Lesson Plan: Bloom

Review

Bloom, a young adult graphic novel which centers on the story of Ari, a young man who faces significant changes in his life as he approaches adulthood. Changes such as deciding what to do after high school—whether to continue keeping his family’s struggling bakery afloat or to move away and start fresh. This decision is all upended when his father decides to hire a baking assistant and Ari meets Hector, another young man whose own experiences alter Ari’s perspective and baking knowledge rejuvenates his family’s business. Ari’s journey is one that forces him to look inward as his young adulthood comes to an end and his relationship with Hector blooms.

Relationships are at the center of this novel. Whether it is Ari’s relationships with his friends, family, Hector, or himself, the novel is consistently working to assess what a healthy relationship looks like—illustrated by gorgeous spreads of characters making bread together. In order to fully appreciate the positive relationships and cut-out the harmful ones, Ari has to change. It is this element of the narrative that I believe is what gives this 2012 graphic novel staying power and justification for teaching in your classroom. It is a narrative that gives it’s protagonist room to blossom as an individual in ways that question traditional conceptualizations of young love. In a time where some young adult readers might want nothing more than to “grow up” and get away, this novel reveals the more nuanced reality of life; how our roots and people around us give our lives meaning and internal change can be more productive than spatial change.

As an early example of pre-marriage equality literature that focuses on queer characters but treats them as fully-rounded individuals rather than beings defined by their sexuality, Bloom is a must-have for any inclusive classroom library. The novel provides a variety of topics to discuss within the ELA classroom such as self-awareness, relationships, and the concept of “growing up” to name a few. My lesson challenges students to look inwards and apply a similar questioning of self that Ari experiences in the novel.

Elements of Story

Plot: Ari, a young adult who is approaching the end of high school, must decide what comes after. Decidedly set upon leaving to start anew, this decision is put into question when Ari’s father hires Hector, another young man, to work in their family bakery.

Characters: Ari, Hector, Maria, Ari’s Mother and Father, Jake, Cameron, Hanna, Meg, and Andrew

Major Settings: A beach town (presumably in the US), Ari’s family bakery

Themes: Relationships, Self-Awareness, Maturity

Lesson Plan Idea Using Common Core Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3

Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3.B

Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

This lesson idea centers on reading Bloom and understanding the intersectionality of themes present in the narrative; namely between relationships and self-awareness. With a focus on these themes and how self-awareness allows us to be positive participants in the relationships we have. If reading Bloom as a whole-class text, I would suggest using guided questions during class discussion that attunes students to think about Ari as a complex character. Questions such as: what could Ari have done better? How has Ari changed throughout the novel? After analyzing Ari’s journey as a class, provide students with the prompt (or one that meets the core standards):

Throughout the narrative, Ari realizes negative influences in the relationships that he has. Sometimes, he is the negative influence. For this assignment, think of a relationship that had a conflict that you feel was partly your fault. Remember that relationships can include ones with friends, with partners, with family members or even yourself. After you have decided on a relationship that meets this criteria, create a narrative that both illustrates the conflict in the relationship and what you did to improve it, or, reflect upon what you could have done to be a more positive participant in the relationship. This narrative can be written, graphic, performative, or multi-modal. (since the class is working with a multimodal text already, I would encourage a multimodal assessment)

Using Bloom as a mentor text, encourage students to consider the ways that Ari grows to aid them in their own self-reflection. Ari and Hector are both nearing high school graduation, which is why I believe an audience who is in a similar situation such as 11-12 graders would benefit most from this text; however, I also believe it can be adapted to suit a 9-10 grade classroom as well.