Art Class- Part I (of two)

Class date: Friday, Jan. 22nd

For today, instead of literature class, I will share with you a glimpse of our art appreciation class.

We looked closely at three paintings featuring a 17th c. priest, a Roman deity, and a young girl from Louisiana, respectively. So what do these have to do with The Hunchback of Notre Dame? As Andy said, "You always have a reason, Mr. Travers." But, for now, enjoy the art!

When introducing a work of art, I have the students do a "reading"--they write everything they see in the image as they are seeing it, for five minutes. Their pencil does not leave their paper. When they're done, we share with each other the descriptions, identify the insightful observations, and start to piece together the moment being depicted.

Today, with the help of the students' "readings", I will introduce you to each of the artworks. (The links take you directly to high quality images of the artworks. All quotes below, unless otherwise noted, are drawn from the students' own "readings".)

The Gray Cardinal

http://sandstead.com/images/mfa_boston/GEROME_The_Gray_Cardinal_1873_source_sandstead_d2h_00.jpg

A group of colorfully arrayed fops are "tipping their hats and bowing" as they climb a grand staircase. They all bow towards an emaciated priest in a worn brown cassock. He, surprisingly, does not seem to take notice of the adulation. (At this point, I asked the students how they’d feel if everyone in the class bowed down to them as they walked in! "I'd love it," exclaimed one of them.) The priest, rather, is absorbed in his book "minding his own business". (Even the guard and the figure on the top balcony are staring at him!).

Father Joseph, the priest, was the handpicked confidant of Cardinal Richelieu. The most powerful figure on the staircase was specifically chosen because he took no notice of power.

The Problem We All Live With

http://afrocityblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/norman-rockwell.jpg

A sweet young African-American girl marches forward in the middle of four serious-looking "men with suits and badges" who are "escorting her." A tomato "looks as if [it] has been thrown" from where the viewer stands. A racial epithet is graffitied on the wall. An angry crowd is implied. The young girl, "school supplies in her hand", is un-fazed by the belligerent onlookers. She takes long strides, eyes forward, fists clenched—"she is walking like the guards" remarked Hank, observantly. She is mimicking them.

In her memoirs, Mrs. Bridges recalled that when she arrived for her first day of school--the first day of integrated schools in Louisiana--she wondered if the crowd outside the school was celebrating Mardi Gras.

The Birth of Venus

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_(1825-1905)_-_The_Birth_of_Venus_(1879).jpg

The beautiful goddess of love stands surrounded by a group of nymphs "hugging their husbands" and cupids. "All eyes are fixed on her", "admiring the goddess." (Several of the students, with their knowledge of the attributes of Greco-Roman gods learned last year, identified her in their readings!) The celebration of her birth is accentuated by the male figures "blowing conch shells", the spiraling cloud of "cupids flying around" like a flock of celebratory doves being released, and a dolphin drawn shell-chariot. The goddess has her eyes half-closed and "is oblivious" to the attention she receives. (As Adan identified, her pose suggests that she is waking up!)

So, what do these paintings all have in common? And how are they related to our novel?

Stay tuned!

(The conclusion of the art class will be in the entry for Tuesday, Jan. 26th)

Opposites Attract?

Class date: Thursday, Jan. 21st

Today we got to know Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers—the heroic captain of the King’s archers who came to the rescue of Esmeralda as she was being kidnapped by a villainous hunchback!

Prior to this chapter, all we knew about him was that he is handsome and that Esmeralda loves him.

The chapter opened with the dapper captain in a place he'd rather not be: the home of his betrothed, Fleur-de-Lys. Uncomfortable with the aristocratic young lady, and, more so, with the prospect of marriage, Phoebus is forced into awkward conversation with her by his future mother-in-law. The poor girl, who hears him ask her the same inane question for the third time, yearns for some indication that he loves her, or, at least, is looking forward to their marriage. However, we learn that Phoebus is vain and shallow, and would rather go to taverns than come visit his betrothed. So, when everyone's attention is drawn to a pretty gypsy dancing outside, he immediately welcomes the distraction... and the pretty gypsy.

