Analyzing symbolism, plot, and theme in Death and the Miser
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=833
A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts
Students analyze Hieronymous Bosch’s Death and the Miser in this activity that explores the literary elements in a painting. The goal of this lesson is to state an original interpretation of a painting and explain how individual elements in the painting work together to support the interpretation.
In this activity students will learn to:
- use visual literacy skills to analyze, interpret, and explain how individual elements establish the overall meaning of a work of art
- examine the details in a work of art by sketching and labeling its major elements
- identify the protagonist, antagonist, and conflict of a work
- use an analysis of symbolism and characterization to predict the exposition, rising action, falling action, and resolution of a work
- apply an understanding of how a work of art uses diction, subject, symbolism, tone, and characterization to analyze and explain the tone and theme of the work
- write an interpretation of a work through an explication of its individual elements
Students participate in engaging activities such as using an online comic creator tool to predict what happened before and after the events in the painting. Then in small, collaborative groups, students explore the elements that develop theme and create a project to be presented to the class. This lesson offers several extension activities and links to helpful web resources.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 9
- Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of various literary genres, concepts, elements, and terms.
- Objective 5.03: Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print literacy texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:
- selecting, monitoring, and modifying as necessary reading strategies appropriate to readers' purpose.
- identifying and analyzing text components (such as organizational structures, story elements, organizational features) and evaluating their impact on the text.
- providing textual evidence to support understanding of and reader's response to text.
- demonstrating comprehension of main idea and supporting details.
- summarizing key events and/or points from text.
- making inferences, predicting, and drawing conclusions based on text.
- identifying and analyzing personal, social, historical or cultural influences, contexts, or biases.
- making connections between works, self and related topics.
- analyzing and evaluating the effects of author's craft and style.
- analyzing and evaluating the connections or relationships between and among ideas, concepts, characters and/or experiences.
- identifying and analyzing elements of literary environment found in text in light of purpose, audience, and context.
- Objective 5.03: Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print literacy texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:
Visual Arts Education (2001)
Grade 9–12 — Visual Arts Electives
- Goal 7: The learner will perceive connections between visual arts and other disciplines.
- Objective 7.01: Identify connections, similarities and differences between the visual arts and other disciplines.
Grade 9–12 — Visual Arts I
- Goal 7: The learner will perceive connections between visual arts and other disciplines.
- Objective 7.01: Identify connections, similarities and differences between the visual arts and other disciplines.
Grade 9–12 — Visual Arts II
- Goal 7: The learner will perceive connections between visual arts and other disciplines.
- Objective 7.01: Identify connections, similarities and differences between the visual arts and other disciplines.
Grade 9–12 — Visual Arts III
- Goal 7: The learner will perceive connections between visual arts and other disciplines.
- Objective 7.01: Identify connections, similarities and differences between the visual arts and other disciplines.
Grade 9–12 — Visual Arts IV
- Goal 7: The learner will perceive connections between visual arts and other disciplines.
- Objective 7.01: Identify connections, similarities and differences between the visual arts and other disciplines.
