Alliance Luskin Academy
9th Grade ELA with Mr. Magaña
ASSIGNMENT #2 – DUE MON 8/12/13 or TUE 8/13/13
SUBTEXT ANALYSIS PARAGRAPH : BANKSY “Bird of Peace”
HOMEWORK: You must write a half page analysis of the subtext of the
Banksy art piece, “Bird of Peace” with four parts.
1) A Surface Reading (supported by obvious observations) of the
piece that is an example of how someone might misinterpret the
piece.
2) Your interpretation of the main meaning of the piece “Bird of
Peace” (You may want to look at the Big Ideas column of the
Subtext Chart)
3) Your argument must be backed by evidence (can be taken from
observations column of subtext chart)
4) Explanation of your evidence (how do these images support
your interpretation?)
Consider the following a skeleton of a possible paragraph that you can
use ONLY IF YOU WANT to present your analysis (your interpretation of
the main meaning). However, I would like the final paragraph written
out as a clean paragraph in your TOOLBOX.
Again, If it helps, copy these sentence frames and fill them in later.
Afterwards, write out the entire paragraph in a complete paragraph
(Half Page).
A simple surface reading of the piece “Bird of Peace” by Banksy might argue
that the artist is saying _______________________________________________________ because the
image contains the following items (concrete evidence- from observations column)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
However, after a deeper reading, I can infer that the artist is more likely stating that
___(what I think his main message is- big ideas/topics/ themes column) ___________.
My argument is backed up by the combination of these images ____(evidenceobservations)____, _________________________, which more likely represent __(explain my
evidence) _________________________________. I would argue that this piece of art speaks
to universal themes of
__________________________________________________________________________________.
Example and grading rubric on the following page
Alliance Luskin Academy
9th Grade ELA with Mr. Magaña
GRADING RUBRIC
Your paragraph will receive the following grades (1-4) according to how well
you followed the directions and included the 4 assigned parts:
“1” : Your paragraph only contains a simple “surface reading” of the art
piece and none of the three other assigned components where you must
demonstrate how you can infer meaning.
“2”: Contains a simple surface reading of the image and your
interpretation of the main message AND may contain evidence BUT no
explanation.
“3”: The paragraph contains a simple surface reading of the image AND
a basic interpretation of the main message. It contains evidence AND
explains how your evidence supports your interpretation.
“4” : The paragraph contains a simple surface reading of the image AND
your complex interpretation of the main message or messages. It
contains evidence AND explanations of how your evidence supports
your interpretation. The paragraph connects to broader themes and
relates to the world outside of this painting.
Example of a “4” Paragraph:
A simple surface reading of the painting “Bird of Peace” by Banksy
understand that the artist is simply stating how hunters are targeting white pigeons
at an alarming rate. They might say this because the bird being targeted in the
painting looks like a white pigeon and it is wearing a bulletproof vest. However,
after a deeper reading of the Banksy painting, I can infer that he is more likely
stating that the very idea of Peace is under attack and that prisons do not want to
see peace exist. I would also argue that Banksy is saying that in order to kill peace,
that prison companies want to “kill the love” so that we will not care about each
other and commit crimes to end up in prison. I can back up my argument by
analyzing the combination of the images of the flying dove in a bulletproof vest with
cross hairs aimed at its heart. The dove is a symbol of peace that is so used to being
under attack that it wears a vest. The dove is not simply being targeted anywhere
but at its heart and the heart is a universal symbol of love. When wondering who
would want to kill peace by killing the love, I realized that the painting was done on
a prison wall and prisons cannot profit unless we do not care and commit crimes in
order to end up in prison. This art piece “Bird of Peace” by Banksy addresses
universal themes of Peace versus Violence and the targeting of love to kill peace.