Departing the Text: Royden Lepp

Showing posts with label Royden Lepp. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Rust by Royden Lepp: Teaching Suggestions for Volumes 1,2, and 3

For those following my blog posts, this is not a repeat or double take (here's a link to my previous post on Volumes 1 and 2). Rust Volume 3 "Death of the Rocket Boy" has just been released and so this post incorporates all three volumes with a summary, links and resources, and teaching suggestions.

I've had the absolute pleasure of reviewing Rust 3: Death of the Rocket Boy before publication and can tell you without reservation that this beautiful story will be a welcome addition to any home or school library/curriculum for middle school readers and older.

By Royden Lepp (Archaia)

Rating: These books have been rated appropriate reading for all ages - although I would say they will be enjoyed by readers Grade 4 through adult. While younger readers will easily focus on Roman and Oswald his younger brother along with their responsibilities to their farm and family, and their relationship with Jet Jones, older readers will comprehend the larger issues of artificial intelligence, and drone warfare, and the unfortunate and untimely loss of loved ones.

Series Overview: All three volumes are brilliantly illustrated in sepia tone giving the story a Dust Bowl and post World War I feeling. They are published by Boom! Studios, Archaia Imprint Books in hardcover.

Rust: Visitor in the Field. Royden Lepp (Archaia)

Rust tells a compelling story of discovery, war, responsibility, love, growing up, and empowerment. Each of the characters (Roman, Oz, Jessie, Jet, and even Jet's "father") are deeply faceted and developed and we intently follow them as they deal with challenges of life, love, responsibility and "coming of age." And, while the story contains war scenes between jet-propelled 'boys,' large earlier generation 30-foot Model C mechanical robots, soldiers, and Jet (who was created with a special powers to end all wars), the story is equally about family as it is about war, robots, or superheroes.

The overall story, is about a teen-aged boy, Roman, who was left to care for the family farm after his father was taken to serve in "the war." The farm, like many others, is failing and Roman is desperately trying to survive. One of his solutions has been to reprogram the larger older-generation war robots to do farm/field work. The problem is that after a while these robots seem to go rogue and are therefore dangerous and unpredictable.

Volume 1 Rust: Visitor in the field is about a teenager, Roman Taylor who, while living in an alternate world/time, lives in what looks like the Dust Bowl Oklahoma (in an alternate world) in the 1930's that is recovering from what looks like World War I. His father was called to war and Roman is struggling to keep their small farm solvent. Then one day, Jet Jones crash-lands on the farm. As Roman learns more about Jet, discovering how Jet works and Jet's past, Roman becomes more hopeful about his future and the welfare of his family and their farm. So hopeful, that he tends to overlook nagging questions about Jet that remain unanswered.

When Jet Jones first appears, he is fighting a larger rogue machine. Roman helps Jones defeat the larger drone and secures him as a farm hand helping with the harvest and with rebuilding a disabled Model-C robot (which in turn will add more helping hands on the farm). It is Roman's hope that his younger brother Oswald can return to school now that the robots can help with the farm. Oswald is an observant kid and begins to ask questions of the past, of war, and is questioning who Jet Jones is.

Jet Jones escapes his creators in "Rust: Secrets of the Cell." (Archaia)

Rust: Secrets of the Cell by Royden Lepp (Archaia)

Rust: Secrets of the Cell. Royden Lepp (Archaia)

Volume 2 Rust: Secrets of the Cell begins by revealing more about Jet Jones' past. It hints at difficulties he had to overcome (and may still be wrestling with). Roman is still wrestling to get the farm back up, still sees Jet Jones and the re-tooling of Model C's as the key, and still is willing to overlook unanswered questions Oz and others raise about Jet Jones. We also begin to question if there might be a budding romance between Roman and Jesse Aicot. But in this volume, the plot focuses on revealing more about Oswald, Jet Jones and Mr. Aicot's ability to shed some answers. Here is a free preview from Archaia.

The book opens 48 years in the past where we get a glimpse of Jet Jones as he 'escapes' his past (as seen in the panels above and to the right). Oswald questions Jet Jones' role and motives, and when talking with neighbor (and retired soldier) Mr. Aicot, Oswald learns more about the war, its use of drones and about Models C's and Jet Jones. The story is beautifully layered and is full of intrigue, tension, and heart as we begin to truly question each of the characters, their roles in the farm, in the war, and with each other.

Volume 3: Death of the Rocket Boy opens like a sequel movie or television show. We get the background on Jet Jone's story. We now learn where he comes from and why defected from the army, eventually finding Roman and his farm. We then see the opening credits and continue where Rust 2 left off - Jet Jones rescuing Oz from a rogue robot on a train speeding through the prairies. Oz, being an acute observer pieces together more of Jet's past. He sees Jet is not who he claims to be, and Oz above the others recognizes the threats Jet brings to the family and their farm. In Death of the Rocket Boy we learn why Roman and Mr. Aicot are having trouble reprogramming their Model C war robots turned farm-bots. We learn of Jet's past and sympathize with Jet about his choices for his future as he must face and deal with his own internal demons. Volume 3 is all about family, love, and responsibility.

