Unit+Plan+Idea+--+A+Portrait+of+the+Artist+as+a+Young+Man

Unit Plan Idea – //A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man//


 * Joyce, James. //A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man//. New York: Penguin Books, 1999.**

//Background and Unit Rationale// Joyce’s semi-autobiographical novel depicting the childhood and adolescence of aspiring writer Stephen Dedalus is frequently assigned in AP and IB Literature classes and made for one of my most mystifying high school reading experiences. I learned to love the book in college, but, having since watched many high school students struggle with //Portrait//, I think there are a number of entirely valid reasons that students “hate” this book. First, the novel was first published in 1916 and that Stephen’s artistic and personal development occur with several overlapping and, to many students, unfamiliar settings: Ireland during a time of great political and social upheaval, the British/Irish school system, and the Catholic Church, just to name a few. Secondly, the novel is often taught in order to expose students to Joyce’s unique style of prose, a style that is so innovative that it is also difficult to explain and even obscures that plot of the book at times. Students, understandably, tend to get annoyed by, and lost in, the very “style” they’re supposed to be appreciating. This is a shame, because Stephen’s story is so relevant to high school students. Like them, Stephen is struggling to disentangle himself from family, religion, adult expectations, and even nationality, in order to articulate his own identity. If students and teachers studied YA books with similar themes before reading //Portrait//, they might develop touchstones that could help them navigate //Portrait//.

It is probably worth noting that, even it is envisioned for seniors in high school, I would have to get this entire unit pre-approved at the school/district level and through permission slips to students’ families. The YA titles I’m selecting all feature some potentially objectionable material concerning substance abuse and sexuality. While I am not at all uncomfortable discussing such issues with students, given that we know these issues are parts of their lives, I can see how some parents would opt not to have their child participate in such a unit. I continue to find it ironic, however, that //Portrait of the Artist// is an unobjectionable, canonical text given that it features Stephen making a visit to a prostitute, abusing alcohol, etc. My question is: are YA titles that //don’t// somehow incorporate issues of substance abuse and sexuality really going to be engaging, useful and meaningful for older adolescents?

//Thematic Tie-In// During this unit, entitled “Finding Your Voice,” students will consider a number of texts which depict artists-in-development. As they read and respond to these texts, students will explore the ways in which they themselves are in the process of becoming “artists”, defined broadly as people who make creative contributions to the world around them. We will examine how the artists in our texts grow and develop, what contributes to and detracts from their development, and the nature of their and our own creative processes.

//Supplemental YA Works// This book is a collection of poems written by the late rap icon Tupac Shakur during the late 1980s and early 1990s, before he rose to fame. Much like Stephen Dedalus, Shakur seems to be trying to make sense of his troubled surroundings (in Shakur’s case, impoverished, gang-ridden areas of New York and California) through poetry. The book presents a copy of Shakur’s handwritten manuscript for each poem next to a typed version of that poem. Many of Shakur’s manuscripts feature graphical elements, and his poems showcase his early thoughts on material that would later figure prominently in his rap lyrics. This collection pairs nicely with Portrait from the artist development standpoint, as both Stephen and Tupac initially write poems to find their voices and later transition to other, allied art forms as they mature as artists. (Stephen’s real-life analog, James Joyce, becomes a novelist, and Shakur becomes a rapper.) I would probably present this book first, after a discussion during which students would collectively construct a biography of Shakur using their prior knowledge as rap fans and internet research to fill in any gaps. Once the biographical details were assembled, I would introduce this book as a window into Shakur’s mind as a growing artist and human being. We would examine a number of poems together, probably reading each one several times in different voices. (A companion album featuring recordings of these poems by various poets, rappers, actors, and actresses exists and would also be used in this phase of the unit.) This book was constantly checked out from school libraries and from a choice reading cart in one of my classrooms, so I think students are still interested in and fascinated by Shakur’s life and untimely death. With a full picture of Tupac as an artist in their minds, we might be able to transition more easily to talking about Stephen’s similar journey towards artistry, albeit in a different setting and written about in a different style.
 * Shakur, Tupac. //The Rose that Grew from Concrete//. New York: MTV Books/Pocket Books, 1999.**

This book seems like it would strongly appeal to the Guitar Heroes among us. Tom Henderson is a geeky kid who invents a new garage band every five seconds. Tom’s musical creativity is his main coping mechanism as he struggles to get through the usual social torments of high school and to solve the mystery surrounding the death of his father. Tom is compared to Holden Caulfield, who is himself a literary descendant of Stephen Dedalus, in many reviews.
 * Portman, Frank. //King Dork//. New York: Delacorte Press, 2006.**

As I mentioned in my book review, //A Northern Light//’s Mattie Gokey is, like Stephen Dedalus, an aspiring writer. This novel is a useful female counterpoint to //Portrait//, and shows that, in some ways, Mattie is even more constrained by her circumstances than either Stephen Dedalus or Tupac Shakur. Mattie’s possibilities seem limited to becoming a farmer’s wife due to her family’s socioeconomic status and her society’s views about what is “proper” for women. In the end, however, Mattie sees an opening to create a different kind of life – she just isn’t sure she can make the leap.
 * Donnelly, Jennifer. //A Northern Light//. Boston: Graphia, 2004.**

