Jessica Raymer
INFO 237
School Library Media Materials
Shelly Buchanan
Curricular Text Set
INFO 237
School Library Media Materials
Shelly Buchanan
Curricular Text Set
Audience (Grade Level): 7th grade (7th-12th would be applicable)
Anchor Text: The Arrival, by Shaun Tan
Purpose for Set: Understanding of narrative & story. Connecting narrative to oral history and current events. Build visual literacy through visual narrative and artistic expression.
Explanation: This unit could range anywhere from 7th-12th grade, but student should be old enough to at least be starting the process of abstract thought. The Arrival, by Shaun Tan, is the anchor text. All supplementary materials help to perpetuate the concept of narrative, visual literacy, and the parallel between history and current events surrounding immigration.
The text set, and the anchor text in particular, fosters the notion that history is more than a series of facts and statistics; it’s about people and the richness of their stories. Through the combination of the following texts, students will hopefully see how Shaun Tan’s graphic novel reflects both the historical experience of those that came before, and the present truth of immigration unraveling in modern societies today. They will hopefully discern that the lives of historical figures (i.e. Holocaust survivors, or perhaps early immigrants to the US via Ellis Island) may in some way mirror those that live in our current era (i.e. Trump’s travel ban, illegal immigration from Mexico & the greater South American region, or the plight of Syrian refugees etc.).
The anchor text is a text without words, and many students will resist the idea that one can ‘read’ a text made only of pictures. However, if one defines ‘reading’ as the ability to look at and comprehend meaning by mentally interpreting the characters and symbols of which it is composed, then students will definitely read this book. Students will be able to build visual literacy by building the skills necessary to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of images. They will be able to glean information from artistic expression and voice.
There is no set reading level for this text. It is age appropriate if students are able to conceptualize complex ideas, symbols, and expressions told though pictures. Above or below grade level in the realm of traditional reading is more or less irrelevant. Modeling the reading of image-based text may be required for those low in visual literacy.
Anchor Text: The Arrival, by Shaun Tan
Purpose for Set: Understanding of narrative & story. Connecting narrative to oral history and current events. Build visual literacy through visual narrative and artistic expression.
Explanation: This unit could range anywhere from 7th-12th grade, but student should be old enough to at least be starting the process of abstract thought. The Arrival, by Shaun Tan, is the anchor text. All supplementary materials help to perpetuate the concept of narrative, visual literacy, and the parallel between history and current events surrounding immigration.
The text set, and the anchor text in particular, fosters the notion that history is more than a series of facts and statistics; it’s about people and the richness of their stories. Through the combination of the following texts, students will hopefully see how Shaun Tan’s graphic novel reflects both the historical experience of those that came before, and the present truth of immigration unraveling in modern societies today. They will hopefully discern that the lives of historical figures (i.e. Holocaust survivors, or perhaps early immigrants to the US via Ellis Island) may in some way mirror those that live in our current era (i.e. Trump’s travel ban, illegal immigration from Mexico & the greater South American region, or the plight of Syrian refugees etc.).
The anchor text is a text without words, and many students will resist the idea that one can ‘read’ a text made only of pictures. However, if one defines ‘reading’ as the ability to look at and comprehend meaning by mentally interpreting the characters and symbols of which it is composed, then students will definitely read this book. Students will be able to build visual literacy by building the skills necessary to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of images. They will be able to glean information from artistic expression and voice.
There is no set reading level for this text. It is age appropriate if students are able to conceptualize complex ideas, symbols, and expressions told though pictures. Above or below grade level in the realm of traditional reading is more or less irrelevant. Modeling the reading of image-based text may be required for those low in visual literacy.
The Arrival is my anchor text. It is a 128 page graphic novel in picture book form. It has no words and is told in pictures of beautiful sepia and black & white artwork. The graphic novel captures the sense of displacement immigrants must endure while responding to their new surroundings. It depicts the journey of one man as he escapes one country and immigrates to another. The countries are fictional and the only writing is an invented alphabet, which invokes the sensations that immigrants feel when they must confront a new language that they find strange and foreign. The story surrounds this man as he learns to adapt to this new environment. We follow him as he meets new people and forms friendships that help him on his journey. They aid him as he navigates travel in his new city, tries new foods, finds a place to live, gets a job, and begins saving money in order to bring his family to live with him. Through his interactions with others, readers are introduced to a variety people of various ethnicities, ages, genders, and backgrounds. By listening to their experiences and allowing them to guide him, the man learns to adapt to his new home and find contentment. He is able to find happiness in a locale that is built on diversity and freedom. The book is listed as being appropriate for 7th grade and up by the School Library Journal.