So far, in our study of the novel, we've used a couple of different approaches to better understand the characters. We've visualized them ("Bringing Quasimodo to Life"), charted their relationship to other characters ("Character web"), and personally connected with them ("Something Precious... to Me"). But, this time, we used a different approach to clarify our understanding of Phoebus.

After having gotten a sense of Phoebus' character, I asked the students to compare Phoebus to Esmeralda.

“He’s the opposite!” said Katy, starting us off in the right direction.

After several more student comments along the lines of, “Phoebus only cares for himself, but Esmeralda thinks of others,” we came to the two characters' attitudes to love.

As the students had read, Phoebus does not seem to take love seriously. It’s a chore for him to spend time with the one he is supposed to love for the rest of his life.

When I asked what love meant for Esmeralda, Andy raised his hand immediately and answered by quoting a line we read last week, “For Esmeralda, love ‘is being two and yet being only one.’” In my excitement at his answer, I interrupted with praise before he finished the rest of the quote: “A man and a woman fused into an angel. It’s heaven!”

Not only did the differentiation of the two characters clarify what was important to them, but it gave the students the sense of a potential conflict to come--Esmeralda loves a man who does not share her sacred view of love.

And, furthermore, the seeds for an understanding of the deeper meaning of the novel have been planted.

A Tear for a Drink of Water

Class date: Wednesday, Jan. 20th

One of my favorite parts of teaching literature is reading aloud the final chapter of a book to the students. But that's only the final chapter, and they read the rest at home. I wish I could partake more in their experience!

That was the case, especially for last night’s reading. At the end of yesterday’s class, I told the students that they would be reading the most dramatic scene, so far, in the novel...

“I cried last night,” said one of the students before today’s class started.

But he was not the only one to get emotional during last night’s reading. Along with the tears, the students expressed outrage, compassion, and adoration.

So, what did we do in class? We reread parts of the chapter, of course :-)

Quasimodo is placed on a pillory to be lashed publicly, then displayed ignominiously for the attempted kidnapping of Esmeralda. The crowd in the Place de Greve, who had paraded him through the very same square the previous day, was, now, vengefully yelling insults and throwing stones at the hunchback. Confused and angered, Quasimodo first struggles helplessly against his bonds, then resigns himself to his suffering. “I feel bad for him,” said several students with hurt looks on their faces.

Suddenly, a ray of hope! His protector and father, Claude Frollo, appears in the crowd. But, just as suddenly, he lowers his head, turns around, and leaves. Daly was particularly indignant and agreed whole-heartedly that Frollo, to whom Quasimodo was so devoted, was a jerk.

After nearly being stoned to death, Quasimodo cries out one desperate word—“Water!” The response: his suffering is mocked even more, and a pitcher is thrown at him, breaking over his deformed back. Then, in this atmosphere of anger and hatred, suddenly, calm--but not a ray of hope. To the hunchback’s horror, Esmeralda is walking up the pillory stairs—he thinks she comes for revenge. Coming near him, she opens a gourd, and, to his shock, she holds the water to his mouth—an act of compassion the persecuted Quasimodo has never experienced before and which his adoptive father was incapable of. He sheds a tear for the first time in his life. He wasn't the only one to tear up.

Part of the purpose of rereading dramatic scenes as a class is to discuss and understand explicitly what makes the scene so powerful—to understand the reasons for our emotional responses.

And, another part... well, that's my ulterior motive--to relish in the students' reactions.

The Tipping Point

Class date: Tuesday, Jan. 19th

When I was a teenager, I once stayed up all night reading a novel called The Albatross. The story opens with a sailboat sinking and the few survivors having to face the immediate challenge of survival on their little lifeboat. I was riveted.

