Judging a Book by its Cover

This lesson is situated in the first of two sections on survivor testimony as told through graphic narratives. This lesson consists of a modified anticipation exercise focusing on three covers  from the graphic narratives in But I Live . Students will complete a guided handout asking them to interpret and infer information about the three stories based on their covers. Students will be challenged to infer the historical context of the testimonies based on their covers alone . The lack of historical context in this lesson is purposeful in that it will ease students into difficult testimonies, instill the importance of having context in the following lesson, and prime students for deeper visual analysis of illustrations. The lesson following this will focus on context, setting, and perspective.

Guiding Question

• What role does the cover play in creating a narrative?
• How does a cover influence our desire to read a given graphic narrative?

Preparation

The teacher will need coloured copies of the covers of each story, or technology to project each cover on the overhead. And copies of the worksheet for each student.

Introduction

Display and review the following definitions.

infer: to gather and hypothesize information from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements. For instance: “From these facts we can infer that crime has been increasing.”  In order to infer, we must sometimes read between the lines and fill in the blanks.

anticipate: The act of anticipating something; the expectation or prediction that something will happen. Anticipation may involve feelings of excitement or nervousness.

evoke: Bring or recall to mind; stimulate a thought.

resist: The refusal to accept or comply with something; the attempt to prevent something by action or argument.

Lesson Activities

Do we judge a book by its cover?

Ask the class and take several student responses. What do people mean when they say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” Why do they say it?

Have students turn to a person near them and come up with three pros and three cons of judging a book by its cover.

Groups will share out one pro and one con, teacher will record answers on the board.

Have students vote on the statement “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” One finger = disagree; 2 fingers = on the fence; 3 fingers = agree.

Anticipation Guide

Display the Judge A Book By Its Cover handout, going over the questions and ensuring students are comfortable with their wording. Explain that as a class we will work through the first cover together. They will complete the other two covers in groups of two or three.

1. What are three things we can infer from the title?
2. What are three important visual elements you see on the cover?
3. What could these visual elements represent?
4. This graphic narrative is based on testimony of one individual; what are three things we can infer about the individual from the cover?
5. What are two predictions you have after examining the cover? What evidence do you have to support those predictions?

Distribute the handout and display the first cover on a projector/enlarger. As a class, work through the five questions, having students record answers on their sheets.

Once the first section has been completed, prompt students to form groups of two or three. Distribute copies of the remaining two covers, and/or display them on a projector/enlarger.

If time allows, go over answers as a group.

Conclusion

Tell students that they have dug deep into the covers of these books; collaboratively, they have analyzed these covers, and made predictions based on their insights. This experience will help them engage in deeper visual analysis throughout the remainder of the unit. This lesson will also provide a foundation for when they make their own covers in the second half of the unit.

Conduct vote for a second time. “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” one finger = disagree; two fingers = on the fence; three fingers = agree.

Support Materials

Judge A Book By Its Cover Handout