Pistes d'exploration

Useful for immersion into text, this graphic text can support the inquiry process and allow students to consider issues related to the struggle for civil rights in America.

In small groups, discuss the way key events are represented. How do they relate to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words: “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies . . . but the silence of our friends”?

In groups, formulate a related question and, using a research process, explore the issues and gather data. Present the group’s findings to an audience of peers through a spoken, written or media presentation.

Note the secondary title: “The Civil Rights Struggle was Never Black and White.” In small teams, discuss what it foretells.

Discuss the various underlying messages found in the illustrations and dialogue of the crabbing outing.

Like Mark’s father, create a news broadcast on a hot topic in current events with respect to human rights. Be prepared to answer questions from your audience of peers.

Noughts & Crosses: The Graphic Novel Adaptation, March: Book One

Mots-clés

Memoir , African Americans , American history , brothers and sisters , civil rights , friendship , illustrations (monochrome) , Mark Long , racism , segregation , social justice

Commentaire descriptif

The language in this graphic storymemoir builds tension from the start, as young Mark and his family negotiate the violent prejudice in their new hometown. “‘I never see any black people.’ ‘That’s because they all live in “The Bottom”’ … ‘the truth is, wherever blacks live in Dixie is the bottom.’” The story skillfully incorporates a historic backdrop, such as the Vietnam War, the Black Panther movement, Stokely Carmichael and the SNCC. The intentional relationship between Mark’s journalist father and Larry, a professor at the African American college, includes the social mingling of their families—offering an uplifting example of bravery against crushing hostility. Monochrome drawings combine realism with an expressive, dramatic edge. One image depicts Larry’s son, dashing out the panel-border, freezie-drink flung from his grasp. The next shows his little sister, half knocked off the page, her broken shoe dangling (the freezie still in flight). She’s been mowed down by a racist driver in his pickup. This memoir shows the dehumanizing effects of racism on victims and victimizers alike, arguing powerfully for proactive use of white privilege to combat it. Final images show Mark and his sister holding Larry’s hands as they join a protest march. In a lovely surreal finish, the protesters’ feet—black and white—float off the ground and walk into air.