Death of the Rocket Boy. Royden Leppm (Archaia)

Death of the Rocket Boy is Jet and Roman's story, in a sense. They are both wresting with their past and future choices (with a twist added by Jesse and her somewhat divergent view of the future). In Volume 3 the story focuses on Jet and Roman's struggles with their ties to their fathers and their urgent responsibilities to others around them. This is less a story of war, although the war is all around them. This is a story about hope, choices, and the fears of facing reality. And while this book is incredibly exciting and hard to put down, Royden Lepp noted in an interview (http://www.comicosity.com/interview-royden-lepp-rockets-into-volume-3-of-rust/) that, "Volume 3 is definitely a kind of calm before the storm. before things start to look up for the Taylor family, they're going to get worse. This volume is building up to the next and most exciting book in the series."

Classroom Suggestions: As these books are appropriate for all ages, classroom suggestions become more layered. I would recommend that these volumes be used by students grades 4+

For middle-school learners:

Death of the Rocket Boy. Royden Lepp (Archaia)

Discuss what it was like living in Dust Bowl of the 1930's.

You may want to compare this book to Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust [by Karen Hesse is about a girl, living in the Dust Bowl who suffers a debilitating accident shortly after the death of her mother, and must learn to face life's harsh lessons with patience and grace. This novel is written solely in prose and poetry and the author's use of language is breathtaking].
You can discuss the different story-telling aspects of prose, poetry and image.]or to the famous and powerful photographs of Dorothea Lange

Discuss the role of family, responsibility and issues of 'coming of age'
Discuss the role of heroes vs. anti-heroes
Chart and/or discuss how Oz, Roman and Jet grow and change over the three volume (to date) series.
Discuss what it is like being the older sibling, often with more responsibilities and what it is like being a younger sibling who often feels ignored or not listened to.

For high school learners these books might be read when discussing

War and its effect on families, farms, civilians
AI - Artificial intelligence: where we are today, its possibilities, the pros and cons of using AI in our daily lives
Drone warfare
The changing roles of heroes and anti-heroes
Visitor In the Field. Royden Lepp (Archaia)

Responsibilities that come with being a teen

Common Core State Standards that can be addressed when reading these books:

Key Ideas and Details:

Recount details;
Quote accurately from the text when explaining content;
Compare and contrast character motivations or plot development between the two volumes;
Discuss the central versus secondary themes;
In Volume 3, Jet is upset and feels guilty about an accident he caused which resulted in the death of soldiers in the war. Have students discuss/write about how they felt after an accident they hadn't meant to create, and regretted.
Analyze how particular elements of the story's drama interact, and/or the role of dialogue versus visual story-telling.
With limited text this may help weak readers, although the limited text also expands inference making as readers must gather their data by analyzing and integrating visual messages along with text.

Craft and Structure: in this graphic novel, we are experiencing the story as it unfolds from each character's perspective. This is a wonderful tool for teaching the difference betweeen 1st-person and 3rd-person perspectives.

Compare how this story is told versus other prose stories (you may want to look below at suggested paired readings).
In Volume 3, on pages 66, Roman tells Jet, "You don't have to live with the choices I make everyday, I do..." Discuss this wonderful use of irony as Roman has no inkling of how Jet is struggling with very similar issues.
Discuss how flashbacks are created in graphic novels versus how they're created in prose novels.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: interpreting information presented visually and explain how the information contributes to understanding the text (gr. 4), drawing information from multiple print sources (gr. 5), Comparing these books to others on similar topics also falls under the CCSS for this area.

Compare and contrast this book to other prose books on World War I or the Dust Bowl (see references below).
In Volume 3, p. 90 Jet's father tells him he has three choices, "You can leave this farm and go find your next oil fix, you can die here and likely lead the government to the Taylor's doorstep. Or you can leave with me. We can try to find the last supercell together..." Create decision trees or have students pick an option and debate and/or convince others of it's merit.

Common Core State Standards with Writing exercises:

Roman and Oswald write letters to their father. You might have students write letters to members of their own families who are far away, or you may have them write letters to "Mr. Taylor" from Roman and/or Oswald's perspective (Conventions of Standard English, Knowledge of Language, Vocabulary Acquisition and Use, )
Have students write a research paper on drone warfare and/or artificial intelligence (Research to Build and Present Knowledge all grades)
Have students write an opinion piece addressing the pros or cons of using drone warfare (addressing Text Types and Purposes of the CCSS for all grades)
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity -can be addressed when pairing these books with other fiction and non-fiction works about artificial intelligence, the Dust Bowl, and/or drone warfare.

