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Lesson 1
Literature as Art: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
GRADE LEVEL AND DURATION
(Grade Level 4-5, duration 2- 45 minute class sessions)
THEME
Freedom
GENERAL UNIT GOALS OR ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
What is freedom?
Who is free? Who is not?
What advantages are there to being free?
What symbols are associated with freedom?
GENERAL LESSON OBJECTIVES
This unit of instruction is based upon David Levinthal’s series of photographs called Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This series is based upon the book by Harriet Beecher Stowe called Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In this unit student will explore the theme "freedom" and will:
- Identify a cultural, social or historical event, person or situation that signifies freedom
-Learn about the life and artwork of the artist David Levinthal.
-Interpret and analyze David Levinthal’s artwork Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
-Engage in critical and aesthetic discussions inspired by the artwork that address freedom
as the theme.
-Consider the theme freedom by exploring diverse sources such as literature, music and popular culture.
MATERIALS
TEACHER:
- Reproductions of listed photographs. (slides or prints)
- Slide projector (if slides are used)
- Overhead projector (if transparencies are used)
- Discussion Question Sheet (attached to lesson plan)
- Paper
- copy of the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
STUDENTS:
- Pencils or pens
- Paper
VOCABULARY
Culture: All of the socially conveyable behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human society in a given community.
Freedom: 1. The state of being free. 2. Liberty of a person from slavery or oppression.
3. Political independence. 4. Possession of civil rights.
Intaglio: The art or process of carving a design beneath the surface of a hard metal or stone. The pattern is carved in order to produce a design in relief.
Vignette: An unbordered portrait that shades off into the surrounding color at the edges.
Photogravure: The art or process of printing from an intaglio plate, etched according to a photographic image.
SPECIFIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Upon entering the room, the 4th or 5th grade students will engage in a motivation activity. After the motivational activity, the students will have a discussion about freedom and what it means to each one of them.
2. After the discussion, the students will learn about David Levinthal and the reproductions of his photographs.
3. The students (in groups) are expected to answer questions about the reproductions of Levinthal’s photographs. Through the student discussion the students will learn about freedom and why Levinthal photographed toys in order to get across many different issues of society. The students will then write a paper about the artwork, as if the student were an art critic. The paper will include their interpretations and what they learned about society in the 1800’s. The students will be evaluated based on their participation in class and their ability to follow directions.
STANDARDS OF LEARNING: FOURTH GRADE
4.8 The student will identify positive and negative space in works of art.
4.12 The student will identify the characteristics of cultural diversity in works of contemporary art.
4.16 The student will analyze works of art based on visual properties.
4.17 The student will distinguish among abstract, representational, and non-representational works of art.
4.18 The student will identify and investigate ways that works of art from popular culture reflect the past and how they influence the present.
4.19 The student will support the selection of a work of art using appropriate art vocabulary.
4.21 The student will discuss how personal beliefs influence responses to works of art.
4.22 The student will formulate questions about works of art from past or present
cultures.
STANDARDS OF LEARNING: FIFTH GRADE
5.3 The student will use the elements of art: line shape, form, color, value, texture, and space to express ideas, images and emotions.
5.16 The student will identify the influences of historic events, subject matter, and media in works of art.
5.18 The student will identify and discuss how American historical events influenced
works of art, with emphases on Westward Expansion and the Civil War.
5.21 The student will Discuss an artist’s point of view based on evidence perceived in works of art.
5.23 The student will discuss how criteria used to value art varies over time within the
same culture.
5.24 The student will articulate reasons for establishing preferences among works of art
using appropriate art vocabulary.
ADVANCE ORGANIZER
1. Make photocopies of the attached discussion sheet.
2. Make sure that the slide or overhead projector is available and ready for viewing slides. (provided slides or transparencies are used)
3. If slides are not being used, make sure that prints are properly mounted and large enough to be presented to the students.
4. Make sure all supplies are available and placed in areas where the students can reach them.
5. Arrange the desks so students will be situated in small groups.
6. Write the vocabulary words on the board.
7. Hang the reproductions of David Levinthal’s work around the room.
MOTIVATIONAL ACTIVITY
Make sure that the student desks are placed together in groups of four. Bring in a variety of toys (something that David Levinthal might photograph) and place some of them at each grouping of desks also place 4 pieces of paper and 4 crayons on the table. Once the students are seated and all of their books are out of the way, have the students draw a contour drawing of the toy. They will have 2 minutes to do this. Once that is completed, have the students add the foreground and then the background. The background needs to place the toy in a historical context. This should take no more than 2 more minutes. For the last 6 minutes discuss the significance of the toys and what scenes have been created.
LESSON SEQUENCE
Day 1
1. Have the students sit at their desks and put their things away.
2. The class will begin motivational activity.
3. After the motivational activity, have one of the students pass out the discussion sheet, while you are telling the students that they will be working in groups to answer the questions on the discussion sheet.
