Phase One
Five-year-old Janie is visiting her grandparents out in the country. Their house is filled dusty old relics from the past: antique furniture, old books, and clothes from another era. Janie finds a children’s book in one of the white drawers in the small desk next to the door. This is not a children’s book like Janie has been used to reading. Her books are warm and loving, the characters try to do good deeds, and there is always a happy ending. But the book Janie finds is Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which is a different type of children’s book altogether.
She sits down in little rocking chair next to the door to read it. Grandpa is kind of cheap and won’t let anyone turn on the lights during the day, so the sunlight coming in from the door windows offers the best light for Janie to read. What she finds is shocking to her—a collection of stories about stepmothers being cruel to children, witches trying to cook children in ovens, and trolls stealing babies. She becomes frightened; these are not like her Elmo stories.
She looks up from the book to notice the coat rack with Grandpa’s hat and coat on it. It looks a little strange to her, almost like a real person. The fairy tales have scared her, but she musters up all of her courage to get up out of the rocking chair and go over to the coat rack. Janie places her hands on the old raincoat of her grandfather’s, and with a flourish, throws open the coat to find… nothing. It’s just a coat rack.
“I knew it,” Janie says to herself, “those are just some silly stories.” She goes back to sit at the rocking chair and flips through the pages of the book again. The drawings she sees in the book are disturbing, but she knows they are just make-believe. “What a silly book,” she says to herself as her eyes grow heavier and heavier and she drifts off into a nervous sleep.
Suddenly, Janie is jolted awake to a shocking sight. To her horror, the coat rack comes alive! There is now a shadowy person filling the coat and hat of her grandfather. But Janie knows it is not her loving Grandpa. The spectral form moves like an animated puppet—head, shoulders, and arms limp but the wobbly legs carrying the terrifying apparition closer to Janie, who is frozen in fear on the rocking chair. The figure reaches out to Janie and grabs her, picking her up into its arms. She is powerless to stop the giant that has her in her clutches. It has her, taking her to somewhere she doesn’t want to go. Janie closes her eyes, and screams with all of her might, but all for naught…
“Janie, Janie, wake up darling. Wake up,” says a voice somewhere in the distance. It is calm, reassuring, and familiar. Janie feels the terror leave as she forces her eyes open to see her father’s face, smiling down at her as he cradles her in his arms. “Janie, it’s time to go home. You were having a bad dream.”
Janie looks around the room. Her family is there, as is her little suitcase, packed and ready to go home from her trip to her grandparents’ house. The book of fairy tales lies on the floor where it must have fallen from her laps as she fell asleep.
Janie hugs her grandparents and tells them goodbye, still shaking off the hazy fear from her nightmare. Her father picks her up again and they walk out of the door, Janie looking over her father’s shoulder at her grandparents waving goodbye through the windows of the door. Behind them, barely seen in the shadows of the dark house, Janie sees the coat rack. As her father closes the door to the car, she knows something is still not right. She was sure that the coat rack had a hat and raincoat on it…
She sits down in little rocking chair next to the door to read it. Grandpa is kind of cheap and won’t let anyone turn on the lights during the day, so the sunlight coming in from the door windows offers the best light for Janie to read. What she finds is shocking to her—a collection of stories about stepmothers being cruel to children, witches trying to cook children in ovens, and trolls stealing babies. She becomes frightened; these are not like her Elmo stories.
She looks up from the book to notice the coat rack with Grandpa’s hat and coat on it. It looks a little strange to her, almost like a real person. The fairy tales have scared her, but she musters up all of her courage to get up out of the rocking chair and go over to the coat rack. Janie places her hands on the old raincoat of her grandfather’s, and with a flourish, throws open the coat to find… nothing. It’s just a coat rack.
“I knew it,” Janie says to herself, “those are just some silly stories.” She goes back to sit at the rocking chair and flips through the pages of the book again. The drawings she sees in the book are disturbing, but she knows they are just make-believe. “What a silly book,” she says to herself as her eyes grow heavier and heavier and she drifts off into a nervous sleep.
