Porter, P. (2005). The Crazy Man. Toronto, Canada: Groundwood Books.
I think this is a terrific text to use on the prairies! So many students will relate to the small-town farm life depicted in the text.
Themes include hope, resilience, and prejudice.
This text is also a perfect fit for cross-curricular studies. The non-fiction aspects such as Tommy Douglas and treatment of the mentally ill in the 1960s lend themselves well to a web quest or historical mini lessons. The treatment of the Chinese girl Mei reminded me of Fred Wah’s Diamond Grill. The prejudice that Mei’s family faces made me think about what Wah calls a “hyphenated identity” and how we go about constructing racial identity. Does Mei ever fit into the community or is she destined to live a life as someone who’s always considered an outsider?
Similarly, Angus knows he is different, but I am curious to know exactly how different he is. When out-of-town farmers come to check on the experimental crops, they don’t treat Angus as an oddity. We know he’s been poisoned by his mother, but why don’t the other farmers treat him as an “other”? Skipping ahead to How Smudge Came, the reader never learns what makes Cindy different. She looks as if she has Down syndrome. Maybe my questions relate to our human nature to want to classify everything around us, like when the robot in Pixar’s WALL-E (2008) finds a spork in the garbage dump and can’t decide whether to put it with the spoons or forks. On another note, Shaun Tan worked as a concept artist for the animated film Wall-E.
I heard about this book at Lit Fair in 2013, so I knew about it being one with free prose. For that reason, it’s a great book for students who say they don’t like reading. There are only a few words on each page, so it’s not as intimidating of a book without a single break in the text.
Some aspects of this text trouble me. I feel it was irresponsible for Emaline’s father to leave to pursue his American Dream in the railyard. One of my lit circle members suggested that perhaps he has a mental illness as well. This is one possible answer. With Angus moving in the house, I thought there is an opportunity to discuss the definition of family. And, can you imagine the small-town gossip that followed his sleeping inside the house? How did Joey’s father get Angus inside the truck? Angus is a big guy, and knows Harry doesn’t like him. The text doesn’t explain this. I wonder what life in the town will be like once Harry’s case goes to trial. These sorts of events tend to pit, rather than unite communities. Will Emaline’s new family be even more ostracized?
I love the teaching idea that my group came up with concerning forgiveness. Once students discuss how Angus puts his angry thoughts about his mother in a basket and lets them float away, they do the same with their own angry and harmful thoughts.
The text is full of so many great quotes that I’d love to see students have a sort of book where quotes are listed on one side of the page and they write their thoughts about the quotes on the other side. The teacher can provide some quotes to discuss and then blank pages give students space to write their own quotes:
• “Because at school she seemed cold as a mountain with a lump of snow on the top of her head that never melted.” (Porter 27)
• “You have to protect them a little, and then cut them back hard. It sounds harsh but adversity makes them thrive.Then they’ll reward you by blooming their hearts out.” (Porter 86)
• “I didn’t like being called Hopalong. And if the man on the tractor could hear the names people were calling him, I’d a bet he wouldn’t like it either.” (Porter 44)
As a post-reading activity, students could continue the story through Emaline’s father. They could also retell the story through the POV of another character.
The Red Tree is ideal for symbolism, but The Crazy Man can be used to explore this, too. Angus always eats from the “same plate. Same chip on the side. Mum keeps it separate” (58)? Is it because the plate is looks different from the others or is damaged but is still useful? Chipped plates are often discarded but they still have value and serve a purpose.
I think this is a terrific text to use on the prairies! So many students will relate to the small-town farm life depicted in the text.
Themes include hope, resilience, and prejudice.
This text is also a perfect fit for cross-curricular studies. The non-fiction aspects such as Tommy Douglas and treatment of the mentally ill in the 1960s lend themselves well to a web quest or historical mini lessons. The treatment of the Chinese girl Mei reminded me of Fred Wah’s Diamond Grill. The prejudice that Mei’s family faces made me think about what Wah calls a “hyphenated identity” and how we go about constructing racial identity. Does Mei ever fit into the community or is she destined to live a life as someone who’s always considered an outsider?
Similarly, Angus knows he is different, but I am curious to know exactly how different he is. When out-of-town farmers come to check on the experimental crops, they don’t treat Angus as an oddity. We know he’s been poisoned by his mother, but why don’t the other farmers treat him as an “other”? Skipping ahead to How Smudge Came, the reader never learns what makes Cindy different. She looks as if she has Down syndrome. Maybe my questions relate to our human nature to want to classify everything around us, like when the robot in Pixar’s WALL-E (2008) finds a spork in the garbage dump and can’t decide whether to put it with the spoons or forks. On another note, Shaun Tan worked as a concept artist for the animated film Wall-E.
I heard about this book at Lit Fair in 2013, so I knew about it being one with free prose. For that reason, it’s a great book for students who say they don’t like reading. There are only a few words on each page, so it’s not as intimidating of a book without a single break in the text.
Some aspects of this text trouble me. I feel it was irresponsible for Emaline’s father to leave to pursue his American Dream in the railyard. One of my lit circle members suggested that perhaps he has a mental illness as well. This is one possible answer. With Angus moving in the house, I thought there is an opportunity to discuss the definition of family. And, can you imagine the small-town gossip that followed his sleeping inside the house? How did Joey’s father get Angus inside the truck? Angus is a big guy, and knows Harry doesn’t like him. The text doesn’t explain this. I wonder what life in the town will be like once Harry’s case goes to trial. These sorts of events tend to pit, rather than unite communities. Will Emaline’s new family be even more ostracized?
I love the teaching idea that my group came up with concerning forgiveness. Once students discuss how Angus puts his angry thoughts about his mother in a basket and lets them float away, they do the same with their own angry and harmful thoughts.
The text is full of so many great quotes that I’d love to see students have a sort of book where quotes are listed on one side of the page and they write their thoughts about the quotes on the other side. The teacher can provide some quotes to discuss and then blank pages give students space to write their own quotes:
• “Because at school she seemed cold as a mountain with a lump of snow on the top of her head that never melted.” (Porter 27)
• “You have to protect them a little, and then cut them back hard. It sounds harsh but adversity makes them thrive.Then they’ll reward you by blooming their hearts out.” (Porter 86)
• “I didn’t like being called Hopalong. And if the man on the tractor could hear the names people were calling him, I’d a bet he wouldn’t like it either.” (Porter 44)
As a post-reading activity, students could continue the story through Emaline’s father. They could also retell the story through the POV of another character.
The Red Tree is ideal for symbolism, but The Crazy Man can be used to explore this, too. Angus always eats from the “same plate. Same chip on the side. Mum keeps it separate” (58)? Is it because the plate is looks different from the others or is damaged but is still useful? Chipped plates are often discarded but they still have value and serve a purpose.