Comparative Thinking Explored at the MET

Georgia Heard calls language "the poet's paint" and Plato observed that when painting and the written word are paired together, they “seem to talk to you as if intelligent.”  The 5^th graders have been working on Compare/Contrast Literary Essays.  Last Friday during a lesson at the MET, they continued this comparative thinking by studying the similarities between Writing and Art.  After choosing a painting from the Impressionist Galleries, students did both a close and distant observation of their painting, noting various elements, such as brushstroke, colors, shadows, perspective, and subject.    Back in the classroom, we sought to apply comparative literary terms to each of the terms used to analyze their particular painting.  The class discovered many parallels! For example, the perspective in a painting is like an author’s point of view or perhaps, their personal bias.  An artist’s use of brushstroke is similar to a writer’s word choice, diction, or even the genre of the text.  Shadows or shading in a painting parallel mood in text and/or inferences that can be made about it.   The subject of a painting is like the main idea or theme in a book.  Students will further this exploration by writing a formal Compare and Contrast essay juxtaposing a painting with a short narrative or poem.