When someone, today, asks me if I’ve read a certain book, my answer is, pretty often, "Well... I started it." Other times, the first part of a book will drag a little for me, until suddenly, I'm into it! I get over the hump and it's all downhill enjoyment from there.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is likely the most complex and difficult book most of the students have read. And, were I their age, I might not have the patience to get through the first 70 pages on my own. By the time Hugo has finished describing the Palace of Justice in chapter one, the sailboat in the The Albatross has already sunk and the survivors probably attacked by sharks.

Through the first 70 pages our novel, we waded through exposition. And though the characters are fascinating and the settings evocative, the main story-line isn't developed much--a pretty big hump! In fact, the one hint of action, so far, fills about two pages—the attempted kidnapping of Esmeralda by Quasimodo, and the subsequent rescue by Captain Phoebus.

Today, however, at the end of class, I heard an enthusiastic chorus of students shouting: "I LOVE this book!" And, the interesting thing is, last night's reading... was more exposition.

There wasn't anything particularly suspenseful or which advanced the plot. The chapter we read described a seemingly new character's back-story. So, what was it that got the students hooked?

We were introduced to Pacquette Chantefleurie, but as many students discovered on their own, or figured out during class, she isn’t as unknown to us as she’s made out to be. Picking up from the clues in the chapter, and connecting those to what they knew of the other characters, they started seeing links:

The horrible creature left in the crib belonging to Paquette's stolen baby daughter was, they figured out, Quasimodo.

“She’s the recluse in Roland tower who hates Esmeralda!” one student observed enthusiastically, referring to a character briefly introduced 40 pages earlier.

And, in their excitement at seeing the story's threads come together, the students started sharing their hypotheses for more potential connections. "Pacquette is Esmeralda's mother!" suggested Cal excitedly.

As the students started preparing for the next class, I heard one sentence repeated several times midst the chorus described above: “It’s all CONNECTING!”

It wasn't shark attacks or sinking ships which was thrilling them. It was the integrations they were starting to make on their own. The puzzle pieces, gathered through the first 70 pages, were coming together, and their minds were smoothly piecing them in place.

As one student would later tell me in private, “I thought this book was kinda boring, but now I love it!”

Yep, they’ve gotten over the hump, and they're hooked!

“A Visit to Hugo’s Paris”

Class date: Friday, Jan. 15th

Today we took a stroll though the streets of Paris… Victor Hugo’s Paris.

The Palace of Justice, the Place de Greve, the Court of Miracles, and, of course, Notre Dame Cathedral were among the places we found on our map of Paris.

Why focus a whole class on setting? Isn't that just the place where the characters and action are located? For Hugo, it's much more. The settings deeply enhance the meaning of the characters and the plot.

The locations are intimately connected to characterization. “King” of the outlaws, Clopin Trouillefou’s domain is the hellish witches den called the “Court of Miracles”; Quasimodo’s sanctuary from the hateful world is the majestic Notre Dame.

If they don’t particularly enrich characterization, the locations add meaningful irony to the events. At the Place de Greve, the very place that Quasimodo was “celebrated” as the “Pope of Fools” the previous night, he is, the next day, ridiculed and derided on a pillory by that same crowd. The symbolism and irony of these settings will now be something they'll be looking for throughout the rest of the story.

On our stroll through Hugo’s Paris, we also made a couple of sightseeing stops—especially Notre Dame.

The students started “ooh-ing” and “aah-ing” when they saw the photographs of Notre Dame—an impressive sight even in a photo. But, their wonder seemed to be due to more than simply the impressive sight.

“Is that where Quasimodo lives?” asked one incredulous student.

“Here is where he would climb all over ‘like a lizard’, and those are some of the statues he considered his friends and had conversations with,” I said, pointing to the façade. And, indicating the North Tower, “That’s where his precious bells are located."

“I climbed to the top!”

A student said this.

She was recalling a trip to Paris when she was much younger. “I was crying when we got to the top because I was so tired!” She had excitedly realized that these were the same 387 stairs which Quasimodo would run up excitedly when called upon to ring the bells.

