Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
Jennifer Doncan Lesson Plans
Iconographic Images of Puritan Grave Art
A Preoccupation with Death and Dying
1. This stone depicts the conflict between time and death: a candle is flanked by a
skeleton on the left, about to snuff out the fire, and a winged angel on the right, with an
hourglass in hand, making a prohibitive gesture towards the skeleton. This dispute
reflects the dual nature of time and Judgment found in Wigglesworth's "Day of Doom"
and the Apocalypse more generally: some will be sent to hell and some to heaven. Plain
Style. Typology. Colonial. Puritan.
2. Anonymous, [DETAIL OF THE SAMUEL ADAMS STONE, 1728, KING'S CHAPEL,
BOSTON, MASS. SLATE 29 1/4 x 27+] (1710) courtesy of, Wesleyan University Press.
3. John Stevens, THE MARY CARR STONE (1721), courtesy of, Wesleyan University Press.
The Mary Carr Stone rests in Old Common Burying-ground in Newport, Rhode Island. It
reads "Here lyeth the Body of Mary the Wife of John Carr, Dyed Sepr; ye 28th: 1721: in
ye 21st: year of her age. The carving was made at the John Stevens Shop by the elder
Stevens, a carver known for both the quality and innovativeness of his work. The
stone's imagery emphasizes rebirth. The sides and bottom house intricate leaf patterns,
pilasters, rosettes: flowers and leaves were associated with the life of man (Job 14) and
fecundity. At the top is a cherub with wings and at the base are a pair of peacocks,
symbols of immortality. Typology. Apocalypse.
4. Anonymous, THE JOSEPH TAPPING STONE, KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS (1678) courtesy of, Wesleyan University. King's Chapel Burying
Ground is the oldest burying ground in Boston and is the resting place of John
Winthrop. This stone features some of the classic iconographic images of Puritan grave
art: the reverse "S" scroll, the hourglass, Father Time snuffing out the candle of life, a
winged death's head, and the Latin inscription for "time flies" and "remember death."
The winged death's head is typical of the Puritan balance between despair and hope: it
symbolizes both the physical decay of the body and the ability of the soul to fly
heavenward. Colonial. Religion. Typology. Day of Doom. Apocalypse. Plain Style.
5. Anonymous, DETAIL OF THE LEFT PANEL OF THE PETER AND MARY TUFTS
STONE, MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS (1702) courtesy of, Wesleyan University
This detail from the Peter and Mary Tufts gravestone, erected in Malden,
Massachusetts around 1702, features a carving of a male figure with breasts. Puritan
ministers frequently employed breast and breast-feeding imagery in their sermons and
poetry, appropriating this female bodily function as a metaphor for proper spiritual
nourishment and dependence upon God. Tombstone. Colonial. John Cotton. Weaned
Affections. Apocalypse. Typology.
TERMS: FRIEZE,PANELS, RITUAL ARTIFACTS (ARTIFICIAL)
Themes: rebirth, apocalypse, struggle with death and time, fear death, snuffing out life,
time flies, minister nursing his congregation – weaning it away from worldly things, hope
and despair
Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
Preoccupation with death and dying –belief in the election, not knowing until their dying
bed as they passed on whether they would be selected for heaven or hell, which was
chosen by God before birth and could not be changed.
Iconographic Images of Puritan Grave Art
A Preoccupation with Death and Dying
Why? _________________________________________________________________
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Gravestones Pictured
1. A dispute found in Wigglesworth's "Day of Doom,"
2. Anonymous, [DETAIL OF THE SAMUEL ADAMS STONE, 1728, KING'S CHAPEL,
BOSTON, MASS. SLATE 29 1/4 x 27+] (1710) courtesy of, Wesleyan University Press.
3. "Here lyeth the Body of Mary the Wife of John Carr, Dyed Sepr; ye 28th: 1721: in ye
21st: year of her age. The carving was made at the John Stevens Shop by the elder
Stevens, a carver known for both the quality and innovativeness of his work.
4. Anonymous, THE JOSEPH TAPPING STONE, KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS (1678) courtesy of, Wesleyan University. King's Chapel Burying
Ground is the oldest burying ground in Boston and is the resting place of John
Winthrop.
