Topic: BERTRILLONESQUE ROGUES’ GALLERY
Objective:
Students will create a rogues’ gallery in the tradition of the Bertrillon system. Alphonse Bertrillon (French anthropologist) designed this system for keeping records of photographs, physical measurements and peculiarities of known criminals. (There is mention of the Bertrillon system in the “Detectives & Devices” section of this unit plan which appears earlier on.)
Method:
Students will select villainous characters from any one of the stories that have been presented in class. They may also invent villains if they wish. They will use the clustering method and their clue sheets to work out various aspects of their characters. They will also list the sequence of events involved with the caper or crime the character was responsible for. For each event on their list, they will cluster for more detailed ideas. They will use their cluster work to begin writing vignettes. Part of the pruning process will be involved in finding a common thread to string the vignettes together. From their vignette work, they will write sensational news stories.
Students will also work with some signature costume pieces, props, and makeup, and will do themselves up as their characters might appear. A photo session will take place, and mug shots as well as action shots, will be taken. From their preparatory work, they will design a newspaper and bulletin board display.
Presentation:
Storytelling techniques are reviewed for the students, and the Bertrillonesque Rogue’s Gallery project is introduced.
Application:
Students select or invent a character, and begin the clustering and vignette work for characterizations and plots. Before they write their news stories, they will fill out a rogues’ gallery description sheet that will include information about their character—physical measurements and peculiarities. They will continue to write their stories, and upon completion, they will work with the teacher to edit them. These activities should take one or two class sessions.
Students will bring in costume pieces from home (a scarf, a tie, a hat, costume jewelry, etc.), and will also be offered costume pieces in class. After they have decided upon their costumes, they will begin to work with stage makeup, and will be offered instruction in this area as well. Once in makeup and costumes, students will prepare themselves for the photo session by practicing facial expressions in front of a mirror. They will be coached to stay in character, and look as ferocious or as sly as the character would. Mug shots are then photographed. Next students will work out tableaus for action shots. For each mug shot that is taken, students will write the character’s name and an epithet; for each action shot that is taken, captions will be written. (These activities should take one or two sessions also).
After all the preparation work has been completed, students will be given their stories back (typed in columns and including headlines). Their action shots and captions will also be returned. The class will then work together on laying out a newspaper. Since probably no more than two stories will fit on an 8-1/2” x 11” page, students will initially work in pairs. Later the class will work together to sort out the details. After the layout work is completed, students can either paste up the articles and pictures, or the teacher (or perhaps a student) can make revisions, and put the paper together on a desk-top publishing program (photos can be either scanned or pasted on to the finished layout). These activities should take one or two sessions.
By the last session, students will receive copies of their newspaper. The newspaper will also have also been enlarged on a copier so that each 8-1/2” x 11” page will be blown up to fit an 11” x 17” sheet (approximately 130% enlargement setting; a “photo” setting should be used on the copier in order to get clearer copies.) In addition, students will be given back their rogues’ gallery description sheets (typed and printed on color cardstock) and their mug shots. (Epithets will be included on the cardstock sheets.) Their final task is to decorate the bulletin board using the enlarged newspaper sheets, mug shots and description cards. They may add other decorative features as they wish.
Evaluation
he final products of the activities above will be reviewed and critiqued by the class. Students who experience difficulty with any of the activities, will be given extra attention to get them back on task. Copies of the newspaper will also be given to teachers and administrators for their critique and comments.
Notes:
Various equipment and materials are needed for the activities: a typewriter, word processor, or computer with desk-top publishing capabilities; photocopying equipment (with enlarging and photograph copying features); a camera (black and white film); costume pieces, stage makeup, and props.
The detectives who have appeared in this curriculum unit hail from many places around the world. Most of the golden age detectives have come from Europe—Sherlock Holmes (British), Dupin and Poirot (French), and, of course, Oedipus (albeit, another golden age), Greek. A modern-day African-American detective has been shown in “The Star Chamber” movie at the beginning of the unit. Caine, the Sholin priest in “Kung Fu, The Legend Continues,” is Eurasian, Columbo is Italian, and there have been some virtual reality-type villains presented in “Star Trek, The Next Generation,” who were subdued with the help of an extraterrestrial, Worf, from Klingon.
