Content
Students will be examining how the relationship between pictures and words assists them in writing detailed descriptions of the characters that they research. Students draw pictures that explain an event or story, and my students will be using the pictures as a tool to influence and critique their written accounts of the lives of characters in Greek Mythology. The students will use the visual evidence found in each panel that they create to enrich and add to the depth and complexity of the story that they are trying to convey. The Visual aspect of this unit is the primary focus. Creating the visual narrative will be the starting point in my Art class, giving students that space and time to master their drawings and study how panels and comic strips are created. This catalyst will propel the students into the process of developing their own comics. Students will be introduced to the techniques and process that graphic novelists and cartoonists employ when producing these works of art. This understanding connects students with a better understanding and respect for illustrating as an art form by placing them in the position of the artist.
The result is to positively impact the process of teaching young learners how to communicate stories in a pictorial sense that nurtures and support students’ understanding of content. Also, the unit explores the power of visual narratives in relationship with writing.
Objectives
The curriculum content objectives involved in this unit comprise the stories of Greek Mythology as the (S.O.L.) standards of Learning set forth by the Commonwealth of Virginia, as outlined by the Department of Education as third grade Art History and Cultural Context SOL. The standards for third-grade students include an introduction to the heritage and contributions of the peoples of ancient Greece and Rome 3.11 The student will identify how works of art and craft reflect times, places, and cultures. 3.12 The student will identify distinguishing characteristics of genres of art. 3.13 The student will identify how history, culture, and the visual arts influence each other. 3.14 The student will identify common attributes of works of art created by artists within a culture. 3.15 The student will examine the relationship between form and function in the artifacts of a culture. 3.16 The student will compare and contrast art and architecture from other cultures.1
We are exploring how images and text work to complement each other as well as communicate to the reader. We are also exploring how visual images work to better help young learners with reading and also, as in this instance, how it may help them become better writers. The written module of this unit is to be compared, critiqued and edited using the visual images as the tool of measurement, by which the students are to compare the chronicles, details, omissions and inclusions found within their literary work.
Greek Myth
Before students can retell the stories of Greek myth they must first be introduced to the subject of mythology. Developing an understanding of the relevance of these tales can only be achieved by learning why these stories have cultural and historical importance. “The answer to that is very simple: to learn. People still study the ancient Greeks and their myths much in the same reason they study other cultures and that is so they can learn from it. After all, when you study a culture as progressive as that of the ancient Greeks, you really can’t help but learn lessons. These myths, for their part, show modern people a glimpse of how they thought in the past, what they considered important, how their morals worked, etc. Another reason to study those Greek myths is because they have contributed a lot to classic and modern literature in the form of symbols.”1
Understanding the past is important for students. Teaching them about other cultures as well as their own and showing them the connections between people of the past and the modern world that they currently live is an essential part of my art curriculum. Helping students understand and appreciate other cultures is the basis for developing an understanding of how and why art is produced by people of the world, past and present. It is also important to understand that people borrow and adapt ideas, beliefs, and culture from one another. Ancient cultures such as Greece and Rome are great contributors to our world. The architecture, government structure, art and literature that we surround ourselves with has many influences from Greek culture. “Most people will not really notice it unless they are told to do so, but there are so many Greek influences around the world today. In fact, it is impossible to understand the basics of things like fine arts, literature, and performing arts without touching on some Greek myth”2 These myths were an important part of ancient Greek life. These stories taught lessons and gave reason and explanation to the theological belief that higher beings existed. “These stories were passed down for generations. Some might wonder what the point is to just passing down stories—stories that were made up and were in no way true but that was the beauty of Greek mythology in ancient times.2
The 15 Greek Myth Mini-Books: Reproducible Comic Book-Style Retellings, by Danielle Blood introduces children to these classic stories in an age appropriate manner. I am using one of these books as a visual example for my students. The character of Greek mythology that I will use as the model for this unit is Hercules. I will use his story as an introduction to help students become familiar with many of the descriptions and powers of these Greek gods and goddesses. Hercules is valuable as an initial point of reference because of his many great deeds including his twelve labors. His many adventures can be retold in pictorial fashion without worry that students will mimic or repeat my examples. The students will read summaries that I provide, outlining the individual characteristics of each of these Greek gods. From here, each students will be given the opportunity to select a character of their choice to depict in their art.
“These myths were told to people and it helped them realize the difference between right and wrong. Also, these tales tell people of heroes and how true greatness was achieved by those who dared while at the same breath, showing the flaws of these heroes.2 These stories include the Greek Gods and Goddesses known as the Twelve Olympians, commonly considered to be Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus. In ancient times it was believed that the world was ruled by this group of gods. There are many versions of the ancient stories, some have small changes depending on the storytellers. These ancient stories were told by both the Romans and the Greeks. They were retold and changed somewhat over the course of thousands of years. “Any storyteller might create a new adventure for the gods or might change a story slightly to make it more interesting to his listeners. What was important is that the gods' personalities remained the same. Everybody in ancient Greece knew the gods' personalities!”1
The Greek god Zeus was the king of all the gods. He is characterized visually as a muscular male having long flowing hair, carrying a thunder bolt and usually framed in images that portray him standing on high with storm clouds and lighting surrounding his form. He is usually described as having magical powers and superhuman strength. Zeus’s wife is Hera, the queen of all the gods, and also the goddess of marriage. Hera and Zeus had two sons named Ares and Hephaestus. But these were not Zeus’ only sons. Zeus had many other children, both sons and daughters: Hermes and Apollo and Artemis and Hercules. Some of his children, like Hercules, were believed to be those born of human mothers. These gods had a unique family structure that linked most of them to Zeus in some way. Their stories are connected and interwoven in a way that makes them exciting to learn and makes the character interesting to follow. Once you strip away the family tree that explain their relationship with one another and their family dynamic you understand why the family of Zeus was so interesting.
