​Through the Looking Glass by Louis Carroll features the poem "Jabberwocky." Students may know the name as a fairly popular dance group of the same name. The poem is considered a masterpiece of nonsense poetry. Youtube has several readings and songs of the poem like This one. This is another really good reading of the poem as well. The poem tells the story of battle between a monster and hero, but the language is so unusual it can be interpreted in many ways which lends itself to exploration in an art class.

We read through the poem and in the margins, write our interpretations of what's going on. The first and last stanza are the same and the most obtuse. I ask, "what should the first part of a poem or a story do?" The answer is to "set a tone or sense of place" to the story. I explain that Louis Carroll would often combine words to create new and more descriptive words. We do this in art with our elements and principles, like combining line and pattern to make a more expressive image.

Here's that first stanza:
 
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

I write some of the words on our board and have students chime in about what the words might mean, with the understanding that there is no "right" answer. Here is one list we compiled.

Brillig = Bright and Big?
Slithy = Slimy and Lithe? (lithe is thin, supple, and graceful)
Gyre and gimble, sounds like a back and forth motion, but gyre is a real word related to circles.
Wabe = Water and glade? In an interview Carroll described it as wet grass on a hillside.
Mimsy = sounds like a "cute-ish" word
Borogoves = Burrow (Rabbit hole) and a Grove, a forested area?
Mome Raths Outgrabe = Creatures moving outward?
 
Some real vocabulary from the poem can be pulled out for additional depth and connections to English here.

​Wikipedia includes interpretations for the more odd vocabulary based on cross referencing Carroll's other poetry.

​Once the first stanza is done, the story begins. As we encounter words, we write about what they might mean. This time I ask students to do it individually which can help ensure diverse interpretations. I do however pull out descriptive words for the Jabberwocky so we get an idea of what it might look like. I purposefully DO NOT show known illustrations because they can influence students into copying. What we do know is that the monster has impressive jaws and claws, as they are the first things mentioned. It also has "eyes of flame;" that could be red eyes, or perhaps real fire or lasers coming from the eyes.
 
After a first read-through I point out a few ideas to students.
 
#1. In the original book, Alice is illustrated as the one with the sword who kills the monster, so though the poem says "son," your interpretation could be of a boy or girl.
#2. Some have interpreted the missing mother indicated that she may have been killed by the monster, and the son is young warrior going to save his community.
#3. The poem could be interpreted as a the adventure of a small child with a stick. Maybe the monster is just a squirrel or tree stump, and it's all in his/her imagination.
#4. The capitalization of "the Tumtum tree" is important. If it was an oak tree, there would be no need to capitalize it, because there are many oak trees. But because Tumtum is capitalized, it must be a unique tree in all the world. Be sure if you illustrate it that it is somehow unique.

​With these things established, there are many directions one can go. If you include the idea of a title page, plus one page for each stanza, students could create a small book of the poem with illustrations. 8 is an easy number of pages to make and not too overwhelming. They could even sew them together for a unit in book making.
 
I decided to break up the poem and have students illustrate one stanza so we could display the whole poem to the school. I have done this in many ways, but an easy one is to put stanza numbers in a box and have students randomly pick. I allow them to trade if they like. Some students feel disappointed if they get the first or last stanza until I remind them that it is so open to interpretation they can almost do anything and it will work. In a class of 21, I can display 3 versions of the poem in different locations around the school.
 
I also require that the text be integrated into the work, not a small block of text set to the side as an afterthought. The Book of Kells can be a good tie in for text and illustration integration. Alternately you could display the stanza below or next to the works. Do what works for your situation. Perhaps they can be displayed in your school library.

​I have done this project many times with different media. In this example, we used painted papers as collage elements to make our illustrations, but I have done this in other ways as well:

• Single, continuous line illustrations (Sample below)
• Collage that became the basis/sketch for a grid painting.
• Puppet characters so that the poem could be performed
• Mini illustrated books as I described above
• Jabberwocky monster or action hero figure sculptures.
• Blown ink and watercolor abstract images

 
Whatever you decide, base it on what you have available, and be sure to exhibit the results for the rest of your community to see.

Here's the whole poem in case you want to copy and paste it. 

Jabberwocky By Lewis Carroll, 1864

​’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 
      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: 
All mimsy were the borogoves, 
      And the mome raths outgrabe. 

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! 
      The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! 
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun 
      The frumious Bandersnatch!” 

He took his vorpal sword in hand; 
      Long time the manxome foe he sought— 
So rested he by the Tumtum tree 
      And stood awhile in thought. 

And, as in uffish thought he stood, 
      The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, 
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, 
      And burbled as it came! 

One, two! One, two! And through and through 
      The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! 
He left it dead, and with its head 
      He went galumphing back. 

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? 
      Come to my arms, my beamish boy! 
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” 
      He chortled in his joy. 

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 
      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: 
All mimsy were the borogoves, 
      And the mome raths outgrabe.

