The Arrival

In Shaun Tan's amazing graphic novel there is no need for words, the pictures can truly tell the story.

Imagining a remarkable story told entirely in pictures was a difficult concept for me to grasp. After having looked at The Arrival my mindset was changed. The intricate pictures and the fictional characters that Tan manages to create are very successful at telling the progression of events with no words to assist them. Just like any other novel, the main character is presented with the struggle of leaving his family and becoming acclimated with a new environment. In his travels he has to overcome the obstacles of a new culture, new languages and a new lifestyle. As you move from illustration to illustration you begin to craft predictions of what might happen next. But for me, the most exciting part of this novel was that in reading it, each audience has the power to craft their own story and indulge their imagination.

Websites

• After having read this description of the novel teachers would have a better understanding of just what the author intended. Because graphic novels are still a somewhat abstract concept this can help to scaffold students in looking for the meaning behind all these pictures.
• When contemplating teaching graphic novels, you may wish to read this brief article. It explains the the progression of the genre and encourages teachers with the importance of broadening their literature in the classroom.

Vocabulary

There is no vocabulary that we may consider difficult or teachable in this story because there isn't really any text. However, words such as foreign, immigration/emigration, acclimate, currency, poverty, and customs may all be taught to students as a result of the content that the images projects.

Reading Activities

Before Reading
You may wish to teach this story in connection to a history lesson about immigration/emigration. Before reading introduce students the vocabulary terms that are listed above, creating definitions for them collectively as a class. This will assist students in attaining their own personalized understanding of the topic that awaits them. If you use the dictionary to scaffold your definitions you may also encourage their use of such a resource in their day to day reading.

During Reading
As students read provide them with a photocopy of one of your favorite illustrations from the novel. As they look at the photocopy individually have them write a short response on what they believe the author is trying to tell them as the audience and why. When they finish this activity bring them together as a whole group and discuss what each student wrote about. This can demonstrate for them how each person may collect different meaning form the images as they craft the projected idea behind the story. Just remember that as you are doing these activities you must encourage that there is no wrong answer.

After Reading
When students have finished reading The Arrival bring them to the library and show them the section that is dedicated to graphic novels. Ask each student, or pairs of students, to pick a new graphic novel to read. once that task is completed have them craft a movie trailer for their book if it were to be turned into a movie. Explain to them that because their are already very concrete illustrations many graphic novels are brought to the movie screen to assist their audiences in forming more clear understandings of their intentions. Have each student or group of students present their ideas to the class.