Lesson #1
Classroom Visit:
Exploring Self-portraits
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Objectives
Students will:
• Explore what makes up one's identity.
• Explore what choices (content- and style-wise) artists have
when making self-portraits that allow them to convey various
aspects of their identity.

Description/questions/activity:
• Discuss initial perceptions of what a self-portrait is.
• Brainstorm: What might an artist want to share about himself/herself
through a self-portrait? - Physical appearance, profession, hobbies,
likes/dislike, personality, character, mood/emotions, social and
economic status. Tie these comments to the theme of identity.
• Brainstorm with students which elements of a self-portrait can be
used to convey aspects of identity: pose/body language, gesture,
gaze, facial expression, environment/background/context, attributes,
symbols, etc. 

Works:
Chuck Close, Self-Portrait
Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair
Marc Chagall, I and the Village
Richard Long, Untitled (an image Long made by walking
over the surface with mud-dipped feet -- creating a series of footprints)

The above images raise discussions about visual representation —
realistic vs. abstracted vs. symbolic; representation through association.
Synecdoche (figure of speech in which the word for part of something
is used to mean the whole) and metonymy (figure of speech in which
an attribute of something is used to stand for the thing itself) were
concepts introduced when analyzing works such as I and the Village .
Assessment
Worksheet # 1