The power of the photos of Notre Dame weren't just in visualizing the setting the novel. The larger-than-life characters, as the students were seeing, didn’t belong to another universe, but lived in a world they could visit themselves.

At the end of class, Andy asked if Notre Dame would be on the itinerary for this summer's JH trip to Paris.

But, of course! We would not miss a chance to walk in Quasimodo's footsteps.

"Something Precious to... me"

Class date: Thursday, Jan. 14th

Today's lecture topic: my soccer ball.

The topics for today's writing assignment: a stuffed seal, a baseball glove, a diamond ring, a children's book, soccer cleats, a blanky, and nine others of equal idiosyncrasy.

So, what happened to our study of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

This was, actually, our way of getting to better know Quasimodo!

Our picture of him, so far, hasn't been pretty! We've marveled at his hideousness. We've seen, that in the eyes of the Parisian populace, he's demonic. And, furthermore, he attempted to kidnap our adored Esmeralda!

Today, we got to know another side of this apparent monster.

Universally derided and shunned by the populace of Paris, the deaf Hunchback has made Notre Dame his home; its statues, his friends; the bells, his dear family. He loves the bells, especially the largest one--he calls her "Marie". Being made the bell-ringer of Notre Dame by Claude Frollo "was like giving Juliet to Romeo." When it’s time to ring the bells, he runs up the narrow stairway to the top of the bell tower. Getting there out of breath, he caresses “Marie” as he would a horse he is about to ride, whispering and comforting her. When the bells start ringing, he runs back and forth gleefully as she “speaks” to him the only sounds he can hear. And, all of a sudden, he leaps onto the bell, riding and spurring it to ring more loudly. There are no objects more precious to him in the world than those bells. They sometimes even give him "a feeling of happiness."

I started class, not by going over Quasimodo's personal passion, but by describing my favorite soccer ball as a kid. Soccer was my passion and the new ball I received became my dearest possession. It was glossy and sleek, and I remember the feel of its surface as I would caress it. It was the only ball I’d play with, and, on the field, I’d never leave it by itself. Even when the coach was calling us over to stretch or talk, I’d always have it at my feet. And when I went home at night, well, I’d curl up with it in bed (yep, I did). I loved that ball, like Quasimodo loved his bells!

Having told them my childhood recollections, I asked the students to think of their own dearly valued possession. They wrote paragraphs entitled: "Something Precious to Me". Below is a sampling of what they wrote about.

One student doesn't go on any trips without her seal plushie. When she feels sad she hugs "her stuffed animal, and that makes [her] feel a lot better."

Another has kept the first book he ever read, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, in pristine shape: "I have never bent a page, given it a scratch, and keep it safe in my bookcase. It looks like it just came out of the bookstore." And, he still reads it.

One boy is dazzled by the beauty of his soccer cleats: "[E]verything on them is shiny white except for the tiny, tiny Italian flag. My brother told me that my feet shine when the sun hits [them while] I'm playing!"

Another student would sleep with her baseball glove every night and "shine it twice a week."

As for the girl with the blanky, she takes her everywhere, but feels bad that she has to put her in an "uncomfortable" backpack. She even takes her on sleepovers in spite"how embarrassing it is [considered] to have a blanky".

I loved how open in their adoration the students were.

After they had written their paragraphs, we read the description of the hideous hunchback and his bells. And, Annie, having the last word in class, explained perfectly that the bells were Quasimodo's "most precious objects".

By getting to know themselves, they were getting to know Quasimodo.

After the class ended, the students kept discussing with each other their most precious objects.

Hugo-esque Mindset

Class date: Wednesday, Jan. 13th

The usually mild mannered Mr. Travers grinned with pleasure, pivoted dramatically, and punched the air with a celebratory fist-pump... leaving a smile on Andy’s face.

What did Andy say that got me so animatedly thrilled? Well, as Tracy immediately explained to the rest of the wondering class, “Connections!”