Common Core State Standards for Speaking and Listening:

Have students role play, acting out important parts or decisions of the book (Comprehension and Collaboration)
Have students present and discuss their research projects (see above) (Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas)

Teaching and Reinforcing Visual Literacy:

You may want to introduce, compare and contrast Lepp's images of failed prairie farms to those photographed by Dorothea Lange and others of the 1920's Dust Bowl.
Lepp creates the world of Rust in simple Sepia tones and yet the battlefields look very different from the farms. Discuss how Lepp does this. Discuss how the farms and battlefields are similar and how they are different.
While Rust is a beautifully nuanced story, there is limited text. Discuss how Lepp integrates images and text to create the depth and detail of his story. You may also want to discuss Lepp's use of Roman and Oz's letters to their father to help create their characters.
Throughout the three Rust volumes, Lepp uses focused (and non-focused) panels, texture and shading to add depth and detail to the story (see Volume 3, page 79, for example). Have students chart different examples of how he does this.
Compare and contrast Dust Bowl images drawn by Mat Phelan in The Storm in the Barn versus Lepp's depiction of the Taylor farm.

Using Rust for Content Area Learning (Math, Science and Social Studies):

In Vol. 3 on the first page, we see Jet Jones lying unconscious in a crater. Have students create a math word problem to figure out the diameter, circumference, and area of the crater.
Compare and contrast the images of Lepp's war in his Rust volumes to images found of World War I.
Compare and contrast the images of Lepp's prairies in his Rust volumes to images found of the 1920's and 30's Dust Bowl.
In Volume 3, the engineer tells Jet, "Many people died today but possibly so that many more don't have to. This could be the beginning of the end of the war." Discuss how this parallels other catastrophic decisions made throughout our history (for example: the atomic bomb; water-boarding; violation of constitutional rights, experimentation, etc.)
Research and discuss the pros and cons of the growing drone warfare (from a science as well as a social and/or historical perspective).

Monday, July 29, 2013

CHALLENGE (for Kids, Writers, Artists): Creating Effective Visual Messages

THE CHALLENGE: Aliens are invading Earth to mine ALL its resources (that includes YOU!!). Pick a side and create a message that either helps SAVE Earth from invading aliens or helps aliens CONQUER Earth... one image at a time.

To do this let me give you some background information, basic building blocks for creating messages, and some suggestions and details to help you meet the challenge.

BACKGROUND:

This challenge was presented at the 2013 San Diego International Comic-Con was called “How to Conquer the World One Image at a Time.” The following four award-winning graphic novel writers/illustrators joined me: Jimmy Gownley (Amelia books), Royden Lepp (Rust); JohnGreen (Teen Boat), and Larry Marder (Bean World).

In this post I’d like to invite you all to virtually join our panel. Below are:

Details of the challenge;
The basics of visually storytelling;
Examples of how the panelists responded to the challenge

I begin with the challenge. Please think about this challenge as I relay the visual-story telling basics. Then take a look at what my colleagues created and share your own. Share this with your kids too!!!! I’d love to see what they come up with!

Courtesy: Men in Black

The CHALLENGE DETAILS:

Aliens are invading Earth to mine ALL its resources (that includes YOU!!). Pick a side and help SAVE or CONQUER Earth one image at a time. You must create a visual message for your side (its content and target audience is up to you). Your message might:

· WARN Earth of its impending danger where resistance is futile;

· RALLY public awareness and resistance because resistance is never futile;

· CONVINCE humans of a better life on alien planets;

· CREATE an Alien Party Election poster;

· Provide INVASION SAFETY TIPS;

· Anything else you think will help your side.

From: theabundantartist.com

VISUAL STORYTELLING 101...or the basics of visual literacy:

With this challenge in mind, let me relay some four key elements to visually story-telling:

1. As you create your message you must KNOW/CONSIDER:

· WHO your target audience is (kids, teachers, parents, friends, aliens, Americans, etc.);

· WHAT you want to say (Try to save Earth from invasion? Try to help aliens make peaceful transition? Humorous? Fact-filled? Safety tips? Instructions? );

· HOW to clearly and relate that message, grab their attention and convince them balancing logic, credibility, and passion (with humor, facts, universal icons and symbols, simple vocabulary, etc.)

For Example:

Depending on the message and our target audience you will need to balance and use varying amount of credibility, logic andpassion. For example, a message to your teacher, asking her to consider using graphic novels for a book report will probably include a good deal of logic along with a dose of credibility citing references to the benefits of graphic novels for educational purposes. Trying to convince a friend to read a graphic novel, however, will probably relay more on emotion and passion (“Oh its so AWESOME”) than credibility and references to its educational benefits. For more on this please see this post on balancing logos (logic), ethos (credibility), and pathos (passion/emotion) in visual messages.

