Illustrating Literature!

I've started to offer extra credit to students for sketching scenes from stories. Students who enjoy creating artwork or illustrations often respond, and many amazing and delightful works can be turned in. Besides the exercising of student artistic creativity and careful analysis of character and scene on the part of the artist, there are other aspects that are enriching for the entire English class and the entire team.

First of all, there is the appreciation factor. Students are impressed by the skills, creativity, vision, effort and care put in by these students. Next, since we are all observing the illustration on the ELMO up on the screen for all to see, or online, perhaps attached to a writing activity, we gather our observations and analysis about the story. I invite and prompt students to share what they see. We have class discussions about the illustration and sometimes capture our observations in writing.

Here's an example by Eva called "Otoonah Abandoned." We have been reading the Alaskan myth "Otoonah." Otoonah is abandoned on the shores of a distant island by her brothers who have convinced their parents that they cannot feed her as well and all survive.

Here are Ivy and Tina's rendition of a scene from "Otoonah," a scene they call "Otoonah Sings Her Gratitude."

Here are Ivy and Tina's rendition of a scene from "Otoonah," a scene they call "Otoonah Not Being Boastful." By this time, Otoonah has grown up considerably. She has survived the winter by learning to hunt for herself.

Here Esme and Jeanne give us a snapshot of what is going on in Matilde's mind in Maupassant's "The Necklace":

Here Eva gives us a visual of Della's gorgeous hair:

Here Ivy and Tina tackle a scene from "The Gift of the Magi."

Here's another example by Ivy and Tina, twins who are on our team this year. We have been reading O. Henry's great short story "The Ransom of Red Chief."

Here's a painting that Riley Phillips did of O. Henry's "Ransom of Red Chief" -- I had students reflect on this painting after we read the story. (Phillips, a freelancer, did this illustration in 2010 for a course called "Illustrating Literature." His website is here.)

Ivy described Riley Phillips illustration of "Ransom of Red Chief":

When Bill and Sam first kidnap Johnny, they think that they will get a huge amount of money from Johnny's father. They were wrong, though. It was Johnny that ends up tormenting them, especially Bill. In the painting drawn by Riley Phillips of "Ransom of the Red Chief," a short story by O. Henry, that torment is evident. The first sign that shows that Johnny has been giving Bill a hard time is his black eye. It's swollen so that it's half shut, and it's a nasty shade of purple. The second piece of evidence is Bill's right leg. Johnny must have damaged it badly because he's wrapping it up with a long strip of bandage, and there's a tight frown on his face. Finally, Bill's right hand is reaching into a small bottle of medicine, or disinfectant. His hand must have been bitten or scractched by Johnny, because he's dipping it in. In the story, Bill was just as tormented by Johnny as the painting says, because in O. Henry's story, Bill had been "pasting court-plaster over the scratches and bruises on his features" too, as the drawing is showing.

The painting that Riley Phillips did also portrays the overall attitude of Bill and Sam towards their predicament with Johnny. It's obvious that they are not very happy about their situation. Sam is looking upwards towards the nighttime sky, as if praying, "Help us survive Johnny." Eyes pointing skyward, he looks desperate. Next, Johnny is jumping up and down, his eyes bright and large, an overlarge, excited grin on his face. Sam and Bill look exactly the opposite. That shows that their attitude towards the ransom is not very optimistic. The very last thing is the fire. Its flames illuminate some parts of the painting, but not all of it. Its noticable that the parts that are illuminated are of Johnny. His face, body, legs, and arms are orange in the light, but if one looks at Bill and Sam, they are shrouded in darkness. Their faces are blue and shaded in the night. That just shows how Johnny is having a much better time than them. Bill and Sam's attitude towards their predicament is dark.

What impresses me is how much she notices in Phillips' illustration! Other students noticed a lot, too, but being an artist certainly trains the eye to see and interpret detail.