All In the Mind’s Eye
Goal/Essential
Question:
What physical (external)
characteristics would you use to create a good character and an evil character
in a fantasy story if you were an author?
Role:
While you have been reading
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe you have explored the concept of good and
evil characters in a fantasy story. As
we say in class, a writer describes in words so the reader can see it in his or
her mind’s eye. Through a written
description you have visualized the physical characteristics of these
characters and you have actually drawn these characters based on the
descriptions. Most good and evil characters in a fantasy story follow a common
descriptive pattern. For example in the story The Wizard of Oz, Glenda the good
witch has white, clean skin and is dressed in a soft, glittery, pink long puffy
gown. She has long, red, curly, hair
with a diamond crown set upon her head.
Her face is soft and round and she smiles at people when she talks to
them. She carries around a magic wand that
she uses to grant wishes.
The Evil Witch of the West is
the complete opposite. She has green
dirty skin; black hair pulled tight from her face, and she wears a black
pointed hat on her head. She is dressed
in a long black dress, and she carries a broom, not a magic wand. Her warted face is long and pointed, as are her fingers that
she points to place curses on creatures.
As she talks to people she frowns and scowls, depicting her expression
of menace.
However when C.S. Lewis wrote
his book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe he deviated from the common
portrayal of good and evil characters. Aslan, the good character in the story, is a ferocious
lion. Lions are usually depicted as
being beastly, killing easily, creatures to be afraid of, and in fact C.S,
Lewis does describe this character in a manner that leads the reader to be
cautious of this character. After all, Aslan is a lion and king of the beasts.
The evil character in the book
is a tall, lithe, pale, beautiful woman, called the White Witch. She is dressed in a long white lace gown and a
robe of white fur. She has long flowing
blond hair with a crown of crystals on her head. Although her face is narrow, it is soft and
beautiful, with ruby red lips. The White Witch carries a wand that enables her
to perform her magic powers. She is
quick to smile, but just as quick to frown when she is displeased with one of
her captures.
Today and for the next few
sessions you will imagine you are an author writing a fantasy story and you
will create a description of a good character and an evil character. You need to think about the essential
question at the top of this lesson, “what physical (external) characteristics
would you use to create a good character and an evil character in a fantasy
story if you were an author?’ You should
spend some time thinking about what you think a good character should look
like, and what an evil character should look like, In Your Opinion! You may want to play around and sketch a few
ideas before you actually decide on a description. Will you stay with the traditional physical
descriptions of good and evil characters, or will you come up with something
unique and different? What ever you
decide is fine, as long as your descriptions will create a picture in the
readers’ mind.
I would suggest you also
should review the written description of Aslan and
the White Witch in your book. Another
suggestion would be to review and refer to the character description examples
we have read in our writing portfolios, along with the writing activities we
have worked on together in class. You
may also use the brainstorming forms for writing descriptions we used in class
to gather and organize our writing.
When we are done this project,
you will present your descriptions to the class and explain how and why you
created the characters you did. We will
also post your projects in the hall.
Product:
There are two parts of the
assignment.
The first part of the
assignment requires you to complete a written description of the good and evil
characters. Remember your descriptions
should create a visual in the mind of the reader of the physical
characteristics of your characters. How
much you write will determine on the structure of your sentences, while some of
you will write a well formed paragraph about each character, others will write
a page on each character. Each
description should be completed, typed or handwritten, on separate sheets of
paper.
The second part of the project
will be to create a visual of the characters.
You may choose any method you want to create your characters. Some of you may choose the traditional
paper/pencil and coloring project, while some of you may want to use a computer
paint/draw program. You may also make a
three-dimensional visual such as a puppet or a model. The choice is yours as long as your visual
matches your written description.
Also the assignment has part
one or part two, it does not matter which part you start first. If it is easier for some of you to create the
visual first, and then write a description, then you should complete your work
in that matter. Some of you may want to
write first, and then create the visual, that is fine also, as long as the
descriptions match the visual.
Standards and
Criteria [Indicators]:
You will be graded using a
rubric. To receive full credit you must
have clear detailed physical descriptions.
Remember, we have studied and learned this in writing. Your sentence structure along with your grammar,
spelling, and punctuation must be correct.
Remember also, the reader should be able to form a visual of your
character in his or her mind.
Your visual should match the
description of your character in all respects.
A reader should be able to match your written description to your visual
model without knowing what products you created.
You will also self-evaluate
your project after examining what your classmates created. However, you will not earn your grade based
on what other students have done. You
are just using your classmates work to help you think about your work, what you
did well, what you could have done better.
You will also provide feedback
to your classmates about their project, what you liked about their creations
and what you think worked.
Standards
Reading and Writing
3.2 All students will write in
clear, concise, organized language that varies in content and form for
different audiences and purposes.
3.4 All students will read various materials and texts with comprehension and critical analysis.
3.5 All students will view, understand, and use non-textual visual information.
Technology
8.1 All students will use computer
applications to gather and organize information and to solve problems.
B. Application of Productivity Tools
10. Determine when technology tools are appropriate to solve a problem and make a decision.
Modifications
Students who are unable to
write their descriptions may either make an audio tape of their descriptions or
use the speech program (voice to text) on the computer.
Students may also dictate their descriptions to a peer or adult to write for them.
Additional modifications should be made for students with IEPs or 504 based individual educational programs and needs.