It is important to begin a new unit in a way that will stimulate interest and engage the students, particularly those who lack motivation and have met with little success at school. We will begin with the film,
How to Make an American Quilt
, which traces a young woman’s journey home before her wedding to work on a college research project. While she is working on the research, the women in her life (mother, aunt, former domesticnow family friend) are working on a quilt for her wedding. Each of these women tell their stories about love and marriage, as the young woman shares her feelings of uncertainty about her upcoming marriage. Thus, the stories themselves become topics for exploring one’s passage from daughter to wife and the uncertainty one feels when making this monumental decision and transition.
The tradition of quilting is age-old, and is an art form that connects history, culture, tradition, and family. The quilt in the film depicts the stories of each of the quilters. After viewing and discussing stories told by the women in the film, students will work cooperatively to make a “story quilt.”
As examples of the art and for inspiration, I will introduce a book featuring story quilts, “Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold’s French Collection and Other Story Quilts.” This is an excellent collection that will provide a context within which students may connect their work on the class quilt with this important art form and tradition. The book contains many photographs of Ringgold’s work, connecting contemporary art with the African American slave quilt tradition as a means to depict history. First, each student will design one quilt square (using construction paper) that depicts his or her own past, present, and future aspirations, thereby experiencing the “quilting tradition.” Thus, they will begin this unit telling their own stories, represented on the class quilt, displayed in the classroom throughout the course. Then, after reading each story, they will design another quilt square depicting a character from the story. The quilt project will be a collective work in progress, completed at the conclusion of the unit. We will use this film and the art project to introduce the unit and the short story “Everyday Use
,
” by Alice Walker.