Culture has made an impact on crime fiction throughout the last century. The cultural influences due to the industrial age (previously mentioned in “Detectives & Devices”) created various types of detectives. Economic and political awareness in the last few decades have cleared the path for an even more diverse group of sleuths to include people of various races, more women, and physically challenged folks. Also, as technology continued to shrink the world, a global consciousness emerged, putting the responsibility on industrialized nations to better understand their struggling neighbors as well as themselves. Detective fiction depicts this consciousness by painting political landscapes as backgrounds in its storytelling such as in Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins (post World War II African-American veteran turned detective) mysteries, Tony Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee (Navajo detectives) stories, and James McClure’s South African detectives, Tromp Kramer (Afrikaner) and Mickey Zondi (Bantu) mysteries.
Students will be introduced to this diversity in detective fiction through character studies, film, and reading (books, synopses, and excerpted material). They will also explore the various facets of race and culture—what factors (inherited and anthropological) determine race; what factors make up a culture (environment, technology, beliefs). In exploring contemporary crime fiction, certain societal issues will arise such as the issues of street violence and teenage pregnancy as they are presented in Robert B. Parker’s book, “Double Deuce,” which students will read excerpts from.
It is not unheard of for a middle school child to attend a funeral of a sibling or close friend about his or her age. Cause of death: murder. It is also not unheard of and is becoming less uncommon for middle school children to be exposed to an increasingly pervasive drug subculture. Presently the Aids epidemic is taking its toll largely on the adolescent population, and while contracting a disease is not considered a crime, promiscuity among teens and preteens resulting in this deadly illness bodes poorly for societal and familial values. This does not appear to be the user-friendly world many of us dreamed about our children inheriting.
In Paul Fry’s introductory talk on the “Gender, Race, and Region in Detective Fiction” seminar series he discussed the difference between crime fiction and the judicial system. Where in the detective novel one can expect a sense of fair play and that justice will be served, real-life justice doesn’t necessarily make the same guarantees. In what could be considered today’s defense law model, the defense attorney’s mission can include obfuscating the conventions of logic by challenging appearances—what seems to be simply isn’t, e.g., Claus Von Bülow—and adulterating the purity of deductive reasoning with social issues—what seems to be is, but. . ., e.g., Lorena Bobbit. In crime fiction we usually find out “who done it,” and the villain pays retribution of some sort. In real-life, we have our doubts, reasonable or not, and the maxim “crime doesn’t pay” becomes questionable.
I find that today’s middle school students are far more grown up than I had expected, and there appears to be an unspoken demand for relevance that I believe is expressed in their behavior: To the degree that the subject is relevant to their lives, they listen; to the degree that it’s not, they either tune out or act out. Therefore, what may seem like a disruptive classroom can also be a show of integrity. Students are quite aware of real-life crime—from white-collar hackers bootlegging software to inner-city gang wetwork—which has led me to wonder if I, as a teacher, can be so presumptuous as to promote the ideals of moral responsibility and problem solving inherent in the crime fiction genre to students who are trying to survive the real thing either directly or indirectly on a daily basis. But presumptuousness notwithstanding, the genre is eminently relevant to the world students perceive around themselves, and can be instrumental in defining and redefining value systems based on logic, reason, and responsibility that will ultimately serve to empower them.
Detective stories, both ancient and new, employ basic Aristolian principles in their telling. Since its golden age, crime fiction devices have not changed very much. The characters are more diverse, the sealed room has gotten a little trickier, murder weapons more sophisticated, motives perhaps more abstract and intricate, but the formula still holds true. The innocent raise suspicions, the guilty appear innocent, the protagonist has a strong moral base and usually an endearing foible or two (even rogues have their redeeming qualities), the villain is brought to justice, and overall, there is a sense of fair play. The texture of these stories—the sensory awareness of their milieu—creates for the reader a cultural subtext. As more cultures become represented in detective fiction—a genre whose final outcome is justice—the reader can enjoy this medium, not only for its mysterious content, but for the intimate connections it makes with the world, its peoples, their triumphs and defeats, their values and hopes.
MATERIALS
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* 18” x 24” chart showing the right and left hemispheres of the brain and their respective characteristics. (The brain can be drawn or copied from Gray’s Anatomy and enlarged.
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-Right Hemisphere: aesthetic, generative, global focus, qualitative patterning, imagistic, rhythmic, metaphorical, interpretive
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-Left Hemisphere: logical, aesthetic-analytical; local focus, literal, explanatory, precise
* Large sheets of corrugated cardboard for simple set designs
* Simple costume pieces: hats, ties, strips of fabric, costume jewelry
* Simple props: gavel, and fake weapons
* Gift wrapping supplies (for bulletin board displays)
* Color cardstock (8-1/2” X 11” sheets)
* Stage makeup
* Color marking pens
