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Jacob Lawrence: Storyteller
Curriculum unit developed by the J. Paul Getty Trust

Lesson 2: The Great Migration: Telling Stories about Historical Events

Activity 2: The Parts of a Story

Overview:
In this activity, students will look again at the images and text from the Migration series, and consider how the artist arranges images to tell a story. They review the parts of a story and analyze how the artist deals with each. They also consider how the artist might have approached each part, in order to emphasize the fact that storytellers make choices in content and form when they tell a story.

Students have learned how Jacob Lawrence researched to find out more about the Great Migration, and then created a series of paintings to tell about this important historical event. They will now look more carefully at how the artist actually structured the series of paintings so that, together, the paintings tell a story.

Review with the students the components of a story:
  • a situation in which people find themselves
  • a setting in which the story takes place (a particular time and an environment)
  • characters (with character traits)
  • a plot or story-line (the sequence of events)
  • point of view (a special look at the story by the person who is telling it)
  • an organizational structure (a beginning, a middle, and an end that grab the interest of an audience, hold it, and reward it with a conclusion)
Have students complete the worksheet Elements of Storytelling as a way of analyzing the Migration series as a carefully planned story. (Click here for a Teachers' Key.) The students may work alone or in small groups. They should consider both the images and words provided by the artist. In the second column, they are to explain the way the artist addresses the story component. In the third column, they are to note ways that the artist might have addressed it. For example, in creating characters for the story, the artist chose to tell about a general group of people. He might have told the story about specific individuals who experienced the Great Migration.

After students analyze the various parts of the Great Migration story, have them share their findings with the class. Make sure that they understand that even when reporting on a historical event, a storyteller makes choices about what to tell about and how to tell it.


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© J. Paul Getty Trust