5. Anonymous, DETAIL OF THE LEFT PANEL OF THE PETER AND MARY TUFTS
STONE, MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS (1702) courtesy of, Wesleyan University
This detail is from the Peter and Mary Tufts gravestone, erected in Malden,
Massachusetts around 1702.
A. Brainstorm what these common symbols might represent.
Common Symbols
Skeletons
Men with breasts
Wings
Plants
Candles
Winged robed female
What do they represent? What is the theme?
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Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
Flowers
Birds/Doves/Peacocks
Hour Glass
Cherubs
Imp/Other
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B. Match themes to the gravestones.
C. Create a Puritan’s “Sermon in Stone!”
1. Theme___________________________________________________________
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What is “the sermon in stone?”
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2. Theme___________________________________________________________
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What is “the sermon in stone?”
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Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
3. Theme___________________________________________________________
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What is “the sermon in stone?”
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4. Theme___________________________________________________________
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What is “the sermon in stone?”
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5. Theme___________________________________________________________
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What is “the sermon in stone?”
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Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
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D. Match the following poem with a gravestone of your choice.
by Quarles
Time:
Behold the fraility of the slender stuff Alas,
Gravestone#_____
it has not long to last . . . .
Death:
Time, hold thy peace, and shake thy slow pac’d hand;
Thy idle minutes make no way;
Thy glass exceeds her pow’r, or else doth stand,
I can not hold, I can not stay.
Surcease thy pleading, and enlarge my hand,
I surfeit with too long delay:
This brisk, this bold-fac’d light
Doth burn too bright;
Darkness adorns my throne, my day is darkest night.
Time:
Great Prince of darkness, hold thy needless hand:
Thy captive’s fast and cannot flee,
What arm can rescue? Who can countermand?
What pow’r can set thy pris’ner free?
Or if they could, what close, what foreign land
Can hide the head that flee from thee?
But if her harmless light offend thy sight,
What need’st thou snatch at noon, what will be thine at night.
Archaic Words & Artistic Licensed Words and Meanings
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What images/themes persuaded your match? _________________________________
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Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
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Please highlight the key terms below as we discuss the during the presentation.
[Imp anxiety]
#12 by Anne Bradstreet
Here sits our granddame in retired place,
And in her lap her bloody Cain new-born;
The weeping imp oft looks her in the face,
Bewails his unknown hap* and fate forlorn;
His mother sighs to think of Paradise,
And how she lost her bliss to be more wise,
Believing him that was, and is, father of lies.**
*fortune, circumstances
**By believing in the “father of lies, “Eve lost Paradise in her desire to gain wisdom
(Genesis3), her elder son, Cain, slew his brother, Able (Genesis 4.8)
[Fear of Death]
A Fig for Thee, Oh! Death* by Edward Taylor
Thou King of Terrors with thy Ghastly eyes,
With Butter** teeth, bare bones, Grim looks likewise,
And Grizzly hide, and clawing Talons fell,***
Op’ning to Sinners Vile, Trap Door of Hell,
That on in Sin impenitently trip,
The Downfall**** art of the infernal Pit, . . .
*A fig is anything that is valueless, small, and contemptible. The text used here is from
Poems of Edward Taylor, edited by Donald E. Stanford (1960).
**Yellow.
***Deadly.
****Descending precipice
GRAVEYARD ART
Prior to taping: The Puritans Slide Show was presented for background
information about Puritans beliefs and attitudes. Pictures were shown of
Cotton Mather, the Witch Trial painting and a few graves, and in all about
23 slide from OPB's Passages Collection.
Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
Taped: In groups of 3, students reviewed graves and speculated on pictures
based on a brief discussion that was prompted by the slide show.
Then students individually created poetry that might be that of the
Puritans based on the background information and pictures of the graves.
These poems were to have included archaic terms.
Follow-up after taping: This background information laid the foundation for
our reading of Crucible.
LIFE IMITATES ART
Prior to taping: Students read a chapter (Modernist Art and Politics) from
Bjelajac's book, American Art - A Cultural History. We identified 9
distinct art forms and the attitudes of the time which created them.
