Christine A. Elmore
I have devised a series of thought-provoking questions for each of the four paintings that we will view. I have patterned these questions after those used in
Meet The Masterpieces
. They will fall into two categories: 'First Glance' questions and 'Closer Look' ones. In the first category I ask more open-ended types of questions in an effort to elicit my students' first impressions of what they are seeing before they even think about it. These are followed by the second type of questions and comments where I provide background information, such as when the artist lived and where, what techniques he used, and the ideas or themes detectable in the paintings.
The Night Café
First Glance
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1. What words would you use to describe the mood of the people in this painting?
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2. Look at the painting. Now close your eyes. Which person in this painting do you remember the most? Why?
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3. Name three activities that are happening in this picture.
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4. How many objects in the room can you name?
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5. How does this painting make you feel?
Closer Look
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1. How does Van Gogh make our eyes move around the painting?
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2. Besides color what else helps move our eyes around the painting?
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3. What kind of place is Van Gogh painting?
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4. Can you find the vase of flowers in the room? What might it symbolize?
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5. Who are these people?
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6. Are there any people looking at us?
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7. Which people are closest to you?
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8 What is in the background of this picture?
The Persistence of Memory
First Glance
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1. How many objects can you find in this picture?
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2. What sounds might you hear if you were there?
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3. How does this painting make you feel?
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4. What adjectives would you use to describe this scene?
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5. What would you title this picture?
Closer Look
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1. What objects are in the background?
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2. Is anything moving in this scene?
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3. Is the scene inside or outside? How can you tell?
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4. What is the biggest and boldest shape in this painting?
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5. Is this a realistic painting. Why or why not?
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6. What do you think soft clocks are a symbol of?
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7. What is the background of this picture?
First Steps
First Glance
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1. How many people can you find in this painting?
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2. What are the people in the painting doing?
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3. Are they related?
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4. What sounds might you hear if you were there?
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5. How does this painting make you feel?
Closer Look
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1. Why does the mother look so large?
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2. What is the child learning to do?
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3. Did you notice the two sides of the child's face are different? Cover one side and look at the other. What is the child feeling? Now switch sides. What is the child feeling?
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4. Why do you think Picasso painted the mother and child in a nonrealistic way?
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5. How does Picasso show us the mother's feelings about her child?
Sunlight In A Cafeteria
First Glance
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1. What are the people in the painting doing?
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2. Name the objects you see in this painting.
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3. How does this painting make you feel?
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4. What season of the year might this scene be taking place in?
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5. What would you title this painting?
Closer Look
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1. Are there any shadows in this painting?
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2. Are the people related to each other? How can you tell?
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3. How does the woman feel? How does the man feel?
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4. What objects tell us this is a cafeteria?
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5. How is the room lit?
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6. What shapes do you see in this picture?
At this point, after my students have gained experience in looking extensively at these four paintings, examining their elements and considering thought-provoking questions about them, they are now ready to 'revisit' two of the paintings, The Night Café and Sunlight in a Cafeteria. and compare and contrast them. Lesson Plan II offers a detailed explanation of how I plan to accomplish this.