comics in Education


3M Visitors

Google
Custom Search
Contact Us