Taped: I guided them through one short story by Hurston to help them
identify and match attitudes and actions consistent with the Modernist Art
movement.
Then students worked in groups doing their own matches to a second short
story by Hurston.
Follow-up after taping: Finally, students created art which imitated the
attitudes and lines of those art forms in class.
Students read Their Eyes Were Watching God, and identified attitudes and
events in this novel which matched with those of this era of modernist art.
They wrote papers explaining their matches of art and literature, and
additionally gave speeches about these too.
Jennifer
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD
Name _______________
Date ________________
Art Imitates Life Per.3
Doncan’s Junior English
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
As our American art has been influenced by the world around us, so has Zora Hurston’s
character, Janie, been influenced by all that was happening inside and outside of her. The
Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
evolution of our art is explained through the our reading of “Modernist Art and Politics.” Janie’s
development throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God will be characterized by artistic
representations that you create and explained in your 8 – 10 page papers.
You will present your interpretation of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching
God through a series of artistic works. Create at least 5 art pieces for this novel using the
categories of art that we have discussed in class. Each should be only 8 _ x 11, and the entire
paper should be covered with color. If you use white as a color, it has to be painted or colored
onto the white surface of your paper so that there are no blank spaces that are white by default.
Place your name on the back of each paper.
You will select at least 20 quotes (no more than 2 from each chapter) that are
representative of the thoughts/ feelings/ actions of Janie. And as you match them with an art
form, your paper will discuss the reasons for the match. As always, use your Formatting Guide:
double space, size 12 font.
You will also include a brief glossary of your definition for each of the Modernist Art
forms. Because many of the quotes may contain “folk-speech,” you will create a glossary for at
least 20 “folk-speech” terms (colloquialisms and dialectical pronunciations) and translate them
into standard English.
This is a three-week project that has checkpoints at regular intervals as follow.
It is expected that you read a minimum of 15 pages daily.
THIS INCLUDES READING DURING THE WEEKENDS ALSO.
Day 1 – 3: read a minimum of 30 pages & create representative art, glossaries, & explanatory discussion
(Friday: Teacher checkpoint - unfinished work becomes homework.)
Day 4 – 6: read at least through 60 pages & create representative art, glossaries, & explanatory discussion
(Wednesday: Teacher checkpoint - unfinished work becomes homework.)
Day 7 – 9: read at least through 90 pages & create representative art, glossaries, & explanatory discussion
(Friday: Teacher checkpoint - unfinished work becomes homework.)
Day 10 – 12: read at least through 120 pages & create representative art, glossaries, & explanatory discussion
(Wednesday: Teacher checkpoint - unfinished work becomes homework.)
Day 13 – 15: read at least through 150 pages & create representative art, glossaries, & explanatory discussion
(Friday: Teacher checkpoint - unfinished work becomes homework.)
Day 16 –18: read at least through 180 pages & create representative art, glossaries, & explanatory discussion
(Wednesday: Teacher checkpoint - unfinished work becomes homework.
Day 19 –21: complete the book & create representative art, glossaries, & explanatory discussion
(Teacher checkpoint - unfinished work becomes homework.)
Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
Mini lessons will be approximately every third day, as will classroom discussions and work
sessions to write discussions about the novel and to create art and glossaries.
Timetable
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
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20.
21.
22.
Read & Discuss
Read
Read
Read & Discuss
Read & Create
Read, Create & Conference
Read & Mini Lesson
Read & Discuss
Read
Read
Read & Discuss
Read & Create
Read, Create & Conference
Read & Mini Lesson
Read & Discuss
Read
Read
Read & Discuss
Read & Create
Read, Create & Conference
Catch-up & Complete Work
Catch-up & Complete Work
Presentations
F
Sa
Su
M
T
W
Th
F
Sa
Su
M
T
W
Th
F
Sa
Su
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T
W
Th
F
Five minute presentations will be
required on two of your art pieces as
it reflects Janie’s development as a
character.
