Comic Project: Creating Historical Fiction
Assignment: You are a writer of historical fiction. Pieces of historical fiction are rooted in
the realities of that period of time. Your job is to take on the role of a character involved in
the fur trade. You may choose an actual individual who existed during the fur trade or
you may create a new character that could have existed during that time frame.
Character ideas that you may choose from:
o Aboriginal man or woman
o A voyageur or coureurs de bois (for example: Henry Kelsey, Samuel Hearne,
Simon Fraser)
o French/English trading post worker
o Métis man or woman
o French/English woman
You will then create a one-page comic strip that portrays the perspective of your
character within the context of the fur trade.
Describe how your character survived using the artifacts/tools/environment that you have
become familiar with during our exploration of the voyageurs.
Surviving may include but is not limited to:
 Hardships you encountered and how you overcame those hardships
 Where you slept and what you ate
 How you built relationships with others to aide in your survival
Guiding questions to help with your research:
Use the following questions to build background knowledge of the situation your character
was submerged in. (Not all of these questions will be applicable to each character).
- Where did your character live?
- What trading posts was he/she involved with?
- Do you think the Native people needed the Europeans (in any way)?
- What did the Europeans bring over that made the environment easier for First
Nations to deal with?
- What tools did the Europeans bring to North America to make life easier?
- What did the Europeans bring to North America that made life harder?
- How did the Europeans affect the animals and environment?
- Do you think the Europeans could have survived without the help from the Native
peoples?
- Where did the Métis culture originate?
- Who did your character interact with on a day-to-day basis?
- What was your character’s role in the fur trade?
- What influence did your character have on the foundation of the North American
economy?
Part 1: Research and deciding on your character
- First read and take notes from Ch.4 of our textbook Voices & Visions.
-
Websites to explore:
The Canadian Encyclopedia
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=HomePage&Params
=A1
Seasons of New France
http://www.mcq.org/Nouvelle-France/index.html
The Alberta Online Encyclopedia
http://www.albertasource.ca/aoe/ui/index.aspx
The Fur Trade Time Line
http://www1.canadiana.org/hbc/chrono/chrono_e.html
Métis Culture
http://www.metismuseum.ca/main.php
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
http://www.biographi.ca/
Part 2: Creating a plan
- Determine who your character is, what they did, where and when they lived, how
they lived, what they enjoyed doing etc.
- What specific event will your comic strip be about? For example:
o A day in the life.
o A specific interaction with others.
o Surviving a particular situation.
- What artifacts will you include in your comic?
- Remember to keep a record of your resources (web sites, books etc.)
- Submit a comic proposal with this information and your basic narrative outline.
Part 3: Designing your comic
- Using the blank comic paper storyboard, draw out the rough copy for your comic.
- Your images should clearly depict what it is you are trying to communicate with your
audience.
- The sequence of your comic images should be thoughtfully planned out.
Part 4: Peer edit the rough draft
Part 5: Final draft
- Create a final draft of your comic on your laptops or on paper.
Comic Project: RUBRIC
Research
1
Proposal and notes from
text are incomplete or
minimally done.
2
Proposal and notes from
text are mostly
complete.
3
Proposal chart and
notes from text are
thoroughly completed.
Lack of information;
research is superficial,
lacking depth and
accuracy
Limited information;
research lacks some
depth and accuracy
Wide range of sources
that clearly demonstrate
great depth, relevance
and reliability of
research
Sources/sites are of
questionable reliability
Depiction of
Character’s
Drive to
Survive
Sources/sites are of
questionable reliability
Comic strip minimally
addresses the hardships
that the character
faced and overcame in
order to survive.
Comic strip superficially
touches on the
hardships the character
faced and overcame in
order to survive.
The event is unclear and
does not incorporate
artifacts/tools or
environmental impact.
The event is clear and
incorporates some
artifacts/tools and
environmental impact.
Historical
Content
and
Accuracy
Minimal to no evidence
of accurate information
resulting in a flawed
piece of historical
fiction.
Layout and
WOW factor
Comic strip shows little to
no creative efforts. The
audience has no desire
to make it to the end.
Some evidence of
accurate information;
however it is superficial
and only lightly supports
the piece of historical
fiction.
Comic strip is lacking in
creativity. Audience is
somewhat interested.
Scenes, captioning and
images do not connect
with each other and
disrupt the flow.
Scenes, captioning and
images connect with
each other; flow is
disrupted at times.
Sources/sites are well
respected
Comic strip depicts indepth understanding of
hardships that the
character faced and
overcame in order to
survive.
The event is descriptive
and meaningfully
incorporates
artifacts/tools and the
environmental impact.
Shows great amount of
accurate information
resulting in a well
thought out piece of
historical fiction.
Comic strip shows
creative effort that pulls
in the audience’s
attention.
Scenes, captioning and
images clearly connect
with each other; flow of
comic is cohesive.