What do Esmeralda and Quasimodo have to do with the setting of Beowulf? Yes, the setting! ...of Beowulf! That was the connection Andy was proposing, and agreed upon with eagerness by the rest of the students.

We read Beowulf back in September, and it was not something I was planning on bringing up in class discussion. Esmeralda was our focus. Before discussing her mysterious past and her yearning for love, we put together a clear portrait of her in our mind. To do so, we didn't just dive in to the description of Esmeralda--we went back to Quasimodo's portrait first (see the entry for the class from Friday, Jan. 8^th). We read back through the description of hunchback, and, after naming each grotesque detail, we cited a corresponding trait of Esmeralda’s lovely features (e.g., jagged teeth and “tusk” vs. red lips; "cyclops" with wart-covered eye vs. large black fiery eyes; hunched-back and bow-legged vs. gracefully slender figure, etc...). To sum up, as Katy and Andy pointed out, they seemed to be exact opposites—Quasimodo was described by the Parisian populace as a “devil”, while Esmeralda was thought of by an admiring Pierre Gringoire as a “goddess”.

Of course, the contrast in the descriptions isn’t accidental, but it isn't obvious either. Victor Hugo, as the students are getting used to, continually (but subtly) draws purposeful comparisons between characters, scenes, settings, etc..., and the more aware we are that he is doing this the more compelling the story will be as we read.

After having contrasted the appearance of the demonic-looking Quasimodo to the angel-like Esmeralda, Andy was reminded of a similar juxtaposition in the country of King Hrothgar from Beowulf. From a hill, the hero, Beowulf, observes on one side of the panorama a dark, murky fen, filled with the shrieks of wicked and creepy creatures. On the opposite side, there is a large, magnificently gilded, feasting hall, which shines brightly in the sun and is filled with joyous music. If these two places were to be personified, you'd have Quasimodo and Esmeralda!

So why did I pump my fist in excitement? Because I love hearing my students taking a hill-top perspective and integrating their observations--making connections. I'm sure Victor Hugo would pump his fist, too!

Quiz Confusion

Class date: Tuesday, Jan. 12th

What was going on? Were they not paying attention? Wasn’t I being clear?

“What do we need to know for tomorrow’s quiz?!” students kept asking… after I’d already told them a couple of times--all they needed to know for the “Character Web” quiz was what was on their “Character Web” sheet. What could be more clear?

(See the previous entry for a glimpse of the “Character Web”.)

And then it dawned on me!

It wasn’t, at all, that they weren’t paying attention. Rather, their lack of understanding was actually a sign of the rigorous thinking they were accustomed to! I was asking of them something they were simply not used to doing: memorizing facts and being tested on merely repeating them.

From paragraph assignments to tests, and even routine quizzes over reading assignments, the students expect to think and write, and write some more (e.g., from the quiz over Bk 1, Ch. 3-4: “Who is the most interested in Pierre Gringoire’s play? And explain how you know.”). Factual details are absorbed into a broader answer. The only time we focus on isolated facts (like, “Who is Jehan’s brother?”) is not for a quiz, but during our favorite class review game, “Last Student Standing”.

So, why then am I having the students basically memorize and regurgitate?

Allow me to fondly recall my college days...

All the tests I took in my favorite professor's class were essay-based... except for one. And seeing on the syllabus a test on only Ancient Greek architectural terms, I was a little surprised. The result, however, was that, because I was fully confident in my understanding of triglyphs, entasis, metope's, etc..., I was able to analyze, discuss, understand, and enjoy the subtleties and deeper ideas in monuments like the Parthenon.

Hopefully this detour into memorization will have the same foundation-solidifying effect for us with Hugo's monumental work.

Character Web

Class date: Monday, Jan. 11^th

19!