Suddenly, Janie is jolted awake to a shocking sight. To her horror, the coat rack comes alive! There is now a shadowy person filling the coat and hat of her grandfather. But Janie knows it is not her loving Grandpa. The spectral form moves like an animated puppet—head, shoulders, and arms limp but the wobbly legs carrying the terrifying apparition closer to Janie, who is frozen in fear on the rocking chair. The figure reaches out to Janie and grabs her, picking her up into its arms. She is powerless to stop the giant that has her in her clutches. It has her, taking her to somewhere she doesn’t want to go. Janie closes her eyes, and screams with all of her might, but all for naught…
“Janie, Janie, wake up darling. Wake up,” says a voice somewhere in the distance. It is calm, reassuring, and familiar. Janie feels the terror leave as she forces her eyes open to see her father’s face, smiling down at her as he cradles her in his arms. “Janie, it’s time to go home. You were having a bad dream.”
Janie looks around the room. Her family is there, as is her little suitcase, packed and ready to go home from her trip to her grandparents’ house. The book of fairy tales lies on the floor where it must have fallen from her laps as she fell asleep.
Janie hugs her grandparents and tells them goodbye, still shaking off the hazy fear from her nightmare. Her father picks her up again and they walk out of the door, Janie looking over her father’s shoulder at her grandparents waving goodbye through the windows of the door. Behind them, barely seen in the shadows of the dark house, Janie sees the coat rack. As her father closes the door to the car, she knows something is still not right. She was sure that the coat rack had a hat and raincoat on it…
Phase Two - My Own Sequence
Reflection
I think this is a very worthwhile assignment that will do much to help students analyze images. When doing this assignment, I thought about how I could use it in my US History classes. I like how this exercise asks students to complete the story—what happens after the last panel? I thought I could change it up by giving students the first and last panels and ask them to tell me what happened in the middle.
The photos I want to use are from the Civil War. Union photographer Matthew Brady took a series of pictures in 1862 called “The Dead of Antietam.” As the title suggests, these pictures show the grisly horrors of war, in particular, the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history. The photographs send shockwaves throughout the Union when they were shown; the hell of war was brought home for millions of people. I would like to juxtapose those images with the many images of soldiers parading in crisp new uniforms right after war had been declared. Many were excited and even happy to be marching off to fight, and photographers captured men elated at their chance to win glory and honor on the battlefield. What a surprise the reality of war must have been to those poor souls.
In the first few panels, I could show these happy and innocent soldiers, while the last few could show the horrible results of the battle. What happened to cause this? What must have those men faced? How do you think their perception of war, honor, and sacrifice changed between the first and last images? These questions and more could be asked of students. I think that it would get them thinking about the battle without actually showing them anything about the fighting itself. It would also be a great springboard into a discussion of war in general, the parallels that the Civil War would have with our modern conflicts, and would bring to life what might otherwise be a bunch of boring black and white pictures to the average American teenager.
The photos I want to use are from the Civil War. Union photographer Matthew Brady took a series of pictures in 1862 called “The Dead of Antietam.” As the title suggests, these pictures show the grisly horrors of war, in particular, the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history. The photographs send shockwaves throughout the Union when they were shown; the hell of war was brought home for millions of people. I would like to juxtapose those images with the many images of soldiers parading in crisp new uniforms right after war had been declared. Many were excited and even happy to be marching off to fight, and photographers captured men elated at their chance to win glory and honor on the battlefield. What a surprise the reality of war must have been to those poor souls.
In the first few panels, I could show these happy and innocent soldiers, while the last few could show the horrible results of the battle. What happened to cause this? What must have those men faced? How do you think their perception of war, honor, and sacrifice changed between the first and last images? These questions and more could be asked of students. I think that it would get them thinking about the battle without actually showing them anything about the fighting itself. It would also be a great springboard into a discussion of war in general, the parallels that the Civil War would have with our modern conflicts, and would bring to life what might otherwise be a bunch of boring black and white pictures to the average American teenager.