4. Have the each group of students discuss their answer to question 1.
(Remember to give sufficient time to answer the question)
5. Choose one student from each group to read their answer.
6. Show the first slide or print Uncle Tom’s Cabin: planning the escape (1999).
7. Allow the students to discuss, in groups, questions 2 and 3. Allow enough time for the students to answer the questions.
8. Ask the students for individual or groups responses to the questions.
-Ask other questions while showing the slides to the students such as:
- What are the stylistic characteristics of this photogravure?
- What elements do you see in the artwork? (line, shape, form, color, texture)
- What is the content of the work? (idea or feeling expressed)
9. Show the second slide or print Uncle Tom’s Cabin: slave market (1999).
10. Allow the students to answer questions 2 and 3, allowing enough time for the students to answer the questions.
11. Ask the students for individual or groups responses to the questions.
- Ask students the questions in step 8.
12. Show the first slide or print Uncle Tom’s Cabin: planning the escape (1999).
13. While students view the reproduction, talk to the students about David Levinthal and his photographs.
- Read the quote "My photographs, like these childhood moments, are miniature worlds. They are small worlds that reflect much larger drama-the world of grown-ups,"
- Through Levinthal’s eyes, these icons of childhood trade their innocence for adult themes. His dolls, soldiers and figurines measure from about one inch high to the size of Barbie.
- David Levinthal uses one of the world’s five operating 20-by-24 inch Polaroid cameras, he sees the toys as more than play things.
- After photographing toys for 26 years, Levinthal has come to believe that toys are society’s way of socializing children. "Toys are not benign", he says matter-of-factly.
- By creating images of toys arranged in specific scenarios, he found a way to visually create a narrative based on artwork, which also critiqued media representations within contemporary culture.
14. Show the second slide or print Uncle Tom’s Cabin: slave market (1999).
15. While students view the reproduction, talk to the students about David Levinthal and his photographs.
- David Levinthal was born in San Francisco, California in 1949. He grew up in the 1950’s, which was the age of play sets. He did not devote himself to his art totally until 1983.
- His work has made a significant contribution to photography by producing a body of work relevant to the first generation of television.
- Levinthal’s subjects are both conventional and cosmic from the pathos of beauty to the horrors of war. His work addresses difficult topics such as racism, and the holocaust and challenges stereotypes, national myths and other culturally ingrained perceptions.
- His work seems on the surface glossy, ordered and even beautiful, its content brings out our most controversial subjects and speaks of our dark history.
16. Allow the students to answer question 4, allowing enough time for the students to answer the questions.
- These photogravures represent narrative episodes from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s
novel, using tin figurines placed in dramatic scenarios.
17. Ask the students for individual or groups responses to the questions.
- These photographs render the silhouettes luminous, with shadows cast on a limited ground plane.
- Behind these simplistic figurines, a deeply receding blackness signifies a more
haunting narrative, a historical past just beyond our reach.
18. Students will return to their class.
DAY 2
19. Once the students have been seated, begin a discussion about freedom and the book called Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
- What is freedom?
- The book called Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written be Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852.
She was born in 1811 and died in 1896. She is best known for writing this book. It
expresses her moral outrage at the institution of slavery and its destructive effects on
both whites and blacks.
- She portrays the evils of slavery especially to the maternal bonds, as mothers dread
the sale of their children. There are friendships made and lost in this book. Tom
makes some very serious choices that cause him his life but he chose that path and
thereby created his own kind of freedom. This book is filled with icons of freedom.
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written soon after the passage of Fugitive Slave Act of 1850,
which granted Southerners the right to pursue fugitive slaves into free states. She
created unforgettable characters who portrayed the inhumanity of Slavery and the
corrupting influence this "peculiar institution" had upon the whole nation.
- The success of Uncle Tom’s Cabin stemmed largely from its status as an icon of the
abolitionist movement.
20. The students will write a paper about the artwork, as if the student were an art critic.
The paper should include their interpretations and what they have learned about the
society in the 1800’s.
CLOSURE
The teacher will lead a discussion about what they learned about freedom and slavery.
The teacher will collect the papers from each before class is dismissed.
TRANSITION
The teacher will inform the students that their next lesson will have the same artist but will have a different theme and different artwork.
EVALUATION
STUDENT: Use a scale of one (1) to five (5), one being needs improvement and five being excellent.
- Did the student participate in class discussions?
- Did the student follow directions and observe the class rules in the lesson guides?
TEACHER:
Was the classroom setup effectively? If not, what needs to be changed?
Did the students understand the lesson objectives and activities? It not, what change in the lesson needs to take place?
MOTIFICATIONS
For a visually impaired student, he/she will be given the same assignment, but may need to verbally express ideas about freedom. This student will also be able to participate in the discussion by listening to the description of David Levinthal’s artwork.
REFERENCES http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0406/017164a_print.html
http://www.landfallpress.com/levinthal.htm
http://www.eyestorm.com
http://www.online-literature.com/stowe/uncletom
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blstowe.htm
Board of Education, Commonwealth of Virginia. Visual Arts Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools. May 2000.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What is your concept of freedom?
2. What do you see?
3. What does it mean?
4. How do you know?
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