That’s right, at least nineteen named characters in the first 45 pages! (Imagine having to remember the names of 19 strangers at a party.) And that’s not including the numerous historical names and dozens of unnamed characters who fill the opening scenes. And what crowded, riotous scenes! A large, packed hall getting bored with a play; a festive procession of rogues carrying around a grotesque hunchback; an awed crowd watching a beautiful gypsy dance around a fire; a tavern crawling with seedy outlaws gleefully awaiting the hanging of a playwright! Furthermore, as Melena pointed out, the story seems to focus on the “depressing adventures” of the poor playwright, Pierre Gringoire, who is just looking for a place to sleep. The main characters, on the other hand, seem to be only a sideshow (pardon the pun, Quasimodo)! Oh, and as a further difficulty in retention, did I mention that the names are all in French! (Yes, we do practice pronunciation.)

So, how are we to keep track of it all?

Well, one way to simplify the plethora of characters, is to simply point out who the main ones are and look out for those. However, we went with a different way. One that I hope allows the students to grasp the essential characters more for themselves.

Victor Hugo subtly builds up the reader's familiarity with characters by having them pop in and out of the story at seemingly unusual times, but their reappearances at significant moments in the story suggest their importance. So, for example, Katy burst out with her realization that the unashamed beggar who interrupts Gringoire's play, happens to also be the “King” of the outlaws who threatens to execute the author of that same play. And later, we realized that the beautiful Esmeralda who draws away the last of the play’s audience with her dancing, is abducted by the same hunchback Gringoire deplores for having drawn away most of his play’s audience to begin with. Those are just a couple of strands of the elaborate web uniting the characters which Hugo weaves.

And though the number of characters who make significant appearances is much fewer than nineteen, there are enough threads to make the web a confusing knot if not laid out simply.

So, in class, we created our own “character web”. We identified the prominent characters (seven of them) and drew lines between them if some relationship had been established:

Quasimodo =kidnapper=> Esmeralda <=rescuer= Phoebus, etc…. The payoff came when Daly pointed out (and was heartily agreed with by others) that Esmeralda seemed to be connected to everyone! Oh, how right they'll see that they are!

I’m hoping that establishing these initial relationships primes the students for expecting (or being shocked by!) the onset of stronger bonds and deeper conflicts which are to come!

"Character Web"

Bringing Quasimodo to Life

Class date: Friday, Jan. 8th

The whole crowd was in a tumult, there were “prodigious shouts of acclamation.” “Many of the women [covered] their faces” in horror, while “the men, on the other hand, delighted and applauded enthusiastically.”

These lines describe a Parisian crowd’s reaction to seeing Quasimodo… or, just as well, the scene in Friday’s literature class.

One of the values of great literature is the vivid images a superior author is able evoke. However, these are often the portions of the novel that you skim past quickly to get to the dialogue and action. (I know I did when I was a teenager!) So the question is how to bring students to pay attention to descriptive passages, be able to visualize them, and relish them.

Today’s solution: a portrait session. In last night’s reading we were introduced to the character of Quasimodo. In his opening scene he does not speak or do anything. He is simply put on display for all to see, and the crowd is awed by his sublime ugliness. And, after today's class, so were the students.

The excitement of the class at our drawing project was immediate—Bernard excitedly declared that he’d dreamed about doing this. So, proceeding enthusiastically, we found the paragraphs describing Quasimodo's face in exhaustive detail and made a list of the hunchback’s traits: a “horsehoe mouth”, an eye covered by a “giant wart”, jagged teeth, including one that sticks up like "an elephant's tusk", etc.... And, with each written detail, we added that particular feature to a portrait we drew together. The students could not believe how grotesque their portrait was becoming! Some felt sorry for him. One student couldn’t believe that he was intended to look like our drawing (to which Daly’s response was, "There are the facts!" as he pointed to the list of traits).

The students' horror, pity, and general visceral reaction was more powerful than I'd anticipated. My hope now is that when they get to the descriptions of Esmeralda and Claude Frollo, they'll think of Quasimodo’s description and be motivated to work on carefully reading and evoking the image that Hugo is describing in their mind’s eye. I'll keep you posted!

Bernard's portrait-

(The names of the students in my class have been altered.)