Pamela J. Greene
This project can be used at the end of a unit on autobiography or at any time during the year. This project integrates reading, writing and photography through autobiography. The text that will be used is The
Sweet Flypaper of Life
by Roy DeCarava and Langston Hughes. After handing out the book ask students to consider the meaning of the title as they are reading.
Day 1 Introduce Langston Hughes to students. See background information in lesson plan 2. Read
The Sweet Flypaper of Life
. For the first five to ten minutes allow the students to quietly flip through the book. This book is a compilation of photographs taken by Mr. DeCarava with a narrative written by Langston Hughes. The voice that Hughes uses is that of an older black woman living in Harlem who is taken ill and talks to God about not being ready to die yet because she has too many people depending on her. Read the story aloud with your students. Encourage them to spend time looking at the photographs and talking about whatever comes to mind. The images in this book are very powerful and the text is poignant. After the reading ask each student to write his impressions.
Day 2 Ask students to share what they have written from Day 1. Discuss how photographs interact in the autobiographical act. Talk about the different way we feel when we read about a person as opposed to looking at a series of pictures of that person. Tell the students that their project will be to choose one or more photographs of themselves that will become the focal point of a collage. They should bring the photographs in within the next few days. Time in class will initially be spent viewing the photographs with the class or in small groups. The students will write about the feelings they have when they look back at the pictures. After proofreading with the teacher, the student will mount his photograph(s) and writing. Encourage them to use any other medium of self expression that they feel would enhance their collage. The goal of the finished product should be to give the viewer an immediate and compelling sense of the author. State this goal and discuss it with your students at the beginning of the unit. The writing, photographs, and any other material they choose should mesh together to form a piece that states something special about them to anyone who views the collage.