I Do: Love and Marriage in 19th Century Canada 

Education Resource 

Activity 3―The 19th Century Goes to the Comics

Purpose: In trying to address different learning styles, this activity will provide many of the same complexities as the earlier activities, as well as allow students to express their knowledge in a medium that combines image and text. Students could use the articles from Activity 1 for this activity. It is important to remember that while this activity is somewhat artistic in nature, the emphasis remains on the word choices and situations being depicted.

Procedure:

1.	Students will start by exploring issues regarding courtship by reading letters from the section of the I Do: Love and Marriage in 19th-Century Canada website entitled Private Words www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/love-and-marriage/031001-7000-e.html, or from information they have picked up in Activity 1.

2.	Students will complete a comic of approximately 20-30 panels depicting either a couple courting or a courtship issue of the 19th century. 

3.	General guidelines for the comic are as follows: larger panels should be used to slow down time or make the viewer take notice; shorter panels speed up time or denote intense action; colour can highlight specific objects that might be important to the themes in question; text can be bolded or slimmed to change the mood of the viewer when reading. 

4.	In creating the comic, students should be aiming to visually capture the world that they have studied while accessing the I Do: Love and Marriage in 19th-Century Canada website. Ask students to make sure that the objects and background in their comic strip reflect the time period in question.

A site of interest on Canadian comic book heroes: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/superheroes/t3-160-e.html