Nobody Particular: One Woman’s Fight to Save the Bays, The Diane Wilson Story by Molly Bang. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2005.

 

ISBN:1-931498-94-6

 

 

 

Molly Bang recounts the story of Texas shrimper Diane Wilson, an ordinary woman who took extraordinary action to fight against the corruptions polluting her community’s bay.

 

 

 

Media: gouache, photos, black and white ink

 

 

 

Rating: 4Q/5P

 

 

 

Posted by LA 4/6/8

 

 

  Nobody Particular: One Woman's Fight to Save the Bays by Molly Bang. New York: Henry Holt, 2001. ISBN 0-8050-5396-4.

 

 

 

Diane Wilson is a working-class shrimper and mom as she watches her livelihood die off.  Determined to get to the bottom of the declining shrimp population, she is compelled to enter the world of environmental activism.

 

 

Multi-media illustrations (from inside front cover): Color borders done in gouche, black and white interior illustrations a mix of photos taken in Texas and drawings in India ink and white paint with patterned overlays. Newspaper clippings and photographs. 

 

 

        Curriculum Connections

        English/Language Arts

        Biographies/Autobiographies/Memoirs

            Science

             Women's History

 

Literary Concept:

Repetition and theme:

 

 

Molly Bang uses the thematic concept of a “nobody”…a person who is “insignificant” in academic, corporate, or popular culture, as an every-person who is an instrument of great change (and a compass for what we are all capable of).  The word(s) “nobody” or “nobody particular” repeats throughout the book, the dramatized narrative of which is done by subject Diane Wilson.

 

 

(Pages not numbered)

·         Now I’m nobody particular-just a shrimper and a momma- no education, no money, no clout.  How can a nobody make these corporations quit dumping their poisons on  us?

 

 

 

·         Now, what does somebody with no clout or money do to stop the destruction of these bays?  Well, I might be a nobody, but I’m all I’ve got.  So I do what I always do when I’m stuck-I read.  Gotta start somewhere.

 

 

 

·         It’s against the law, they don’t have permits, and nobody’s stoppin’ ‘em!

 

 

 

·         I’m still for sinking the boat, but nobody’ll tow me now. 

 

 

 

·         July 3, 1994-The Formosa representative drives out to my house and asks me to sign the agreement on the hood of his pink Cadillac.  Sure.  I’ll sign it anywhere.  I’m not particular.  

 

 

 

Furthermore, Diane’s occupation as a shrimper, a working class woman is repeated.  The shrimp itself are symbolic…something that is one of the smallest of the fishing industry’s products…something that is so small but that ultimately denotes a huge environmental issue.  These aspect reinforce the theme of everyday activism.

 

 

 

Diane Mahan

Partington 267 Spring 2008

Molly Bang’s Nobody Particular

 

Loree Griffin Burn’s Tracking Trash

 

Science (Project-Based Learning Model)

 

 

Project Based Learning

 

 

 

The book Tracking Trash follows a group of scientists as they go through the scientific method of exploring evidence, creating a hypothesis, testing theories, and making conclusions based on these theories.  After discovering Nike shoes on different shorelines, scientists were able to make predictions about the role currents play in ocean rubbish.

 

 

Tracking Trash addresses one of the most prominent environmental concerns of the 21^st century: the increased use and waste of non-biodegradable resources.  Many communities in the United States are seeing increased pollution due to dependency on these kinds of resources.  To counter these effects, many citizens are proposing programs to address environmental concerns in creative yet practical ways.

 

 

Nobody Particular examines the impact one citizen had on environmental reform.  It shows the process in which an ordinary citizen must go through in order to create change.

 

 

Following a project-based learning model, students will break into groups and identify a local environmental issue and create proposals for positive solutions.  A true project-based learning model has the students do it...and that is the key to this lesson.

 

 

In a small group, students will:

 

 

Step One: Identify the Problem

 

 

 

·         Brainstorm environmental concerns from a variety of communities.  This means local (literally their neighborhood or school), or global (in the United States or world wide).

·         Choose an issue.

 

 

Step Two: Research

 

 

 

• Observe first hand the problem
• Research from an online database
• Research from print materials
• Interview a stakeholder-this is a community member that has more information or influence than the student

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step Three: Proposal

 

 

 

• Create a proposal that includes steps to remedy the problem.

 

 

Step Four: Present

 

 

 

• Present findings to stakeholders and community members. Include in the presentation:
  • Description of the problem
  • Facts/findings/statistics from the research
  • Proposal for change
  • Time line for progress

 

 

Step Five: Do It

 

 

 

• Students will begin the project.
• Students will keep track of work in logs.
• Meet and assess….what does the data show us?
• Predict problems and anticipate solutions
• Continue the cycle of working, assessing, reflecting, and applying

 

 

Step Six: Assess

 

 

 

• When timeline completes (or at the end of the year), students assess: was this program successful?
• Analyze: What was the data before, what is the data now?
• Synthesize: What was successful, and what are the next steps?

 

 

Step Seven: Present

 

 

 

• Present the reflection of the project.  This presentation piece is critical in keeping with accountability. 
• Repeat!  A great service learning project continues past the class that started it…it is one of the hallmarks of a successful project. 

 

 

 

 

(DM 4.28.08)

 

 

 

Bang, Molly (2000). Nobody Particular, One Woman’s Fight to Save the Bays. New York:  Henry Holt and Company. ISBN:  0-8050-5396-4. 

Diane Wilson is part of generations of shrimpers in East Texas.  When she discovers that the chemical plants near her house are polluting the waters, she reads, studies and investigates how this is happening.  She becomes an environmental activist where she fights her community, the government and the chemical plants to make a difference. 

 

The black and white illustrations were done in India ink and white paint and are the story of Diane Wilson.  The colored illustrations are primarily in blues and greens and are done in gouache. They surround the black and white illustrations and represent the ecological history of the Texas gulf.  

 

Rating:  5Q/3P

 

 

Curriculum Use:

 

Women’s Study:  Women’s History Month  

 

Environment  

 

American History

 

 

MWood 

 

 

 

Bang, M. (2000) Nobody particular: one woman's fight to save the bays. New York:  Holt.

 

Artwork: Mixed-media collage

 

ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-5396-8

 

In this true story, Texas shrimper Diane Wilson, a self-described “nobody particular,” comes to the realization that local industry has made her area one of the most polluted counties in the country, launching her on a mission of environmental activism far more arduous and costly than she thought she could endure.

 

Subjects: Environmental activism; Water pollution

 

Theme: Desperate times call for desperate measures, especially when you are fighting for your children’s future.

 

Categories: Non-fiction; Graphic Novel

 

Age Level Recommendation: High School

 

Rating: 4Q/3P 

AAS 5-4-08