The Greek god Ares was the god of war. He was a son of Zeus. He could be described as the prince of the Gods. Having many of the characteristics of a person of royal pedigree, he was handsome and quite self-absorbed. Ares was not well liked due to his spirit of disagreement, turmoil and destruction. It was believed that Ares was at work whenever the ancient Greeks went to war. While Ares liked to destroy things, his brother Hephaestus was his opposite. Hephaestus is the god of fire and forge. He was a builder and enjoyed creating things. It is told in some stories that he fashioned the thunderbolts of Zeus.
Most of the Greek gods were connected. This complex family tree of gods had Zeus at its roots. While many refer to him as the King of the gods, he could also be called the father of the Greek gods. Apollo was also a son of Zeus’. Apollo had a twin sister, Artemis, the huntress. Apollo was well liked by the ancient Greeks. He was kind and gentle. He presided over music and was believed to raise the sun. The youngest of the sons was Hermes the messenger. He was also liked and trusted by the other gods. Zeus also had two brothers. Each ruled a different area of the earth. Zeus ruled in the heavens and on earth from atop Mount Olympus while his other brothers the Greek gods Hades, ran the underworld and brother Poseidon ruled the seas.
Zeus also had three sisters, Demeter, Hera and Rhea. Because of the incestuous nature of the relationship between Hera and Zeus, I am omitting her from the list of choices in an effort to be age-appropriate for my elementary students. Hera is described as the sister of Zeus as well as his wife. These Greeks myths are exciting stories that at times can be reminiscent of a modern day soap opera. This should be considered when and before leading students to research and study this topic. I am providing books and worksheets that provide descriptions of each Greek God and Goddess, a choice that I highly recommend to primary school teachers.
Zeus’ sister, Demeter, was in charge of the harvest. If Demeter did not do her job, the crops could die, and everyone would starve. These Gods and Goddess had characteristics and powers that helped to explain the scientific and the unexplainable events to the simple man. These myths helped the people of ancient Greece make sense of their world and helped them to explain things such as the changing of the seasons, morality, karma, consequences, and the nature of man.
Zeus also had daughters, one was Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Greek myth describes Athena’s creation as being delivered and from the mind or brain of Zeus. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt. She was Apollo's twin sister. Artemis was Apollo's opposite. Artemis was cold and liked to be alone. Unlike her sister Aphrodite, known as the goddess of love and beauty. Artemis was not warm and loving in the eyes of the ancient Greeks. All of the siblings and children of Zeus were the subject of Greek myths. The variety of characters and stories that exists in the mythological world of Greek storytelling gives student a wide range of choices when deciding what story they wish to tell. Due to the adult nature and subject matter related to some of these characters I have devised a limited list of characters, stories and resources that I will allow my students to use. The focus of this unit is not on research, but the retelling of stories and the use of images and artistry to communicate information.
Graphic Stories
How do we share stories and how do we define what a story is to our students? I grew up with a father who told many stories. In fact my father is one of the best story tellers that I know. His ability to pull you in and engage you totally is one of his greatest talents. He never read his stories from a book, yet he could communicate a story with such detail that it created visual images in my head. So in all the times that I’ve heard stories or seen pictures, I have never had text pop into my head. I suppose neither have my students. So, what is a story? Is it the string of sentences in a chapter book, a song on the radio or the griot style apologue that is verbal? To some it is an oral interpretation, to others it is text, but for the artist it is imagery.
“A Story is a narration of a sequence of events deliberately arranged for telling.”1 (Eisner, pg. 3). The famous comic book artist Scott McCloud describes graphic stories or comics in a similar way. He defines comics as “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.”2 (McCloud, pg. 9) It seems that the definitions focus more on the order and sequence than on the methods of communicating the story. We are developing artwork that can tell stories graphically, making a series of images that are to be organized and structured in similar ways to literary text. The challenge for the students is pulling those images from their minds and organizing them in a way that lends understanding to the information they are trying to convey. “All stories have a structure. A story has a beginning, and end, and a thread of events laid upon a framework that hold the two together. Whether the medium is text, film or comics, the skeleton is the same”.4 (Eisner, pg. 3)
The difficulty of creating a story for most of my students stems from their inexperience with constructing text in a manner that is sequential. Pictures allow them to move past this obstacle unknowingly. The process of making a set or series of images that connect to one another and span a time frame that defines “Now, Then” or “later” seems to be simpler and a more concrete concept for my student when approached through artistic means. “Before a story is composed, it exists in the abstract. At this point it is still a lot of thoughts, memories, fantasies and ideas floating around in one’s head”4 (Eisner, Pg.4) The concepts involved with creative writing, and the process of taking the abstract idea from your mind, planning, and retelling it using text, are a hurdle for many young learners. This does not seem to be an issue when using pictures to represent a narrative. Because students have success in my classroom with putting pictures in order in such a way that they make sense, this method of drawing first then writing was a eureka moment for me. Fluent representation of actions or events is one of the strong characteristics that make their pictorial work a positive vehicle for telling stories. Navigating the process and time needed to develop multiple images that can shape a pictorial narrative is the target of the activities and visual art production for this unit. One image alone, even when partnered with words, does not automatically constitute a story. “It becomes a story when told in an arranged and purposeful order. The basic principles of narration are the same whether told orally or visually.”4 (Eisner, pg. 4)
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