Roz Peterson is the kind of girl who goes out for every school play and seems to be performing her entire life. When she suspects that her sister, Eva, who has recently become more distant, is a lesbian, Roz decides to transform herself into a lesbian in order to get Eva to open up about her sexuality. This comedy of errors culminates in the school drama club’s performance of Shakespeare’s gender-bender, //As You Like It//. Reviews indicate that the book manages to provide laughs and suspense without trivializing teens’ struggles to comprehend, act on, and, ultimately, feel comfortable with their sometimes changeable sexual feelings. Stephen Dedalus’ struggle to understand his sexuality in a repressed Catholic environment is a major theme of //Portrait//, and this book seems like it could serve to open a discussion of sexual identity without putting students off as the more serious tone of //Portrait// often does.
 * Bjorkman, Lauren. //My Invented Life//. New York: Henry Holt, 2009.**

//Response Activities// 1. //Artist’s Notebook// – At the beginning of the unit, I’d give each student a pocket-sized notebook, that I would ask them to keep on them during the entire unit. Artists need material from life with which to work, so this notebook would be intended to help students collect such material. I’d ask students to fill this notebook with quotations from reading, song lyrics, snatches of conversation overheard, sketches of interesting things seen in their travels, notes about dreams, etc. These notebooks could then be used to inspire in-class writing/discussion and to contribute ideas for longer-form writing later in the unit. The overall goal with keeping this type of notebook is to help students have the experience of perceiving the world as artists do.

2. //Making the Nets Concrete// – At the end of //Portrait//, Stephen Dedalus speaks of “flying by the nets” (of family, religion, nationality, etc.) that have held him back from becoming the artist he wants to be. The title poem of Shakur’s collection, “The Rose that Grew from Concrete,” also evokes images of something beautiful growing out of an uglier thing that is holding it down. In this group activity, I’d ask one group of students to visually depict Stephen’s “nets”, one group to visually depict the burdens that are piled upon Shakur’s sidewalk, and a third group to create a depiction of the obstacles a typical student at their high school might face as he or she tried to become an artist. The three groups would present their depictions, and, as a whole class, we would discuss areas of similarity and difference among the depictions. We will also discuss how the “nets” have shaped Stephen, how the “concrete” shaped Shakur and how various obstacles shape us as individuals and, therefore, the ways we look at the world. We will also discuss the relationship between personal obstacles and the creation of art. Can one make art without some sort of struggle?

3. //Literature Circles//: I like to run literature circles wherein students self-direct discussion of YA texts in parallel with the teacher-directed study of a canonical text to provide both relief from the struggle with the canonical text and thematic tie-ins to enrich discussions concerning the canonical text. For this unit, I would book-talk //King Dork//, //A Northern Light//, and //My Invented Life//, solicit student rankings of books, and assign students to groups. I would tell students when the book needed to be completed, the dates available for meeting to talk about the book during class time, and what would be required in terms of final group output. For this project, each group would write a script for and perform a five-ten minute talk show in the style of Oprah, Jerry Springer, Maury, Ellen, etc. that incorporates both characters from the lit. circles book and from //Portrait// and //The Rose that Grew from Concrete//. Students would have three days to discuss the book and two project work days.

At the outset of lit. circles, I would also explain (and model!) the following roles and that each student should rotate through each role during the course of the project: Facilitator, Recorder, Connecter, and Word Wizard. I would then leave the students to sort out the reading schedule and the dates on which particular students would play particular group roles. Students would prepare for lit. circles meetings by reading and generating discussion questions outside of class. Each day’s recorder would file a written report on the group’s discussion and planning for the final output. I would assess by circulating among groups on lit. circles days, by reading the recorders’ reports, and through rubric-based assessment of the final group talk shows.

4. //A Self-Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman or Man// -- The culminating project for this unit would ask students to take what they have come to understand about the nature of art and artists and to reflect upon what these ideas mean for themselves. Using his or her Artist’s Notebook as inspiration, each student would produce one of the following as a depiction of his or her artistic interests, creative process, and any obstacles or aids that have been significant in his or her development as an artist:

a. A detailed visual portrait in the medium of the student’s choice. The portrait should cover an area the size of a standard poster board. The portrait must be accompanied by a gallery card which gives the name of the artist and some brief background on the artist and the piece (approx. 250-500 words). OR

b. Prose or poetry, fiction or non-fiction, presented with a title and illustrated cover page. The prose should fill approximately 4 double-spaced pages. Poetry should consist of at least a collection of 8-10 poems.

c. A one-act play. The play’s script should consist of at least 3 double-spaced pages. A brief description of setting (place and time period), costumes and props should be provided. Illustrations are nice, but not required. The play should have a cover page.

d. A set of 4-5 songs of 2-3 minutes each. These should be composed by the student and recorded on a CD. Lyrics and singing are necessary. Instrumental accompaniment is nice, but not required.

e. A dance performance of 3-4 minutes. This should be choreographed and performed by the student, and should be turned in via USB drive or email file attachment.

f. Propose your own! Meet with me briefly before or after class to discuss any other form of “art” you’d like to produce to meet the requirements of this project. Examples could include fashion, sculpture, a business plan, culinary arts, landscaping, floral arranging, etc.

These projects would be presented via a classroom “coffee house” during class on the final day of the unit.

Unit Plan Idea by: Laura Kane