The Red Tree is a short picture book by Shaun Tan that may be used to introduce students to the concept of reading an image-based text. It’s a 32 page fable-based picture book that follows a young girl as she proceeds through various landscapes that depict futility and sorrow. However, readers soon realize that on the other side of despair is the possibility of hope and change. It uses subtle symbolism and fantastical dream-like artwork to show its reader the juxtaposition between depression and a new tomorrow. The reader is left feeling captivated and charmed by the use of color and slow transition from one state of mind to the next. The School Library Journal lists it as appropriate for 3rd grade. However, due to the complexity of its more abstract nature, Booklist claims it’s more appropriate for 6th-12th grade. Again, reading level is immaterial, but my personal assessment denotes that even when students may be unable to discern some of the more multifaceted elements of symbolism, they will be able to detect the delicate shift from one state of being (which is steeped in darkness and distress) to another (one of light and renewal).
The Shaun Tan Interview, often called a webcast, is produced by Scholastic and comes in 16 video clips. The interview comes with a printable page available online, complete with questions that all students must answer. The questions are based on Shaun Tan’s response to the same questions regarding his book, The Arrival. Throughout the course of the interview, Shaun Tan discusses: the genesis of his work, his inspiration for making the book, his vision for the graphic novel, the artwork and color scheme, his early motivation to be an artist, what he liked to read growing up, the support of his parents, his own family’s immigrant experience from China to Australia, the creative process involved in making a picture book, and any advice he has for kids interested in becoming artists themselves.
Shaun Tan invents a country for his protagonist to immigrate to; yet, it very closely imitates The Great Hall of Ellis Island where immigrants were processed in the United States. Any image of The Great Hall of Ellis Island between 1907 and 1912 could be used, and many are available through a simple Google search. Simply projecting the image and allowing students to compare and contrast what they see with the image in The Arrival would help students to make comparisons between the fictional world in the book with the real world in which they live. Students would benefit greatly from text-to-world comparison and reflection. This analysis can help students tie immigration to the history of the country they call home, and allow an avenue for teachers to discuss early immigration to the United States, and possibly even let that branch off to current US immigration and the present controversy surrounding it.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a silent film within the horror genre directed by Robert Wiene, written by Hans Janowitz, and Carl Mayer in the 1920s. The story told is that of a crazed hypnotist that commits a series of murders. The style of the film is dark, warped, and strange. It is full of sharp, towering forms, oddly curving lines, and a series of structures that lean and twist in a very unsettling way. There are shadows, bleak landscapes, and odd threads of light. The script was inspired by the experiences of both of the writers and their interactions with the military during World War I. The movie communicates themes of a severe and absurd authority. Dr. Caligari is designed to represent the German government during wartime. And Cesare, a character in the film, is symbolic of the common man who is molded into a soldier and directed to commit violence against his fellow man. It’s supposed to mirror a subconscious need in German society (at the time) for a tyrannical government. It serves as a sort of premonition to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party. The cinematography and storyline parallels many of the oppressed countries depicted in the anchor text.
Similar to The Great Hall of Ellis Island, this film clip displays real footage of Immigrants Landing at Ellis Island. The black and white film depicts people arriving by boat, in clothing of the period, carrying their belongings and venturing forth into the US with their families. The clip opens up the conversation to how immigrants make the voyage to a new land, what trials and tribulations they endure, what barriers they encounter, and how this changes (or never seems to change) over time. Like the previous texts, this clip is without words and relies on the acquisition of visual literacy.
StoryCorps 493: Being Human, There or Here is a podcast that diverts from the visual connection and ventures into a more auditory experience of immigration. Story Corp records personal stories of individuals, creating a collection of oral histories through a wide variety diverse perspectives. This story, in particular, tells the tale of Philip, and Iraqi interpreter, and his problems associated with the US travel ban, his home in Minnesota, his time with the military, and his struggle to reunite with his family, whom he left behind in Iraq.
Comic artists draw out stories from resettled Syrian refuges is a news lip that is a little over 6 minutes long, told through PBS Newshour. It’s about how a Canadian comic book collective is working closely with refugees to help them tell their stories through comic book art. This story focuses on Mohammed Alsalah, who fled from Syria. This clip helps to perpetuate visual literacy by displaying some of the created comic books, which were made in a noble effort to tell immigrant refugee stories. It helps to enable awareness surrounding current events and what it means to be a refugee. Clips like this will help students to develop sympathy and better comprehend the tragedy and danger surrounding geopolitical unrest.
Text Collection: List & Links
- The Arrival, by Shaun Tan (graphic novel/picture book)
- The Red Tree, by Shaun Tan (picture book)
- Shaun Tan Interview, Scholastic Webcast (video clips w/ question worksheet): https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/videos/teaching-content/shaun-tan-interview-1-16/
- Great Hall of Ellis Island [1907-1912] (Image) https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/105201341266152627/
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [1919] YouTube Full Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecowq77Y3C0
- Immigrants Landing at Ellis Island [movie clip] YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bhufeQDRoM&feature=youtu.be
- StoryCorps 493: Being Human, There or Here (podcast) Link: https://storycorps.org/podcast/storycorps-493-being-human-there-or-here/
- Comic artists draw out stories from resettled Syrian refugees [News Clip] Link: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/comic-artists-draw-stories-resettled-syrian-refugees/