In this unit, there are several key areas of understanding the instructor must feel comfortable with before executing the core components of the unit. In this unit, students will be using object-based writing and object study in order to enhance their understanding of writing with detail. A smaller core goal is to develop a stronger sense of symbolism through object study. Students will be demonstrating their understanding through journaling, object biographies, and the creation of a visual representation of the key symbol from Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street, the house itself.
Definition of Text Types & Material
In the language arts classroom, text is traditionally a book, a short story, a play, or some other form of paper-based or digital work that includes writing developed with a purpose in mind. For many students, traditional text can be overwhelming as a starting place for literary analysis as they are asked often to comprehend and analyze at the same time. From my experience as a public-school educator for over a decade, the introduction of less word-heavy text allows students of all ability levels more equitable access to learning skill. I find my students engage more in this style of learning than when I don’t use visuals. I would now like to take it one step further.
For the purpose of this unit, it will be important to distinguish between three categories of material: (a) images, (b) video, and (c) objects. Images are a visual representation of an object that can be either presented to someone digitally or as an actual photograph. When images are combined together involving motion, then it becomes video. When the image becomes tangible, then it crosses over into the space of being object. This means the study of physical images (photographs) and the study of digital images (photographs) become two separate, though related, procedures. Both are a good way to start the process of examining non-traditional text.
Material culture is comprised of physical objects that are often observed as artifacts. Material culture is made up these artifacts and the value that we associate with these objects. Material culture uses the objects themselves as primary sources for study. It is connected to other fields of study, such as art history, but it is not just art. It is a tenet of material culture theory that humans shape material in the way they do to reflect the values of their culture. In studying material, the researcher studies the beliefs and expressions of a people.2
Object Writing
Poet Pat Pattison believes that one of the best ways to generate ideas is through object writing. In object writing, the student chooses an object and focuses on their reaction to the material through their five senses: sight, touch, smell, taste, and sound. By engaging in all five senses, the writer moves past just the physical description and into much deeper layers of understanding. For this process, Pattison suggests that the writer only engage in this work for about ten minutes and encourages free writing.3
In Jennifer Stanchfield’s work with objects in the classroom, she emphasizes the importance of student choice in choosing objects that are used to engage in intellectual work.4 This can easily be applied to Pattison’s object writing. Stanchfield cites the research of Willis to suggest the correlation between picture, symbols, and metaphors in enhanced learning.5 Additionally, student choice allows the student to be more engaged in the process of their learning, which pushes the classroom from teacher-centered to student-centered.
In considering my students, I would add a graphic organizer after the free writing, involving all five senses to encourage students to see an object from many dimensions. From there, students can engage in their pre-writing (the free write) and their planning (the Object Study Process graphic organizer) to engage in much deeper, more meaningful writing.
Pattison also suggests that by doing this early in the morning it activates a writer’s brain in a way that will trigger deeper thought throughout the day.6 For the purpose of this unit, it would be smart to consider practicing object writing over the course of multiple days. In terms of my personal teaching schedule, I have hour-long classes, so I have the flexibility of providing ten minutes, but I would suggest that starting off at ten and reducing down to five might be more practical in certain settings, especially if repetition leads to students actively engaging in more senses without the need of a graphic organizer.
Object Analysis
For this unit, students will be using a modified form of Jules Prown’s method of examining material culture. It is important to acknowledge that shifts need to be made to make this an appropriate approach for students in a middle school language arts class. For the purposes of drawing individual conclusions, I will include Prown’s unfiltered methodology, followed by a brief description of the modifications made. I will go deeper into an explanation of the filtered theory in the lessons section of this unit.
In his work, Prown develops a methodology for examining material culture as the need for such a concept arose after years of academic inquiry. Prown describes the connection between object study and the extraction of cultural values and beliefs. In studying objects, people are able to determine how values are expressed by the individuals in a given culture, while also being able to consider the implications of contradictions and complements to what can be found in literature from the culture. In Prown’s three-step approach, an individual is to examine an artifact to determine what the senses tell us about the object, what the response of the individual to the object is, and what the purpose of the object may be. Each stage comes with several layers of inquiry.7
Prown’s Description, Deduction, and Speculation
In the first stage, description, the researcher considers substantial and formal analysis, in addition to content, without providing opinion. In the first layer of the process, (1) substantial analysis, one should consider what the item looks, feels, sounds, and smells like, what material is used in construction of the object, and how it is constructed. In the second layer, (2) content, the researcher considers what designs are used on the object. In the third layer, (3) formal analysis investigates the shape of the objects.8 After all three steps have been completed, the researcher moves on to the next stage.
In the second stage, deduction, the researcher considers their own relationship to the object by keeping in mind sensory and intellectual engagement as well as emotional response. At the level of sensory engagement, the researcher considers what the physical sensation is of engaging with the object, touching a physical artifact or viewing a picture. During the next level, intellectual engagement, the researcher considers the function of the object by determining what it can do. At the final layer, emotional response, a researcher considers what feeling develops within them upon engaging with the object.9
In the third stage, speculation, the researcher considers what the object could be. With theories and hypotheses, the researcher considers all previous data and determines the possibilities surrounding the object. In program of research, the researcher develops questions that still remain about the object and the steps to determine answers.10
Prown’s Approach with Consideration of a Middle School Audience
Image 1: The Object Study graphic organizer
To make this more accessible to students, it was important to identify the critical areas of Prown’s approach that were most adaptable and applicable to middle school students studying symbolism and writing. For this, the three areas were maintained and used to develop a graphic organizer seen above.
In the first stage, the student will still examine the object with at least one to two of their senses. By the end of the unit, students should be able to identify elements of at least 2 to 3 senses. For constructions, students would work to identify at least 1 or 2 of the categories: materials, design/images, and shape. By the end of the unit, they should be able to complete all three.
In the second level, the student would be able to engage by answering the two questions. When considering which senses they engaged the most with, I will encourage students to consider what they wrote the most about. For the second question, the purpose of the object can be explored deeper once the students have a better understanding of symbolism. Instead of asking what the purpose of this object is, I will ask why the object was chosen as a symbol.
In the final level, students will be encouraged to consider what questions they have about an object. Students should start to question the object, but this is a higher-level skill that could take time and may not always be relevant to the work being done in individual assignments.
Symbolism
Symbolism is the concept where an object is used as an expression for something more, typically a deeper meaning. In creating a symbol, the writer is expanding an image beyond its literal meaning.11 In this way, symbolism helps to create context.12 Symbols can have one or more meanings and are developed through emphasis, repetition, and/or position.13 Symbolism can be used to add emotion, develop themes, define characters, and add imagery.14 Colors can be symbolic of such things as emotions. 15
There are many ways to categorize symbols.16 Three of the major types of symbolism are religious, romantic, and emotional symbolism.17 In addition, some symbols are contextual and some are universal. Contextual symbols exist within the space of a singular text, whereas universal symbols repeat across texts and over time. Symbols can also be culturally specific, relating to a particular tradition among a group of people, such as the shamrock for luck among the Irish. There may also be symbolic characters who are often related to the text’s main idea or theme. 18