2. You must decide how to balance and use words, symbols, images and icons. And, regardless of the balance you chose to use, carefully considering how your audience will interpret your choices. For example, this image can be seen as:

· The number “two” or two fingers;

· Bunny ears;

· A sign for victory; and/or

· A sign for peace

While this particular example shows the multiple messages images and symbols can relay, know that words also frequently carry multiple meanings. So, when using words or images make sure you usie them effectively for your particular target audience.

3. Your use of COLOR also must be carefully considered. Color can grab our attention, raise or lower blood pressure, clam or excite us, and relay concepts and motions. Colorful images make communication interesting and motivate the receiver.

As I have already posted and written a lot about use of color I will only briefly relay a points to illustrate color choice influences your message.

Briefly: red excites us and raises blood pressure, appetite and body temperature while blue clams us and lowers our blood pressure and respiration. Red can relay danger and prime attention. Blue, aside from calming, can relay elite status and adventure. Green is also calming and is often used to denote ‘nature’ or ‘natural’ but it can also be used to relay ‘envy.’ Yellow (like red) primes our attention and is actually the first color our brains register. Yellow relays sunshine and youth but too much yellow can often be unpleasant.

For more on color, please see: Color Casts Powerful Messages: Learn how to USE it!

4. Your use of the SPACE and DESIGN of the page is also really important. While our brains tend to prefer “balanced” pages and designs, our attention is held longer by asymmetrical images. Also while an image may be placed asymmetrically on a page, it can still be “balanced” with proper use of color, icons, words and corollary images.

Let me give you an example:

In the image below by Pablo Alfieri we can clearly see how he uses color, font, space, icons/image, and asymmetry and balance to make us FEEL PLAYFUL.

http://www.epab.bme.hu/bevinf/Gy-Word-Betuplakat/typographic_posters_elemei/playful1.jpg

Image by Pablo Alfieri

First, PLAYFUL is presented in a bold yellow font and feels energetic and...playful. The word is then set against a regal purple background (relaying a feeling of acceptance and authority).

Next, is the use of confetti – a symbol of celebration and playfulness and one sees a random, impulsive purple string and diagonal narrow blue line – again suggesting playfulness and creativity.

Then, there is the a play of light and dark. PLAYFULNESS and the confetti are placed to the side and inside a lighter purple area, surrounded by a much darker purple background. Placing the message inside the lighter area AND the use of bright yellow, immediately bring our attention to the message.

Finally, we see that the words are off to the side. This use of asymmetry is another effective means of grabbing our attention and keeping our interest on the message. And, even though the message is asymmetrical, it feels balanced as the lighter, playful message on one side, is balanced, surrounded and to some extent grounded by the darker, established, authoritative purple all around it. The blue diagonal line and extending confetti also help add a feeling of balance and harmony.

CHALLENGE MESSAGES BY MY ESTEEMED PANELISTS:

Below are some of the messages designed by my esteemed panelists (please do not copy or reproduce these images without express written permission).

Please consider contributing your own images and the images of your kids and students. As always, I thank you for your visit and hope you’ll contribute your own insights, experiences and images in the comments below.

This first image was done by John Green. Unfortunately, my scanner did not include the colors used. In this image, while mostly black and white, all the lettering is in a dark green shade.

In this image, John Green shows a "friendly" alien trying to lure kids into space (because it's "cool") in an effort to take over Earth and harvest its resources:

Courtesy of John Green

The next two images are by Larry Marder. Here too, I am was unable to transfer the color. Larry's first image "Join or Die!" is black and white...the message is clear. Notice the use of jagged edges in this explosion and the tiny figure on a sphere. Notice how tense the image makes us:

Courtesy of Larry Marder

In Larry's second image, "There is room for us all!" the figure is in black and white but he's standing on Earth whose oceans are a light blue color and continents are shades of green. The other "mass" is also colored in shades of green with the large circles shaded in yellow. Notice how different the "feel"of the image is:

Finally, below is an image by Royden Lepp. Luckily the color did come out:

Courtesy of Royden Lepp

When designing this image, Royden wanted the viewer to recollect the propaganda images the Nazis relayed (particularly to the French) in World War II where viewers were informed that Nazi invasion would bring happier, better times. Notice the use of color, light and design. The aliens are clearly invading, but families are happy, lights are on and they seem quite welcome. What is Royeden's real message?

WHAT WILL YOUR MESSAGE BE?

Please think about this and include your own images in the comments below.

And, if you're not up to creating/sending your own image, please let us know what you might say and how.

As always, thank you for your visit and please leave some message for us in the comments below.

NOTE: The images above by John Green, Larry Marder and Royden Lepp ARE FOR THIS POST ONLY. YOU MAY NOT COPY OR REPRODUCE THEM without expressed written permission.