Heroes and Monsters English Analysis

It is very normal to apply principles of analysis to an English classroom. I feel it’s actually a necessity or a requirement. We’re always having our students read literature or write papers as they analyze a structure, genre, book, poem, film, social movement, etc. But utilizing this exhibit makes the job that much easier and interesting. As Lindsey and I walked through the gallery we had ideas coming to us practically every five seconds. We kept thinking of more questions to ask, and more ideas of great assignments. The exhibit is so broad that I feel it appeals to all learners and at it’s very core asks the question, “What is a hero?” It’s compelling. Obviously what we looked at was still art. There was some film, but for the most part it was sculptures, paintings, and photographs. I really thought back to our reading prompt from the Seeing & Writing index where we mentioned the questions or ways to use media that were most compelling to us. I mean the entire index was basically a guide about how to analyze pictures, film, short stories, ads, poems, mixed media, and a dozen more things. The thing I was most struck by when reading that index was the question of what the narrative story is behind the image. Everything has a story, doesn’t it?

What I’d like to do in my English classroom is a) find those narratives, and b) connect the narratives from the images (or pieces of artwork from the exhibit) and connect them to the narratives that we’ve been studying in class. I’m really passionate about both of these ideas so I’ll discuss both. First I would love to have my students go into the exhibit and find a piece from the exhibit that compels them. From that they have to create a back story, or a narrative for the piece. In the reading, Hobbs briefly mentioned analysis that crosses disciplines. She discussed English that began to utilize “visual, digital, and mass media materials, ” but I think the intent is still the same (76).  I would love to use this activity for a creative writing class where they write a monologue to be performed by students in an upper level drama class. You can utilize print/digital media by first reading some famous monologues, and perhaps even watching some from different movies so they can contextualize what one is. Then have them go to the exhibit and pick a piece, like I discussed. Then after they’ve got the background story/narrative they will write a monologue. Everyone in the class will do this so ideally there will be enough for everyone in the drama class to perform a different original monologue. What could be more exciting for these writers than to see their work performed?

My second idea involves something that is very, purely English based. I think it would be great as a final project to take students to this exhibit and to tell t hem to briefly jot down pieces that compel them or interest them. From this they will write an analysis about how a piece from the exhibit mirrors the story or experience of a character from one of the novels read throughout the year in class. Surely this will take a lot of analysis as they notice many important, even if seemingly small, details. They might have to make some creative assumptions, but I think that’s fine as long as it’s based in thoughtful analysis of the piece they’ve chosen. There was a piece in the exhibit that was a photograph of Civil War re-enactors. A student could draw assumptions about the lives on a re-enactor, or even the life of Civil War soldiers themselves and how their trials to win the war against slavery mirror the struggles of Cassie Logan in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry as her and her family fight for race equality and general respect. See? Not too difficult.

I think we innately strive to analyze. I really loved the five critical questions in the Hobbs book that ask things like what lifestyles are represented? Who is the author and what is the purpose? How might different people understand the messages? Really all five of them are brilliant. I think this is such a great starting point for whenever we’re trying to analyze a piece of art and draw meaning from it. I feel like these are universal questions and are a really great way to get the wheels turning, and the questions flowing. I also liked the picture collages in the Seeing & Writing reading this week because it shows students that you can analyze anything. They can make art and take photographs that are worthy of seeing and writing about.