Hoseley, R.A. (ed). (2008). Comic book tattoo, Berkeley: Image Comics. (TOP TEN)

ISBN: 9781582409641

This massive, beautifully illustrated collection of stories is both an ode to the lyrics of Tori Amos and a literary feat in its own right.

Ages: Grades 9-12

Rating: 5Q/5P

Media: Mixed Media

Subjects: Lyric adaptation, Supernatural beings, Love, Death, Isolation

Curricular Connections: Music/Creative Writing/Art. Each story in this massive collection (50 songs/stories) is juxtaposed with the lyrics from the original song. This would be very useful in discussing literary adaptation, composition of a story, etc.

 

Grade: 9-10

 

Subject: Language Arts/ Creative Writing

 

Duration: Two class periods/one homework assignment.

1. Topic-

 

Literary Adaptation

 

 

 

2. Content-

 

Music lyrics, story adaptation, comic strip/graphic novel writing/illustrating, elements of a story, creating storyboards.

 

 

 

3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-

 

a.  Students will be able to recognize story/narrative in a variety of forms.

 

b.  Students will be able to recognize essential and non-essential elements of a story for the purpose of adaptation.

 

c.  Students will know how to outline a short comic book or graphic novel.

ELA Content Standards:

Structural Features of Literature

Articulate the relationship between the expressed purposes and the characteristics of different forms of dramatic literature (e.g., comedy, tragedy, drama, dramatic monologue).

Compare and contrast the presentation of a similar theme or topic across genres to explain how the selection of genre shapes the theme or topic.

 

 

 

4. Objectives-

 

a.  Students will be able to discern the primary narrative/story in a variety of artistic forms.

 

b.  Students will be able to translate the same storyline to different media.

 

c.  Students will understand story structure and create a graphic novel/comic book.

 

 

 

5. Materials and Aids-

 

a.    Comic Book Tattoo edited by Rantz A. Hosseley. Berkeley, CA: Image Comics, 2008.

 

b.    The Insider's Guide To Creating Comics And Graphic Novels by Andy Schmidt. Cincinnati: Impact Books, 2009.

 

c.    A Theory of Adaptation by Linda Hutcheon, New York: Routledge, 2006.

 

d.    Tori Amos Album (such as Beekeeper).

 

e.    Portable CD player.

 

 

6. Procedures/Methods-

 

A. Introduction-

1. The teacher has a basket with slips of paper. Written on each piece of paper is the title of an adapted story, film, etc.

2.  A few students take a piece of paper and read theirs aloud to the class.

3. The teacher asks what all the titles have in common.

 

 

 

B. Development-

 

1. The teacher facilitates a general discussion about adapted materials. Have the students been disappointed by bad movies made from good books? Or, have there been any movies that were better than the books?

2. What makes a good adaptation? The teacher should try to parse out exactly what the students found satisfactory or disappointing about the adaptations discussed.

3. The teacher continues the conversation: What other materials can be adapted to a different media? Just books and film?

 

 

C. Practice-

 

1. The teacher has previously selected a story from Comic Book Tattoo and copied the pages from that story for each student in the class. The teacher asks the students to take a few minutes to read over the story. While the student reads, the teacher puts the corresponding Tori Amos song on a portable CD player, not mentioning any correlation between the story and the song.

2. When the students are done reading the teacher asks for the student’s reaction to the story. The teacher then asks if the students would be surprised to learn that the story they just read is based on the song that was playing.

3. The teacher then passes out the lyrics to the song and facilitates a discussion about how the author of the story translated it to a graphic story.

 

 

D. Independent Practice-

 

1. Each student picks a song of his or her choice. For homework, they pick a story or narrative in the lyrics.

2. Based on this story, the student creates an outline or storyboard of their graphic novel.

3. Each student brings his or her storyboard into class and discusses how they want to adapt their story and workshop and challenges they might be facing. The rest of the class period is spent drawing and writing the final graphic story.

 

 

E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-

 

1. The fusion of different media: text, audio and illustration should allow students with different learning styles to be comfortable finding an assignment that works for them. However, school tutors and learning programs should always be available.

2. Student may have extra time on the assignment.

3. No student is required to share his or her work in class.

 

 

F. Checking for understanding-

 

1. What elements of story did the students choose to adapt? Did the students preserve a linear cohesiveness or did trying to adapt too many details overwhelm them?

2. How successful were the students in modifying story and making it their own creation?

3. How clearly did the students articulate the challenges of adaptation?

 

 

G. Closure-

 

1. Some say there are only a few “original” stories and the rest are adaptations. Do you agree with this?

2. Has this lesson changed your perspective on what can be considered a “story”?

 

 

 

7.  Evaluation-

 

a. Parsing out essential elements of story=35%

b. Sufficiently adapting a story into a “new” product=45%

c. Participation=20%

 

 

 

Content standards retrieved July 15, 2009 from www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/elacontentstnds.pdf

 

km 7/23/09