Riverside Secondary; EFP 11 Students Encapsulate Oral Stories Into Comics; Shocking Fellow Classmates With Hidden Skills
By: Megan Antosh ; October 29th 2024
Riverside students are assigned to create comic pages based off of indigenous stories found online, the differences in interpretations span indefinitely while walking through and observing the pieces of art.
The gallery, with a layout created by Mrs Rance (EFP 11 teacher), displays art from two English classes; students were asked to write a label that portrayed their comic, as well as draw the comic itself i while making also effort to try and stick out from the crowd congruently.
Stories from Inuit, First Nations Ojibwe, Coast Salish, etc. communities, were used in order to create a diverse set of stories. Students were even asked to draw these stories, using the art styles coming from the Indigenous communities (Woodlands, Inuit art style, etc); one student, Quincy Moriarity, sharing that if she were to create a new comic, she would “love to try creating a comic from another community, in order to learn more art styles.” Not only did she say this but, she also stated that, “When walking around the classroom I discovered and learned many ways that peop
le interpreted the story and integrated the art styles to fit their own”.When interviewing these students, answers varied from being simple to complex. Multiple students described the art gallery as well organized and aesthetic. One student, Cheyenne Van Brabant, recalled the gallery to be “well put-together; that the comics were well displayed and easy to read.” Recalling that
“the classroom was decorated very well” as well as another student, Charlee Whitman, agreeing with this opinion, stating that it was “well organized and well thought out”.
The process of the comics, noted, were somewhat the same; most using paper to start out and sketch, then finalizing it until satisfied. Students such as Cheyenne, noted that the process was “time consuming but enjoyable”; a number of other students claimed the same thing. When asked what interested them about the process of creating the comic, both relatively stated the same thing: “I was interesting in learning the art style. Learning about designing and creating comics sounded like something fun to do so, doing it for an assignment was a fun surprise”.
Not only did they share the positives, they shared the negatives as well. When asked if there were any tips and tricks that they would share to
someone doing the same project as them; “start early and don’t rush; the process takes a long time and it is better to just get it done” said by Charlee W. “Do not feel pressured to have every single box perfected to your desire, not all the drawings will be perfect; its the outcome of how all the drawings mix together that give it life.” said by Cheyenne.
The process did not only include drawing though, it also included being able to capture the oral story with phrases and textboxes that matched the story without changing up the plot. Students were given the question “How come you chose to use certain phrases; were they quoted from the storyteller or was it changed t
o fit your comic?”, students said that they used the video they got the story from, and integrated some quotes into their text as well as tweaking the sentences a bit in order to create a better flow of words and communication all throughout the story.
Students showed artistic skills, not only by using paper, pencil crayons, markers and a pencil, but by using AI as well; making an effort to bypass the common stereotypes indigenous people face based on appearances when typing out prompts. Most people used the traditional art form, paper, or the more modern style, digital art, but non connected with the AI who had created a whole different aesthetic.
I, as well as many other researchers who attended this event, found it enjoyable. The students were kind and explained their process in a organized manner, showing how well prepared they, and their teacher were.