​We all want our students to "dig deep" or shoot for the stars, and one way to do that is to structure art explorations in a way that allows for deep personal connection. That said, we need to provide an "out" for those unable, unwilling, or not quite ready to explore so deeply. One way to achieve this is through choice; not just in material, but the direction you are comfortable exploring. This lesson illustrates this idea well.
 
I knew I wanted my students to explore form, creating structures that would be covered in plaster or paper mache, then covered again with tissue for major colors. This media use can be applied to nearly any three dimensional project, but I chose two in particular. Students needed to explore both fully, including a sketch for each, and then decide which one they wanted to bring to fruition. Some initially thought they would do one, but switched after our writing and sketching was complete.

Concept 1: Create a memorial to a person who is no longer in your life using symbols to represent that relationship. This could mean someone who died, but could also be a person who has moved like a childhood friend, a separation due to divorce, or some other situation that has separated you from someone you cared about. If you have no one that this applies to, then choose a historical figure you admire as your theme for a memorial. (These forms do not have to be hollow.) 

​Concept 2: Design and create a hollow form to become a "piggy-bank" in the shape of a symbol to represent a life goal, or something you hope to be able to buy/have some day. Writing focused on life goals: "In 10 years I hope I have...", 20 years, 30 years, before I die I hope I have ... etc. 

​The memorial idea might be too much to handle for a student who has recently faced the loss of someone close, so they can opt for the bank as a safe option. Some however, find the exploration of loss therapeutic. As they share their writing and sketches with the teacher (and they must) I am able to note if the student might need to see a guidance councilor for additional assistance in dealing with emotional trauma. I am also clear with students that they need only dig as deep as they are comfortable. Providing options like this can give them the opportunity to explore, or not explore issues that may be sensitive.
 
Memorial and bank armatures were both made from cardboard, newspaper, balloons, and foil. If students chose a bank, they had to make it from paper first, pull it apart, and use the paper to trace onto cardboard to create their forms. (Kind of like a dress pattern) 

Those making memorials could do the same if their forms were geometric, but often they were more organic and could be made from armatures of bunched up newspaper, tape, and foil. They did not need to be hollow, so in some ways they were easier to make.
 
We used plaster mache to cover our forms. You can read my plaster tips HERE. You may choose to paint these forms with watercolor or acrylics, but I find they peel off and scrape easily. My method of choice is to use colored tissue paper and a glue mixture to cover the forms and add touches of paint for details if needed. It's an ancient Japanese technique, and described in my link, as well as this video from National Geographic: VIDEO.

​Cutting a slot in the banks can sometimes be a challenge. I have a short utility knife for this purpose, but students can pre-cut a slot and plaster around it. Either way will work fine.
 
I have students do a little writing and reflection to end their project. In the examples here I gave each student an index card to label with their name and a description of their work and what it meant so viewers can understand the work and perhaps make their own personal connections. Sometimes knowing you are not alone in a situation can be very healing.

Worksheets, sketch documents, and planning for both of these projects are included in my book, The Art Student's Workbook, in both teacher and student editions found at Nasco, Amazon, and the publisher's website here. 

​Romare Bearden expressed his African American culture through his collage work. Symbols come through like trains and musicians alluding to allegories in the African American experience. Romare also fractures the faces of many subjects to anonymize them; so instead of a face representing a specific person, the fractured face represented a member of the cultural.
 
We spent some time learning about the artist and his work. The first part of THIS VIDEO by art teacher Jennifer Zwelling was a helpful resource.
My students wrote 5 facts about what they saw using their workbooks. 

After sharing many examples of his work, we focused on these ideas to incorporate into our own work:
 
1. It must be connected to your personal culture
2. It must include cultural symbols and people
3. It must include some "fractured faces"
4. It must have a "sense of place," and not just floating, disjointed images
 
We used the following worksheet to brainstorm ideas. 

​Though students only had to focus on one or two aspects, all had to research and find a cultural hero  (Ethnic, Religious, Communal, Cultural, Etc.) for their culture. They did not have to use that person in their work, but I wanted them to know that everyone has some cultural heroe(s).

We had recently finished a large painting project and had lots of leftover hand-mixed paint. We spent a day just using up all those colors on paper to be used on this project. 

​We added in a few other options like newspaper, printed photos, magazine images, and cardboard if they desired. Some students even used some 3D materials like cotton balls or tissue flowers. We had traditional Elmer's glue, glue stick, hot glue, and I had some spray glue available for large pieces. It was helpful to glue everything down to a base of railroad board, oak tag, or another thick paper if it's available.
 
I encouraged students to compose their work before gluing anything down permanently. One way to do this was to create characters like paper-dolls, gluing those to copy paper, cutting those contours and using it like an element to create a composition. Some final works are actually made from several smaller compositions of figures glued to copy paper. Some students just glued as they went and faced a few composition issues.
 
My goal in this project was not to reproduce Romare Bearden's work, but to use it as a theme to explore our own personal cultures. Each student had to finish their project with a bit of writing that hung under the work and explained the cultural connections they were exploring. By exhibiting all the work together, we could see the joy of the melting pot we call the United States and celebrate our diversity.