Lesson: Visual Storyteller

• Review students’ notes from their “Graphic Organizer: Working With Narrative” skills sheets.

1. As a class, read “Visual Storyteller.” Invite students to observe the artworks closely after reading each section of the article.
2. Ask: How does Wood create narratives in these works? (In The Return from Bohemia, Wood demonstrates his feelings by portraying stern, disapproving figures looming behind a self-portrait; in Death on the Ridge Road, Wood foreshadows an accident about to happen; in Appraisal, Wood draws a contrast between the two figures and illustrates their mutual judgments.)
3. Have students record their findings in their “Graphic Organizer: Working With Narrative” skills sheets.

• How does Wood foreshadow an event in Death on the Ridge Road? (Wood creates a diagonal to move the viewers’ eyes through the scene. He adds details, including dramatic lighting, to show where the accident will take place.)
• Observe what the figures in The Return from Bohemia and Appraisal are looking at. How do the figures’ gazes add to the narrative? (The figures in The Return from Bohemia look at Wood with scorn, and the figures in Appraisal evaluate one another. The gazes demonstrate their varied relationships.)

• Using these three paintings as inspiration, create a work in the style of Wood. Choose a title that helps viewers “read” the narrative in your work.
• Consider the themes in these three works. What similarities do you notice? How do these themes relate to Wood’s other works?

Have students complete the “Write About Art” box on page 6.