Tuesday:
presentations practice
Wednesday: 8 presentations
Thursday:
10 presentations
Friday:
8 presentations
Peers, staff, and community members
will be invited to Thursday and
Friday presentations.
Monday - papers due
PICTURES FOR STUDENT EXAMINATION (FROM AMERICAN PASSAGES COLLECTION)
1st Picture:Winold Reiss, [DRAWING IN TWO COLORS] (ca. 1920) courtesy of, Library of Congress [LCUSZC4-5687]. Offset lithograph of African American man dancing. Also titled Interpretation of Harlem Jazz I.
Poets, novelists, and painters tried to incorporate imagery and rhythms from jazz music in their art. See also: Harlem
Renaissance. Halftone. Dance. CUBISM
2nd Picture:Zyg Brunner, FRANCE IMAGINES NEW YORK (n.d.) courtesy of, Chris Lowe. Political cartoon in
French magazine. Paris was a center of modern art and cubism. New York was the site of the Armory Show
exhibition. Architecture. Experimentalism. Fragmentation.
3rd Picture Anonymous, HESTER STREET, NY (ca.1903) courtesy of, the National Archives and Records
Administration. Hester Street is one of many parts of Lower East Side Manhattan that Anzia Yezierska described in
her writing. Yezierska often wrote in dialect in order to represent the lives of recent immigrants more faithfully. See
also: Ellis Island. SOCIAL REALISM
4th Picture:Aaron Douglas, THE JUDGEMENT DAY (1927) courtesy of, Walter O. Evans Collection of African
American Art. Douglas's painting incorporated images from jazz and African traditions, including music and
dancing. Douglas illustrated Alain Locke's book, The New Negro. Harlem Renaissance. Dance. Instruments.
FUSION CUBISM & REALISM: MODERNITY
5th Picture: Aaron Douglas, THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS (1941) courtesy of, Walter O. Evans Collection
Drawing of an African American man in a natural setting for Langston Hughes's poem "The Negro Speaks of
Rivers." Aaron Douglas's art represented the Harlem Renaissance and New Negro movement. See also: Illustration.
Sun. Riverside. FUSION CUBISM & REALISM: MODERNITY
Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
6th Picture: Aaron Douglas, [STUDY FOR ASPECTS OF NEGRO LIFE: THE NEGRO IN AN AFRICAN
SETTING] (1934) courtesy of, Art Institute of Chicago. A sketch of Africans dancing and playing music. This was
part of a Harlem mural sponsored by the Works Progress Administration chronicling African American history from
freedom in Africa to the contemporary United States. See also: New Negro. Harlem Renaissance. PRIMITIVISM.
FUSION CUBISM & REALISM: MODERNITY
7th Picture:Delmonico Building Charles Sheeler 1926 Smithsonian American Art Museum
DECO
SIMPLIFY WITH KEY WORDS
WHAT MAKES EACH ART FORM A UNIQUE MODERNIST WORK?
A. Art Deco
B. Cubism
C. Regionalism
D. Dada
E. Futurism
F. Constructivism
G. Social Realism
H. Harlem Modernity
I. Ashcan School
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ART IMITATES LIFE
Art Deco
Cubism
Regionalism
Dada
Futurism
Constructivism
Social Realism
Harlem Modernity
Ashcan School
Match the intent of Modernist Art with the correct name.
a. Celebrates the strength of pre-industrial (agricultural) communal
values. Art focuses on the individuals
b. “Not for aesthetic sake, but for life’s sake.”
c. “…A new society through industry, machinery & science –
valued industrial machine forms & engineering technology.
d. Narrative history paintings.
e. Demolish the barrier between life and art
f. “…political statements against government repression.”
g. “…’graciousness of form’ from a simpler time.”
h. Elegantly Reconciles speed, urban industrial environment of
street signs, commercial advertising, clubs, radios, publicity, and
other forms of mass communication.
i. ‘…true reality lay in the essential idea and not in its reflection in
the material world.’
Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
Art Deco
Cubism
Regionalism
Dada
Futurism
Constructivism
Social Realism
Harlem Modernity
Ashcan School
Match the descriptions with the Modernist Art
Forms
a. Anyone can be an artist; therefore, anything is art.
b. Geometry and simplicity with vibrant colors and simple shapes
celebrating commerce and technology.
c. Fractured forms with simplification and distortion emphasizing
the forms of objects.
d. Aesthetics that sanctioned truths of an unjust racial order. An
abstract, flattened, simplified, fusion of realism and abstraction.
e. Emotionally expressive & individualistic – seeking novel, exotic
experiences especially with everyday, common people.
f. Abstract sculptures and art from miscellaneous industrial
materials. Art that stands for abstraction, functionalism and
utilitarianism. Easily comprehensible and socially useful.
g. Features depictions of rural American life in stylized realism.
h. Art that has as subjects, victims of political injustice
i. Frees art forms from confining artistic conventions. Thrusts
language and art into the modern age of speed, industry and
publicity. celebrates commerce & technology.
Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
A. Art Deco
B. Cubism
C. Regionalism
D. Dada
E. Futurism
F. Constructivism
G. Social Realism
Group similar art forms
a. These are relativistic and break with classic lines.
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b. These are abstract & fracture forms.
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c. These celebrate technology, industry, and the machine
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d. These have some element of realism in them.
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Distinguish between similar forms
a. Though somewhat realistic, …
i.
H. Harlem Modernity
I. Ashcan School
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
this has smooth, streamlined, geometric forms celebrating
industry
this celebrates the collective strengths of individuals in
regions
this pleads the case for justice
this focuses on the historical lives of African-Americans
this passionately focuses on the common man’s experiences
b. Though these have abstract, fractured forms, …
i.
ii.
iii.
the subjects in these paintings are fractured or abstracted
into the geometric shapes contained within them
these paintings contain abstract forms as well as words and
signs of mass communication, and/or other whimsical lines
breaking all classic conventions
these can be paintings and mobiles that contain simplistic
abstractions and lines mirroring machines, technology, and
industry. They may include pieces of industrial types of
materials.
c. Though these celebrate technology, industry, and the machine
i.
ii.
iii.
these are stylized realistic pictures
these are abstracted lines mirroring those in technology and
industry
these are abstracted lines that include signs or words or
elements of mass communication
A. Art Deco
Life draws its meanings from the major decisions one makes in one’s life.
B. Cubism
“Actions speak louder than words.”
C. Regionalism
D. Dada
Art is a form of communication.
E. Futurism
“A picture speaks a thousand words.”
F. Constructivism
Assign a representative type of art, from your understanding of its
G. Social Realism
message, to the actions of Zora Neale Hurston’s characters
H. Harlem Modernity
THOUGHTS/FEELINGS/
ART FORMS THAT
I. Ashcan School
ACTIONS
OF HURSTON’S
PROTAGONISTS
REPRESENT THESE
(thoughts/feelings/actions) & WHY
Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
Name _______________
Date ________________
Art Imitates Life Per.3
Doncan’s Junior English
Opening Parameters of Zora’s Characters’ Worlds
1. African-American rural life.
2. Early 1900’s
3. Agrarian society (represented by classic art), which was on the brink of industry and
technology (represented by modern art).
Dust Tracks on a Road (excerpt)
Thoughts/feelings/actions:
Information from the story
“…seat on top of a gate-post
and watch the world go by.”
Interpretation
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Art Forms Attitude
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“I hailed them [white travelers] …
ride up the road [with white travelers]
then walk back …not with …
permission ….”
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“…got a whipping … kept right on
gazing at them an ‘going a piece
of the way’”
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“observing [white] visitors
[of the school] … was fascinating…”
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“…liked geography, reading …
recess …but hated things I couldn’t
do anything about”
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“I stuck to the pretty ones [hymns]
where the words marched to a throb
I could feel.”
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“I followed him [Hercules] eagerly
on his tasks. … put his hand in that
of Duty and …followed … to fame
and glory …moved me profoundly.”
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Artifacts & Fiction: J,Doncan Lesson Plan
Name _______________
Date ________________
Art Imitates Life Per.3
Doncan’s Junior English
“Isis”
Thoughts/feelings/actions:
Information from the story
Interpretation
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Art Forms Attitude
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