Lesson Plan: One Week In the Library

Review

“It’s usually very difficult to find a specific volume amid this latticework of convergences.  But there it is.  The book.  Once open, its pages begin to speak; they beg to be turned.” 

What would you do if you were stuck in a library, for life? 

The main character in W. Maxwell Prince’s One Week in the Library is indeed stuck in a library.  Struggling to create a balance between the books he loves and the life he really leads, the Librarians’ reading habits conjure up many new and recognizable characters.  From characters in Alice in Wonderland to a man who is simply identified as “the man with the gouged eyes” this graphic novel is sure to introduce you to some interesting personalities and each of their own lost and longing searches for their place in the world of fiction.  Or so the Librarian first thinks.

While helping his literary character-friends the Librarian must also face himself and his own character.  Over the course of a week will his helpful nature benefit both his literary-friends, and, to his surprise, himself?

Told in both narrative, poetic verse, and prose this graphic novel is original and thought provoking.  Aimed at more mature high school readers and their educators, One Week in the Library is a refreshing reminder of the power of words to work together with images in order to tell a new fictional story in a much more visually-oriented 21st century climate.  

Language Arts Elements of Story

Plot: Stuck in his library, a librarian’s day-to-day week is chronicled to the point of blending reality and fantasy in ways that question just how much fiction mirrors real life.

Major Characters: the Librarian, the man with the gouged eyes and his daughters, Freddy Flotsam, Belfry, Lonely Miss Marionette, Grim Reggie, the three little bears, Marigold, Gary, Gary’s Grandmother, Gary’s ghost, the flies, the bird, the spider, the farmer and his wife, Allen Castrovich, David Tumnus, Mr. Hadder, Mr. Pillar, Bob, Larry, Robots, Jesus, Book Man, W. Maxwell Prince

Major Settings: Library, the home of the man with the gouged eyes, Pleasure Island, docks, ocean, Marigold’s home, Gary’s home, Farmhouse, Office Building, Brooklyn

Themes: Fantasy, Reality, Reading and Learning, Life and Fiction, the Writing Process, Time, Reflection 

* Before assigning, educators should consult this graphic novel for mature subject matter that may or may not be suitable for their student population.

Lesson Plan Recommendations Using the Common Core Standards for High School Readers

Key Ideas and Details

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2

Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

**The number(s) referenced above corresponds to the number used by the Common Core Standards (www.commoncore.org) 

Lesson Idea for High School Readers

Directions: The following Guided Reading activity calls on students to focus on themes.  There are three steps to Guided Reading: Before Reading, During Reading, and After Reading.

1.  Before Reading: Before students read have them select a theme.  You will most likely have to write each theme two or three times on a small piece of paper in order to make sure each student has a theme.  Ask students to blindly choose a theme from a container.  Next, tell them that their selected theme is their topic while reading this graphic novel.
2. During Reading: While students read ask them to keep notes on how and when (two columns on a piece of paper if you would like to structure their process) they think their theme is most evident in the graphic novel. 
3. After Reading: When they are done reading students need to write a two-three page reflection essay documenting how and when their theme appeared in the story.  If needed, this culminating activity can serve as an assessment tool.