Jonathan R. Aubin
Drawing Exercise 5
In your sketchbook, create a four–panel comic strip of your day so far.
Share student comic strips.
Discussion questions
What happened in the space between the panels? What objects or people that were a part of this memory did you choose not to include? What events did you leave out? Why did you decide to leave in what you left in?
This should lead to a discussion of selection and emphasis. Explain to students that any writer or artist must choose which details to include and what to leave out. Discuss what makes a detail or episode important? What makes it insignificant?
Create a T–chart titled "Limitations of the Form" with one column marked "Biography" and another "Graphic Novels"
This should end up looking something like this . . .
Read Gabrielle Bell's story, "Hit Me" from
Cecil and Jordan in New York
Discuss: Why did the author choose to write about this event? Can you relate to the author's experiences i.e., have you ever been a bully or been bullied? Explain why/why not? Examine theme of bullying. Why does this make an appropriate theme?
Homework
If someone were to tell the story of your life, what would you want the author to include? For homework, write a one–page summary of your life's accomplishments. List them if you must.
