Explore a Big Idea
The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver (2009)
Readers will explore the big ideas...
Home and Identity.
Essential Questions
Background Knowledge: What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
Discussion Questions
Dramatization
Students should note the elements Frida uses to reflect her home and its contribution to her identity in her portraits. Students should create a portrait that demonstrates the ways their home has influenced their own identities. This could be a broader interpretation of the idea of a portrait if they choose.
Quotes
"'A story is like a painting, Sóli. It doesn't have to look like what you see out the window.'" (p. 197)
"But it's a strange point to argue for an artist whose paintings are rants and confessions. Without regrets and jealousies, she would have a blank canvas." (p. 199)
"'I think an artist has to tell the truth,' she said finally. 'You have to use the craft very well and have a lot of discipline for it, but mostly to be a good artist you have to know something that's true . . . They can paint a perfect tree, a perfect face, whatever you ask. But they don't know enough about life to fill a thimble. And that's what has to go in the painting. Otherwise, why look at it?" (p. 199)
"Everything with her is an artful project, flowers laid out on a table, even her own self destruction." (p. 217)
Home and Identity.
Essential Questions
- What makes a home?
- How does art reflect identity?
- How do we form identity?
- What role to artists play in society?
- What purpose does art serve?
- Why do artists make art?
- How does a home affect identity?
Background Knowledge: What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
- Brief knowledge of the Mexican Revolution (big ideas, outcomes)
- Brief knowledge of Red Scare in America during the 1950s
Discussion Questions
- Why did Frida Kahlo place so much importance on her appearance?
- Why did Frida Kahlo dress in native clothing?
- To what extent is Frida Kahlo's work surrealist?
- Why were surrealist paintings considered unAmerican in the 1950s?
- What is the significance of the title?
- Where was Frida Kahlo's home?
- Where was Harrison's home?
- Why did Diego Rivera paint his murals?
- How do the artworks of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera communicate ideas of identity and home?
- How did the identities of Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Harrison change throughout the novel?
Dramatization
Students should note the elements Frida uses to reflect her home and its contribution to her identity in her portraits. Students should create a portrait that demonstrates the ways their home has influenced their own identities. This could be a broader interpretation of the idea of a portrait if they choose.
- Students will examine the ways their home has contributed to their personal identity.
- Students will use composition and observational drawing to represent home in a self portrait.
Quotes
"'A story is like a painting, Sóli. It doesn't have to look like what you see out the window.'" (p. 197)
"But it's a strange point to argue for an artist whose paintings are rants and confessions. Without regrets and jealousies, she would have a blank canvas." (p. 199)
"'I think an artist has to tell the truth,' she said finally. 'You have to use the craft very well and have a lot of discipline for it, but mostly to be a good artist you have to know something that's true . . . They can paint a perfect tree, a perfect face, whatever you ask. But they don't know enough about life to fill a thimble. And that's what has to go in the painting. Otherwise, why look at it?" (p. 199)
"Everything with her is an artful project, flowers laid out on a table, even her own self destruction." (p. 217)
Strapless, Deborah Davis (2003)
Readers will explore the big ideas...
Beauty and Identity.
Essential Questions
Background Knowledge: What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
Discussion Questions
Dramatization- Commission an Idealized Portrait
An image can make or break your social identity. Amelie was careful to choose an artist for her portrait that would represent her as an ideal beauty, thus propelling her upwards in the ranks of society. Students should take on this role by "commissioning" a portrait from a known artist they believe will capture their identity through idealized portraiture. Which artist (throughout history or today) would best represent them in a way that would improve their social identity?
Notable Quotes
"Madame X, I discovered, is more than an artful depiction of a nineteenth century woman. It is a record of a brilliant and misunderstood artist's collaboration with his extraordinary model." (p. 2)
"She understood that she must choose the creator of her first major portrait with great care, for it would be examined closely by admirers and detractors. Selecting a painter for a portrait was an important personal decision, as important as wearing flattering clothes or arriving with the proper escort." (p. 59)
"Among the many candidates to consider, Amelie would not entrust her image to anyone until she was sure he was capable of creating a masterpiece." (p. 59)
"A generalized depiction of a face - a vague rendering of features and coloring - would never do. Even early portraits, however primitively rendered, had to emphasize a subject's individuality." (p. 77)
"Sargent would have to learn to paint emotionally as well as intellecutally, using his brush to capture that ptentcy as well as his own reaction to it." (p. 117)
"Either way, the portraits mocked her. With those images in circulation, she would always be competing with herself." (p. 213)
"In Madame X, Sargent's greatest psychological portrait, he revealed the unattainable beauty and self-destructive narcissism of both the woman and the decadent society she embodied." (p. 255)
Other Notable Items
Beauty and Identity.
Essential Questions
- What is beauty?
- How do we determine what is beautiful?
- What is a portrait?
- How do we form identity?
- How does art reflect identity?
- What purpose(s) do portraits serve?
- What role do artists play in society?
- What makes a successful artist?
Background Knowledge: What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
- Students should know what Madame X looks like.
- This novel introduces the background knowledge to provide context for the story.
Discussion Questions
- The author portrays 19th century Paris as a culture obsessed with beauty and image. What similarities do you see in our society today?
- What was considered beautiful in 19th century paris? How is this different from what we consider beautiful today?
- What made Amelie beautiful?
- In what ways was Amelie's identity constructed?
- Why did Sargent want to paint Amelie's portrait?
- How did Sargent capture Amelie's identity in her portrait?
- Debate the advantages and disadvantages of an idealized portrait.
- How did Amelie's identity change after Madame X was exhibited at the Salon?
- How did Sargent's identity as an artist change throughout his life?
- To what extent did her obsession with beauty and social identity contribute to Amelie's downfall?
- What affect does the title have on the woman in the portrait?
- How has the identity of the painting, Madame X, changed over the years?
- Celebrities have posed in photographs appropriating Madame X. What statements are they trying to make about their identity by doing this?
Dramatization- Commission an Idealized Portrait
An image can make or break your social identity. Amelie was careful to choose an artist for her portrait that would represent her as an ideal beauty, thus propelling her upwards in the ranks of society. Students should take on this role by "commissioning" a portrait from a known artist they believe will capture their identity through idealized portraiture. Which artist (throughout history or today) would best represent them in a way that would improve their social identity?
- Students will research the portraiture of artists throughout history.
- Students will examine their conceptions of personal identity and their ideals of beauty.
- Students will make judgments about artwork.
Notable Quotes
"Madame X, I discovered, is more than an artful depiction of a nineteenth century woman. It is a record of a brilliant and misunderstood artist's collaboration with his extraordinary model." (p. 2)
"She understood that she must choose the creator of her first major portrait with great care, for it would be examined closely by admirers and detractors. Selecting a painter for a portrait was an important personal decision, as important as wearing flattering clothes or arriving with the proper escort." (p. 59)
"Among the many candidates to consider, Amelie would not entrust her image to anyone until she was sure he was capable of creating a masterpiece." (p. 59)
"A generalized depiction of a face - a vague rendering of features and coloring - would never do. Even early portraits, however primitively rendered, had to emphasize a subject's individuality." (p. 77)
"Sargent would have to learn to paint emotionally as well as intellecutally, using his brush to capture that ptentcy as well as his own reaction to it." (p. 117)
"Either way, the portraits mocked her. With those images in circulation, she would always be competing with herself." (p. 213)
"In Madame X, Sargent's greatest psychological portrait, he revealed the unattainable beauty and self-destructive narcissism of both the woman and the decadent society she embodied." (p. 255)
Other Notable Items
- This image has been appropriated in contemporary fashion advertisements.